title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time, as the British government did not want enemy governments and military to know the extent of the disaster. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year, and 189 inexperienced Italian prisoners of war were working in the mines at the time of the accident. There were also equipment shortages, a lack of worker training, multiple agencies in the mine resulting in a lack of an organised chain of command, and pressure from British government and military to increase work speed for the war effort which resulted in safety regulations being overlooked. In 1974, it was announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a detonator from a live bomb using a brass chisel, rather than a wooden batten, resulting in sparks. An eyewitness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels, in direct contravention of the regulations in force.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: No. 21 Maintenance Unit RAF Bomb Storage dump consisted of old gypsum mine workings which had been made into storage for a variety of ordnance; in addition to shells and bombs, the specifications included several types of weapons and up to 500 million rounds of small arms ammunition. Up to exploded, including of bombs packed with high explosives. At 11:15 hours on 27 November 1944, two huge explosions took place at the dump. Eyewitnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a mushroom cloud ascending several thousand feet, and a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the commanding officer of 21 M.U., Group Captain Storrar, an open dump of incendiary bombs caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties. Property was damaged within a radius of of the crater.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for . Upper Castle Hayes Farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Ford's lime and gypsum works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the flooding after the destruction of the reservoir dam. Hanbury Fields Farm, Hare Holes Farm and also Croft Farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was by in length and deep, covering .


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: At the time, no precise records were kept monitoring the exact number of workers at the facility. While the exact death toll is uncertain as a result of this, it appears that about 70 people died in the explosion. The official report stated that 90 were killed, missing or injured, including:


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: The inscription on the memorial stone that was erected at the crater in November 1990, lists a total of 70 names of people who died as a result of the explosion, 18 of these names are people who are still missing and presumed dead.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: Two hundred cattle were also killed by the explosion. Some live cattle were removed from the vicinity, but were found dead the following morning.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: Much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, but the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munitions storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit was disbanded. Following France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military structure in 1966, the site was used by the United States Army between 1967 and 1973 to store US ammunition previously stored in France.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: By 1979, the site was fenced off, and the area is now covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. Access is restricted as a significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site; the UK government has deemed their removal too expensive to be feasible.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: On 13 September 1990, 46 years after the initial incident, it was announced that a memorial stone was to be erected to commemorate those who died, to be paid for by the public, as Hanbury Parish Council did not have the necessary funds. The stone used for the memorial was donated by the Italian government and flown to the United Kingdom on an RAF plane. It was unveiled on 25 November 1990. A second memorial was dedicated on the 70th anniversary of the explosion, 27 November 2014. A tourist trail leads to the crater from the Cock Inn pub in Hanbury, which was damaged by debris from the explosion.


title: RAF Fauld explosion

text: The maintenance unit was the subject of several paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by David Bomberg, who was briefly employed as a war artist by the War Ministry in 1943.


title: Summit1g

text: Jaryd Russell Lazar, better known as summit1g, is an American Twitch streamer and former professional "" player. After retiring from competitive esports, Lazar became a well-known streamer on Twitch by streaming CS:GO and "". He currently streams a variety of video games, such as "Escape from Tarkov", "Grand Theft Auto V", "Sea of Thieves", "Overwatch", "DayZ", "iRacing", "Foxhole", "Hearthstone" and "Rust".


title: Summit1g

text: In 2017, Lazar garnered widespread attention for surpassing Tom "Syndicate" Cassell's number of followers on Twitch. In 2018, Lazar's became the most-followed channel on the platform, surpassing Riot Games.


title: Summit1g

text: In May 2018, Lazar streamed gameplay with YouTuber Jake Paul and received complaints and criticism from fans due to Paul's recent controversial behavior. Lazar told viewers, ""I'm a little disappointed in chat. I had hoped the 1g squad to be a little bit different. I thought some people had a little bit thicker skin.""


title: Summit1g

text: In April 2020, Lazar made comments about "Valorant", a free-to-play multiplayer tactical first-person shooter developed by Riot Games. He claimed the game's closed beta was poorly managed, and that other streamers had manipulated Twitch's "Drops" system to receive game keys, giving them access to the closed beta to increase their viewer counts and the game's total number of viewers. He later apologized on Twitter, then subsequently deleted the apology.


title: Summit1g

text: In May 2020, Lazar signed a multi-year contract with Twitch to provide content and partnership support. As of December 9, 2021, he has over 6 million Twitch followers, and is ranked its 17th most popular streamer.


title: Summit1g

text: As of July 2021, Lazar has regularly speedrun "Max Payne 3" during his Twitch streams. He achieved a world record in its "Hardcore" category while streaming live on July 2, 2021.


title: Dardo IFV

text: The Dardo is an infantry fighting vehicle designed for the Italian Army as a replacement for the M113 APC. It is designed and built by the Iveco Fiat Oto Melara Syndicated Company based in Rome. Iveco is responsible for the hull and propulsion systems, while Oto Melara is responsible for the weapons and fire control systems.


title: Dardo IFV

text: The Dardo is primarily armed with the 25mm Oerlikon KBA automatic cannon firing 600 rounds per minute, with 200 rounds of ready to fire ammunition stored in the turret. Two 7.62mm NATO machine guns are also installed in the turret, one coaxially mounted with the main gun. Five rifle ports, two on each side of the hull and one in the rear are provided to allow troops inside to use their personal weapons, if needed.


title: Dardo IFV

text: Fire control is provided by the Galileo Avionica Hitfist integrated fire control system, which is capable of measuring target speed and range. The commander is provided with six episcope sights, which provide 360° field of view. The cupola can be further fitted with a panoramic stabilised sight. Additionally, a laser range finder and a thermal imager are provided for the gunner. The commander is equipped with a monitor that displays the view from the gunner night vision system.


title: Dardo IFV

text: For dealing with heavy armoured threats, two BGM-71 TOW anti tank missiles can be installed, one on each side of the turret. These missiles have a maximum range of approximately 4 km.


title: Dardo IFV

text: The Dardo hull is built from welded aluminum alloy with add on steel armour plates for increased protection. Over the frontal arc, the vehicle is protected against 25mm APDS projectiles. The side armour protects against 14.5mm API projectiles. Four 80mm smoke grenade launchers are installed on each side of the turret.


title: Dardo IFV

text: The Dardo is powered by an Iveco V6 turbo-charged after-cooled diesel engine delivering 512 hp (382.2 kW). This drives a ZF-designed automatic transmission system, which is manufactured under license by Iveco Fiat. The transmission system has four forward and two reverse gears, and incorporates the steering system and the hydraulic retarder.


title: Dardo IFV

text: The running gear consists of six dual rubber-lined road wheels, with three return rollers on each side and connector type tracks. The suspension consists of a torsion bar, bumper and a hydraulic shock absorber on each suspension arm. Disc brakes on each of the final drives controlled by a transmission retarder provide the braking.


title: Dardo IFV

text: Together, this allows the Dardo to achieve speeds in excess of 70 km/h, maneuver on gradients of more than 60% and ford waters up to a depth of 1.5 m.


title: Dardo IFV

text: The Dardo IFVs currently in service with the Italian Army are fitted with the "Hitfist" IFV turret. The chassis is intended to be the basic model of a family of vehicles, which may include a 120 mm mortar carrier, command (C3I) vehicle, ambulance and light tank with a 105mm gun turret.


title: Dardo IFV

text: Dardo IFVs were deployed with the Italian Army as part of the Italian contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. 10 were also deployed in Afghanistan to reinforce the Italian Battlegroups there. Also, some are in use with the Italian UNIFIL contingent.


title: Michael Olunga

text: Michael Olunga Ogada (born 26 March 1994) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatari club Al-Duhail and the Kenya national team.


title: Michael Olunga

text: While still a student at the Upper Hill School, Olunga began his career with the Liberty Sports Academy in the Nairobi County League. He scored 32 goals for the side during the 2012 season, helping them finish the season unbeaten and earn promotion to the Nairobi Provincial League. He made headlines when he scored seven goals in a single match helping his team to an 8–0 win.


title: Michael Olunga

text: Initially reported to be attending trials in France, Olunga signed for Kenyan Premier League side Tusker on a one-year loan deal from Liberty on 19 December 2012.


title: Michael Olunga

text: After finishing the 2013 season with two goals for Tusker, Olunga was loaned to fellow Premier League side Thika United for another year, before joining Gor Mahia before the beginning of the 2015 season. He finished the season as the club's top scorer in the league with 19 goals to help the side win a record 15th league title without losing a single match, including the second goal in a 2–0 win over Muhoroni Youth on their final league match of the season.


title: Michael Olunga

text: On 17 February 2016, Olunga joined Swedish side Djurgårdens IF on a four-year contract, after joining the team's pre-season training camp on trial. He scored his first two goals for Djurgården on 8 August 2016 against IFK Göteborg in a 3–1 win. He was also named man of the match and Djurgården coach Mark Dempsey praised him for his match winning heroics. In the next match Olunga scored once again in the 2–2 draw versus IF Elfsborg at the Tele2 Arena. On 27 August, he scored the match-winning goal against Gefle IF with a volley in the 86th minute. In the last 12 games of the Allsvenskan Olunga scored 12 goals which earned him a fifth place in the Allsvenskan top scorer table. He was nominated for Newcomer of the year in Swedish football by a jury of Allsvenskan coaches and Swedish journalists as well as the coaches of the Swedish national teams. The award later went to Alexander Isak.


title: Michael Olunga

text: On 10 November 2016, Kenyan football site Soka reported that Djurgården had turned down offers on Olunga from La Liga side Betis, Lokeren, Belgian champions Club Brugge and Swedish champions Malmö FF.


