title: Amjad Ali Khan

text: Khan was awarded 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award. Khan received Padma Shri in 1975, Padma Bhushan in 1991, and Padma Vibhushan in 2001, and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1989 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2011. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2004. The U.S. state Massachusetts proclaimed 20 April as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984. Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, in 1997, and of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2007. He received the Banga-Vibhushan in 2011.


title: Amjad Ali Khan

text: "Ustad Amjad Ali Khan" (1990), a Gulzar directed Indian documentary film on Amjad Ali Khan won the Filmfare Award for Best Documentary in 1990.


title: Amjad Ali Khan

text: Born on 9 October 1945 as Masoom Ali Khan, the youngest of seven children, to Gwalior court musician Hafiz Ali Khan and Rahat Jahan. His family is part of the Bangash lineage and Khan is in the sixth generation of musicians; his family claims to have invented the "sarod". His personal name was changed by a sadhu to Amjad. Khan received homeschooling and studied music under his father. In 1957, a cultural organization in Delhi appointed Hafiz Ali Khan as its guest and the family moved to Delhi. Hafiz Ali Khan received training from the descendants of Tansen, the magical musician, was one of the 'Nav-ratna' ( nine gems) at the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Thus, Amjad belongs to the lineage of Tansen. Friends of Hafiz Ali Khan convinced him of the importance of formal schooling for his son; as a result, Amjad was taken to meet the Principal of Modern School in New Delhi and admitted there as a day scholar. He attended Modern School from 1958 to 1963.


title: Amjad Ali Khan

text: On 25 September 1976, Khan got married a second time. His bride was Bharatanatyam dancer Subhalakshmi Barooah, hailing from Assam in north-eastern India. They have two sons, Amaan and Ayaan, both of whom are performing artists trained in music by their father.


title: Amjad Ali Khan

text: Khan cared for his diabetic father until he died in 1972. Their family home in Gwalior was made into a musical center and they live in New Delhi.


title: Vikas Gupta

text: Vikas Gupta (born 7 May 1988) is an Indian television producer, creative director, screenwriter and host. He is known for participating in "Bigg Boss 11" , "Bigg Boss 14" and hosting "MTV Ace of Space".


title: Vikas Gupta

text: Gupta was born on 7 May 1988. He hails from Dehradun. His brother, Siddharth Gupta, is an actor as well as a model.


title: Vikas Gupta

text: In June 2020, Gupta came out as bisexual in an Instagram post. Gupta is also one of the directors of an NGO called "Lost Boy Welfare Association" that helps poor children.


title: Vikas Gupta

text: Gupta started working at the age of 17 in Balaji Telefilms as an actor He was the creative head of Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms for shows like "Mahabharat", "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", "Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil" and "Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya". Later, he started his own production studio "Lost Boy Productions" which has created popular television series like "", "Warrior High", "Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan", "V The Serial", "Yeh Hai Aashiqui" and "MTV Webbed". Gupta has also been the youngest programming head of MTV India.


title: Vikas Gupta

text: In October 2017, Gupta participated in Colors TV's "Bigg Boss 11" where he emerged as the second runner up of the season. Due to his performance, he was given the title of “Mastermind” on the show. In 2017, he produced "Class of 2017" on ALTBalaji.


title: Vikas Gupta

text: In 2018, he hosted "IIFA Buzz" in Thailand for "IIFA Awards 2018" on Voot. Gupta also created and hosted his own reality show titled "Ace of Space" on MTV India.


title: Vikas Gupta

text: In 2019, he participated in Colors TV's "" in Argentina. He was disqualified from the show Next, he created "Puncch Beat" for on ALT Balaji. In March, he reunited with his co-contestants Bharti Singh, Aly Goni, Harsh Limbachiyaa among others to be a part of "Khatra Khatra Khatra". In May 2019, Gupta created anthology series "Yeh Ishq Nahi Aasaan" for Dangal TV. In August 2019, he returned as the host of MTV India's "Ace of Space 2".


title: Vikas Gupta

text: In February 2020, he created "Class of 2020" for ALTBalaji. In November, he participated in Colors TV's "Bigg Boss 14", this time as a challenger. When co-contestant Arshi Khan involved Gupta's family in a fight, he pushed her and was thus expelled from the show. He re-entered the show soon after.


title: Nigerian English

text: Nigerian English, also known as Nigerian Standard English, is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria. Based on British English, the dialect contains various loanwords and collocations from the native languages of Nigeria, due to the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation (e.g. "senior wife").


title: Nigerian English

text: Nigerian Pidgin, a pidgin derived from English, is mostly used in informal conversations, but the Nigerian Standard English is used in politics, formal education, the media, and other official uses.


title: Nigerian English

text: There are three main dialects of Nigerian English: Hausa English (spoken by the Hausa), Igbo English (spoken by the Igbo) and Yoruba English (spoken by the Yoruba).


title: Nigerian English

text: Nigerian English is a nativized form of English. Like South African English, its nativization and development as a New World English corresponds roughly with the period of colonization and post-colonization by Britain. Nigerian English became a nativized language that functions uniquely within its own cultural context.


title: Nigerian English

text: Nigerian English has long been a controversial idea, in that the idea of a "Standard Nigerian English" (SNE) is difficult to establish, considering the fossilization that has occurred in the formal instruction of English in many regions of Nigeria, due largely to a variety of factors including "interference, lack of facilities, and crowded classrooms". Due to the contact between British Standard English and Nigerian English, which have two very different sets of grammatical, pronunciation, and spelling rules, there has arisen a predominant occurrence of "faulty analogy" (the assumption that because one grammatical feature resembles another in usage, the rules applying to the former also apply to the latter) in what Okoro refers to as "substandard" varieties of Nigerian English.


title: Nigerian English

text: However, a few features have united across NE communities that bridge the differences between different varieties even within NE, all pertaining to cultural values that are expressed uniquely in English terms. Two prevalent examples are "sorry" and "sir". The literal meaning of sorry usually indicates some sort of responsibility on the part of the person saying it; however, for all of the varieties of NE, it is used to express sympathy in a unique way, or to show empathy to whoever has experienced misfortune. "Sir," or the replacement of names with titles, indicates respect and a high value for politeness. The tacking on of "sir" to another title (i.e. "Professor sir") illustrates a greater level of prestige than normal, or an instance of being more polite than the norm.


title: Nigerian English

text: Though the exact levels of Nigerian English usage are contested, one suggestion indicates there are 4 levels of usage within this nativized (but not indigenous) English:


title: Nigerian English

text: These levels are only one proposed differentiation of the pragmatic realizations of Nigerian English. Because of the nature of its presence in Nigeria, English has been a point of contention among Nigerian residents who strive for a more nativisitic lifestyle (i.e. returning to the predominant speech of indigenous languages of the country). However, due to the nature of English's introduction and role in exerting the values of colonization on a post-colonial Nigeria, some would call English inseparable from the nature of language in the region.


title: Nigerian English

text: There are three basic subsets of innovations that have occurred as a result of the nativization of English in Nigeria: "loanwords, coinages, and semantic shifts".


title: Nigerian English

text: A loanword is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification". Nigerian English has a plethora of loanwords that have no direct English equivalents, but have rooted themselves into the dialect and have a unique meaning. The examples below of prominent Nigerian English loanwords are provided by Grace Ebunlola (quoting them):


title: Nigerian English

text: Coinages, though similar to loanwords, function as a sort of colloquialism that is spoken in English but has a unique cultural meaning. These are also especially prolific in Nigerian English. Compared to loanwords, coinages typically have a short lifespan and are adopted for unique cultural purposes of the present, and as such, die out quickly after their acquisition.


title: Nigerian English

text: Acronyms serve a variety of functions, and follow the same rules as Standard English acronyms: the first letters are taken from each word in a phrase (especially titles of office, agencies of the government, etc.).


title: Nigerian English

text: A common example of semantic shift is in the reappropriation of the meaning of English words for Nigerian purposes and uses. This can cause the original English meanings to be "shifted, restricted, or extended".


title: Nigerian English

text: For example, in some areas, though the international meaning of trek has a connotation of long distance or difficult journey, the Nigerian use is to "walk a short distance".


title: Nigerian English

text: A particularly expansive example of semantics in NE is the use of a variety of greetings. This stretching of meaning can not only change the meaning of the English phrase, but also represent something from Nigerian culture: for example, the saying "goodnight, ma" can be said regardless of time of day, and functions simply as an assumption that the person in question will not be seen until the next day. This has especially been noticed in Yoruba culture.


title: Nigerian English

text: As the literature currently stands, most phonological studies have analyzed a plethora of Nigerian English speakers from a wide range of backgrounds (region of origin, current profession, social class, etc.). There has been special focus on such regions as Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. Nigerian English can be thought of in a similar way to American English in this approach: just as in American English, Nigerian English varies from region to region, and as such, phonological variables are realized in different ways in different regions.


title: Nigerian English

text: Early studies have associated Nigerian English with being syllable-timed rather than stress-timed, but the dialect has thus far evaded specific grouping in either category. Milde and Jan-Torsten suggest that Nigerian English is closer to a tonal language, akin to other West African tonal languages, but rather than tones being associated with stressed and unstressed syllables, they are associated with grammatical functions. They suggest that "articles, prepositions and conjunctions tend to have a low tone, whereas nouns, verbs and adjectives are usually produced with a high tone."


