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During the first month of the 1996/1997 season, all teams placed the NBA at 50 logo on their courts.
The NBA 3-point line reduced to 22 ft. from the goal line to the top from the 1994/95 till the 1996/1997 season.
For me to even consider subjecting myself to this dietary horror there would need to be another reducing diet before the principal reducing diet. The purpose would be to slowly reduce my intake from the then present level over the span of a week or so in order to reduce the physical and mental shock of going cold grapefruit-and-melba toast overnight.
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From "Recipes From the Peninsula"
Compiled by
The Women's Group of the Ocean Park Community Church
Ocean Park Washington
THIS BOOK includes the finest plastic ring binders available, BUT, like most plastics, the BINDERS CAN BE DAMAGED BY EXCESSIVE HEAT, so AVOID exposing them to the direct rays of the SUN, or to excessive heat such as IN A CAR on a hot day, or on top of the kitchen STOVE. If not exposed to heat, the binders will last indefinitely.
Copyright 1966
Bev-Ron Publishing Company
2556 McGee Trafficway
Kansas City, Missouri
1st Printing Nov. 1962 200 Books
2nd Printing June 1963 100 Books
3rd Printing Aug. 1963 100 Books
4th Printing Feb. 1964 100 Books
5th Printing Feb. 1966 100 Books
Castilleja nana, "C. lapidicola" form, Site 3, vicinity of White Mountains Rd., in dolomite barrens NE of Sheep Mountain, White Mountains, Mono Co., CA, 21 Jul 2019. The elevation at this site is about 11,800'.
Another Castilleja question I was exploring in the White Mts. is the relationship between this little known but fairly widespread form of C. nana, originally described as a separate species, C. lapidicola, but reduced to synonymy under the earlier C. nana in the Intermountain Flora (1984). However, the plants of this form rarely if ever are found in the same population, and the lapidicola form usually occurs at even higher elevations, and, at least in the Whites, and on different substrates. The pale or "true" C. nana and the nana-pilosa intergrades occur at around 10,500-11,000' (from what I saw), while the pictured plants are from a population at nearly 12,000'. I saw no evidence of mixing of these forms in either population, though surely our sample size was small, in just one day.
This very harsh, high albido site with medium and fine-grained dolomite gravel, supported only a handful of low alpine species, and Castilleja nana lapidicola was by far the most common species, giving a reddish-purple hue to the mostly uniform, white landscape. The scarcity of other plants made determination of the likely host plants much easier than usual, and, as with most Castillejas, a variety of species appear to be utilized as hosts.
Who would have thought?
From pretend girl about town and avid poser, I have been reduced to chief cook, bottle washer and ………… scullery maid.
Life sucks … doesn’t it?
The Taj Mahal (/ˌtɑːdʒ məˈhɑːl/, more often /ˈtɑːʒ/; from Persian and Arabic, "crown of palaces", pronounced [ˈt̪aːdʒ mɛˈɦɛl]) is a white marble mausoleum located on the southern bank of Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his favorite wife of three, Mumtaz Mahal.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for an additional ten years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million Indian rupees, which in 2015 would be valued at around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US). The construction project employed around 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The domed marble tomb is part of an integrated complex consisting of gardens and two red-sandstone buildings surrounded by a crenellated wall on three sides.
The Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India". It is one of the world’s most celebrated structures and a symbol of India’s rich history. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the Taj Mahal attracts some 3 million visitors a year.
INSPIRATION
In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his favorite of three wives and beloved companion, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1643 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished about five years later.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including; the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.
TOMB
The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.
The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately 55 metres on each of the four long sides. Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level.
The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The dome is nearly 35 metres high which is close in measurement to the length of the base, and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on which is approximately 7 metres high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome or amrud (guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design which also serves to accentuate its height. The shape of the dome is emphasized by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the onion shape of the main dome. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.
The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward.
The minarets, which are each more than 40 metres tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets - a traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.
EXTERIOR DECORATIONS
The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs. Throughout the complex are passages from the Qur'an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.
The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" upon him as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity". Near the lines from the Qur'an at the base of the interior dome is the inscription, "Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi." Much of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below. The calligraphy found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.
Abstract forms are used throughout, especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab and, to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. Herringbone inlays define the space between many of the adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings, and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of the marble buildings have been stained or painted in a contrasting color which creates a complex array of geometric patterns. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.
On the lower walls of the tomb are white marble dados sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings. The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.
INTERIOR DECORATION
The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal reaches far beyond traditional decorative elements. The inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used. The interior walls are about 25 metres high and are topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level and, as with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall. The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas, and each balcony's exterior window has an intricate screen or jali cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. The octagonal marble screen or jali bordering the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces are inlaid in delicate detail with semi-precious stones forming twining vines, fruits and flowers. Each chamber wall is highly decorated with dado bas-relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels which reflect, in miniature detail, the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex.
Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Hence, the bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan were put in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right, towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph is placed at the precise centre of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base of 1.5 by 2.5 metres. Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is beside Mumtaz's to the western side, and is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on a slightly taller base precisely decorated with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies him. On the lid of the casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box.
The pen box and writing tablet are traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating the caskets of men and women respectively. The Ninety Nine Names of God are calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Other inscriptions inside the crypt include, "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... ". The tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads; "He travelled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri."
GARDEN
The complex is set around a large 300-metre square charbagh or Mughal garden. The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. Halfway between the tomb and gateway in the center of the garden is a raised marble water tank with a reflecting pool positioned on a north-south axis to reflect the image of the mausoleum. The raised marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar in reference to the "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.
Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, the first Mughal emperor. It symbolises the four flowing rivers of Jannah (Paradise) and reflects the Paradise garden derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning 'walled garden'. In mystic Islamic texts of the Mughal period, Paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.
Most Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the center. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, the interpretation of the Archaeological Survey of India is that the Yamuna river itself was incorporated into the garden's design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise. Similarities in layout and architectural features with the Shalimar Gardens suggests both gardens may have been designed by the same architect, Ali Mardan. Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Taj Mahal and its gardens also declined. By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire controlled more than three-fifths of India, and assumed management of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscaping to their liking which more closely resembled the formal lawns of London.
OUTLYING BUILDINGS
The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls; the side facing the river is open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favourite servant.
The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble, and reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb's archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that decorates the tomb. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs like those found in the other sandstone buildings in the complex.