title: Michael Olunga

text: On 1 September 2017, Olunga was loaned to La Liga side Girona FC, for one year. On 13 January 2018, he made his La Liga debut against Las Palmas scoring a hat-trick in the span of 22 minutes during a 6–0 win, becoming both the first Kenyan player and the first Girona player to score a hat-trick in La Liga.


title: Michael Olunga

text: On 24 November 2019, he scored eight goals for Kashiwa in a 13–1 victory over Kyoto Sanga. Olunga finished the season with 27 league goals as Kashiwa finished the J2 season as champions and won promotion to the first division.


title: Michael Olunga

text: In J1 League play on 26 July 2020, Olunga scored a hat-trick against Vegalta Sendai; the match finished in a 5–1 victory.


title: Michael Olunga

text: Olunga finished as the top scorer in the 2020 Japanese J1 League with 28 goals, winning the Golden boot and the J-League 2020 MVP. He is the first African player to win the J-league MVP award.


title: Michael Olunga

text: In January 2021, Olunga moved to Qatar Stars League champions Al-Duhail on a three-seasons contract, for a reported transfer fee of €6 million.


title: Michael Olunga

text: He made his debut for the club on 12 January, in a 3–1 away loss against Al Sadd. On 25 January 2021, Olunga scored a hat-trick in Duhail's 6–0 win against Al Ahli in the Emir of Qatar Cup. Three months later, he scored a hat-trick in 4–3 win against Iranian club Esteghlal in the AFC Champions League. Olunga finished as the top scorer of the tournament, but Al-Duhail crashed out of the competition after a 1–1 draw with team Al Ahli Saudi in late April.


title: Michael Olunga

text: Olunga made his debut for the Kenya national team in a friendly against Seychelles at the Stade Linité in Victoria on 28 March 2015. He scored his first goal for the "Harambee Stars" in a friendly against South Sudan which resulted in a 2–0 win. On 27 July 2019, during the 2019 AFCON Olunga scored a double to complete a comeback against Tanzania.


title: Michael Olunga

text: Olunga studied geospatial engineering at the Technical University of Kenya and pursued a Bachelor of Engineering degree. For this reason, he is regularly known as "The Engineer" by Kenyan football fans. He has stated that he looks up to Dutch striker Robin van Persie as a role model.


title: Treatise

text: A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions. A monograph is a treatise on a specialized topic.


title: Treatise

text: The word 'treatise' first appeared in the fourteenth century as the Medieval English word "tretis", which evolved from the Medieval Latin "tractatus" and the Latin "tractare", meaning to treat or to handle.


title: Treatise

text: The works presented here have been identified as influential by scholars on the development of human civilization.


title: Treatise

text: Euclid's "Elements" has appeared in more editions than any other books except the "Bible" and is one of the most important mathematical treatises ever. It has been translated to numerous languages and remains continuously in print since the beginning of printing. Before the invention of the printing press, it was manually copied and widely circulated. When scholars recognized its excellence, they removed inferior works from circulation in its favor. Many subsequent authors, such as Theon of Alexandria, made their own editions, with alterations, comments, and new theorems or lemmas. Many mathematicians were influenced and inspired by Euclid's masterpiece. For example, Archimedes of Syracuse and Apollonius of Perga, the greatest mathematicians of their time, received their training from Euclid's students and his "Elements" and were able to solve many open problems at the time of Euclid. It is a prime example of how to write a text in pure mathematics, featuring simple and logical axioms, precise definitions, clearly stated theorems, and logical deductive proofs. The "Elements" consists of thirteen books dealing with geometry (including the geometry of three-dimensional objects such as polyhedra), number theory, and the theory of proportions. It was essentially a compilation of all mathematics known to the Greeks up until Euclid's time.


title: Treatise

text: Drawing on the work of his predecessors, especially the experimental research of Michael Faraday, the analogy with heat flow by William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) and the mathematical analysis of George Green, James Clerk Maxwell synthesized all that was known about electricity and magnetism into a single mathematical framework, Maxwell's equations. Originally, there were 20 equations in total. In his "Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" (1873), Maxwell reduced them to eight. Maxwell used his equations to predict the existence of electromagnetic waves, which travel at the speed of light. In other words, light is but one kind of electromagnetic wave. Maxwell's theory predicted there ought to be other types, with different frequencies. After some ingenious experiments, Maxwell's prediction was confirmed by Heinrich Hertz. In the process, Hertz generated and detected what are now called radio waves and built crude radio antennas and the predecessors of satellite dishes. Hendrik Lorentz derived, using suitable boundary conditions, Fresnel's equations for the reflection and transmission of light in different media from Maxwell's equations. He also showed that Maxwell's theory succeeded in illuminating the phenomenon of light dispersion where other models failed. John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) and Josiah Willard Gibbs then proved that the optical equations derived from Maxwell's theory are the only self-consistent description of the reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light consistent with experimental results. Optics thus found a new foundation in electromagnetism.


title: Treatise

text: Hertz's experimental work in electromagnetism stimulated interest in the possibility of wireless communication, which did not require long and expensive cables and was faster than even the telegraph. Guglielmo Marconi adapted Hertz's equipment for this purpose in the 1890s. He achieved the first international wireless transmission between England and France in 1900 and by the following year, he succeeded in sending messages in Morse code across the Atlantic. Seeing its value, the shipping industry adopted this technology at once. Radio broadcasting became extremely popular in the twentieth century and remains in common use in the early twenty-first. But it was Oliver Heaviside, an enthusiastic supporter of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory, who deserves most of the credit for shaping how people understood and applied Maxwell's work for decades to come; he was responsible for considerable progress in electrical telegraphy, telephony, and the study of the propagation of electromagnetic waves. Independent of the Josiah Willard Gibbs, Heaviside assembled a set of mathematical tools known as vector calculus to replace the quaternions, which were in vogue at the time but which Heaviside dismissed as "antiphysical and unnatural."


title: Town crier

text: A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required.


title: Town crier

text: The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dress elaborately, by a tradition dating to the 18th century, in a red and gold coat, white breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat.


title: Town crier

text: In English-speaking countries, they carried a handbell to attract people's attention, as they shouted the words "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!" before making their announcements. The word "Oyez" means "hear ye," which is a call for silence and attention. "Oyez" derives from the Anglo-Norman word for "listen" (modern French, "oyez", infinitive, "ouïr", but has been largely replaced by the verb "écouter"). The proclamations book in Chester from the early 19th century records this as "O Yes, O Yes!"


title: Town crier

text: Prior to widespread literacy, town criers were the means of communication with the people of the town since many people could not read or write. Proclamations, local bylaws, market days, adverts, were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier.


title: Town crier

text: In ancient Rome, they typically proclaimed public business during the market days that formed a kind of weekend every eight days.


title: Town crier

text: In Goslar, Germany, a crier was employed to remind the local populace not to urinate or defecate in the river the day before water was drawn for brewing beer.


title: Town crier

text: Criers were not always men, many town criers were women. Bells were not the only attention-getting device—in the Netherlands, a gong was the instrument of choice for many, and in France a drum was used, or a hunting horn.


title: Town crier

text: In the observance of Allhallowtide, "it was customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls."


title: Town crier

text: In medieval England, town criers were the chief means of news communication with the townspeople, since many were illiterate in a period before the moveable type was invented. Royal proclamations, local bylaws, market days, adverts, even selling loaves of sugar were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier throughout the centuries—at Christmas 1798, the Chester Canal Company sold some sugar damaged in their packet boat and this was to be advertised by the bellman.


title: Town crier

text: The crier also escorted the destitute to the workhouse, installed minor criminals in the stocks and administered floggings. During public hangings he read out why the person was being hanged, and helped to cut him or her down.


title: Town crier

text: In 1620, there was a fight at the Chester cross between the butchers and the bakers where the "Cryer brake his Mace in peeces Amonge them". In 1607, one public notice read by George Tunnall, the bellman, forbade tipping rubbish in the river.


title: Town crier

text: The term "Posting A Notice" comes from the act of the town crier, who having read his message to the townspeople, would attach it to the door post of the local inn. Some newspapers took the name "The Post" for this reason.


title: Town crier

text: Town criers were protected by law, as they sometimes brought bad news such as tax increases. Anything done by the town crier was done in the name of the ruling monarch and harming a town crier was considered to be treason. The phrase "don't shoot the messenger" was a real command.


title: Town crier

text: There are two organisations representing town criers including the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers and Loyal Company of Town Criers.


title: Town crier

text: A copy of a royal proclamation announcing the dissolution of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is delivered by hand from the Privy Council Office to Mansion House in the City of London. It is then read out by the Common Crier of the City on the steps of the Royal Exchange in the heart of the City, having been handed to him by the Common Serjeant of the City, ahead of the proclamation also being read out in the London boroughs.


title: Town crier

text: Beetty Dick (1693-1773) was a woman town crier in Dalkeith, Midlothian Scotland in the mid 18th Century, succeeded by three further women town criers.


title: Town crier

text: There have been town criers in North America ever since Europeans have been coming to the continent. There are records throughout the 16th century of town criers in Mexico, Peru, and Panama. During the 1830s and 40s Halifax, Nova Scotia had as many as four in the city. All through the American Colonies and beyond, such as Santa Fe, New Mexico; Boston, Massachusetts and Stamford, Connecticut had criers during the mid 17th century. In some places, the office of town crier persisted into the early 20th century. At least as recently as 1904, Los Angeles and several adjacent towns had official town criers. The town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, has had an active Town Crier from the 1840s up to the present day.