title: Nigerian English

text: In July 2019, Google announced its new Nigerian English accented voice for Maps, Google Assistant, and other Google products. It is based on work of speech synthesis created by a team at Google led by Nigerian linguist Kola Tubosun. In January 2020, Oxford English Dictionary added over two dozen new words of Nigerian English to the Oxford Dictionary.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (; ) is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use by narrowboats and was completed in 1805 having taken ten years to design and build. It is 12 ft (3.7 metres) wide and is the longest aqueduct in Great Britain and the highest canal aqueduct in the world. A footpath runs alongside the watercourse on one side.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The aqueduct was to have been a key part of the central section of the proposed Ellesmere Canal, an industrial waterway that would have created a commercial link between the River Severn at Shrewsbury and the Port of Liverpool on the River Mersey. Although a less expensive construction course was surveyed further to the east, the westerly high-ground route across the Vale of Llangollen was preferred because it would have taken the canal through the mineral-rich coalfields of North East Wales. Only parts of the canal route were completed because the expected revenues required to complete the entire project were never generated. Most major work ceased after the completion of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 1805.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The name "Pontcysyllte" is Welsh for "Cysyllte Bridge" or "Bridge of Cysyllte", Cysyllte being the township of the old parish of Llangollen in which the southern end of the bridge lies. The northern end of the bridge was in Trefor Isaf township, also in Llangollen parish.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: Other translations such as "bridge of the junction" or "the bridge that links" are a modern false etymology, derived from the name's apparent similarity to the word "" (plural of "cyswllt") which means connections or links.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The aqueduct was designed by civil engineers Thomas Telford and William Jessop for a location near an 18th-century road crossing, Pont Cysyllte. After the westerly high-ground route was approved, the original plan was to create a series of locks down both sides of the valley to an embankment that would carry the Ellesmere Canal over the River Dee. After Telford was hired the plan was changed to an aqueduct that would create an uninterrupted waterway straight across the valley. Despite considerable public scepticism, Telford was confident his construction method would work because he had previously built a cast-iron trough aqueduct – the Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct on the Shrewsbury Canal.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The aqueduct was one of the first major feats of civil engineering undertaken by Telford, who was becoming one of Britain's leading industrial civil engineers; although his work was supervised by Jessop, the more experienced canal engineer. Ironwork was supplied by William Hazledine from his foundries at Shrewsbury and nearby Cefn Mawr. The work, which took around ten years from design to construction, cost around of £47,000. Adjusted for inflation this is equivalent to no more than £ in , but represented a major investment against the contemporary GDP of some £400 million.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The Pontcysyllte aqueduct officially opened to traffic on 26 November 1805. A plaque commemorating its inauguration reads:


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The nobility and gentry, the adjacent Counties having united their efforts with the great commercial interests of this country. In creating an intercourse and union between England and North Wales by a navigable communication of the three Rivers, Severne Dee and Mersey for the mutual benefit of agriculture and trades, caused the first stone of this aqueduct of Pontcysyllty , to be laid on the 25th day of July MDCCXCV [1795]. When Richard Myddelton of Chirk, Esq, M.P. one of the original patrons of the Ellesmere Canal was Lord of this manor, and in the reign of our Sovereign George the Third. When the equity of the laws, and the security of property, promoted the general welfare of the nation. While the arts and sciences flourished by his patronage and the conduct of civil life was improved by his example.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The bridge is long, wide and deep. It consists of a cast iron trough supported above the river on iron arched ribs carried on eighteen hollow masonry piers (pillars). Each of the 18 spans is wide. With the completion of the aqueduct, the next phase of the canal should have been the continuation of the line to Moss Valley, Wrexham where Telford had constructed a feeder reservoir lake in 1796. This would provide the water for the length of canal between Trevor Basin and Chester. The plan to build this section was cancelled in 1798, and the isolated feeder and a stretch of navigation between Ffrwd and a basin in Summerhill was abandoned. Remnants of the feeder channel are visible in Gwersyllt. A street in the village is still named "Heol Camlas" (). The physical construction was undertaken by John Simpson (d.1815) of Shrewsbury.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: With the project incomplete, Trevor Basin just over the Pontcysyllte aqueduct would become the canal's northern terminus. In 1808 a feeder channel to bring water from the River Dee near Llangollen was completed. In order to maintain a continual supply, Telford built an artificial weir known as the Horseshoe Falls near Llantysilio to maintain water height.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: Subsequently, the Plas Kynaston Canal was built to serve industry in the Cefn Mawr and Rhosymedre areas in the 1820s. There might have been another canal extension ("Ward's") but detailed records do not survive. Goods traffic was brought down to the canal by the Ruabon Brook Tramway which climbed towards Acrefair and Plas Bennion. This railway was eventually upgraded to steam operation and extended towards Rhosllannerchrugog and Wrexham.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: In 1844, the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company, which owned the broad canals from Ellesmere Port to Chester and from Chester to Nantwich, with a branch to Middlewich, began discussions with the narrow Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, which ran from Nantwich to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. The two companies had always worked together, in a bid to maintain their profits against competition from the railways, and amalgamation seemed to be a logical step. An agreement was worked out by August, and the two companies then sought a Private Act of Parliament to authorise the takeover. This was granted on 8 May 1845, when the larger Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company was formed.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: In 1846, the canal and the aqueduct became part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company. But the intent of the merger was to build railways at a reduced cost, by using the existing routes of the canals they owned. By 1849, the plan to turn canals into railways had been dropped. As the aqueduct was largely in an area that was served by railways owned by the Great Western Railway, the LNWR was more than happy for the canal to remain open as long as it remained profitable. With the start of the First World War in 1914, the Shropshire Union – which the Pontcysyllte aqueduct was a part – served the war effort with its fleet of more than 450 narrow boats.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: Commercial traffic on the canal greatly declined after a waterway breach near Newtown, Powys (now part of the Montgomery Canal) in 1936. By 1939 boat movements across the aqueduct to Llangollen had ceased. The canal was formally closed to navigation under the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company Act of 1944. On 6 September 1945, due to inadequate maintenance, the canal breached its banks east of Llangollen near Sun Bank Halt. The flow of hundreds of tons of water washed away the embankment of the railway further down the hill, tearing a crater deep. This caused the first traffic of the morning, a mail and goods train composed of 16 carriages and two vans, to crash into the breach, killing one and injuring two engine crew.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The aqueduct was saved (despite its official closure to waterway traffic) because it was still required as a water feeder for the remainder of the Shropshire Union Canal. The aqueduct also supplied drinking water to a reservoir at Hurleston. In 1955 the Mid & South East Cheshire Water Board agreed to maintain the canal securing its future.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: In the latter half of the 20th century, leisure boating traffic began to rise. In a rebranding exercise by British Waterways in the 1980s, the former industrial waterway was renamed the Llangollen Canal. It has since become one of the most popular canals for holidaymakers in Britain because of its aqueducts and scenery. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is now maintained and managed by the Canal & River Trust (branded Glandŵr Cymru in Wales). Otters have been seen in the area.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The mortar used lime, water and ox blood. Blood and extracts of blood containing haemoglobin have been used in the construction and building industry since antiquity as air entraining colloids to inexpensively strengthen mortar exposed to freeze-thaw temperature cycles.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The iron castings for the trough were produced at the nearby Plas Kynaston Foundry, Cefn Mawr, which was built by the Shrewsbury ironfounder and millwright William Hazledine in the hope of gaining the contract. The rib castings may have been made at Hazledine's original works at Coleham, near Shrewsbury. The trough was made from flanged plates of cast iron, bolted together, with the joints bedded with Welsh flannel and a mixture of white lead and iron particles from boring waste.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: After 25 years the white lead was replaced with ordinary tar. As with Telford's Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct, the plates are not rectangular but shaped as voussoirs, similar to those of a stone arch. There is no structural significance to their shape: it is a decorative feature only, following the lines of the stiffening plates (see below) in the castings beneath.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: In nearby Cefn Mawr a high quartz content sandstone was discovered at the location where the new Cefn Druids football stadium has since been built. Known locally as 'The Rock', the sandstone was extracted and worked here into the many numerous shapes as required by the architects. Many remnants of the workings are still visible alongside Rock Road which links Rhosymedre to Plas Madoc.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The supporting arches, four for each span, are in the form of cast-iron ribs, each cast as three voussoirs with external arches cast with an un-pierced web to give greater strength, at the cost of extra weight. Using cast iron in this way, in the same manner as the stone arch it supersedes, makes use of the material's strength in compression. They also give an impression of greater solidity than would be the case were the webs pierced. This impression is enhanced by the arrangement of strips of thicker stiffening incorporated into the castings, arranged in the manner of joints between voussoirs.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: Cast plates are laid transversely to form the bed of the canal trough. The trough is not fastened to the arches, but lugs are cast into the plates to fit over the rib arches to prevent movement. The aqueduct was left for six months with water inside to check that it was watertight. A feature of a canal aqueduct, in contrast with a road or railway viaduct, is that the vertical loading stresses are virtually constant. According to Archimedes' principle, the mass (weight) of a boat and its cargo on the bridge pushes an equal mass of water off the bridge.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The towpath is mounted above the water, with the inner edge carried on cast-iron pillars in the trough. This arrangement allows the water displaced by the passage of a narrow boat to flow easily under the towpath and around the boat, enabling relatively free passage. Pedestrians, and the horses once used for towing, are protected from falling from the aqueduct by railings on the outside edge of the towpath, but the holes in the top flange of the other side of the trough, capable of mounting railings, were never used. The trough sides rise only about above the water level, less than the depth of freeboard of an empty narrow boat, so the helmsman of the boat has no visual protection from the impression of being at the edge of an abyss. The trough of the Cosgrove aqueduct has a similar structure, although it rests on trestles rather than iron arches. It is also less impressively high.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: Every five years the ends of the aqueduct are closed and a plug in one of the highest spans is opened to drain the canal water into the River Dee below, to allow inspection and maintenance of the trough.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The aqueduct and surrounding lands were submitted to the "tentative list" of properties being considered for UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1999. The aqueduct was suggested as a contender in 2005—its 200th anniversary year—and it was formally announced in 2006 that a larger proposal, covering a section of the canal from the aqueduct to Horseshoe Falls would be the United Kingdom's 2008 nomination.