At the far end of the complex are two grand red sandstone buildings that mirror each other, and face the sides of the tomb. The backs of the buildings parallel the western and eastern walls. The western building is a mosque and the other is the jawab (answer), thought to have been constructed for architectural balance although it may have been used as a guesthouse. Distinctions between the two buildings include the jawab's lack of a mihrab (a niche in a mosque's wall facing Mecca), and its floors of geometric design whereas the floor of the mosque is laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque's basic design of a long hall surmounted by three domes is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā, or Jama Masjid, Delhi. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas comprising a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side. At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an expansive vaulting dome. The outlying buildings were completed in 1643.
CONSTRUCTION
The Taj Mahal is built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and leveled at 50 metres above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle.
The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A fifteen kilometer tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site and teams of twenty or thirty oxen pulled the blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to a large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.
The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab, and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". Construction of the mausoleum itself was essentially completed by 1643 while work continued on the outlying buildings. Estimates of the cost of construction vary due to difficulties in estimating costs across time. The total cost has been estimated to be about 32 million Indian rupees, which is around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US) based on 2015 values.
LATER DAYS
Abdul Hamid Lahauri in his book Badshahnama refers to Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara, meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb. Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal, the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph, were taken away by them, along with the gold and silver screen. Kanbo, a Mughal historian, said the gold shield which covered the 15-foot high finial at the top of the main dome was also removed during the Jat despoliation.
By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.
THREATS
In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffoldings were again erected to mislead bomber pilots.
More recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of Yamuna River including acid rain due to the Mathura Oil Refinery, which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400-square-kilometre area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.
Concerns for the tomb's structural integrity have recently been raised because of a decline in the groundwater level in the Yamuna river basin which is falling at a rate of around 5 feet a year. In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the tomb, and the minarets which surround the monument were showing signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb may be rotting due to lack of water. In 2011 it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within 5 years.
TOURISM
The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001, which increased to about 3 million in 2015. A two tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and a more expensive one for foreigners. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor center.
The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.
The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons only five items - water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies' purses - are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.
MYTHS
Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument. A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river. The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in Moonlight Garden, Mahtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discolored white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.
No evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings. No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.
Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.
In 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed P. N. Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal. In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.
WIKIPEDIA
In late 1958, the Mk. 2 Arrow was ready for taxi tests to break in the new engines. The two Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojet engines of the Mk. 1 were replaced by the Orenda PS.13 Iroquois engines. The engine was similar to the Rolls-Royce RB.106, using a two-spool layout with low-pressure and high-pressure sections of the compressor for added efficiency. This design made it more powerful than the British design, especially in afterburner. In order to improve simplicity and reduce weight, Orenda (a part of the Avro Canada group)) pioneered the use of titanium in the design of the engine. The engine was thought to have weighed 850 pounds (386 kg) less than if steel had been used. The engine could produce 19,350 pound-force (86.1 kN) without afterburning and 25,600 pound-force (114 kN) with afterburning.
In this image, you can see the new Iroquois engines installed on RL-206. The Iroquois engines were much longer than the J75 engines (19.5 ft to 13 ft) but due to their lower weight, the internal structure could be reduced. No significant external fuselage alterations were necessary. Note the different exhaust design from the J75 engines and the lack of the red Day-Glo paint.
This pattern is made from a single photo, shot and edited entirely on the iPhone. The photo was cropped and saved in 3 color variations using Camera+, then composed with Diptic.
There's a lovely bank of multicolored lockers at Stockholm’s Fotografiska (Photography) Museum. I took a half-hearted angle shot of the room and thought nothing more of it until later at the cafe when we were messing around on our phones. I cropped the photo to hide everything but the color of the lockers and rotated it. That crop represents each of the ⅓ columns in this image.
I have my own explanation for why I took this shot and I think about what it means to me. Random as this may be I'm interested in what others see here.
This glass reduces rather than magnifies. Cartographers often produced a final map at 50-75 percent of its draft size, and this tool allowed them to visualize how their draft line work would appear at the final size.
Trying to sell, buy, reduce and remodel. I'd rather walk with a camera. So I did. Under exposed and then played with a pretty yellow weed to light up the day.
Photo Copyright 2012, dynamo.photography.
All rights reserved, no use without license
++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++
The International Finance Centre (abbr. IFC, branded as "ifc") is a skyscraper and an integrated commercial development on the waterfront of Hong Kong's Central District.
A prominent landmark on Hong Kong Island, IFC consists of two skyscrapers, the IFC Mall, and the 55-storey Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong. Tower 2 is the second tallest building in Hong Kong (415 m), behind the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. It is the fourth-tallest building in the Greater China region and the eighth-tallest office building in the world, based on structural heights; by roof height, only the Taipei 101, Shanghai World Financial Center, Willis Tower, International Commerce Centre and Burj Khalifa exceed it. It is of similar height to the former World Trade Center. The Airport Express Hong Kong Station is directly beneath it.
IFC was constructed and is owned by IFC Development, a consortium of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and Towngas.[6]
In 2003, Financial Times, HSBC, and Cathay Pacific put up an advertisement on the facade that stretched more than 50 storeys, covering an area of 19,000 m2 (0.2 million square ft) and a length of 230 m, making it the world's largest advertisement ever put on a skyscraper.[7]
Contents
1 History
2 One International Finance Centre
3 Two International Finance Centre
4 Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
5 IFC Mall
6 Gallery
6.1 2 International Finance Centre
6.2 International Finance Centre Mall
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History
Tower 1 is also known as 1IFC and branded in lowercase letters, as "One ifc". Likewise, Tower 2 is also known as 2IFC and branded as "Two ifc".[8]
1IFC opened in December 1998, towards the end of the Asian financial crisis. Tenants included ING Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, Fidelity International, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority[9] and the Financial Times.[10]
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority purchased 14 floors in 2IFC;[10] the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation signed a 12-year lease on 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2);[11] Nomura Group agreed to take 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m2) at 2 IFC; the Financial Times, an existing tenant at One IFC, took 10,000 sq ft (900 m2).[10] Ernst & Young took six floors (from the 11th to 18th floors), or about 180,000 square feet (16,700 m2), in 2IFC, to become the biggest tenant.[12]
2IFC, which was completed at the height of the SARS epidemic,[9] was initially available to rent at HK$25-HK$35 per square foot.[13] In 2007, as the economy has improved, high quality ("Grade A") office space is highly sought after; rents for current leases are $150 per square foot as of March 2007.[14]
The IFC's towers have featured in several Hollywood films, including Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, where Lara Croft leaps off the then-under-construction 2 International Finance Centre, landing on a ship out in the Kowloon Bay, and The Dark Knight, where Batman leapt from 2 IFC to 1 IFC, where an action scene then takes place.[15]
The 88th floor of 2IFC is the backdrop of core scenes of the German Thriller "Im Schatten der Lombardis" [1] by Berit Paton Reid, a German writer based in Dubai, UAE.