title: Town crier

text: In many parts of India, the village crier traditionally carried a rustic drum to call public attention, following up with the message.


title: Town crier

text: In Nepal, the town crier is called a "katuwal" which derives from local Tibetic, "kat" 'voice' + an Indic suffix "-wal" 'kind of a person


title: Town crier

text: In Sri Lanka, traditionally criers would carry a specific drum to call public attention (called tom-tom beating), following up with the message. The practice dates back from ancient times as it was used by Sri Lankan kingdoms through the colonial period up on to the modern times and was known as "Ana Bera" (Announcement drum beating). The practice was used by municipal or village councils until the late ninetieth century when the practice was replaced by modern communication mediums. The use of a tom-tom beating announcer is still defined in legal statutes for situations for public notification in situations such as partition of lands. It is however not practiced.


title: Town crier

text: Town criers were prominent in the precolonial and colonial eras of Igboland, a West African region in the present-day Nigeria. They served as the major means of information dissemination in their respective communities.


title: Town crier

text: When the need for a town crier disappeared, the position passed into local folklore. Informal and later formal town crier competitions were held from the early 20th century. Subsequently, some cities and towns reinstated the post purely for ceremonial purposes.


title: Town crier

text: Many local councils in England and Wales reinstated the post of town crier from the mid-1990s onwards (e.g. Chester). Many are honorary appointments or employed part-time by the council. In October 2010, there were 144 towns in England and Wales with town criers registered with the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers. They mainly perform ceremonial duties at civic functions. Local councils with a paid town crier often make them available for charity events.


title: Town crier

text: In the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, the town crier is also appointed the tipstaff, an appointment which exists in no other local council.


title: Town crier

text: In England, town criers still announce the births of royal heirs and occasionally the arrival of the royal family. Tony Appleton, an octogenarian and self-proclaimed “royalist crier,” took it upon himself to announce, as loudly as he can, important news about the royal family. Appleton has served as town crier for the nearby city of Romford, but he does not represent the royal family. Appleton admitted as much in 2013, when news outlets were confused by his presence.


title: Town crier

text: There are several town crier guilds in both Canada and the United States. These include the Ontario Guild of Town Criers, the Nova Scotia Guild of Town Criers and the American Guild of Town Criers. In 2016, the town of Burlingame, California added a town crier.


title: Town crier

text: In Australia, as of October 2010, the City of Sydney, City of Hobart, City of Greater Geelong, City of Portland, City of Ipswich, City of Gosford, City of Salisbury, City of Gold Coast and 22 other local councils had an official town crier.


title: Town crier

text: European, Canadian, American, North American and Australian championships are held in alternating years with the World Championships.


title: Town crier

text: The best dressed town crier at the World Championships in 2008 was Daniel Richer dit La Flêche representing the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, in Canada.


title: Town crier

text: The Best Dressed Couple were Peter and Maureen Taunton from the county town of Stafford, in Staffordshire, England. Richard Riddell of Anacortes, in the state of Washington in the United States, was the 2008 American Champion and winner of the 2009 Bermuda International Town Crier Competition. He was awarded Best Dressed and tied for First Runner-up at the 2010 World Tournament at Chester in England and Overall Winner at the 2013 World Invitational Town Crier Competition held in Kingston, in Ontario, Canada.


title: Town crier

text: Peter Moore, the London Town Crier, held the position for more than 30 years. He was Town Crier to the Mayor of London, the City of Westminster, and London boroughs, and was also a freeman and liveryman of the City of London. He died on 20 December 2009.


title: Town crier

text: Alan Myatt holds two Guinness World Records. As well as being the loudest crier (recording a cry of 112.8 decibels), he also set the record for vocal endurance, issuing a one-hundred word proclamation every 15 minutes for a period of 48 hours.


title: Town crier

text: Daniel Richer dit La Flêche, who is a member of the First Nations Abenaki tribe, is a full-time bilingual town crier. David Hinde, Bridlington Town Crier, was measured at 114.8 decibels.


title: Town crier

text: Taking place from the 20th to 23 August 2014, Chris Whyman from Kingston, Ontario, Canada, was declared the winner of the 2014 World Town Crier Tournament in Chester.


title: Renault Trucks

text: Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been a subsidiary of the Volvo Group since 2001.


title: Renault Trucks

text: From its beginnings in 1978 to 2002, the company was called ("Renault Industrial Vehicles"), from 1992 on officially written as Renault V. I.. Until 2002, Renault Véhicules Industriels also manufactured buses.


title: Renault Trucks

text: Renault first began building dedicated commercial trucks in 1906. In 1956, however Renault stopped producing trucks and buses under its own name. Instead, the company Saviem was formed as a subsidiary of their own commercial products with the manufacturers Somua and Latil. Lighter commercials kept on using the Renault name, however. From 1957 on, Saviem was also used as the brand name for the trucks and buses produced by the company.


title: Renault Trucks

text: As a result of French industrial policy, in 1975 state-owned Renault also acquired the truck and bus manufacturer Berliet from Citroën (at that time a part of the Michelin corporation). In 1978, Berliet and Saviem were merged to form Renault Véhicules Industriels. Again, the old brand names were retained for two more years while the model lineups were gradually incorporated, until in 1980 they were replaced by the name Renault.


title: Renault Trucks

text: In 1971, Saviem became a member of the Euro Truck Development Group or "Club of Four", a cooperation between four European truck producers (Saviem, Volvo, DAF and Magirus-Deutz, which soon after became a part of Iveco) for the production of medium-sized trucks. Since 1975 the truck models resulting from this cooperation were built by Saviem and later Renault, even until 2001. They were also sold on the North American market as the "Mack Mid-Liner" or "Manager".


title: Renault Trucks

text: In 1978, PSA Group bought Chrysler's European operations. Included in the deal were commercial vehicle operations in the UK and Spain, which at that time used the brand name Dodge. PSA however sold them on to RVI in 1983, having itself little interest in the commercial vehicle market. The newly acquired operations in the UK had their origins in the commercial vehicle branch of the Rootes Group which originally carried the brand names Karrier and Commer. Some of the models built there were continued in production for several years by RVI in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, who also kept the Dodge brand name for these models, albeit in combination with the Renault badge. In 1988 the company was subject to a Fire Brigades Union inquiry due to eight Dodge fire engines involved in crashes. Until 1992 the UK division was known as Renault Truck Industries, after which it then took the international Renault V.I. name.


title: Renault Trucks

text: In Spain, however, where Renault already was recognized as a local automobile producer, the Dodge trucks, which originally had been developed by the manufacturer Barreiros Diesel, were rebadged as Renaults and soon after replaced by French-designed models.


title: Renault Trucks

text: In 1987, Renault Véhicules Industriels took over from its parent company Renault a 42% stake in the American manufacturer Mack Trucks which became a fully owned subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels in 1990.


title: Renault Trucks

text: In 1991, RVI purchased a 37.5% shareholding in French bodybuilder Heuliez Bus. In 1994, RVI purchased a 34% stake in the Czech bus manufacturer Karosa, increasing its ownership to a majority 51% in 1996 and 96% in 2000. In 1997 Renault V. I. entered into a cooperation agreement with the Finnish truck producer Sisu. In 2002 the company signed a deal with the Chinese company Dongfeng Motor to manufacture engines.


title: Renault Trucks

text: Renault Trucks took part in the FIA European Championship, running Renault Premium powered by 13-litre DXi13 engines. The Renault Trucks-MKR Technology team won in 2010.


title: Renault Trucks

text: Also, the Uruguayan plant of cars owned by Nordex S.A. in Uruguay has made since 2004 the Renault Trucks models like Midlum series.


title: Renault Trucks

text: The Volvo Group invested about €2 billion to develop a new line of Renault Trucks vehicles (C, D, K, T) which were introduced through 2013 replacing the previous models.


title: Renault Trucks

text: As part of Renault's restructuring following privatisation in 1996, the heavy vehicles operations of bus and truck were divested. In 1999, the Renault and Karosa bus and coach operations were split off from Renault Véhicules Industriels and merged with Fiat-Iveco's bus and coach operations to form the jointly owned subsidiary Irisbus. In 2003, Irisbus became a full subsidiary of Iveco and the brand Renault on its products was replaced by the brand Irisbus.


title: Renault Trucks

text: In April 2000, Renault agreed to terms with Volvo to purchase its truck manufacturing business with Volvo in turn to relinquish its 15% shareholding in Renault and Renault buy a 20% shareholding in Volvo. The transaction which included Mack Trucks, but not Renault's stake in Irisbus, was completed on 2 January 2001. RVI was renamed Renault Trucks in 2002. In October 2010 Renault reduced its shareholding in Volvo to 5%. In December 2012, Renault sold its remaining shares in Volvo.


title: Renault Trucks

text: The Renault Trucks Defense division is wholly owned by Renault Trucks and is based in Versailles, France. It trades on its 1975 acquisition of Berliet and claims to have over 30,000 vehicles in use around the world. Its status as the leading supplier to the French Army was put in jeopardy in 2010 when the government placed a $214m order to Italian competitor Iveco. In 2016, Volvo announced its intention of divesting Renault Trucks Defense, as part of the selling of its Government Sales division.


title: Renault Trucks

text: It manufactures a range of special vehicles aimed at the defense and security markets, including the Sherpa, VAB armoured personnel carrier, the AMC armoured multirole carrier and Kerax ranges.


title: Renault Trucks

text: In 2006 Renault Trucks took over ACMAT, but the defence and security vehicle manufacturer retained its own name and identity.