title: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

text: The length of canal from Rhoswiel, Shropshire, to the Horseshoe Falls, including the main Pontcysyllte Aqueduct structure as well as the older Chirk Aqueduct, were visited by assessors from UNESCO during October 2008, to analyse and confirm the site management and authenticity. The aqueduct was inscribed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List on 27 June 2009.


title: International broadcasting

text: International broadcasting, in a limited extent, began during World War I, when German and British stations broadcast press communiqués using Morse code. With the severing of Germany's undersea cables, the wireless telegraph station in Nauen was the country's sole means of long-distance communication.


title: International broadcasting

text: The US Navy Radio Service radio station in New Brunswick, Canada, transmitted the 'Fourteen Points' by wireless to Nauen in 1917. In turn, Nauen station broadcast the news of the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II on November 10, 1918.


title: International broadcasting

text: Guglielmo Marconi pioneered the use of short wave radio for long-distance transmissions in the early 1920s. Using a system of parabolic reflector antennae, Marconi's assistant, Charles Samuel Franklin, rigged up a large antenna at Poldhu Wireless Station, Cornwall, running on 25 kW of power. In June and July 1923, wireless transmissions were completed during nights on 97 meters from Poldhu to Marconi's yacht "Elettra" in the Cape Verde Islands. High speed shortwave telegraphy circuits were then installed from London to Australia, India, South Africa and Canada as the main element of the Imperial Wireless Chain from 1926.


title: International broadcasting

text: The Dutch began conducting experiments in the shortwave frequencies in 1925 from Eindhoven. The radio station PCJJ began the first international broadcasting on March 11, 1927 with programmes in Dutch for colonies in the Dutch West Indies and Dutch East Indies and in German, Spanish and English for the rest of the world. The popular Happy Station show was inaugurated in 1928.


title: International broadcasting

text: In 1927, Marconi also turned his attention toward long distance broadcasting on shortwave. His first such broadcasts took place to commemorate Armistice Day in the same year. He continued running a regular international broadcast that was picked up around the world, with programming from the 2LO station, then run by the BBC. The success of this operation caught the BBC's attention who rented out a shortwave transmitting station in Chelmsford, with the callsign G5SW, to Marconi. The BBC Empire Service was finally inaugurated on December 19, 1932, with transmissions aimed towards Australia and New Zealand.


title: International broadcasting

text: Other notable early international broadcasters included Vatican Radio (February 12, 1931), Radio Moscow, the official service of the Soviet Union (renamed the Voice of Russia, following the collapse of the Soviet Union). Clarence W. Jones started transmitting on Christmas Day, 1931 from Christian missionary radio station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador. Broadcasting in South Asia was launched in 1925 in Ceylon - Radio Ceylon, now the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is the oldest in the region.


title: International broadcasting

text: Shortwave broadcasting from Nauen in Germany to the US, Central and South America, and the Far East began in 1926. A second station, Zeesen, was added in 1931. In January 1932, the German Reichspost assumed control of the Nauen station and added to its shortwave and longwave capacity. Once Adolf Hitler assumed power in 1933, shortwave, under the "Auslandsrundfunk" (Foreign Radio Section), was regarded as a vital element of Nazi propaganda.


title: International broadcasting

text: German shortwave hours were increased from two hours a day to 18 per day, and eventually twelve languages were broadcast on a 24-hour basis, including English. A 100 kilowatt transmitter and antenna complex was built at Zeesen, near Berlin. Specialty target programming to the United States began in 1933, to South Africa, South America, and East Asia in 1934, and South Asia and Central America in 1938. German propaganda was organized under Joseph Goebbels, and played a key role in the German annexation of Austria and the Munich Crisis of 1938.


title: International broadcasting

text: In 1936, the International Radio Union recognized Vatican Radio as a "special case" and authorized its broadcasting without any geographical limits. On December 25, 1937, a Telefunken 25-kW transmitter and two directional antennas were added. Vatican Radio broadcast over 10 frequencies.


title: International broadcasting

text: During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist forces received a powerful Telefunken transmitter as a gift of Nazi Germany to aid their propaganda efforts, and until 1943 Radio Nacional de España collaborated with the Axis powers to retransmit in Spanish news from the official radio stations of Germany and Italy.


title: International broadcasting

text: During the Second World War, Russian, German, British, and Italian international broadcasting services expanded. In 1942, the United States initiated its international broadcasting service, the Voice of America. In the Pacific theater, General Douglas MacArthur used shortwave radio to keep in touch with the citizens of the Japanese-occupied Philippine Islands.


title: International broadcasting

text: Several announcers who became well known in their countries included British Union of Fascists member William Joyce, who was one of the two "Lord Haw-Haw"s; Frenchmen Paul Ferdonnet and André Olbrecht, called "the traitors of [Radio] Stuttgart"; and Americans Frederick William Kaltenbach, "Lord Hee-Haw", and Mildred Gillars, one of the two announcers called "Axis Sally". Listeners to German programs often tuned in for curiosity's sake—at one time, German radio had half a million listeners in the U.S.--but most of them soon lost interest. Japan had "Tokyo Rose", who broadcast Japanese propaganda in English, along with American music to help ensure listeners.


title: International broadcasting

text: During World War II, Vatican Radio's news broadcasts were banned in Germany. During the war, the radio service operated in four languages.


title: International broadcasting

text: The British launched Radio SEAC from Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during World War II. The station broadcast radio programs to the allied armed forces across the region from their headquarters in Ceylon.


title: International broadcasting

text: Following the war and German partition, each Germany developed its own international broadcasting station: Deutsche Welle, using studios in Cologne, West Germany, and Radio Berlin International (RBI) in East Germany. RBI's broadcasts ceased shortly before the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, and Deutsche Welle took over its transmitters and frequencies.


title: International broadcasting

text: The Cold War led to increased international broadcasting (and jamming), as Communist and non-Communist states attempted to influence each other's domestic population. Some of the most prominent Western broadcasters were the Voice of America, the BBC World Service, and the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The Soviet Union's most prominent service was Radio Moscow and China used Radio Peking (then Radio Beijing, now China Radio International). In addition to the U.S.-Soviet cold war, the Chinese-Russian border dispute led to an increase of the numbers of transmitters aimed at the two nations, and the development of new techniques such as playing tapes backwards for reel-to-reel recorders.


title: International broadcasting

text: West Germany resumed regular shortwave broadcasts using Deutsche Welle on May 3, 1953. Its Julich transmitter site began operation in 1956, with eleven 100-kW Telefunken transmitters. The Wertachtal site was authorized in 1972 and began with four 500-kW transmitters. By 1989, there were 15 transmitters, four of which relayed the Voice of America. Meanwhile, in East Germany, the Nauen site began transmitting Radio DDR, later Radio Berlin International, on October 15, 1959.


title: International broadcasting

text: In addition to these states, international broadcast services grew in Europe and the Middle East. Under the presidency of Gamal Nasser, Egyptian transmitters covered the Arab world; Israel's service, Kol Yisrael, served both to present the Israeli point of view to the world and to serve the Jewish diaspora, particularly behind the Iron Curtain.


title: International broadcasting

text: Radio RSA, as part of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, was established in 1966 to promote the image of South Africa internationally and reduce criticism of apartheid. It continued in 1992, when the post-apartheid government renamed it Channel Africa.


title: International broadcasting

text: Ironically, the isolationist Albania under Enver Hoxha, virtually a hermit kingdom, became one of the most prolific international broadcasters during the latter decades of the Cold War, with Radio Tirana one of the top five broadcasters in terms of hours of programming produced.


title: International broadcasting

text: At the end of the Cold War, many international broadcasters cut back on hours and foreign languages broadcast, or reemphasized other language services. For example, in 1984, Radio Canada International broadcast in English, French, German, Spanish, Czech/Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. In 2005, RCI broadcast in English, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and Spanish. There is a bigger trend towards TV (e.g. BBC World News, NHK World, CCTV-9) and news websites. Some services, such as Swiss Radio International, left shortwave altogether and exist in Internet form, Swissinfo. In addition, new standards, such as Digital Radio Mondiale, are being introduced, as well as sending programs over the Web to be played back later, as "podcasts".


title: International broadcasting

text: International broadcasting using the traditional audio-only method will not cease any time soon due to its cost efficiencies. However, international broadcasting via television is considered more strategically important at least since the early 2000s.


title: International broadcasting

text: The BBC World Service was the first broadcaster to consider setting up a satellite television news and information channel as far back as 1976, but ceded being the first to CNN (that had primary access to Canada soon after launch). The defunct BBC World Service Antigua Relay Station was built in 1976, but its setup costs were not known to have been part of the BBCWS decision processes at the time.


title: International broadcasting

text: In the early 1990s, many international (as well as domestic) 24-hour news and information channels launched as part of the post-Cold War prosperity bubble. There was another burst of global news channels launching in the late 2000s as part the developing world trying to catch up with the developed world in this area.


title: International broadcasting

text: Broadcasters in one country have several reasons to reach out to an audience in other countries. Commercial broadcasters may simply see a business opportunity to sell advertising or subscriptions to a broader audience. This is more efficient than broadcasting to a single country, because domestic entertainment programs and information gathered by domestic news staff can be cheaply repackaged for non-domestic audiences.