One International Finance Centre
One International Finance Centre
IFC mall Phase 1 shopping arcade
One International Finance Centre was constructed in 1998 and opened in 1999. It is 688 feet (210 m) tall,[16] has 39 storeys and four trading floors, 18 high speed passenger lifts in 4 zones, and comprises 784,000 square feet (72,800 m2). It is similar in design and appearance to 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey. The building currently accommodates approximately 5,000 people.
Two International Finance Centre
Two International Finance Centre, completed in 2003, is attached to the second phase of the ifc mall. This 415-metre-tall (1,362 ft) building, currently Hong Kong's second tallest, is quoted as having 88 storeys and 22 high-ceiling trading floors to qualify as being extremely auspicious in Chinese culture. It is, however, short of the magic number, because "taboo floors" like 14th and 24th are omitted as being inauspicious – because 4 sounds like 'die' in Cantonese.
The highrise is designed to accommodate financial institutions. For example, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is located at the 55th floor. It is equipped with advanced telecommunications, raised floors for flexible cabling management, and nearly column-free floor plans. The building expects to accommodate up to 15,000 people. It is one of relatively few buildings in the world equipped with double-deck elevators.
The 55th, 56th and the 77th to 88th floors were bought by the HKMA for US$480 million in 2001.[11] An exhibition area, currently containing an exhibit of Hong Kong's monetary history, and a library of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Information Centre occupy the 55th floor, and are open to the public during office hours.[17]
Despite common practice for owners to allow naming buildings after its important tenants, the owners decided not to allow renaming of the building.[18]
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Main article: Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
The Four Seasons Hotel is a luxury hotel that was built near the IFC One and Two. It was completed and opened in October 2005. The 206 m (674 ft), 60-storey oceanfront hotel is the only Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. The hotel has 399 guest suites, and 519 serviced apartments. Amenities include a French restaurant Caprice and spa.[19]
IFC Mall
It is an 800,000 sq ft, 4-storey shopping mall, with many luxury retail brands and wide variety of restaurants. The first official Apple Store was also located in this mall (a 3-storey flagship store in Hong Kong).
Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港; pronunciation in Hong Kong Cantonese: [hœ́ːŋ.kɔ̌ːŋ]), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in East Asia, south of the mainland Chinese province of Guangdong, and east of the former Portuguese colony and fellow special administrative region of Macau. With around 7.3 million Hong Kongers of various nationalities[note 1] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.
Hong Kong was formerly a colony of the British Empire, after the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from Qing China at the conclusion of the First Opium War in 1842. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860, and acquired a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War, until British control resumed in 1945. The territory was returned to China under the framework of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 and marked by the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.[13]
Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[14][15] Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system apart from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong retains independent executive, legislative, and judiciary powers.[16] Nevertheless, Hong Kong does directly develop relations with foreign states and international organizations in a broad range of "appropriate fields",[17] being actively and independently involved in institutions such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum[18] and the World Trade Organization.[19]
Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, holding the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranking as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity.[20][21] As the world's eighth-largest trading entity,[22] its legal tender, Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency.[23] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its independent judiciary system.[24] Although the city boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[25]
Hong Kong features the most skyscrapers in the world, surrounding Victoria Harbour, which lies in the centre of the city's dense urban region.[26][27] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy.[28][29] Over 90% of its population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[30] Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring industrial areas of mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[31][32][33]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Prehistory
2.2 Imperial China
2.3 British colony
2.4 Japanese military occupation
2.5 Post-war industrialisation
2.6 Transfer of sovereignty
2.7 Special administrative region
3 Government and politics
3.1 Legal system and judiciary
3.2 Foreign relations
3.3 Regional and administrative divisions
3.4 Electoral and political reforms
3.5 Sociopolitical issues and human rights
3.6 Military
4 Geography
4.1 Climate
4.2 Architecture
4.3 Cityscape
5 Demographics
5.1 Languages
5.2 Religion
5.3 Personal income
6 Economy
6.1 Financial centre
6.2 International trading
6.3 Tourism and expatriation
6.4 Policy
7 Infrastructure
7.1 Energy
7.2 Water and sanitation
7.3 Health
8 Transport
8.1 Rail
8.2 Roads and taxis
8.3 Aviation
8.4 Ferries
8.5 Buses and trams
9 Education
10 Culture
10.1 Sport
11 Media
12 Notable people
13 See also
14 Notes
15 References
15.1 Citations
15.2 Sources
16 Further reading
17 External links
Etymology
Hong Kong
Hong Kong in Chinese 2.svg
"Hong Kong" in Chinese characters
Chinese 香港
Cantonese Yale Hēunggóng or Hèunggóng
Literal meaning Fragrant Harbour,
Incense Harbour[34][35]
[show]Transcriptions
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Traditional Chinese 香港特別行政區
(香港特區)
Simplified Chinese 香港特别行政区
(香港特区)
Cantonese Yale Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui
(Hēunggóng Dahkkēui)
or
Hèunggóng Dahkbiht Hàhngjingkēui
(Hèunggóng Dahkkēui)
[show]Transcriptions
The name Hong Kong originally referred to a small inlet between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. The town of Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[36] The source of the romanised name is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the spoken Cantonese pronunciation of 香港 (Cantonese Yale: hēung góng), which means "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour".[34][35][37] Fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water influx from the Pearl River estuary or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour was developed.[37] Another theory is that the name originates from the Tanka, early inhabitants of the region; it is equally probable that a romanisation of the name in their dialect was used (i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese).[38] Regardless of origin, the name was recorded in the Treaty of Nanking to encompass all of Hong Kong Island, and has been used to refer to the territory in its entirety ever since.[39]
The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[40] Nevertheless, a number of institutions founded during the early colonial era still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
History
Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China
Prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric Hong Kong
Archaeological studies support human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[41][42][43] Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[44][45] Eight petroglyphs dated to the Shang Dynasty were discovered on the surrounding islands.[46]
Imperial China
Main article: History of Hong Kong under Imperial China
In 214 BC, the Qin dynasty conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into China for the first time.[47] After a brief period of centralisation and subsequent collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC.[48] After the Han conquered Nanyue in 111 BC, Hong Kong was assigned to the Jiaozhi commandery. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and expansion of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[49]
Sung Wong Toi, believed to be a memorial to the last two boy emperors of the Southern Song dynasty, as it appeared before the Second Sino-Japanese War.