title: Marvel 2099

text: Marvel 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint, started in 1992, that was originally one possible future of the Marvel Universe, but later revealed in a climax of "Superior Spider-Man Goblin Nation arc" and "Amazing Spider-Man" Vol. 3 #14 to be the Earth of the prime Marvel continuity in the distant future. It was originally announced by Stan Lee in his "Stan's Soapbox" column as a single series entitled "The Marvel World of Tomorrow", which was being developed by Lee and John Byrne. This later changed to a line of books under the banner "Marvel 2093" (the date being one hundred years from the year in which the titles launched) before finally being published as "Marvel 2099".


title: Marvel 2099

text: Three of the initial four titles launched—"Doom 2099", "Punisher 2099", and "Spider-Man 2099"—starred futuristic takes on pre-existing characters. The fourth, "Ravage 2099", featured an all-new superhero, scripted for several months by Stan Lee. The 2099 line soon expanded to include "2099 Unlimited", "Fantastic Four 2099", "Ghost Rider 2099", "Hulk 2099", "X-Men 2099", and "X-Nation 2099". While it has been confirmed to be a possible future version of Earth-616, the mainstream Marvel Universe, the 2099 universe has been officially designated as Earth-928 and alternatively dubbed as Earth-616 circa 2099.


title: Marvel 2099

text: The initial universe began with "Spider-Man 2099", "Ravage 2099", "Doom 2099", and "Punisher 2099" being launched in subsequent months. Peter David wrote "Spider-Man" for the bulk of the series, and it was consistently the most popular series. It satirized corporations, with Spider-Man constantly clashing with Alchemax, which employed him in his secret identity. Stan Lee wrote the first eight issues of "Ravage" as an extremely political story about corruption, corporate pollution, and the environment. After Lee left, he was replaced by a series of writers . In 1993, "Wizard" reported that the 2099 line had "gone over fairly well with the fans".


title: Marvel 2099

text: Fans requested further titles, and Marvel provided "X-Men 2099". They also introduced a Hulk 2099 in the series "2099 Unlimited", which featured occasional Spider-Man 2099 stories, as well as early work by Warren Ellis. The comics had a strong degree of interconnectivity that was similar to comics published by Marvel in the 1960s due to the imprint's editor Joey Cavalieri. The only cross-title crossover within the 2099 universe, "The Fall of the Hammer", detailed a plot by the corporations to technologically recreate the Norse pantheon, along with a new Thor, to distract attention from the anti-corporate superheroes.


title: Marvel 2099

text: The 2099 series expanded to include "Ghost Rider 2099", about a hero whose consciousness had been downloaded into a robotic body. Hulk 2099 was also given a brief chance at his own series. As sales began to flag on all titles besides "Spider-Man" and "X-Men", Marvel commissioned ideas from various writers, including a proposal by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, before accepting Warren Ellis's idea that Doom 2099, revealed to be, in fact, Victor Von Doom, would take over the United States. Each title had the modifier "A.D." ("After Doom") added on the logo to reflect the change. The new storyline allowed Marvel to cancel several low-selling titles ("Hulk", "Ravage", and "The Punisher"). The in-universe reason for the heroes' deaths was President Rogers (an impostor Captain America who was instated after Doom was violently ousted from office) ordered the execution of the super heroes, including Punisher, Hulk and a handful of low-tier heroes who had appeared in "2099 Unlimited".


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 1996, when Marvel, during a cost-cutting exercise, fired Cavalieri, many of the 2099 creators (including Peter David and Warren Ellis) quit the line in protest. With the line floundering, two additional titles were launched: "X-Nation 2099", a spin-off of "X-Men 2099", and "Fantastic Four 2099", which featured characters who were apparently the present day Fantastic Four accidentally sent into the future.


title: Marvel 2099

text: Around this time, "Doom 2099" became the only 2099 comic to crossover with a present-day Marvel comic when he traveled back to 1996 and met Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and Namor in a story partially told in "Fantastic Four" #413. Spider-Man 2099 met the original Spider-Man in a special one-shot issue, making them the only characters to meet their counterparts.


title: Marvel 2099

text: After sales slumped, the 2099 titles were canceled and replaced by "", a single title featuring the surviving characters from all the titles. The series lasted only eight issues before being canceled.


title: Marvel 2099

text: The 2099 line was concluded with a one-shot, "2099: Manifest Destiny" (March 1998), in which Captain America was found in suspended animation and, with Miguel O'Hara, assembled various 2099 heroes into a new team of Avengers. The story summarized the years from 2099 to 3099, with humanity transforming the corporate world of 2099 into a utopia and then expanding into space.


title: Marvel 2099

text: The 2099 world has been seen occasionally since, most notably in Peter David's "Future Tense" storyline in "Captain Marvel", which revisited both Spider-Man 2099 and the alternate future of the Maestro that David created in "The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect", explaining a plot point which had been left dangling since David had abruptly left "Spider-Man 2099".


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 2004, writer Robert Kirkman wrote a series of one-shot comics for the fifth anniversary of the Marvel Knights imprint, under the heading "Marvel Knights 2099". The future portrayed in this series is unconnected to the original 2099 Universe, which included a different Punisher 2099.


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 2005, the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" one-shot, involving alternate universes, designated the Earth of 2099 as Earth-928, with "Marvel Knights 2099" designated as Earth-2992. A cover of a second printing from the Spider-Man storyline "" features Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099.


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 2006, the Exiles visited the Marvel Universe 2099 in "Exiles" #75-76 as part of the "World Tour" arc. This future had split apart from the mainstream 2099 fairly early, as Doom 2099 had not yet met Spider-Man 2099. Spider-Man 2099 joined the Exiles and left with them.


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 2009 Marvel published miniseries "Timestorm," crossing the current Marvel Universe with yet another alternate version of 2099. The Spider-Man 2099 of this reality is a teenager.


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 2013, Spider-Man 2099 became trapped in the mainstream Marvel Universe in "The Superior Spider-Man". In 2014 he would star in an ongoing series and become involved in the "Spider-Verse" storyline, along with numerous other alternate reality Spider-Men. Notably the Spider-Men 2099s of the "Exiles" and "Timestorm" series are killed during this event. At the end of this storyline, the 2099 timeline has been altered.


title: Marvel 2099

text: In 2019, in "Amazing Spider-Man" #25, Dr. Connors is giving a lecture on the negligence of the world and environment due to focus on the countless occurrences of superhero activity will end up negatively impacting the future, to the point of catastrophe. Meanwhile, set to his lecture, strange weather phenomenon is occurring above a burning oil rig. A rift opens in the sky and a figure falls out of it, landing on the dock of the rig. The workers un-bury the figure, revealing an unconscious Spider-Man 2099. There was later a series of one-shots to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Marvel 2099. It incorporated the ongoing storyline from "Amazing Spider-Man" that not only reintroduced Spider-Man 2099, Fantastic Four 2099, Doom 2099, Punisher 2099, and Venom 2099 in individual one-shot issues, but also introduced Conan 2099.


title: Marvel 2099

text: The world of 2099 is a cyberpunk dystopia (similar to the world of "Blade Runner"). North America is a corporate police state ruled by a few huge megacorporations, most notably Alchemax, which owns the private police force the Public Eye (which primarily punishes criminals' bank accounts). There were, prior to the launch of the comics, no active superheroes in this world, and the previous heroes are mythologized through religion, as with the Church of Thor. The present-day Marvel continuity is referred to as an "Age of Heroes" that abruptly ended in a catastrophe a century before that also set back society (this catastrophe was averted in the present when Miguel O'Hara- Spider-Man 2099- temporarily swapped places with his past self shortly before the cataclysm, turning Miguel's world into an alternate future of the Marvel Universe rather than "the" future).


title: Marvel 2099

text: In the 2099 Universe, the monetary currency system uses implants commonly known as cards, which are credit ID implants. There are aluminum cards, gold cards, and platinum cards. Another type of card are black cards, which give the owner unlimited funds and law immunity.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is an interplanetary spacecraft in development by the European Space Agency (ESA) with Airbus Defence and Space as the main contractor. The mission will study three of Jupiter's Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa (excluding the volcanically active Io; Io is not an icy moon) all of which are thought to have significant bodies of liquid water beneath their surfaces, making them potentially habitable environments.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in April 2023 and will reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists and eight years of travel. In December 2034, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede for its close up science mission, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than the moon of Earth. The selection of this mission for the L1 launch slot of ESA's Cosmic Vision science programme was announced on 2 May 2012. Its period of operations will overlap with NASA's "Europa Clipper" mission, launching in 2024.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The mission started as a reformulation of the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter proposal, which was to be ESA's component of the cancelled Europa Jupiter System Mission – Laplace (EJSM-Laplace). It became a candidate for the first L-class mission (L1) of the ESA Cosmic Vision Programme, and its selection was announced on 2 May 2012.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: In April 2012, JUICE was recommended over the proposed Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) X-ray telescope and a gravitational wave observatory (New Gravitational wave Observatory (NGO)).