title: International broadcasting

text: Governments typically have different motivations for funding international broadcasting. One clear reason is for ideological, or propaganda reasons. Many government-owned stations portray their nation in a positive, non-threatening way. This could be to encourage business investment in or tourism to the nation. Another reason is to combat a negative image produced by other nations or internal dissidents, or insurgents. Radio RSA, the broadcasting arm of the apartheid South African government, is an example of this. A third reason is to promote the ideology of the broadcaster. For example, a program on Radio Moscow from the 1960s to the 1980s was "What is Communism?"


title: International broadcasting

text: A second reason is to advance a nation's foreign policy interests and agenda by disseminating its views on international affairs or on the events in particular parts of the world. During the Cold War the American Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and Indian Radio AIR were founded to broadcast news from "behind the Iron Curtain" that was otherwise being censored and promote dissent and occasionally, to disseminate disinformation. Currently, the US operates similar services aimed at Cuba (Radio y Televisión Martí) and the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea (Radio Free Asia).


title: International broadcasting

text: The BBC World Service, the Voice of America, All India Radio and other western broadcasters have emphasized news broadcasts, particularly to countries that are experiencing repression or civil unrest and whose populations are unable to obtain news from non-government sources. In the case of emergencies, a nation may broadcast special programs overseas to inform listeners what is occurring. During Iraqi missile strikes on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, Kol Israel relayed its domestic service on its shortwave service.


title: International broadcasting

text: Besides ideological reasons, many stations are run by religious broadcasters and are used to provide religious education, religious music, or worship service programs. For example, Vatican Radio, established in 1931, broadcasts such programs. Another station, such as HCJB or Trans World Radio will carry brokered programming from evangelists. In the case of the Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both governmental and religious programming is provided.


title: International broadcasting

text: Stations also broadcast to international audiences for cultural reasons. Often a station has an official mandate to keep expatriates in touch with their home country. Many broadcasters often relay their national domestic service on shortwave for that reason. Other reasons include teaching a foreign language, such as Radio Exterior de España's Spanish class, "Un idioma sin fronteras", or the Voice of America's broadcasts in Special English. In the case of major broadcasters such as the BBC World Service or Radio Australia, there is also an educational outreach.


title: International broadcasting

text: An additional reason for international broadcasting is to maintain contact with a country's citizens travelling abroad or expatriates who have emigrated and share news from home as well as cultural programming. This role of external shortwave broadcasting has declined as advances in communications have allowed expatriates to read news from home and listen and watch to domestic broadcasts in their own language via the internet and satellite. A number of international services such as the original BBC Empire Service, Radio Netherlands, France's Poste Colonial (now Radio France International) and others were founded in part with the goal of helping draw overseas empires closer to the mother country and provide closer cultural and communication connections between the home country and its colonies, a role that became largely obsolete due to decolonization.


title: International broadcasting

text: Because of this many broadcasters are discovering they can reach a wider audience through other methods (particularly the internet and satellite television) and are cutting back on (or even entirely dropping) shortwave.


title: International broadcasting

text: An international broadcaster such as the BBC, Radio France International or Germany's Deutsche Welle, may use all the above methods. Several international broadcasters, such as Swiss Radio International, have abandoned shortwave broadcasting altogether, relying on Internet transmissions only. Others, such as the BBC World Service, have abandoned shortwave transmissions to North America, relying on local relays, the Internet, and satellite transmissions


title: International broadcasting

text: Most radio receivers in the world receive the mediumwave band (530 kHz to 1710 kHz), which at night is capable of reliable reception from 150 to 2,500 km distance from a transmitter. Mediumwave is used heavily all over the world for international broadcasting on a formal and informal basis.


title: International broadcasting

text: In addition, many receivers used in Europe and Russia can receive the longwave broadcast band (150 to 280 kHz), which provides reliable long-distance communications over continental distances.


title: International broadcasting

text: Shortwave receivers are capable of receiving shortwave transmissions (2,000 to 30,000 kHz or 2 to 30 MHz). Depending on time of day, season of year, solar weather and Earth's geomagnetic field, a signal might reach around the world.


title: International broadcasting

text: In previous decades shortwave (and sometimes high-powered mediumwave) transmission was regarded as the main (and often the "only") way in which broadcasters could reach an international audience. In recent years the proliferation of technologies such as satellite broadcasting, the Internet, and rebroadcasts of programming on AM and FM within target nations has meant that this is no longer necessarily the case.


title: International broadcasting

text: Transmitter output power has increased since 1920. Higher transmitter powers do guarantee better reception in the target area. Higher transmitter power in most cases counteracts the lesser effects of jamming.


title: International broadcasting

text: International stations generally use special directional antennas to aim the signal toward the intended audience and increase the effective power in that direction. Use of such antennas for international broadcasting began in the mid-1930s and became prominent by the 1950s. By using antennas which focus most of their energy in one direction, a modern station may achieve the equivalent, in that direction, of tens of millions of watts of radio power.


title: International broadcasting

text: Some international broadcasters have become available via digital audio broadcasting (DAB) in Europe in the 1990s, and in a similar limited way in the Americas via in-band FM (IBOC) DAB systems in the US in the 2000s. This is a popular method to reach listeners in cars that would otherwise not be accessible during that part of the day. However, in terms of the global international broadcasting audience the DAB listener base is very small—one can assume that it is less than 2% of the listener base globally.


title: International broadcasting

text: International broadcasting via 24 hour TV news channels has its origins in North America in the early 1980s. CNN technically was the first 24-hour international news channel as it was made available in Canada soon after launch. The BBC World Service considered setting up a global TV news channel as far back as 1975, but abandoned the idea for internal reasons.


title: International broadcasting

text: Notwithstanding a large number of international 24-hour television news and information broadcasters, the television percentage of viewers is still fairly small when compared to global radio listener numbers.


title: International broadcasting

text: The rural populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (as well as East Asia) have radio listener bases that are far larger than the largest international TV broadcaster could hope for, yet they could be considered underserved since the end of the Cold War (when these regions had more radio broadcasts targeted at them).


title: International broadcasting

text: Many international television broadcasters (as well as domestic television broadcasters) have set up accounts on streaming video sites like YouTube to allow their news and information broadcasts to be globally distributed. The viewer numbers for these sites may seem huge. Cable, TVRO and terrestrial television broadcasters probably have 100 to 1,000 times larger audiences for their international broadcasting content.


title: International broadcasting

text: Many international broadcasters (television or radio) can reach "unreachable" audiences via email and RSS feeds. This is not at all unusual, as the first commonly agreed international broadcast was a Morse Code telegram transmitted from US President Wilson to the German Kaiser (mid-1918) via a high powered longwave transmitter on the US East Coast (this important event in international broadcasting history was described in depth in the IEEE "The History of International Broadcasting" first volume). As Morse Code is considered to be a data format, with email and RSS merely being refinements of the technology it can be said that international broadcasting has a deep relationship with modern-day datacasting.


title: International broadcasting

text: The reach of RSS and email for international broadcasters is not really known that well, especially considering that emails get forwarded. The numbers for active RSS and email audiences are probably 5 to 20 times larger than for streaming video. It may take into the 2010s to get meaningful numbers with respect to the size of these audiences for assorted technical reasons related to the RSS and email technologies.


title: International broadcasting

text: Email and RSS feeds can traverse telecommunications barriers that streaming video cannot, thus the larger expected audience numbers. The global economic downturn of 2008-2009 will probably increase the email and RSS audience sizes as fewer people will be able to afford high speed internet connections in North America, Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions.


title: International broadcasting

text: An international broadcaster may have the technical means of reaching a foreign audience, but unless the foreign audience has a reason to listen, the effectiveness of the broadcaster is in question.


title: International broadcasting

text: One of the most common foreign audiences consists of expatriates, who cannot listen to radio or watch television programs from home. Another common audience is radio hobbyists, who attempt to listen to as many countries as possible and obtain verification cards or letters ("QSLs"). These audiences send letters and in response few radio stations write them back. These kind of Listeners often take part in weekly and monthly quizzes and contests started by many radio stations. A third audience consists of journalists, government officials, and key businesspersons, who exert a disproportionate influence on a state's foreign or economic policy.


title: International broadcasting

text: A fourth, but less publicized audience, consists of intelligence officers and agents who monitor broadcasts for both open-source intelligence clues to the broadcasting state's policies and for hidden messages to foreign agents operating in the receiving country. The BBC started its monitoring service in Caversham, Reading in 1936 (now BBC Monitoring). In the United States, the DNI Open Source Center (formerly the Central Intelligence Agency's Foreign Broadcast Information Service) provides the same service. Copies of OSC/FBIS reports can be found in many U.S. libraries that serve as government depositories. In addition, a number of hobbyists listen and report "spook" transmissions.


title: International broadcasting

text: Without these four audiences, international broadcasters face difficulty in getting funding. In 2001, for example, the BBC World Service stopped transmitting shortwave broadcasts to North America, and other international broadcasters, such as YLE Radio Finland, stopped certain foreign-language programs.


title: International broadcasting

text: However, international broadcasting has been successful when a country does not provide programming wanted by a wide segment of the population. In the 1960s, when there was no BBC service playing rock and roll, Radio Television Luxembourg (RTL) broadcast rock and roll, including bands such as the Beatles, into the United Kingdom. Similar programming came from an unlicensed, or "pirate" station, Radio Caroline, which broadcast from a ship in the international waters of the North Sea.


title: International broadcasting

text: In many cases, governments do not want their citizens listening to international broadcasters. In Nazi Germany, a major propaganda campaign, backed by law and prison sentences, attempted to discourage Germans from listening to such stations. The practice was made illegal in 1939. In addition, the German government sold a cheap, "People's Receiver", as well as an even cheaper receiver, that could not pick up distant signals well.