During the Tang dynasty, the Guangdong region flourished as an international trading center. A military stronghold was established in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[50] Lantau Island was a salt production centre and smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 in the modern-day New Territories by the Song dynasty.[51] During their war against the Mongols, the Southern Song court was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before their ultimate defeat at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[52]
The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[53][54] Having established a trading post in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants commenced with regular trading in southern China. Subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal, however, led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants from southern China.[55] After the Qing conquest, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance, an imperial decree that ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669 as part of his efforts against Ming loyalist rebels in southern China. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County, which included Hong Kong, were forced to migrate inland; only 1,648 of those who had evacuated returned in subsequent years.[56] With frequent pirate attacks and ever increasing incursions by European explorers, forts were constructed at Tung Chung and the Kowloon Walled City.[57]
Though maritime trade had previously been banned, after repopulation of the coast and final defeat of all rebels with Ming sympathies, the Kangxi Emperor lifted the trade prohibition in 1684 and allowed foreigners to enter Chinese ports.[58] Trade with Europeans was more strictly regulated and became concentrated in the Pearl River Delta after establishment of the Canton System in 1757, which forbade non-Russian ships from northern Chinese ports and forced all commerce to be conducted solely in the port of Canton, just north of Hong Kong.[59] While European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was comparatively negligible, creating a large trade imbalance between Qing China and Great Britain. To counter this deficit, the British began to sell increasingly large volumes of Indian opium to China.[60] Faced with a drug addiction crisis,[61] Chinese officials pursued ever more aggressive actions in an attempt to halt the opium trade.[60]
British colony
Main articles: British Hong Kong and History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
City of Victoria, 1860s
In 1839, threats by the Qing imperial court to place sanctions on opium imports caused diplomatic friction with the British Empire. Tensions escalated into the First Opium War. After British victory in the Second Battle of Chuenpi, the Qing initially admitted defeat. As part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Qishan, Viceroy of Liangguang, Hong Kong Island was declared to be ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi. British forces took formal possession of the island on 26 January 1841. However, disputes between high-ranking officials of both countries led to the failure of the treaty's ratification.[62] After more than another year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking on 29 August 1842.[63] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[64]
The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 when the Union Jack raised over Possession Point on 26 January 1841. It mostly consisted of Tanka fishermen and Hakka charcoal burners, whose settlements scattered along several coastal hamlets. In the 1850s, a large number of Chinese refugees crossed the open border fleeing from the Taiping Rebellion. Other natural disasters, such as flooding, typhoons, and famine in mainland China would play a role in establishing Hong Kong as a place for safe shelter.[65][66] Further conflicts over the opium trade between the British and Qing quickly escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory, the colony was expanded to include Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity under the Convention of Beijing in 1860. The colony was expanded further in 1898, when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of additional territory from the Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory; Lantau Island, the area north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to the Sham Chun River, and over 200 other outlying islands were given over to British control.[67][68][69]
Queen's Road Central at the junction of Duddell Street, c. 1900
Hong Kong soon became a major entrepôt thanks to its free port status, attracting new immigrants from both China and Europe. However, the population remained racially divided and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper-class by the late-19th century, racial discrimination laws, such as the Peak Reservation Ordinance, prevented ethnic Chinese from acquiring property in reserved areas, such as Victoria Peak. At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population.
File:1937 Hong Kong VP8.webmPlay media
Hong Kong filmed in 1937
The colony continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. While there had been an exodus of 60,000 residents for fear of a German attack on the British colony during the First World War, Hong Kong remained unscathed. Its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[70]
In 1925, Cecil Clementi became the 17th Governor of Hong Kong. Fluent in Cantonese and without a need for translators, Clementi appointed Shouson Chow to the Executive Council as its first ethnic Chinese member. Under Clementi's tenure, Kai Tak Airport entered operation as RAF Kai Tak and several aviation clubs. At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, when the Empire of Japan invaded China from its protectorate in Manchuria, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the colony a neutral zone to safeguard Hong Kong's status as a free port.
Japanese military occupation
Main article: Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Liberation of Hong Kong in 1945. Picture taken at the Cenotaph in Central.
On 8 December 1941, the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Army moved south from Guangzhou and crossed the Sham Chun River to attack Hong Kong as part of a coordinated military offensive against the Allied Powers.[71] The Battle of Hong Kong lasted for 17 days, through which British, Canadian, Indian, and local colonial units defended Hong Kong. By the fifth day, Commonwealth troops, under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, had been forced to abandon their positions in Kowloon and retreated to Hong Kong Island.[72] With the remaining troops unable to further mount an effective defence, Governor Young surrendered the colony on Christmas Day. This day is remembered by locals as "Black Christmas".[73]
During the occupation, the garrisoned Japanese soldiers committed many atrocities against both civilians and prisoners of war, including the St. Stephen's College massacre. Local residents suffered widespread food shortages, strict rationing, and hyperinflation arising from the forced exchange of currency from Hong Kong dollars to Japanese military yen. Widespread starvation and forced deportation of residents for use as slave labour to mainland China drastically reduced the population of Hong Kong from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when control of the colony returned to the British.[74]
Post-war industrialisation
Main articles: British Hong Kong, 1950s in Hong Kong, 1960s in Hong Kong, 1970s in Hong Kong, 1980s in Hong Kong, and 1990s in Hong Kong
Flag of British Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997
Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the Republic of China sought refuge from the Chinese Civil War in a territory neutral to the conflict. When the Communist Party took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more refugees fled across the open border in fear of persecution.[67] Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to British Hong Kong.[67] The establishment of the People's Republic of China caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone was demarked as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China. Border posts along the north of Hong Kong began operation in 1953 to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.
Hong Kong in 1965
In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies that was undergoing rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries, and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[75] The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme, which provided shelter for the less privileged and helped cope with the continuing influx of immigrants.
Under Governor Murray MacLehose, the government began a series of reforms to improve the quality of infrastructure and public services through the 1970s. Systemic corruption in the uniformed services had crippled trust in the government; MacLehose established the ICAC, an independent security service under the direct authority of the Governor, to restore the integrity of the civil service.[76] Chinese was recognised as an official language during his tenure, accelerating the process of localisation in the government, slowly handing key official posts long held only by British members of the government over to local ethnic Chinese people.[77][78] To alleviate road traffic congestion and provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, the Mass Transit Railway was constructed and began operations of its first line in 1979. The Island Line, Kwun Tong Line, and Tsuen Wan Line all opened in the early 1980s, connecting Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and parts of the New Territories to a single transport system.[79] MacLehose was the longest-serving colonial governor and, by the end of his governorship, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the territory. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.