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: In July 2015, Airbus Defence and Space was selected as the prime contractor to design and build the probe, to be assembled in Toulouse, France. At this time JUICE was expected to launch on Ariane 5 in 2022.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: JUICE will be launched between 14 April and 30 April 2023 on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Following the launch, there will be multiple planned gravity assists to put JUICE on a trajectory to Jupiter: a flyby of the Earth–Moon system in August 2024, Venus in August 2025, second flyby of Earth in September 2026, and a final third flyby of Earth in January 2029.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: JUICE will pass through the asteroid belt twice. A flyby of the asteroid 223 Rosa has been proposed, and would occur in October 2029.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: When it arrives in Jupiter's system in July 2031, JUICE will first perform a flyby of Ganymede in preparation for Jupiter orbital insertion ≈ 7.5 hours later. The first orbit will be elongated, with subsequent orbits gradually lowered over time, resulting in a circular orbit around Jupiter.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The first Europa flyby will take place in July 2032. JUICE will enter a high inclination orbit to allow exploration of Jupiter's polar regions and to study Jupiter's magnetosphere.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: In December 2034, JUICE will enter an elliptical orbit around Ganymede, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than Earth's Moon. The first orbit will be at a distance of . In 2035, JUICE will enter a circular orbit above the surface of Ganymede. JUICE will study Ganymede's composition and magnetosphere among other things.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: When the spacecraft consumes its remaining propellant, JUICE is planned to be deorbited and impact Ganymede at the end of 2035.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The "Jupiter Icy moons Explorer" orbiter will perform detailed investigations on Ganymede and evaluate its potential to support life. Investigations of Europa and Callisto will complete a comparative picture of these Galilean moons. The three moons are thought to harbour internal liquid water oceans, and so are central to understanding the habitability of icy worlds.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: For Europa, the focus is on the chemistry essential to life, including organic molecules, and on understanding the formation of surface features and the composition of the non-water-ice material. Furthermore, JUICE will provide the first subsurface sounding of the moon, including the first determination of the minimal thickness of the icy crust over the most recently active regions.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: More distant spatially resolved observations will also be carried out for several minor irregular satellites and the volcanically active moon Io.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The main spacecraft design drivers are related to the large distance to the Sun, the use of solar power, and Jupiter's harsh radiation environment. The orbit insertions at Jupiter and Ganymede and the large number of flyby manoeuvres (more than 25 gravity assists, and two Europa flybys) requires the spacecraft to carry about of chemical propellant.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: On 21 February 2013, after a competition, 11 science instruments were selected by ESA, which are being developed by science and engineering teams from all over Europe, with participation from the US.Japan will also contribute several components for SWI, RPWI, GALA, PEP, JANUS and J-MAG instruments, and will facilitate testing.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The name is Latin for "comprehensive observation of Jupiter, his love affairs and descendants." A camera system to image Ganymede and interesting parts of the surface of Callisto at better than 400 m/pixel (resolution limited by mission data volume). Selected targets will be investigated in high-resolution with a spatial resolution from 25 m/pixel down to 2.4 m/pixel with a 1.3° field of view. The camera system has 13 panchromatic, broad and narrow-band filters in the 0.36 µm to 1.1 µm range, and provides stereo imaging capabilities. "JANUS" will also allow relating spectral, laser and radar measurements to geomorphology and thus will provide the overall geological context.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: A visible and infrared imaging spectrograph operating from 400 nm to 5.70 µm, with spectral resolution of 3–7 nm, that will observe tropospheric cloud features and minor gas species on Jupiter and will investigate the composition of ices and minerals on the surfaces of the icy moons. The spatial resolution will be down to on Ganymede and about on Jupiter.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: An imaging spectrograph operating in the wavelength range 55–210 nm with spectral resolution of <0.6 nm that will characterise exospheres and aurorae of the icy moons, including plume searches on Europa, and study the Jovian upper atmosphere and aurorae. Resolution up to observing Ganymede and up to observing Jupiter.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: A spectrometer using a antenna and working in 1080–1275 GHz and 530–601 GHz with spectral resolving power of ~10 that will study Jupiter's stratosphere and troposphere, and the exospheres and surfaces of the icy moons.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: A laser altimeter with a spot size and vertical resolution at intended for studying topography of icy moons and tidal deformations of Ganymede.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: An ice-penetrating radar working at frequency of 9 MHz (1 and 3 MHz bandwidth) emitted by a antenna; will be used to study the subsurface structure of Jovian moons down to depth with vertical resolution up to in ice.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: Will study the subsurface oceans of the icy moons and the interaction of Jovian magnetic field with the magnetic field of Ganymede using a sensitive magnetometer.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: A suite of six sensors to study the magnetosphere of Jupiter and its interactions with the Jovian moons. "PEP" will measure positive and negative ions, electrons, exospheric neutral gas, thermal plasma and energetic neutral atoms present in all domains of the Jupiter system from 1 meV to 1 MeV energy.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: Will characterise the plasma environment and radio emissions around the spacecraft, it is composed of four experiments: GANDALF, MIME, FRODO and JENRAGE. "RPWI" will use four Langmuir probes, each one mounted at the end of its own dedicated boom, and sensitive up to 1.6 MHz to characterize plasma and receivers in the frequency range 80 kHz to 45 MHz to measure radio emissions.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: 3GM is a radio science package comprising a Ka transponder and an ultrastable oscillator. 3GM will be used to study the gravity field – up to degree 10 – at Ganymede and the extent of internal oceans on the icy moons, and to investigate the structure of the neutral atmospheres and ionospheres of Jupiter (0.1 – 800 mbar) and its moons.


title: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

text: The experiment will generate specific signals transmitted by JUICE's antenna and received by very-long-baseline interferometry to perform precision measurements of the gravity fields of Jupiter and its icy moons.


title: Phantom power

text: Phantom power, in the context of professional audio equipment, is DC electric power transmitted through microphone cables to operate microphones that contain active electronic circuitry.


title: Phantom power

text: It is best known as a convenient power source for condenser microphones, though many active direct boxes also use it. The technique is also used in other applications where power supply and signal communication take place over the same wires.


title: Phantom power

text: Phantom power supplies are often built into mixing consoles, microphone preamplifiers and similar equipment. In addition to powering the circuitry of a microphone, traditional condenser microphones also use phantom power for polarizing the microphone's transducer element.


title: Phantom power

text: Phantom powering was first used (and still is used) in copper wire based landline telephone systems since the introduction of the rotary-dial telephone in 1919. One such application in the telephone system was to provide a DC signaling path around transformer-connected amplifiers such as analogue line transmission systems.


title: Phantom power

text: The first known commercially available phantom-powered microphone was the Schoeps model CMT 20, which came out in 1964, built to the specifications of French radio with 9–12 volt DC phantom power; the positive pole of this powering was grounded. Microphone preamplifiers of the Nagra IV-series tape recorders offered this type of powering as an option for many years and Schoeps continued to support "negative phantom" until the CMT series was discontinued in the mid-1970s, but it is obsolete now.


title: Phantom power

text: In 1966, Neumann GmbH presented a new type of transistorized microphone to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK. Norwegian Radio had requested phantom-powered operation. Since NRK already had 48-volt power available in their studios for their emergency lighting systems, this voltage was used for powering the new microphones (model KM 84), and is the origin of 48-volt phantom power. This arrangement was later standardized in DIN 45596.


title: Phantom power

text: The International Electrotechnical Commission Standards Committee's "Multimedia systems – Guide to the recommended characteristics of analogue interfaces to achieve interoperability" (IEC 61938:2018) specifies parameters for microphone phantom power delivery. Three variants are defined by the document: P12, P24 and P48. In addition, two additional variants (P12L and SP48) are mentioned for specialized applications. Most microphones now use the P48 standard (maximum available power is 240 mW). Although 12 and 48-volt systems are still in use, the standard recommends 24-volt supply for new systems.


title: Phantom power

text: Phantom powering consists of a phantom circuit where direct current is applied equally through the two signal lines of a balanced audio connector (in modern equipment, both pins 2 and 3 of an XLR connector). The supply voltage is referenced to the ground pin of the connector (pin 1 of an XLR), which normally is connected to the cable shield or a ground wire in the cable or both. When phantom powering was introduced, one of its advantages was that the same type of balanced, shielded microphone cable that studios were already using for dynamic microphones could be used for condenser microphones. This is in contrast to microphones with vacuum-tube circuitry, most of which require special, multi-conductor cables.


title: Phantom power

text: With phantom power, the supply voltage is effectively invisible to balanced microphones that do not use it, which includes most dynamic microphones. A balanced signal consists only of the differences in voltage between two signal lines; phantom powering places the same DC voltage on both signal lines of a balanced connection. This is in marked contrast to another, slightly earlier method of powering known as "parallel powering" or "T-powering" (from the German term "Tonaderspeisung"), in which DC was overlaid directly onto the signal in differential mode. Connecting a conventional microphone to an input that had parallel powering enabled could very well damage the microphone.


title: Phantom power

text: The IEC 61938 Standard defines 48-volt, 24-volt, and 12-volt phantom powering. The signal conductors are positive, both fed through resistors of equal value (6.81 kΩ for 48 V, 1.2 kΩ for 24 V, and 680 Ω for 12 V), and the shield is ground. The 6.81 kΩ value is not critical, but the resistors must be matched to within 0.1% or better to maintain good common-mode rejection in the circuit. The 24-volt version of phantom powering, proposed quite a few years after the 12 and 48 V versions, was also included in the DIN standard and is in the IEC standard, but it was never widely adopted by equipment manufacturers.


title: Phantom power

text: Nearly all modern mixing consoles have a switch for turning phantom power on or off; in most high-end equipment this can be done individually by channel, while on smaller mixers a single master switch may control power delivery to all channels. Phantom power can be blocked in any channel with a 1:1 isolation transformer or blocking capacitors. Phantom powering can cause equipment malfunction or even damage if used with cables or adapters that connect one side of the input to ground, or if certain equipment other than microphones is connected to it.


title: Phantom power

text: Instrument amplifiers rarely provide phantom power. To use equipment requiring it with these amplifiers, a separate power supply must be inserted into the line. These are readily available commercially, or alternatively are one of the easier projects for the amateur electronics constructor.