title: International broadcasting

text: The idea was copied by Stalin's Soviet Union, which had a nearly identical copy manufactured in the Tesla factory in Czechoslovakia.


title: International broadcasting

text: The most common method of preventing reception is jamming, or broadcasting a signal on the same frequencies as the international broadcaster. Germany jammed the BBC European service during the Second World War. Russian and Eastern European jammers were aimed against Radio Free Europe, other Western broadcasters, and against Chinese broadcasters during the nadir of Sino-Soviet relations. In 2002, the Cuban government jammed the Voice of America's Radio Martí program and the Chinese government jammed Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, Radio Taiwan International as well broadcasts made by adherents of Falun Gong.


title: International broadcasting

text: North Korea restricts most people to a single fixed frequency mediumwave receiver; those who met political requirements and whose work absolutely required familiarity with events abroad were allowed shortwave receivers. Another method of reaching people with government radio programming, but not foreign programming, is the use of radio broadcasting by direct broadcasting to loudspeakers.


title: International broadcasting

text: David Jackson, director of the Voice of America, noted "The North Korean government doesn't jam us, but they try to keep people from listening through intimidation or worse. But people figure out ways to listen despite the odds. They're very resourceful."


title: International broadcasting

text: Yet another method of preventing reception involves moving a domestic station to the frequency used by the international broadcaster. During the Batista government of Cuba, and during the Castro years, Cuban medium-wave stations broadcast on the frequencies of popular South Florida stations. In October 2002, Iraq changed frequencies of two stations to block the Voice of America's Radio Sawa program.


title: International broadcasting

text: Jamming can be defeated by using very efficient transmitting antennas, carefully choosing the transmitted frequency, changing transmitted frequency often, using single sideband, and properly aiming the receiving antenna.


title: Ninth House

text: Ninth House is a paranormal fantasy novel by American author Leigh Bardugo, published by Flatiron Books in 2019.


title: Ninth House

text: The novel follows unlikely Yale University freshman 20-year-old Galaxy "Alex" Stern, a high school drop out and homicide survivor who can see ghosts, called "Grays". Alex is mysteriously offered a full ride to university following her trauma despite her background and lack of qualifications. She attempts to navigate her new life at the Ivy League while tasked by her benefactor with monitoring the eight Houses of the Veil, secret societies that harbor dark occult magic and power, as a member of Lethe, the ninth house.


title: Ninth House

text: The novel is Bardugo's first adult novel and, beyond the fantasy elements, is largely inspired by her time at Yale University. Bardugo became inspired upon discovering the tombs of Yale's secret societies as she walked down New Haven's Grove Street during her freshman year. When her friend sent her pictures from their time at Yale years later, Bardugo was struck with memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, which inspired her to explore trauma for this novel but also companionship through it. The "ninth house" in the novel is based on the Anderson Mansion, the real-life New Haven headquarters of the Yale secret society Shabtai.


title: Ninth House

text: Award-winning horror author Stephen King called "Ninth House" "the best fantasy novel I've read in years, because it's about real people. Bardugo's imaginative reach is brilliant, and this story―full of shocks and twists―is impossible to put down." It also received endorsements from fellow authors Lev Grossman, Kelly Link, Joe Hill, and Charlaine Harris.


title: Ninth House

text: On October 10, 2019, two days after the novel's release, it was announced Amazon Studios would adapt "Ninth House" as a TV series. Leigh Bardugo is set to executive produce the project alongside Pouya Shahbazian.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar (International title: "Saloni") is a Hindi television serial that was broadcast on Zee TV from 17 October 2005 to 28 May 2009. The story focuses on Saloni, who faces social discrimination because of her dark skin. The series starred Rajshree Thakur and Sharad Kelkar.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: The story revolves around the life of Saloni, who despite being dark-skinned, sets out to prove that it doesn't matter what skin colour you might be. She marries Nahar and begins her journey fulfilling the seven rounds she took at her marriage. Saloni faces many problems, particularly, discrimination for her skin colour.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: However she is talented and sets out on a journey, to create an identity for herself. She faces many enemies such as Kaveri, Karan, Kuki Kaki, Padam, Chandni / Devika, Urvashi, Abhi, Varun and more. The series is titled Saat Phere in the context of seven rounds a couple takes at their wedding. This is Saloni's journey and after generation leap, her daughter Savri also faces many obstacles, in the end Saloni is reunited with her family and her daughters get married.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: In November 2008, the shootings and telecast of all the Hindi television series including this series and films were stalled on 8 November 2008 due to dispute by the technician workers of FWICE (Federation of Western India Cine Employees) for increasing the wages, better work conditions and more breaks between shootings. FWICE first took a strike on 1 October 2008 when they addressed their problems with the producers and production was stalled. A contract was signed after four days discussions and shooting were happening only for two hours content in a day then after which differences increased between them while channels gave them time until 30 October 2008 to sort it out. Failing to do so lead to protests again from 10 November 2008 to 19 November 2008 during which channels blacked out new broadcasts and repeat telecasts were shown from 10 November 2008. On 19 November 2008, the strike was called off after settling the disputes and the production resumed. The new episodes started to telecast from 1 December 2008.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: Lead Sharad Kelkar was supposed to shoot for only 30 episodes for the series. But, good response for the series made him to continue until he quit before the generation leap. However, he returned to the series for the finale episode.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: In October 2008, lead Rajshree Thakur confirmed quitting the show to spend time with her family and quit along with Kelkar when the series took a generation leap in April end of 2009. In April 2009, the series took a generation leap with addition of new casts, with story focussing on lead character Saloni's children when Rachana Parulkar was cast as Saawri.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: The series which was one of the top rated show for a long time with more than 6+ TVR. Later, when the ratings dipped, a generation leap was taken which was also unsuccessful in increasing the ratings as before which made channel to end the series in the same month after it. Speaking about ending the series, Producer Sunjoy Wadhwa said, ""Saat Phere" was Saloni’s story. The leap meant regenerating a story from scratch, which isn’t working for us. So, it’s best to end it now" and stated its ended on 22 May 2009. However, it ended on 28 May 2009.


title: Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar

text: Initially, it ranged between 1.8-2 TVR. Within a month it started averaging 2-3 TVR and then gradually increased until ranging 6+TVR during 2006 becoming one of the most watched Hindi GEC. In April and May, it averaged 4.44 TVR overall. In December 2006, it garnered 5.1 TVR. In week ending 17 March 2007, it garnered 1.59 TVR. As in July 2007, it averaged 3.4 TVR.


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: Lieutenant general (Lt Gen), formerly more commonly lieutenant-general, is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines. It is the equivalent of a multinational three-star rank; some British lieutenant generals sometimes wear three-star insignia, in addition to their standard insignia, when on multinational operations.


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: Lieutenant general is a superior rank to major general, but subordinate to a (full) general. The rank has a NATO rank code of OF-8, equivalent to a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy and an air marshal in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries.


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: The rank insignia for both the Army and the Royal Marines is a crown over a crossed sabre and baton. Since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the St Edward's Crown, commonly known as the Queen's Crown, has been depicted. Before 1953, the Tudor Crown, commonly known as the King's Crown, was used.


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: Ordinarily, lieutenant general is the rank held by the officer in command of an entire battlefield corps. The General Officer Commanding NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps is a British lieutenant general. Historically, I Corps and II Corps were commanded by British lieutenant generals. Additionally, three lieutenant general appointments also exist within the extant British Army's Headquarters. They are the Commander Field Army, the Commander Home Command and the Chief of Materiel (Land) in Defence Equipment and Support (double-hatted as the Quartermaster-General to the Forces).


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: Although the senior appointment in the Royal Marines, the Commandant General, has since 1996 held the lower rank of major general, prior to this date the Commandant General was a lieutenant general or full general. However, given that a few more senior positions in the British Armed Forces are open to officers from different services, Royal Marines officers can and do reach the rank of lieutenant general, being posted to Joint Forces or Ministry of Defence postings. Examples include Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Fry, Lieutenant-General Sir James Dutton and Lieutenant-General Sir David Capewell.


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of lieutenant general. It was superseded by the rank of air marshal on the following day. Although Sir David Henderson was an RAF lieutenant general, the then RAF Chief-of-Staff Sir Hugh Trenchard never held this rank. Additionally, the retired Royal Navy admiral John de Mestre Hutchison held an honorary RAF commission in the rank of lieutenant general.