A sky view of Hong Kong Island
An aerial view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island in 1986
Since 1983, the value of the Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to that of the United States dollar. The territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new industrial capacity developed in southern China under the Open Door Policy, which was introduced in 1978. Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, and the world's exemplar of laissez-faire market policy.[80]
The Hong Kong issue
In 1971, China's permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council was transferred from the Republic of China, which had evacuated to Taiwan at the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, to the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong was soon after removed from the organization's list of non-self-governing territories, at the request of the PRC. Facing an uncertain future for the colony and the expiration of the New Territories lease beyond 1997, Governor MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's status with Deng Xiaoping in 1979.
Diplomatic negotiations with China resulted in the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984. The United Kingdom agreed to transfer to China the entirety of the colony, including the perpetually ceded areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, at the conclusion of the 99-year New Territories lease in 1997, when Hong Kong would become a special administrative region governed separately from the mainland, retaining its free-market economy, common law judicial system, independent representation in international organizations, treaty arrangements, and self-governance in all areas except foreign diplomacy and military defence. The treaty further stipulated that the territory would be guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer, with the Basic Law of Hong Kong serving as its constitutional document.[67]
A street at the edge of the Kowloon Walled City at night.
Under the terms of the Second Convention of Peking, the colony was expanded out to the New Territories, but the treaty did not include a small military outpost over which the Kowloon Walled City would later be built. After the end of Japanese occupation, thousands of refugees fleeing from the mainland during the Chinese Civil War made their way to the Walled City and became squatters occupying this parcel of land where China was technically still the sovereign power. Over the following decades, the population of this 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) area dramatically increased, reaching 33,000 by 1987, making the Walled City the most densely populated area in the world at its peak.[81][82] Despite widespread illegal activity and unsanitary living conditions, the British largely took a 'hands-off' approach with regard to the Walled City due to the area's muddled territorial status and to avoid confrontation with the mainland authority.[83] The Sino-British Joint Declaration laid the groundwork for cooperation between the British and Chinese governments concerning any Hong Kong-related issues, including the fate of the former military fort. The Chinese government acquiesced to the demolition of the settlement in 1987.[84] The structure was cleared away in 1994 and the area converted into the Kowloon Walled City Park.[85]
Transfer of sovereignty
Main article: Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the handover ceremony took place in 1997
On 1 July 1997, sovereignty over Hong Kong was officially transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, marking the end of 156 years of British colonial rule. As Britain's last major and most populous remaining colony, the handover effectively represented the end of the British Empire. This event made Hong Kong the first special administrative region of China. Exactly at midnight, all government organisations with royal patronage simultaneously dropped the Royal prefix from their titles and any regalia with references to the Crown were replaced with insignia bearing the Bauhinia.[86] After the handover ceremony, Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, together with Prince Charles, departed the city on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.[87]
Special administrative region
Main articles: 2000s in Hong Kong and Hong Kong–Mainland conflict
Almost immediately after the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong's economy was severely affected by the Asian financial crisis and further depressed by the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu. Financial Secretary Donald Tsang used the substantial territorial foreign currency reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg and spent over HK$120 billion on significant holdings of major Hong Kong companies to prevent a general market collapse.[67] While complete disaster was averted, Chief Executive Tung's housing policy of building 85,000 subsidised flats a year triggered a housing market crisis in 1998, depressing property prices and causing some homeowners to become bankrupt.[88] Hong Kong was again gravely affected by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.[89][90] In total, 1,755 people were infected, with 299 fatalities.[91] Economic activities slowed and schools were closed for weeks at the height of the epidemic. An estimated HK$380 million (US$48.9 million) in contracts were lost as a result of the epidemic.[92] While Hong Kong was also severely affected by the global recession of the late 2000s, the Tsang government introduced a series of economic stimulus measures prevented a prolonged recession.[93]
Infrastructure post-handover has been rapidly developed, with major transport links continuing to be planned and constructed. The Rose Garden Project, which began under British administration, to construct a new international airport was completed in 1998 and operations began at the new site during the same year. The Ngong Ping Cable Car, West Kowloon Cultural District, multiple new railway lines, and additional cross-harbour tunnels were all completed in the first 20 years of territorial self-governance. Direct infrastructure links with mainland China are also being actively developed, with both the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge and Hong Kong section of the national high-speed railway currently under construction. Construction of the rail link generated a high level of controversy surrounding the demolition of key landmarks and displacement of residents along the planned route.[94]
Hong Kong Island north coast, overlooking Victoria Harbour and Central and East Kowloon from middle section of Lugard Road at daytime
Political debates have centred themselves predominately on issues surrounding electoral reform and Hong Kong's jurisdictional independence from the central government. Following the handover, democratic reform of the Legislative Council was immediately terminated and the government attempted to legislate sweeping national security legislation pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law. Coupled with years of economic hardships and discontent of Chief Executive Tung's pro-Beijing stance, over 500,000 people demonstrated against the government, which eventually led to Tung's resignation in 2005.[95] Further proposals by the government to introduce a national education curriculum and nominee pre-screening before allowing Chief Executive elections triggered a number of mass protests in 2014, collectively known as the Umbrella Revolution.[96] Violent attacks on journalists, an increasing level of press self-censorship, alleged extraterritorial abduction of anti-China publishers,[97] and covert intervention into Hong Kong's educational, political, and independent institutions have posed challenges to the policy of one country, two systems. In the 2016 legislative election, there were reports of discrepancies in the electorate registry, which contained ghost registrations across constituencies, as well as political intervention to strip pro-independence individuals of their right to stand in elections[98] and alleged death threats to election candidates.[99] Social tension heightened during Leung's term, with many residents believing that China increased their efforts to exert influence on everyday life in Hong Kong. A survey in 2016 showed that only 17.8% of residents considered themselves as "Chinese citizens", whereas 41.9% considered themselves purely as "citizens of Hong Kong".[100]
Government and politics
香港候任特首林鄭月娥13.jpg 政務司司長張建宗15.jpg
Carrie Lam
Chief Executive Matthew Cheung
Chief Secretary
Main articles: Government of Hong Kong, Politics of Hong Kong, and Elections in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, maintaining a separate legislature, executive, and judiciary from the rest of the country. It has a parliamentary government modelled after the Westminster system, inheriting this from British colonial administration. The Sino-British Joint Declaration guarantees the territory's capitalist economic system and autonomous system of government for 50 years after the transfer of sovereignty.[note 2] Under this framework, the Basic Law of Hong Kong is the regional constitutional document, establishing the structure and responsibility of the government.[101][102] The head of government is the Chief Executive, who is selected by the Election Committee for a five-year term that is renewable once. The central government provides oversight for the regional government; final interpretative power of the Basic Law rests with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the Chief Executive is formally appointed by the State Council after nomination by the aforementioned Election Committee.[101] Responsibility for foreign and military affairs is also assumed by the central authority.[note 3]
Government House, official residence of the Chief Executive.