title: Phantom power

text: Some microphones offer a choice of internal battery powering or (external) phantom powering. In some such microphones it is advisable to remove the internal batteries when phantom power is being used since batteries may corrode and leak chemicals. Other microphones are specifically designed to switch over to the internal batteries if an external supply fails.


title: Phantom power

text: Phantom powering is not always implemented correctly or adequately, even in professional-quality preamps, mixers, and recorders. In part this is because first-generation (late-1960s through mid-1970s) 48-volt phantom-powered condenser microphones had simple circuitry and required only small amounts of operating current (typically less than 1 mA per microphone), so the phantom supply circuits typically built into recorders, mixers, and preamps of that time were designed on the assumption that this current would be adequate. The original DIN 45596 phantom-power specification called for a maximum of 2 mA. This practice has carried forward to the present; many 48-volt phantom power supply circuits, especially in low-cost and portable equipment, simply cannot supply more than 1 or 2 mA total without breaking down. Some circuits also have significant additional resistance in series with the standard pair of supply resistors for each microphone input; this may not affect low-current microphones much, but it can disable microphones that need more current.


title: Phantom power

text: Mid-1970s and later condenser microphones designed for 48-volt phantom powering often require much more current (e.g., 2–4 mA for Neumann transformerless microphones, 4–5 mA for the Schoeps CMC ("Colette") series and Josephson microphones, 5–6 mA for most Shure KSM-series microphones, 8 mA for CAD Equiteks and 10 mA for Earthworks). The IEC standard gives 10 mA as the maximum allowed current per microphone. If its required current is not available, a microphone may still put out a signal, but it cannot deliver its intended level of performance. The specific symptoms vary somewhat, but the most common result will be reduction of the maximum sound-pressure level that the microphone can handle without overload (distortion). Some microphones will also show lower sensitivity (output level for a given sound-pressure level).


title: Phantom power

text: Most ground lift switches have the unwanted effect of disconnecting phantom power. There must always be a DC current path between pin 1 of the microphone and the negative side of the 48-volt supply, if power is to reach the microphone's electronics. Lifting the ground, which is normally pin 1, breaks this path and disables the phantom power supply.


title: Phantom power

text: There is a common belief that connecting a dynamic or ribbon microphone to a phantom-powered input will damage it. There are three possibilities for this damage to occur. If there is a fault in the cable, phantom power may damage some mics by applying a voltage across the output of the microphone. Equipment damage is also possible if a phantom-powered input connected to an unbalanced dynamic microphone or electronic musical instruments. The transient generated when a microphone is hot-plugged into an input with active phantom power can damage the microphone and possibly the preamp circuit of the input because not all pins of the microphone connector make contact at the same time, and there is an instant when current can flow to charge the capacitance of the cable from one side of the phantom-powered input and not the other. This is particularly a problem with long microphone cables. It is considered good practice to disable phantom power to devices that don't require it.


title: Phantom power

text: Digital microphones complying with the AES 42 standard may be provided with phantom power at 10 volts, impressed on both audio leads and ground. This supply can furnish up to 250 mA to digital microphones. A keyed variation of the usual XLR connector, the XLD connector, may be used to prevent accidental interchange of analog and digital devices.


title: Phantom power

text: T-power, also known as A-B powering or T12, described in DIN 45595, is an alternative to phantom powering that is still widely used in the world of production film sound. Many mixers and recorders intended for that market have a T-power option. Many older Sennheiser and Schoeps microphones use this powering method, although newer recorders and mixers are phasing out this option. Adapter barrels, and dedicated power supplies, are made to accommodate T powered microphones. There is often no audible difference between microphones featuring this method and microphones with P48 powering. In this scheme, 12volts is applied through 180ohm resistors between the microphone's "hot" terminal (XLR pin 2) and the microphone's "cold" terminal (XLR pin 3). This results in a 12-volt potential difference with significant current capability across pins 2 and 3, which would likely cause permanent damage if applied to a dynamic or ribbon microphone.


title: Phantom power

text: Plug-in-power (PiP) is the low-current 3–5 V supply provided at the microphone jack of some consumer equipment, such as portable recorders and computer sound cards. It is also defined in IEC 61938. It is unlike phantom power since it is an unbalanced interface with a low voltage (around +5volts) connected to the signal conductor with return through the sleeve; the DC power is in common with the audio signal from the microphone. A capacitor is used to block the DC from subsequent audio frequency circuits. It is often used for powering electret microphones, which will not function without power. It is suitable only for powering microphones specifically designed for use with this type of power supply. Damage may result if these microphones are connected to true (48 V) phantom power through a 3.5 mm to XLR adapter that connects the XLR shield to the 3.5 mm sleeve. Plug-in-power is covered by Japanese standard CP-1203A:2007.


title: Phantom power

text: A similar line-powering scheme is found in computer sound cards. Both plug-in-power and soundcard power are defined in the second edition of IEC 61938.


title: Phantom power

text: These alternative powering schemes are sometimes improperly referred to as "phantom power" and should not be confused with true 48-volt phantom powering described above.


title: Phantom power

text: Some condenser microphones can be powered with a 1.5-volt cell contained in a small compartment in the microphone or in an external housing.


title: Phantom power

text: Phantom power is sometimes used by workers in avionics to describe the DC bias voltage used to power aviation microphones, which use a lower voltage than professional audio microphones. Phantom power used in this context is 8–16volts DC in series with a 470ohm (nominal) resistor as specified in RTCA Inc. standard DO-214. These microphones evolved from the carbon microphones used in the early days of aviation and the telephone which relied on a DC bias voltage across the carbon microphone element.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is an upcoming independent slasher film written and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield in his directorial debut. It stars Amber Doig-Thorne, Maria Taylor, Danielle Ronald, Natasha Tosini, May Kelly, Paula Coiz, Natasha Rose Mills, Nikolai Leon, with Craig David Dowsett as Winnie-the-Pooh and Chris Cordell as Piglet. Serving as a horror retelling of A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard's "Winnie-the-Pooh" books, it concerns Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet who now become feral and bloodthirsty serial killers embarking on a murderous rampage after a now grown-up Christopher Robin abandons them to go to college.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: The film was announced on May 24, 2022, where it drew widespread attention due to its concept involving a character that had garnered a reputation for being a "beloved childhood icon" and was met with divided reactions. Development for the film began when the first "Winnie-the-Pooh" book became a public domain work in the United States on January 1, 2022, meaning that The Walt Disney Company no longer holds the exclusive film rights to the characters first depicted in the book.. A ten-day period of shooting for the film took place in the Ashdown Forest of East Sussex, England, which served as a setting for the original book series.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: Produced by Jagged Edge Productions, the film is scheduled to be released on February 15, 2023, for a one-night event through Fathom Events, Altitude Film Distribution, Cineplex Entertainment, and Cinemex. Around the same time, the film is also set for a large cinematic release in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: During his childhood, Christopher Robin befriended Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and their friends, playing games and also providing them with food. As he grew, these visits grew more infrequent, as did the food supply, causing Pooh and the others to grow increasingly hungry and desperate. When Christopher went to college, the visits stopped completely, causing Pooh and Piglet to become completely feral and unhinged, resulting in Eeyore and the others getting killed and eaten at some point. Now Christopher Robin has returned to the forest alongside his new wife, hoping to introduce her to his old friends. Feeling betrayed, this results in Pooh and Piglet going on a murderous rampage for human flesh as they antagonize a group of university girls who are occupying a rural cabin.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: On May 24, 2022, Josh Korngut of Dread Central reported the announcement of a "Winnie-the-Pooh"-based horror film adaptation. The characters' rights had been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1966 and, while Disney retains exclusive rights to the depictions of these characters from their own franchise, as well as later characters such as Tigger, Winnie-the-Pooh went into the public domain in January 1, 2022. After the copyright lapsed, Rhys Frake-Waterfield began production on "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" the same year, with the film marking his directorial debut.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: Speaking to "Variety", Frake-Waterfield described the plot as both Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet turn into homicidal maniacs after Christopher Robin left them for college. He stated:


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: He also revealed that, prior to the events of the film, Pooh and Piglet ate Eeyore alive due to their hunger; Eeyore's tombstone will be shown in one scene. The masks used for Pooh and Piglet in the film were created by the American prosthetic-mask manufacturing company Immortal Masks, which actually did the Winnie-the-Pooh-styled masks before the 1926 book entered the public domain.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" was shot in the Ashdown Forest of East Sussex, England, over a period of ten days. Jagged Edge Productions produced the film in collaboration with ITN Studios, who distributed it. Frake-Waterfield was careful to avoid Pooh's iconic red shirt, as well as any other elements from Disney's depictions that could pose a copyright issue.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: After the increased popularity of the film, ITN gave the film an increased budget, leading to several days of reshoots. This would lead to the film being the most expensive field Waterfield ever directed and the most expensive film produced by ITN.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: On July 18, 2022, American music composer Andrew Scott Bell was announced as a provider for the film's score. On July 14, 2022, Bell uploaded a video to YouTube titled "Winnie the Pooh: Blood, Honey, and Violins" that documented how he drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with his manager Mike Rosen, to collect a honeycomb-filled violin from an experimental luthier to compose the film's soundtrack. In an interview with "Dread Central", Bell explains how he got involved with the production of "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" after he heard about it after the film went viral upon the announcement. He said:Back in late May, a day or so before the film went massively viral, I started seeing some online chatter about a Winnie the Pooh horror movie. I remember looking it up on IMDb and finding the director Rhys Frake-Waterfield on Instagram where his story had a screenshot of a person's comment saying something to the effect of "your movie is ruining our childhoods". His reaction was, "that's what I'm trying to do, ruin everyone's childhood".