title: Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)

text: The RAF lieutenant general rank insignia was similar to the naval rank insignia for a vice-admiral, with a broad band of gold being worn on the cuff with two narrower bands above it. Unlike the naval insignia, the RAF lieutenant general insignia did not have an executive curl.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk is a 1989 American television superhero film based on the 1978–1982 television series "The Incredible Hulk" featuring both the Hulk and fellow Marvel Comics character Daredevil, who team up to defeat Wilson Fisk. As was the case with "The Incredible Hulk Returns", this television movie also acted as a backdoor television pilot for a series, in this case, for Daredevil (which was not produced). It was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" was directed by and starring Bill Bixby. Also starring are Lou Ferrigno, Rex Smith and John Rhys-Davies. Despite the film's title, writer/executive producer Gerald Di Pego has stated that the idea of having the Hulk actually go on trial was never even discussed.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: On the run again after the events of the previous TV movie, a disenchanted and overwhelmed David Banner is working up north under the name David Belson. A bully pushes him around and David is tempted to fight him, but, knowing he will just turn into the Hulk again, he walks away.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: Later, David makes his way toward a large city with the hopes of renting a room and staying incognito. Unbeknownst to him, the city he arrives in is under the control of a powerful underworld crime boss named Wilson Fisk but is also protected by a mysterious black-clad crimefighter known as Daredevil. When two of Fisk's men come onto the commuter subway train after having committed a jewel robbery, one of them takes an interest in a woman also riding the train, but she rejects him. David witnesses the assault and transforms into the Hulk, which results in the usual disruption and chaos. A short while later, David is arrested by the police and wrongfully charged with the crime.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: While awaiting trial, blind defense attorney Matt Murdock is assigned to David's case. David is uncooperative, but Murdock has faith that he is innocent and is determined to prove so. Meanwhile, Fisk has the victim Ellie Mendez from the subway abducted from protective custody. Fisk plans a major meeting of underworld crime bosses in order to propose the consolidation of their operations into a syndicate with himself as chairman. One night while asleep in jail, David has a nightmare about his upcoming trial and dreams about transforming into the Hulk on the witness stand. The stress of this causes him to transform in reality, and the Hulk breaks out of prison.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: Subsequent events see David Banner team up with Daredevil who reveals his identity as Matt Murdock. Matt tells David about his origins which David initially has trouble accepting. Daredevil also reveals that he has an ally on the police force who provides him with information relating to criminal activity. Daredevil goes to investigate a tip provided by his informant, but the tip was planted by Wilson Fisk, using Ellie Mendez as bait in a trap. Daredevil is badly injured in an ambush by Fisk's men before David rushes to save Matt subsequently transforming into the Hulk who saves Matt in time from Fisk and his men, who flee the scene. Matt, barely conscious, traces the Hulk's face as he transforms back to David, thus learning David's secret.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: Using his training as a medical doctor, David treats Matt's injuries and spreads a cover story about Matt's injuries being the result of falling down stairs. While Matt's self-confidence is seriously shaken, David's confidence has been restored by seeing how Matt has embraced his unique gifts, which are also caused by exposure to radiation. After a little coaxing from David, Matt begins to recover and retrain his body. Soon enough, the two return to work and go to save Ellie Mendez with assistance from Fisks sympathetic right hand Edgar. The two engage Wilson Fisk and his men and ultimately succeed in besting him, without the Hulk appearing. Fisk and Edgar escape, and Ellie Mendez is freed.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: David and Matt part ways as friends. David continues his search of a cure for himself, and Matt remains in the city to protect it.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" began the long history of discreet live-action cameo appearances by Stan Lee, co-creator of the Hulk. He is the jury foreman in the dream sequence. It is not, however, the first cameo appearance by a Marvel creator. Jack Kirby had already made an uncredited cameo appearance in the 1979 "Incredible Hulk" episode "No Escape".


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: Though it did not succeed in giving birth to a Daredevil television series, "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk" garnered very high ratings.


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: Viewers were less enthusiastic about it than "The Incredible Hulk Returns". The most common criticisms were the absence of the Hulk himself from the final act and the misleading title (the "trial" only takes place in a dream sequence).


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: In a retrospective review for the Radio Times Guide to Films, film critic Narinder Flora awarded the film two stars out of five, calling it "tame action fare" with "all the hallmarks of an idea that has run out of steam".


title: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

text: This television film was released on VHS by Starmaker Videos in December 1992. It was re-released by Image Entertainment on October 11, 2011.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Train to Pakistan is a historical novel by writer Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. It recounts the Partition of India in August 1947 through the perspective of Mano Majra, a fictional border village.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Instead of depicting the Partition in terms of only the political events surrounding it, Khushwant Singh digs into a deep local focus, providing a human dimension which brings to the event a sense of reality, horror, and believability.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Mano Majra, the fictional village on the border of Pakistan and India in which the story takes place, is predominantly Muslim and Sikh. Singh shows how they lived in a bubble, surrounded by mobs of Muslims who hate Sikhs and mobs of Sikhs who hate Muslims, while in the village they had always lived together peacefully. Villagers were in the dark about happenings of larger scope than the village outskirts, gaining much of their information through rumor and word of mouth. This made them especially susceptible to outside views. Upon learning that the government was planning to transport Muslims from Mano Majra to Pakistan the next day for their safety, one Muslim said, “What have we to do with Pakistan? We were born here. So were our ancestors. We have lived amongst [Sikhs] as brothers” (126). Juggut Singh, a local Sikh tough, has a Muslim lover Nooran, who leaves for the refugee camp. After the Muslims leave to a refugee camp from where they will eventually go to Pakistan, a group of religious agitators comes to Mano Majra and instills in the local Sikhs a hatred for Muslims and convinces a local gang to attempt mass murder as the Muslims leave on their train to Pakistan. Juggut, knowing Nooran is in one of the rail-cars, acts on instinct and sacrifices his life to save the train.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: In a relatively short book, the reader gets to know a lot of characters in detail. Examination of the varied groups of people not only increases cultural and social understanding of that time and place, but also shows that the blame could not be placed on any one group; all were responsible.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: If groups of people are examined on a closer level than their religious attachments, a more detailed social structure emerges. Government officials were corrupt, manipulative of villagers, and could arrest anyone they chose for any reason, more often than not for their own benefit. They did just enough in terms of dealing with the dispute so that nobody could say that they did not do anything. The law enforcement was completely at the whim of the local government, meaning that in practice, there was no law. Also, small amounts of educated people trickled in and out of villages, trying to instill in people democratic, communist, or other western ideologies, though the common people were turned off and confused by their unorthodoxy. When one such educated man was speaking to a villager about freedom, the villager explained,


title: Train to Pakistan

text: To better understand the situation surrounding the partition of India, Singh provides information about both religions involved.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: The book sheds light on the various religious practices of both Sikhs and Muslims in rural India. Singh describes daily life for individuals from both practices. For example, Singh describes the practice of prayer for Muslims.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: “The mullah at the mosque knows that it is time for the morning prayer. He has a quick wash, stands facing west towards Mecca and with his fingers in his ears cries in long sonorous notes, "Allah-o-Akbar" (4)”


title: Train to Pakistan

text: “The priest at the Sikh temple lies in bed till the mullah has called. Then he too gets up, draws a bucket of water from the well in the temple courtyard, pours it over himself, and intones his prayer in monotonous singsong to the sound of splashing water (5)"".


title: Train to Pakistan

text: The story is an extract from the novel published in 1956. It talks about how partition affected a small village where people from all religions and sects once lived in harmony. More than giving the details of partition, singh has recounted what impact it had on people. In addition to giving an understanding of human actions and pointing out that everyone was responsible, Singh makes a background moral commentary which bubbles up through main characters in their thoughts and their actions. Hukum Chand is the District magistrate, and one of the main characters in the story. It becomes apparent that he is a man in moral conflict who has probably used his power over the years with much corruption. He is often described with a dirty physical appearance as if he is overwhelmed with unclean actions and sins, and is just as often trying to wash himself of them, similar to Pontius Pilate after Christ was condemned. Hukum Chand’s ethical issues are shown in one of repeated encounters he has with two geckos, which likely represent Muslims and Hindus in conflict, on the verge of fighting each other. When they start fighting, they fall right next to him, and he panics. The guilt he gets from not helping when he has more than enough power to do so literally jumps onto him.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Alcoholism is another tool Hukum Chand uses in attempt to clean his conscience. He feels the guilt of his actions by day and relieved of them by night, when his alcohol is able to justify trysts with a teenage prostitute the same age as his deceased daughter. In all his conflictions, he is able to acknowledge that what he is doing is bad, but is still unable to promote good.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: The two other main characters that are given a lot of attention are Iqbal Singh and Juggut Singh, and are likely meant to be contrasted. Iqbal is described as a slightly effeminate, well-educated and atheist social worker from Britain who thinks politically (and cynically). Juggut is a towering, muscular, and uneducated villager who places action over thought and is known for frequent arrests and gang problems. As if to warm them up for comparison, they were both arrested for the same murder they did not commit, and were placed in adjacent cells. Upon their release, they learned that a gang was planning to attack the train taking Mano Majra’s Muslim population to Pakistan and kill the passengers; Juggut's Muslim lover Nooran is also supposed to be on that train. They each had the potential to save the train, though it was recognized that this may cost their lives. Juggut, nevertheless, acts on instinct and sacrifices his life to save the train. Iqbal spends pages wondering to himself whether he should do something, exposing a moral paradox on the way:


title: Train to Pakistan

text: It is important to note that Iqbal or the learned people are less of action, while the people of Juggat's breed are less about talking.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: “The bullet is neutral. It hits the good and the bad, the important and the insignificant, without distinction. If there were people to see the act of self-immolation…the sacrifice might be worth while: a moral lesson might be conveyed…the point of sacrifice…is the purpose. For the purpose, it is not enough that a thing is intrinsically good: it must be known to be good. It is not enough to know within one’s self that one is in the right” (170).


title: Train to Pakistan

text: The questions of right versus wrong which Singh poses throughout the book are numerous, including those of what one should do when one has the opportunity to prevent something bad, when an act of goodwill is truly worthwhile, and how much importance is the consciousness of the bad. Train to Pakistan, with its multiple gruesome and explicit accounts of death, torture, and rape for the public to read, makes the case that people do need to know about the bad.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Khushwant Singh does not describe the politics of the Partition in much detail. This is mostly because his purpose is to bring out the individual, human element and provide a social understanding, two aspects of historical events which tend to be either ignored or not covered effectively in texts. In the Partition, the major change was political; the partition of India into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. The effect of the change, however, was significant and as Singh has shown, frighteningly, social, as religious groups rearranged and clashed violently. Singh makes it clear that many people played a part in this chaos and everyone was equally worthy of blame, all while integrating examples of the sheer moral confusion which arises from trying to make sense of an event as momentous as the Partition.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: He is a political agitator who encourages peasants to demand more political and economic rights. He identifies himself as a "comrade" which suggest that he is part of the Communist organization. Iqbal is a Sikh, given his last name and the band he wears, but does not practice the religion anymore. He is portrayed throughout the novel as Muslim. Iqbal has an affinity for English costumes and practices, "his countrymen's code of morals had always puzzled him, whit his anglicized way of looking at things. The Punjabi's code was even more baffling. For them truth, honor, financial integrity were 'all right'" (41).