A chamber within the Legislative Council Complex.
The grey dome and front gable of a granite neo-classical building, with a skyscraper in the background against a clear blue sky.
Court of Final Appeal Building in Central. Formerly housed the Supreme Court and the Legislative Council before its current function.
The Legislative Council is a unicameral legislature with 70 members, consisting of 35 directly elected members apportioned to geographical constituencies, 30 members representing professional or special interest groups formed as functional constituencies, and 5 members nominated by members of the District Councils and elected in territory-wide elections.[14][103] Legislators are elected using multiple different voting systems, determined by whichever constituency a particular seat is representing. All directly elected seats are filled using a proportional representative system, while functional constituencies other than the all-territory District Council constituency choose their councillors using first-past-the-post or instant-runoff voting.[104]
Government policy is determined by the Executive Council, a body of advisors appointed by the Chief Executive with the authority to issue delegated legislation and proposes new bills to the legislature for debate and promulgation. Direct administration is managed by the Civil Service, an apolitical bureaucracy that ensures positive implementation of policy.[14][105] Hong Kong is nationally represented in the National People's Congress by 36 delegates chosen through an electoral college.[16][106]
22 political parties had representatives elected to the Legislative Council in the 2016 election.[107] These parties have aligned themselves into three ideological groups: the pro-Beijing camp who form the current government, the pro-democracy camp, and localist groups.[108] The Communist Party does not have an official political presence in Hong Kong and its members do not run in local elections.[109]
The Monetary Authority is the currency board and de facto central bank of the territory.[110] It is responsible for regulation of the Hong Kong dollar and, along with HSBC, Standard Chartered Hong Kong, and the Bank of China, issues currency in the form of banknotes. Coinage is solely minted by the Monetary Authority.[111]
Legal system and judiciary
Main articles: Law of Hong Kong and Judiciary of Hong Kong
The judicial system of Hong Kong is derived from the common law system of English law, and was created at the establishment of the territory as a British colony. Chinese national law does not generally apply in the region, and Hong Kong is treated as an independent jurisdiction.[112] The Court of Final Appeal is the territory's highest court, exercising final adjudication over interpretation of laws and has the power to strike down statutes and legislation inconsistent with the Basic Law.[113][114] It is led by the Chief Justice and consists of three additional permanent judges and one non-permanent seat filled by judges from overseas common law jurisdictions on a rotating basis.[14][115] However, final interpretation of the Basic Law itself is a power vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Judges on all courts are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of an independent commission.[14][116] As a common law system, judicial courts in Hong Kong may refer to precedents set in English law and Commonwealth jurisdictions.[14][115][14]
The Department of Justice is responsible for handling legal matters for the government. Its responsibilities include providing legal advice, criminal prosecution, civil representation, legal and policy drafting and reform and international legal co-operation between different jurisdictions.[112] Apart from prosecuting criminal cases, lawyers of the Department of Justice act on behalf of the government in all civil and administrative lawsuits against the government.[112] The department may call for judicial review of government action or legislation and may intervene in any cases involving the greater public interest.[117] The Basic Law protects the Department of Justice from any interference by the government when exercising its control over criminal prosecution.[14][118] Law enforcement is a responsibility of the Security Bureau and the Hong Kong Police, with agencies like the Customs and Excise Department and Immigration Department handling more specialised tasks.
IR HDR. IR converted Canon Rebel XTi. AEB +/-2 total of 3 exposures processed with Photomatix. Levels adjusted in PSE.
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
High-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) is a high dynamic range (HDR) technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques. The aim is to present a similar range of luminance to that experienced through the human visual system. The human eye, through adaptation of the iris and other methods, adjusts constantly to adapt to a broad range of luminance present in the environment. The brain continuously interprets this information so that a viewer can see in a wide range of light conditions.
HDR images can represent a greater range of luminance levels than can be achieved using more 'traditional' methods, such as many real-world scenes containing very bright, direct sunlight to extreme shade, or very faint nebulae. This is often achieved by capturing and then combining several different, narrower range, exposures of the same subject matter. Non-HDR cameras take photographs with a limited exposure range, referred to as LDR, resulting in the loss of detail in highlights or shadows.
The two primary types of HDR images are computer renderings and images resulting from merging multiple low-dynamic-range (LDR) or standard-dynamic-range (SDR) photographs. HDR images can also be acquired using special image sensors, such as an oversampled binary image sensor.
Due to the limitations of printing and display contrast, the extended luminosity range of an HDR image has to be compressed to be made visible. The method of rendering an HDR image to a standard monitor or printing device is called tone mapping. This method reduces the overall contrast of an HDR image to facilitate display on devices or printouts with lower dynamic range, and can be applied to produce images with preserved local contrast (or exaggerated for artistic effect).
In photography, dynamic range is measured in exposure value (EV) differences (known as stops). An increase of one EV, or 'one stop', represents a doubling of the amount of light. Conversely, a decrease of one EV represents a halving of the amount of light. Therefore, revealing detail in the darkest of shadows requires high exposures, while preserving detail in very bright situations requires very low exposures. Most cameras cannot provide this range of exposure values within a single exposure, due to their low dynamic range. High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing multiple standard-exposure images, often using exposure bracketing, and then later merging them into a single HDR image, usually within a photo manipulation program). Digital images are often encoded in a camera's raw image format, because 8-bit JPEG encoding does not offer a wide enough range of values to allow fine transitions (and regarding HDR, later introduces undesirable effects due to lossy compression).
Any camera that allows manual exposure control can make images for HDR work, although one equipped with auto exposure bracketing (AEB) is far better suited. Images from film cameras are less suitable as they often must first be digitized, so that they can later be processed using software HDR methods.