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: The first trailer was released on August 31, 2022. "The A.V. Club"'s Hattie Lindert called it "delightfully bonkers".


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: On November 1, 2022, it was announced that "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" is set to be released for a one-day event across theaters in the US, UK, Canada, and Mexico on February 15, 2023, with Fathom Events, Altitude Film Distribution, Cineplex Entertainment, and Cinemex acquiring the rights to release it in their respective countries. The film was originally planned to be released in October 2022, but the increased publicity and reshoots motivated the change to a 2023 theatrical release.


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: After the film's announcement, "Salon" writer Kelly McClure wrote the film is "a perfect example of the wrong that could come from a creative work slipping into public domain." She continued, calling the film a "horrific take" on Winnie-the-Pooh, also stating "you've got the makings of a dark and twisted cult classic." Jon Mendelsohn, writing for "Collider", called the film images "nightmare fuel" and the concept "extremely bizarre" while noting "the internet is freaking out." Rotem Rusak, writing for Nerdist, wrote, "Seeing the iconic bear reimagined as a nightmarish slasher monster speaks to a delightfully imaginative spirit that really inspires us." Justin Carter of Gizmodo wrote:


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: Katarina Feder of "Artnet" wrote, "...you can't buy publicity like the kind they've had and something tells me that this indie passion project will find its funding, bringing to life the director's unique ideas about murdering women in bikinis."


title: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

text: In June 2022, Frake-Waterfield expressed an interest in creating a sequel and wants to "ramp it up even more and go even crazier and go even more extreme." In November 2022, he announced that he was working on two horror movies, "Bambi: The Reckoning" and "Peter Pan: Neverland Nightmare", based on "Bambi, a Life in the Woods" and "Peter Pan", which are also in the public domain.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The economy of Myanmar has a nominal GDP of US$69.26 billion in 2022 and an estimated purchasing power adjusted GDP of $257.34 billion in 2022 according to the International Monetary Fund. For the 2022 estimate, GDP per capita in Myanmar would be $4,060.67 in PPP per capita and $1,409.70 in nominal per capita.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Historically, Burma was the main trade route between India and China since 100 BC. The Mon Kingdom of lower Burma served as important trading centre in the Bay of Bengal. The majority of the population involved in rice production and other forms of agriculture. Burma used a system based on siliver as a medium of exchange. All land was technically owned by the Burmese monarch. Exports, along with oil wells, gem mining and teak production were controlled by the monarch. Burma was vitally involved in the Indian Ocean trade. Logged teak was a prized export that was used in European shipbuilding, because of its durability, and became the focal point of the Burmese export trade from the 1700s to the 1800s.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Under the monarchy, the economy of Myanmar had been one of redistribution, a concept embedded in local society, religion, and politics (Dāna). The state set the prices of the most important commodities. Agrarian self-sufficiency was vital, while trade was only of secondary importance.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Under the British administration, the people of Burma were at the bottom of social hierarchy, with Europeans at the top, Indians, Chinese, and Christianized minorities in the middle, and Buddhist Burmese at the bottom. Forcefully integrated into the world economy, Burma's economy grew in extractive industries and cash crops agriculture, and had the second-highest GDP per capita in Southeast Asia; much of the wealth was concentrated in the hands of Europeans, however. The country became the world's largest exporter of rice, mainly to European markets, while other colonies like India suffered mass starvation. The British followed the ideologies of Social Darwinism and free market, and opened up the country to a large-scale immigration with Rangoon exceeding New York City as the greatest immigration port in the world in the 1920s. Historian Thant Myint-U states, "This was out of a total population of only 13 million; it was equivalent to the United Kingdom today taking 2 million people a year." By then, in most of the largest cities in Burma, Rangoon, Akyab, Bassein and Moulmein, the Indian immigrants formed a majority of the population. The Burmese under British rule felt helpless, and reacted with a "racism that combined feelings of superiority and fear".


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Crude oil production, an indigenous industry of Yenangyaung, was taken over by the British and put under Burmah Oil monopoly. British Burma began exporting crude oil in 1853. It produced 75% of the world's teak. The wealth was however, mainly concentrated in the hands of Europeans. In the 1930s, agricultural production fell dramatically as international rice prices declined and did not recover for several decades.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: During the Japanese invasion of Burma in World War II, the British followed a scorched earth policy. They destroyed the major government buildings, oil wells and mines for tungsten, tin, lead and silver to keep them from the Japanese. Myanmar was bombed extensively by the Allies. After independence, the country was in ruins with its major infrastructure completely destroyed. With the loss of India, Burma lost relevance and obtained independence from the British. After a parliamentary government was formed in 1948, Prime Minister U Nu embarked upon a policy of nationalisation and the state was declared the owner of all land. The government tried to implement an eight-year plan partly financed by injecting money into the economy which caused some inflation.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: After a parliamentary government was formed in 1948, Prime Minister U Nu embarked upon a policy of nationalisation. He attempted to make Burma a welfare state by adopting central planning measures. By the 1950s, rice exports had decreased by two-thirds and mineral exports by over 96%. Plans were implemented in setting up light consumer industries by private sector. The 1962 Burmese coup d'état, was followed by an economic scheme called the Burmese Way to Socialism, a plan to nationalise all industries, with the exception of agriculture. The catastrophic program turned Burma into one of the world's most impoverished countries. Burma's admittance to least developed country status by the United Nations in 1987 highlighted its economic bankruptcy.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: After 1988, the regime retreated from a command economy. It permitted modest expansion of the private sector, allowed some foreign investment, and received much needed foreign exchange. The economy was rated in 2009 as the least free in Asia (tied with North Korea). All fundamental market institutions are suppressed. Private enterprises are often co-owned or indirectly owned by state. The corruption watchdog organisation Transparency International in its 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index released on 26 September 2007 ranked Burma the most corrupt country in the world, tied with Somalia.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The national currency is the kyat. Burma currently has a dual exchange rate system similar to Cuba. The market rate was around two hundred times below the government-set rate in 2006. In 2011, the Burmese government enlisted the aid of International Monetary Fund to evaluate options to reform the current exchange rate system, to stabilise the domestic foreign exchange trading market and creates economic distortions. The dual exchange rate system allows for the government and state-owned enterprises to divert funds and revenues, but also gives the government more control over the local economy and temporarily subdue inflation.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Inflation averaged 30.1% between 2005 and 2007. In April 2007, the National League for Democracy organised a two-day workshop on the economy. The workshop concluded that skyrocketing inflation was impeding economic growth. "Basic commodity prices have increased from 30% to 60% since the military regime promoted a salary increase for government workers in April 2006," said Soe Win, the moderator of the workshop. "Inflation is also correlated with corruption." Myint Thein, an NLD spokesperson, added: "Inflation is the critical source of the current economic crisis."


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In recent years, China and India attempted to strengthen ties with Myanmar for mutual benefit. The European Union and some nations including the United States and Canada imposed investment and trade sanctions on Burma. The United States banned all imports from Burma, though this restriction was since lifted. Foreign investment comes primarily from China, Singapore, South Korea, India, and Thailand.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In 2011, when new President Thein Sein's government came to power, Burma embarked on a major policy of reforms including anti-corruption, currency exchange rate regulation, foreign investment laws and taxation. Foreign investments increased from US$300 million in 2009–10 to a US$20 billion in 2010–11 by about 6567%. Large inflow of capital results in stronger Burmese currency, kyat by about 25%. In response, the government relaxed import restrictions and abolished export taxes. Despite current currency problems, Burmese economy is expected to grow by about 8.8% in 2011. After the completion of 58-billion dollar Dawei deep seaport, Burma is expected be at the hub of trade connecting Southeast Asia and the South China Sea, via the Andaman Sea, to the Indian Ocean receiving goods from countries in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and spurring growth in the ASEAN region.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In 2012, the Asian Development Bank formally began re-engaging with the country, to finance infrastructure and development projects in the country. The $512 million loan is the first issued by the ADB to Myanmar in 30 years and will target banking services, ultimately leading to other major investments in road, energy, irrigation and education projects.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In March 2012, a draft foreign investment law emerged, the first in more than 2 decades. This law oversees the unprecedented liberalisation of the economy. It for example stipulates that foreigners no longer require a local partner to start a business in the country and can legally lease land. The draft law also stipulates that Burmese citizens must constitute at least 25% of the firm's skilled workforce, and with subsequent training, up to 50–75%.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: On 28 January 2013, the government of Myanmar announced deals with international lenders to cancel or refinance nearly $6 billion of its debt, almost 60 per cent of what it owes to foreign lenders. Japan wrote off US$3 Billion, nations in the group of Paris Club wrote off US$2.2 Billion and Norway wrote off US$534 Million.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Myanmar's inward foreign direct investment has steadily increased since its reform. The country approved US$4.4 billion worth of investment projects between January and November 2014.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: According to one report released on 30 May 2013, by the McKinsey Global Institute, Burma's future looks bright, with its economy expected to quadruple by 2030 if it invests in more high-tech industries. This however does assume that other factors (such as drug trade, the continuing war of the government with specific ethnic groups, etc.) do not interfere.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: As of October 2017, less than 10% of Myanmar's population has a bank account. As of 2016–17 approximately 98 percent of the population has smartphones and mobile money schemes are being implemented without the use of banks similar to African countries.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: On April 30, 2021, the United Nations Development Programme published a report indicating that the COVID-19 virus and the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état in February 2021 could reverse economic gains made over the last sixteen years.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Since at least 2022, Myanmar is undergoing an ailing economy; the ruling military junta plans to shore up the worsening state of its balance of payments. When the kyat fell by a third of its pre-coup value, the central bank then sold $600 million worth of foreign reserves (10% of the entire country's total) to prop up the kyat. By April 2022, reserves dwindled, foreign investment fell and remittances plummeted. This led the junta to impose capital controls and import restrictions which led to shortages of diabetes and cancer medicines.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In a first ever countrywide study in 2013, the Myanmar government found that 37 per cent of the nation's population were unemployed and an average of 26 per cent lived in poverty.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The current state of the Burmese economy has also had a significant impact on the people of Burma, as economic hardship results in extreme delays of marriage and family building. The average age of marriage in Burma is 27.5 for men, 26.4 for women, almost unparalleled in the region, with the exception of developed countries like Singapore.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Burma also has a low fertility rate, of 2.07 children per woman (2010), especially as compared to other Southeast Asian countries of similar economic standing, like Cambodia (3.18) and Laos (4.41), representing a significant decline from 4.7 in 1983, despite the absence of a national population policy. This is at least partly attributed to the economic strain that additional children place on the family income, and has resulted in the prevalence of illegal abortions in the country, as well as use of other forms of birth control.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The 2012 foreign investment law draft, included a proposal to transform the Myanmar Investment Commission from a government-appointed body into an independent board. This could bring greater transparency to the process of issuing investment licenses, according to the proposed reforms drafted by experts and senior officials. However, even with this draft, it will still remain a question on whether corruption in the government can be addressed (links have been shown between certain key individuals inside the government and the drug trade, as well as many industries that use forced labour -for example the mining industry-).