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Jugga is described as a "budmash", a bad man, by others but ultimately becomes a hero. One of the central protagonists and in many ways a foil to Iqbal, Jugga seeks to redeem himself over the course of the novel. He’s framed for the dacoity, used as a scapegoat for the police, and abused by many in Mano Majra. But Jugga is also an honest man, and he tends to change his ways once he falls in love with Nooran. His crude language and wordplay often contradicts his inner morality: “I was out of the village . . . but was not murdering anyone. I was being murdered” (106). (I.e., “being murdered” here refers to his sexual relationship with Nooran.) He is large in frame (6 foot, 4 inches tall) and is prone to violent tendencies.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Hukum Chand is the deputy commissioner in Mano Majra and has authority over the sub-inspector and the head constable. His daughter, along with other members of his family, have died, but it's not clear how. Her death deeply affects him and fuels his detached, utilitarian style of policing; he centers on saving as many lives as possible, at any cost. This includes restricting the freedom of the people to keep them safe (i.e., imprisoning Jugga and Iqbal despite knowing that they are innocent).


title: Train to Pakistan

text: He is described as depressed and he is deeply marked by the violence of the Partition. For example, when Chand is reflecting on the train massacre, he focuses on his memories of the bodies: they haunt him despite his efforts to remove them from his mind. Furthermore, he is obsessed with death, viewing it as “the only absolute truth"; he is afraid that when someone dies, their existence no longer matters. When he recalls the train, he can only imagine the utter terror felt by the passengers, which manifests in a belief that life must be made as pleasurable as possible through hedonistic behaviors.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: A movie based on this novel and having the same title "Train to Pakistan" was released in 1998. It was directed by Pamela Rooks and this movie was nominated in Cinequest Film Festival, 1999 in the best feature film category. Nirmal pandey, Mohan Agashe, Rajit Kapoor, Smriti Mishra, Divya Dutta, Mangal Dhillon were the main cast of this movie.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: A play based on this novel and having the same title "Train to Pakistan", however the first chapter "Dacoity" was staged at Lamakaan - an open cultural space in Hyderabad, India. The play was staged by a theatre group called Aami. The play was adapted and directed by Krishna Shukla. This play was staged three times, the latest being on 26 August 2014.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: A Hindi play translated by Usha Mahajan, dramatized by Suman Kumar and directed by Amar Sah (Amar Nath Sah) was staged by Bela Theatre Karwaan on December 29, 2019 at Kamani Auditorium (Mandi House, Delhi), January 10, 2020 and last production on January 23, 2020. It received standing ovation on each show.


title: Train to Pakistan

text: Roli Books in New Delhi published a new edition of the novel together with 66 of Margaret Bourke-White's photographs of the violence. In late 2006, Roli was hoping to find an international distributor for the edition at the Frankfurt Book Fair (in October, 2006).


title: Train to Pakistan

text: "Train to Pakistan" has also translated into the Kannada(ಕನ್ನಡ) and Tamil languages as same titled by Dr.M B Ramamurthy and Raman Raja respectively. In 1976, it was translated into Telugu (తెలుగు) by Late Akundi Narayana Murthy. Prior to bringing into book form, it was serialized in the then popular Telugu Magazine Krishna Patrika.


title: Solidago

text: Solidago, commonly called goldenrods, is a genus of about 100 to 120 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Most are herbaceous perennial species found in open areas such as meadows, prairies, and savannas. They are mostly native to North America, including Mexico; a few species are native to South America and Eurasia. Some American species have also been introduced into Europe and other parts of the world.


title: Solidago

text: "Solidago" species are perennials growing from woody caudices or rhizomes. Their stems range from decumbent (crawling) to ascending or erect, with a range of heights going from to over a meter. Most species are unbranched, but some do display branching in the upper part of the plant. Both leaves and stems vary from glabrous (hairless) to various forms of pubescence (strigose, strigillose, hispid, stipitate-glandular or villous). In some species, the basal leaves are shed before flowering. The leaf margins are most commonly entire, but often display heavier serration. Some leaves may display trinerved venation rather than the pinnate venation usual across Asteraceae. The flower is also the state flower of Kentucky.


title: Solidago

text: The flower heads are usually of the radiate type (typical daisy flower heads with distinct ray and disc florets) but sometimes discoid (with only disc florets of mixed, sterile, male and types). Only ray florets are female, others are male, hermaphroditic or entire sterile. Head involucres are campanulate to cylindric or attenuate. Floret corollas are usually yellow, but white in the ray florets of a few species (such as "Solidago bicolor"); they are typically hairless. Heads usually include between 2 and 35 disc florets, but in some species this may go up to 60. Filaments are inserted closer to the base of the corolla than its middle. Numerous heads are usually grouped in complex compound inflorescences where heads are arranged in multiple racemes, panicles, corymbs, or secund arrays (with florets all on the same side).


title: Solidago

text: "Solidago" cypselae are narrowly obconic to cylindrical in shape, and they are sometimes somewhat compressed. They have eight to 10 ribs usually and are hairless or moderately hispid. The pappus is very big with barbellate bristles.


title: Solidago

text: The many goldenrod species can be difficult to distinguish, due to their similar bright, golden-yellow flower heads that bloom in late summer. Propagation is by wind-disseminated seeds or by spreading underground rhizomes which can form colonies of vegetative clones of a single plant. They are mostly short-day plants and bloom in late summer and early fall. Some species produce abundant nectar when moisture is plentiful, or when the weather is warm and sunny.


title: Solidago

text: The section "Ptarmicoidei" is sometimes treated as a separate genus "Oligoneuron", and is dropped by flat-topped to rounded corymbiform flowerheads.


title: Solidago

text: "Solidago" is in the family Asteraceae (formerly known as Compositae), a diverse and widespread clade containing approximately 23,000 species and 12 tribes, which inhabit all continents except Antarctica. Within Asteraceae, "Solidago" is in the tribe Astereae and the subtribe Solidagininaeae.


title: Solidago

text: The genus "Solidago" is monophyletic as indicated by morphological characters and molecular evidence. All "Solidago" species are herbaceous perennials, growing from approximately 2 cm to 2.5 m tall. Yellow to white, pistillate ray flowers and yellow, perfect disc florets are characteristic of "Solidago" inflorescences, which have a wide range of shapes. Molecular studies using nuclear rDNA have hypothesized boundaries on the genus "Solidago", but there have been difficulties in parsing out evolutionary relationships at the sub-genus scale and defining which should be included and separated from "Solidago".


title: Solidago

text: Related Asteraceae genera, such as "Chrysoma", "Euthamia", and "Oreochrysum", have been included within "Solidago" at one point or another, but morphological evidence has suggested otherwise. In a study comparing morphological characters of "Solidago" and related subgroups, the authors consider the subjectivity of classifying a genus and how to define it within broader tendencies concerning the taxonomy of North American Asteraceae. Little to no differences were observed between "Solidago" and the subgroups in terms of karyotype. However, external morphological characters such as habit, or the general appearance of the plant and how a suite of traits contribute to its phenotype; pappus size; and the point of freeing of stamen filaments from the corolla tube, are useful classification schemes for "Solidago", since they are applied to differentiating between Asteraceae taxa. One school of Asteraceae taxonomy thought unites all taxa sharing similar floral head structure and subsequently ignores deviation from this morphology, while another places greater weight on these morphological deviations. The authors argue that the latter opinion should be applied. Since there is no theoretical foundation for relative taxonomic importance of traits, they assert that habit should be a central trait when defining taxa, and subsequently that all the subgroups considered in their study ("Brachychaeta", "Chrysoma", "Euthamia", "Oligoneuron", and "Petradoria") should be segregated from "Solidago".


title: Solidago

text: Results from a leaf anatomy study comparing differences in mesophyll, bundle sheath extensions, and midvein structure, among others in a suite of leaf traits, are incongruent with those in an earlier study. Based on the lack of bundle sheath extensions, it is suggested that "Chrysoma", "Euthamia", "Gundlachia", and "Petradoria" should be distinct taxa and outside of "Solidago". However, "Brachychaeta", "Brintonia", "Oligoneuron", "Oreochrysum", and "Aster" should be considered as components of "Solidago". To summarize, the relation of "Brachychaeta" and "Oligoneuron" to "Solidago" is inconsistent based on these results. Both support the separation of "Chrysoma", "Euthamia", and "Petradoria" from "Solidago". A study reviews the taxonomic position of "Oligoneuron" relative to "Solidago", as based on taxonomic evidence, treats it as separate from "Solidago", similarly to Kapoor & Beaudry (1966). The first molecular phylogeny based on chloroplast DNA treats "Brachychaeta", "Brintonia", "Oligoneuron", and "Oreochrysum" as constituents of "Solidago". Using consensus trees from ITS data, another study found support for "Oligoneuron" as part of "Solidago", and the findings of Zhang (1996). More recently, an analysis of combined ITS and ETS data provided additional support for the inclusion of "Oligoneuron" as part of "Solidago".