In most imaging devices, the degree of exposure to light applied to the active element (be it film or CCD) can be altered in one of two ways: by either increasing/decreasing the size of the aperture or by increasing/decreasing the time of each exposure. Exposure variation in an HDR set is only done by altering the exposure time and not the aperture size; this is because altering the aperture size also affects the depth of field and so the resultant multiple images would be quite different, preventing their final combination into a single HDR image.
An important limitation for HDR photography is that any movement between successive images will impede or prevent success in combining them afterwards. Also, as one must create several images (often three or five and sometimes more) to obtain the desired luminance range, such a full 'set' of images takes extra time. HDR photographers have developed calculation methods and techniques to partially overcome these problems, but the use of a sturdy tripod is, at least, advised.
Some cameras have an auto exposure bracketing (AEB) feature with a far greater dynamic range than others, from the 3 EV of the Canon EOS 40D, to the 18 EV of the Canon EOS-1D Mark II. As the popularity of this imaging method grows, several camera manufactures are now offering built-in HDR features. For example, the Pentax K-7 DSLR has an HDR mode that captures an HDR image and outputs (only) a tone mapped JPEG file. The Canon PowerShot G12, Canon PowerShot S95 and Canon PowerShot S100 offer similar features in a smaller format.. Nikon's approach is called 'Active D-Lighting' which applies exposure compensation and tone mapping to the image as it comes from the sensor, with the accent being on retaing a realistic effect . Some smartphones provide HDR modes, and most mobile platforms have apps that provide HDR picture taking.
Camera characteristics such as gamma curves, sensor resolution, noise, photometric calibration and color calibration affect resulting high-dynamic-range images.
Color film negatives and slides consist of multiple film layers that respond to light differently. As a consequence, transparent originals (especially positive slides) feature a very high dynamic range
Tone mapping
Tone mapping reduces the dynamic range, or contrast ratio, of an entire image while retaining localized contrast. Although it is a distinct operation, tone mapping is often applied to HDRI files by the same software package.
Several software applications are available on the PC, Mac and Linux platforms for producing HDR files and tone mapped images. Notable titles include
Adobe Photoshop
Aurora HDR
Dynamic Photo HDR
HDR Efex Pro
HDR PhotoStudio
Luminance HDR
MagicRaw
Oloneo PhotoEngine
Photomatix Pro
PTGui
Information stored in high-dynamic-range images typically corresponds to the physical values of luminance or radiance that can be observed in the real world. This is different from traditional digital images, which represent colors as they should appear on a monitor or a paper print. Therefore, HDR image formats are often called scene-referred, in contrast to traditional digital images, which are device-referred or output-referred. Furthermore, traditional images are usually encoded for the human visual system (maximizing the visual information stored in the fixed number of bits), which is usually called gamma encoding or gamma correction. The values stored for HDR images are often gamma compressed (power law) or logarithmically encoded, or floating-point linear values, since fixed-point linear encodings are increasingly inefficient over higher dynamic ranges.
HDR images often don't use fixed ranges per color channel—other than traditional images—to represent many more colors over a much wider dynamic range. For that purpose, they don't use integer values to represent the single color channels (e.g., 0-255 in an 8 bit per pixel interval for red, green and blue) but instead use a floating point representation. Common are 16-bit (half precision) or 32-bit floating point numbers to represent HDR pixels. However, when the appropriate transfer function is used, HDR pixels for some applications can be represented with a color depth that has as few as 10–12 bits for luminance and 8 bits for chrominance without introducing any visible quantization artifacts.
History of HDR photography
The idea of using several exposures to adequately reproduce a too-extreme range of luminance was pioneered as early as the 1850s by Gustave Le Gray to render seascapes showing both the sky and the sea. Such rendering was impossible at the time using standard methods, as the luminosity range was too extreme. Le Gray used one negative for the sky, and another one with a longer exposure for the sea, and combined the two into one picture in positive.
Mid 20th century
Manual tone mapping was accomplished by dodging and burning – selectively increasing or decreasing the exposure of regions of the photograph to yield better tonality reproduction. This was effective because the dynamic range of the negative is significantly higher than would be available on the finished positive paper print when that is exposed via the negative in a uniform manner. An excellent example is the photograph Schweitzer at the Lamp by W. Eugene Smith, from his 1954 photo essay A Man of Mercy on Dr. Albert Schweitzer and his humanitarian work in French Equatorial Africa. The image took 5 days to reproduce the tonal range of the scene, which ranges from a bright lamp (relative to the scene) to a dark shadow.
Ansel Adams elevated dodging and burning to an art form. Many of his famous prints were manipulated in the darkroom with these two methods. Adams wrote a comprehensive book on producing prints called The Print, which prominently features dodging and burning, in the context of his Zone System.
With the advent of color photography, tone mapping in the darkroom was no longer possible due to the specific timing needed during the developing process of color film. Photographers looked to film manufacturers to design new film stocks with improved response, or continued to shoot in black and white to use tone mapping methods.
Color film capable of directly recording high-dynamic-range images was developed by Charles Wyckoff and EG&G "in the course of a contract with the Department of the Air Force". This XR film had three emulsion layers, an upper layer having an ASA speed rating of 400, a middle layer with an intermediate rating, and a lower layer with an ASA rating of 0.004. The film was processed in a manner similar to color films, and each layer produced a different color. The dynamic range of this extended range film has been estimated as 1:108. It has been used to photograph nuclear explosions, for astronomical photography, for spectrographic research, and for medical imaging. Wyckoff's detailed pictures of nuclear explosions appeared on the cover of Life magazine in the mid-1950s.
Late 20th century
Georges Cornuéjols and licensees of his patents (Brdi, Hymatom) introduced the principle of HDR video image, in 1986, by interposing a matricial LCD screen in front of the camera's image sensor, increasing the sensors dynamic by five stops. The concept of neighborhood tone mapping was applied to video cameras by a group from the Technion in Israel led by Dr. Oliver Hilsenrath and Prof. Y.Y.Zeevi who filed for a patent on this concept in 1988.
In February and April 1990, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the first real-time HDR camera that combined two images captured by a sensor3435 or simultaneously3637 by two sensors of the camera. This process is known as bracketing used for a video stream.
In 1991, the first commercial video camera was introduced that performed real-time capturing of multiple images with different exposures, and producing an HDR video image, by Hymatom, licensee of Georges Cornuéjols.
Also in 1991, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the HDR+ image principle by non-linear accumulation of images to increase the sensitivity of the camera: for low-light environments, several successive images are accumulated, thus increasing the signal to noise ratio.
In 1993, another commercial medical camera producing an HDR video image, by the Technion.