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Many regions (such as the Golden Triangle) remain off-limits for foreigners, and in some of these regions, the government is still at war with certain ethnic groups.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The major agricultural product is rice which covers about 60% of the country's total cultivated land area. Rice accounts for 97% of total food grain production by weight. Through collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 52 modern rice varieties were released in the country between 1966 and 1997, helping increase national rice production to 14 million tons in 1987 and to 19 million tons in 1996. By 1988, modern varieties were planted on half of the country's rice fields, including 98% of the irrigated areas. In 2011, Myanmar's total milled rice production accounted for 10.60 million tons, an increase from the 1.8 per cent back in 2010.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In northern Burma opium bans have ended a century old tradition of growing poppy. Between 20,000 and 30,000 ex-poppyfarmers left the Kokang region as a result of the ban in 2002.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Rubber plantations are being promoted in areas of high elevation like Mong Mao. Sugar plantations are grown in the lowlands such as Mong Pawk District.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The lack of an educated workforce skilled in modern technology contributes to the growing problems of the economy.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Lately, the country lacks adequate infrastructure. Goods travel primarily across Thai and China borders and through the main port in Yangon.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Railroads are old and rudimentary, with few repairs since their construction in the late nineteenth century. Presently China and Japan are providing aid to upgrade rail transport. Highways are normally paved, except in the remote border regions. Energy shortages are common throughout the country including in Yangon. About 30 percent of the country's population is without electricity, with 70 per cent of people living in rural areas. The civilian government has indicated that electricity will be imported from Laos to fulfill demand.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Other industries include agricultural goods, textiles, wood products, construction materials, gems, metals, oil and natural gas.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The private sector dominates in agriculture, light industry, and transport activities, while the government controls energy, heavy industry, and military industries.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The garment industry is a major job creator in the Yangon area, with around 200,000 workers employed in total in mid-2015. The Myanmar Government has introduced minimum wage of MMK 4,800 (US$3.18) per day for the garment workers from March 2018.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The Myanmar garments sector has seen significant influx of foreign direct investment, if measured by the number of entries


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: rather than their value. In March 2012, six of Thailand's largest garment manufacturers announced that they would move production to Burma, principally to the Yangon area, citing lower labour costs. In mid-2015, about 55% of officially registered garment firms in Myanmar were known to be fully or partly foreign-owned, with about 25% of the foreign firms from China and 17% from Hong Kong. Foreign-linked firms supply almost all garment exports, and these have risen rapidly in recent years, especially since EU sanctions were lifted in 2012. Myanmar exported $1.6 billion worth of garment and textiles in 2016.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Burma (Myanmar) is the largest producer of methamphetamines in the world, with the majority of "ya ba" found in Thailand produced in Burma, particularly in the Golden Triangle and Northeastern Shan State, which borders Thailand, Laos and China. Burmese-produced "Ya ba" is typically trafficked to Thailand via Laos, before being transported through the northeastern Thai region of Isan.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In 2010, Burma trafficked 1 billion tablets to neighbouring Thailand. In 2009, Chinese authorities seized over 40 million tablets that had been illegally trafficked from Burma. Ethnic militias and rebel groups (in particular the United Wa State Army) are responsible for much of this production; however, the Burmese military units are believed to be heavily involved in the trafficking of the drugs.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Burma is also the second largest supplier of opium (following Afghanistan) in the world, with 95% of opium grown in Shan State. Illegal narcotics have generated $1 to US$2 billion in exports annually, with estimates of 40% of the country's foreign exchange coming from drugs. Efforts to eradicate opium cultivation have pushed many ethnic rebel groups, including the United Wa State Army and the Kokang to diversify into methamphetamine production.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Prior to the 1980s, heroin was typically transported from Burma to Thailand, before being trafficked by sea to Hong Kong, which was and still remains the major transit point at which heroin enters the international market. Now, drug trafficking has circumvented to southern China (from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong) because of a growing market for drugs in China, before reaching Hong Kong.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The prominence of major drug traffickers have allowed them to penetrate other sectors of the Burmese economy, including the banking, airline, hotel and infrastructure industries. Their investment in infrastructure have allowed them to make more profits, facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering. The share of informal economy in Myanmar is one of the largest in the world that feeds into trade in illegal drugs.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Myanmar has rich solar power and hydropower potential. Country's technical solar power potential is the highest among the nations of the Greater Mekong Subregion. Wind energy, biogas and biomass have limited potential and weakly developed.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The Union of Myanmar's economy depends heavily on sales of precious stones such as sapphires, pearls and jade. Rubies are the biggest earner; 90% of the world's rubies come from the country, whose red stones are prized for their purity and hue. Thailand buys the majority of the country's gems. Burma's ""Valley of Rubies"", the mountainous Mogok area, north of Mandalay, is noted for its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Myanmar is famed for its production of Golden South Sea Pearls. In recent years, the countries has auctioned its production in Hong Kong, first organized by Belpearl company in 2013 to critical acclaim and premium prices due to strong Chinese demand. Notable pearls include the New Dawn of Myanmar, a 19mm round golden pearl which sold to an anonymous buyer for undisclosed price.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: In 2007, following the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Myanmar, human rights organisations, gem dealers, and US First Lady Laura Bush called for a boycott of a Myanmar gem auction held twice yearly, arguing that the sale of the stones profited the dictatorial regime in that country. Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma stated that mining operators used drugs on employees to improve productivity, with needles shared, raising the risk of HIV infection: "These rubies are red with the blood of young people." Brian Leber (41-year-old jeweller who founded The Jewellers' Burma Relief Project) stated that: "For the time being, Burmese gems should not be something to be proud of. They should be an object of revulsion. It's the only country where one obtains really top quality rubies, but I stopped dealing in them. I don't want to be part of a nation's misery. If someone asks for a ruby now I show them a nice pink sapphire."


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Richard W. Hughes, author of Ruby and Sapphire, a Bangkok-based gemologist who has made many trips to Burma makes the point that for every ruby sold through the junta, another gem that supports subsistence mining is smuggled over the Thai border. Burma's gemstone industry is a cornerstone of the Burmese economy with exports topping $1 billion.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: The permits for new gem mines in Mogoke, Mineshu and Nanyar state will be issued by the ministry according to a statement issued by the ministry on 11 February. While many sanctions placed on the former regime were eased or lifted in 2012, the US has left restrictions on importing rubies and jade from Myanmar intact. According to recent amendments to the new Myanmar foreign investment law, there is no longer a minimum capital requirement for investments, except in mining ventures, which require substantial proof of capital and must be documented through a domestic bank. Another important clarification in the investment law is the dropping of foreign ownership restrictions in joint ventures, except in restricted sectors, such as mining, where FDI will be capped at 80 per cent.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Since 1992, the government has encouraged tourism. Until 2008, fewer than 750,000 tourists entered the country annually, but there has been substantial growth over the past years. In 2012, 1.06 million tourists visited the country, and 1.8 million are expected to visit by the end of 2013.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Tourism is a growing sector of the economy of Burma. Burma has diverse and varied tourist attractions and is served internationally by numerous airlines via direct flights. Domestic and foreign airlines also operate flights within the country. Cruise ships also dock at Yangon. Overland entry with a border pass is permitted at several border checkpoints. The government requires a valid passport with an entry visa for all tourists and business people. As of May 2010, foreign business visitors from any country can apply for a visa on arrival when passing through Yangon and Mandalay international airports without having to make any prior arrangements with travel agencies. Both the tourist visa and business visa are valid for 28 days, renewable for an additional 14 days for tourism and three months for business. Seeing Burma through a personal tour guide is popular. Travellers can hire guides through travel agencies.


title: Economy of Myanmar

text: Aung San Suu Kyi has requested that international tourists not visit Burma. Moreoever, the junta's forced labour programmes were focused on tourist destinations; these designations have been heavily criticised for their human rights records. Even disregarding the obviously governmental fees, Burma's Minister of Hotels and Tourism Major-General Saw Lwin admitted that the government receives a significant percentage of the income of private sector tourism services. In addition, only a very small minority of impoverished people in Burma receive any money with any relation to tourism.