title: Solidago

text: Until the 1980s, the genus "Euthamia" was largely considered to be a part of "Solidago" due to morphological similarities between species in both genera, and a history of synonymy of "Solidago lanceolata" and "Euthamia graminifolia". As mentioned, the lack of bundle sheath extensions in "Euthamia" compared to "Solidago", and deviations in floral morphology present evidence for separation of these taxa. A taxonomy of "Euthamia" as a genus was presented, providing a detailed description of distinguishing external morphological characters, such as fibrous-roots, sessile leaves, and mostly corymbiform inflorescences.


title: Solidago

text: Chromosome counts and advances in molecular systematics have enabled greater understanding of evolutionary relationships within "Solidago". At the time a taxonomy of "Solidago" was published, related taxa causing contention, such as "Chrysoma", "Euthamia", "Oligoneuron", and "Petradoria", were excluded from this genus. The number of "Solidago" species has remained relatively stable, around 120, with approximately 80 in North America. Due to monophyletic support for the New World taxa and taxonomic difficulties with Old World taxa, the taxonomy provided in the 1990s only includes North American taxa and thus treats "Solidago" as non-monophyletic. Existing molecular-based phylogenies provide monophyletic support for "Solidago" given its inclusion of "Oligoneuron".


title: Solidago

text: Chromosome counts have proven to be a valuable character in "Solidago" taxonomy and in elucidating the cytogeographic history of the genus. Similar chromosome counts may indicate close evolutionary relationships, while different chromosome numbers may suggest distant relationships through reproductive isolation. Chromosome counts have been studied extensively in North America; all "Solidago" species have a base chromosome number of x=9, but the following ploidy levels have been observed: 2x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 10x, 12x, and 14x.


title: Solidago

text: Though negligible differences in karyotype among "Solidago" and related genera were found, "Solidago" taxa with multiple cytotypes are more common than those with one. Although chromosome count is a useful metric for differentiating among "Solidago" taxa, it may be problematic due to the frequent variation in ploidy levels. Cytogeographic patterns in the "Solidago gigantea" complex, with tetraploids occurring in eastern North America and hexaploids in Oregon and Washington, were observed. Cytogeographic patterns are also observed in the "Solidago canadensis" complex: hexaploids within "S. canadensis" have been observed east of the Great Plains and are treated as "Solidago altissima", and diploids and tetraploids occurring in the Great Plains are treated as "Solidago gilvocanescens". The taxonomic status of "Solidago ptarmicoides" created an extensive debate due to frequency hybridization of "S. ptarmicoides" with members of the "Ptarmicoidei" section of "Solidago". It was asserted that "S. ptarmicoides" should be united with "Solidago" rather than the genus "Aster" due to external morphological features such as similar pappus length as well as the same chromosome base (x=9). Information about chromosome number is still a crucial part of current understanding and phylogenies of "Solidago".


title: Solidago

text: Young goldenrod leaves are edible. Traditionally, Native Americans use the seeds of some species for food. Herbal teas are sometimes made with goldenrod.


title: Solidago

text: Goldenrod often is inaccurately said to cause hay fever in humans. The pollen causing this allergic reaction is produced mainly by ragweed ("Ambrosia" sp.), blooming at the same time as the goldenrod and pollinated by wind. Goldenrod pollen is too heavy and sticky to be blown far from the flowers, and is pollinated mainly by insects. Frequent handling of goldenrod and other flowers, however, can cause allergic reactions, sometimes irritating enough to force florists to change occupation. Goldenrods are attractive sources of nectar for bees, flies, wasps, and butterflies. Honey from goldenrods often is dark and strong because of admixtures of other nectars. However, when honey flow is strong, a light (often water-clear), spicy-tasting monofloral honey is produced. While the bees are ripening the honey produced from goldenrods, it has a rank odour and taste; the finished honey is much milder.


title: Solidago

text: Goldenrods are, in some places, considered a sign of good luck or good fortune. They are considered weeds by many in North America, but they are prized as garden plants in Europe, where British gardeners adopted goldenrod as a garden subject. Goldenrod began to gain some acceptance in U.S. gardening (other than wildflower gardening) during the 1980s.


title: Solidago

text: They have become invasive species in many other parts of the world, including China, Japan, Europe and Africa. "Solidago canadensis", which was introduced as a garden plant in Central Europe, has become common in the wild, and in Germany is considered an invasive species that displaces native vegetation from its natural habitat.


title: Solidago

text: Goldenrod species are used as a food source by the larvae of many Lepidoptera species. The invading larva may induce the plant to form a bulbous tissue mass called a gall around it, upon which the larva then feeds. Various parasitoid wasps find these galls and lay eggs in the larvae, penetrating the bulb with their ovipositors. Woodpeckers are known to peck open the galls and eat the insects in the center.


title: Solidago

text: Cultivated goldenrods include "S. bicolor", "S. caesia", "S. canadensis", "S. cutleri", "S. riddellii," "S. rigida", "S. shortii", and "S. virgaurea".


title: Solidago

text: A number of cultivars have been selected, including several of hybrid origin. A putative hybrid with aster, known as ×"Solidaster" is less unruly, with pale yellow flowers, equally suitable for dried arrangements. Molecular and other evidence points to ×"Solidaster" (at least the cultivar 'Lemore') being a hybrid of "Solidago ptarmicoides" and "Solidago canadensis", the former now in "Solidago", but likely the "aster" in question.


title: Solidago

text: Inventor Thomas Edison experimented with goldenrod to produce rubber, which it contains naturally. Edison created a fertilization and cultivation process to maximize the rubber content in each plant. His experiments produced a plant that yielded as much as 12% rubber. The tires on the Model T given to him by his friend Henry Ford were made from goldenrod. Like George Washington Carver, Henry Ford was deeply interested in the regenerative properties of soil and the potential of alternative crops such as peanuts and soybeans to produce plastics, paint, fuel and other products. Ford had long believed that the world would eventually need a substitute for gasoline, and supported the production of ethanol (or grain alcohol) as an alternative fuel. In 1942, he would showcase a car with a lightweight plastic body made from soybeans. Ford and Carver began corresponding via letter in 1934, and their mutual admiration deepened after George Washington Carver made a visit to Michigan in 1937. As Douglas Brinkley writes in "Wheels for the World", his history of Ford, the automaker donated generously to the Tuskegee Institute, helping finance Carver's experiments, and Carver in turn spent a period of time helping to oversee crops at the Ford plantation in Ways, Georgia.


title: Solidago

text: By the time World War II began, Ford had made repeated journeys to Tuskegee to convince George Washington Carver to come to Dearborn and help him develop a synthetic rubber to help compensate for wartime rubber shortages. Carver arrived on July 19, 1942, and set up a laboratory in an old water works building in Dearborn. He and Ford experimented with different crops, including sweet potatoes and dandelions, eventually devising a way to make the rubber substitute from goldenrod, a plant weed commercially viable. Carver died in January 1943, Ford in April 1947, but the relationship between their two institutions continued to flourish: As recently as the late 1990s, Ford awarded grants of $4 million over two years to the George Washington Carver School at Tuskegee.


title: Solidago

text: Extensive process development was conducted during World War II to commercialize goldenrod as a source of rubber. The rubber is only contained in the leaves, not the stems or blooms. Typical rubber content of the leaves is 7%. The resulting rubber is of low molecular weight, resulting in an excessively tacky compound with poor tensile properties.


title: Solidago

text: "Solidago virgaurea" is used in a traditional kidney tonic by practitioners of herbal medicine to counter inflammation and irritation caused by bacterial infections or kidney stones. Goldenrod is also used in some formulas for cleansing of the kidney or bladder during a healing fast, in conjunction with potassium broth and specific juices. Some Native American cultures traditionally chew the leaves to relieve sore throats, and the roots to relieve toothaches.


title: Solidago

text: In various assessments by the European Medicines Agency with respect to "Solidago virgaurea", non-clinical data shows diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic and spasmolytic, antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer and immunomodulatory activity. However, as no single ingredient is responsible for these effects, the whole herbal preparation of "Solidago" inflorescences must be considered as the active ingredient.


title: Solidago

text: The goldenrod is the state flower of the U.S. states of Kentucky (adopted 1926) and Nebraska (adopted 1895). "Solidago altissima", tall goldenrod, was named the state wildflower of South Carolina in 2003. The sweet goldenrod ("Solidago odora") is the state herb of Delaware. Goldenrod was the state flower of Alabama, but it was later rejected in favor of the camellia.


title: Solidago

text: Numerous species formerly considered members of "Solidago" are now regarded as better suited to other genera, including "Brintonia, Duhaldea, Euthamia, Gundlachia, Inula, Jacobaea, Leptostelma, Olearia, Psiadia, Senecio, Sphagneticola, Symphyotrichum, Trixis," and "Xylothamia".


title: People's National Party

text: The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local government divisions. The party is democratic socialist by constitution.


title: People's National Party

text: The PNP uses the hatted head, the rising sun, the fist, the trumpet and the colours orange, red and yellow as electoral symbols.


title: People's National Party

text: The party is a member of COPPPAL and a Socialist International observer. From 1957 to 1962, the party was a member of the West Indies Federal Labour Party in the Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation.


title: People's National Party

text: The PNP was founded in 1938 by Norman Washington Manley, and is the second oldest political party in Jamaica (the People's Political Party was formed earlier, on 9 September 1929, by Marcus Garvey). It is now one of the country's main two political parties, and is considered more to the left than its main rival the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The party held a majority of seats in the parliament of the Colony of Jamaica from 1955 until 1962. Following independence in 1962, it held the majority of seats in the Jamaican Parliament from 1972 to 1980, from 1989 to 2007, and from 2011 to 2016.