Modern HDR imaging uses a completely different approach, based on making a high-dynamic-range luminance or light map using only global image operations (across the entire image), and then tone mapping the result. Global HDR was first introduced in 19931 resulting in a mathematical theory of differently exposed pictures of the same subject matter that was published in 1995 by Steve Mann and Rosalind Picard.
On October 28, 1998, Ben Sarao created one of the first nighttime HDR+G (High Dynamic Range + Graphic image)of STS-95 on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It consisted of four film images of the shuttle at night that were digitally composited with additional digital graphic elements. The image was first exhibited at NASA Headquarters Great Hall, Washington DC in 1999 and then published in Hasselblad Forum, Issue 3 1993, Volume 35 ISSN 0282-5449.
The advent of consumer digital cameras produced a new demand for HDR imaging to improve the light response of digital camera sensors, which had a much smaller dynamic range than film. Steve Mann developed and patented the global-HDR method for producing digital images having extended dynamic range at the MIT Media Laboratory. Mann's method involved a two-step procedure: (1) generate one floating point image array by global-only image operations (operations that affect all pixels identically, without regard to their local neighborhoods); and then (2) convert this image array, using local neighborhood processing (tone-remapping, etc.), into an HDR image. The image array generated by the first step of Mann's process is called a lightspace image, lightspace picture, or radiance map. Another benefit of global-HDR imaging is that it provides access to the intermediate light or radiance map, which has been used for computer vision, and other image processing operations.
21st century
In 2005, Adobe Systems introduced several new features in Photoshop CS2 including Merge to HDR, 32 bit floating point image support, and HDR tone mapping.
On June 30, 2016, Microsoft added support for the digital compositing of HDR images to Windows 10 using the Universal Windows Platform.
HDR sensors
Modern CMOS image sensors can often capture a high dynamic range from a single exposure. The wide dynamic range of the captured image is non-linearly compressed into a smaller dynamic range electronic representation. However, with proper processing, the information from a single exposure can be used to create an HDR image.
Such HDR imaging is used in extreme dynamic range applications like welding or automotive work. Some other cameras designed for use in security applications can automatically provide two or more images for each frame, with changing exposure. For example, a sensor for 30fps video will give out 60fps with the odd frames at a short exposure time and the even frames at a longer exposure time. Some of the sensor may even combine the two images on-chip so that a wider dynamic range without in-pixel compression is directly available to the user for display or processing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-dynamic-range_imaging
Infrared Photography
In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Film is usually sensitive to visible light too, so an infrared-passing filter is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum (the filter thus looks black or deep red). ("Infrared filter" may refer either to this type of filter or to one that blocks infrared but passes other wavelengths.)
When these filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, "in-camera effects" can be obtained; false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance known as the "Wood Effect," an effect mainly caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow. There is a small contribution from chlorophyll fluorescence, but this is marginal and is not the real cause of the brightness seen in infrared photographs. The effect is named after the infrared photography pioneer Robert W. Wood, and not after the material wood, which does not strongly reflect infrared.
The other attributes of infrared photographs include very dark skies and penetration of atmospheric haze, caused by reduced Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering, respectively, compared to visible light. The dark skies, in turn, result in less infrared light in shadows and dark reflections of those skies from water, and clouds will stand out strongly. These wavelengths also penetrate a few millimeters into skin and give a milky look to portraits, although eyes often look black.
Until the early 20th century, infrared photography was not possible because silver halide emulsions are not sensitive to longer wavelengths than that of blue light (and to a lesser extent, green light) without the addition of a dye to act as a color sensitizer. The first infrared photographs (as distinct from spectrographs) to be published appeared in the February 1910 edition of The Century Magazine and in the October 1910 edition of the Royal Photographic Society Journal to illustrate papers by Robert W. Wood, who discovered the unusual effects that now bear his name. The RPS co-ordinated events to celebrate the centenary of this event in 2010. Wood's photographs were taken on experimental film that required very long exposures; thus, most of his work focused on landscapes. A further set of infrared landscapes taken by Wood in Italy in 1911 used plates provided for him by CEK Mees at Wratten & Wainwright. Mees also took a few infrared photographs in Portugal in 1910, which are now in the Kodak archives.
Infrared-sensitive photographic plates were developed in the United States during World War I for spectroscopic analysis, and infrared sensitizing dyes were investigated for improved haze penetration in aerial photography. After 1930, new emulsions from Kodak and other manufacturers became useful to infrared astronomy.
Infrared photography became popular with photography enthusiasts in the 1930s when suitable film was introduced commercially. The Times regularly published landscape and aerial photographs taken by their staff photographers using Ilford infrared film. By 1937 33 kinds of infrared film were available from five manufacturers including Agfa, Kodak and Ilford. Infrared movie film was also available and was used to create day-for-night effects in motion pictures, a notable example being the pseudo-night aerial sequences in the James Cagney/Bette Davis movie The Bride Came COD.
False-color infrared photography became widely practiced with the introduction of Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film and Ektachrome Infrared EIR. The first version of this, known as Kodacolor Aero-Reversal-Film, was developed by Clark and others at the Kodak for camouflage detection in the 1940s. The film became more widely available in 35mm form in the 1960s but KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 has been discontinued.
Infrared photography became popular with a number of 1960s recording artists, because of the unusual results; Jimi Hendrix, Donovan, Frank and a slow shutter speed without focus compensation, however wider apertures like f/2.0 can produce sharp photos only if the lens is meticulously refocused to the infrared index mark, and only if this index mark is the correct one for the filter and film in use. However, it should be noted that diffraction effects inside a camera are greater at infrared wavelengths so that stopping down the lens too far may actually reduce sharpness.
Most apochromatic ('APO') lenses do not have an Infrared index mark and do not need to be refocused for the infrared spectrum because they are already optically corrected into the near-infrared spectrum. Catadioptric lenses do not often require this adjustment because their mirror containing elements do not suffer from chromatic aberration and so the overall aberration is comparably less. Catadioptric lenses do, of course, still contain lenses, and these lenses do still have a dispersive property.
Infrared black-and-white films require special development times but development is usually achieved with standard black-and-white film developers and chemicals (like D-76). Kodak HIE film has a polyester film base that is very stable but extremely easy to scratch, therefore special care must be used in the handling of Kodak HIE throughout the development and printing/scanning process to avoid damage to the film. The Kodak HIE film was sensitive to 900 nm.
As of November 2, 2007, "KODAK is preannouncing the discontinuance" of HIE Infrared 35 mm film stating the reasons that, "Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved." At the time of this notice, HIE Infrared 135-36 was available at a street price of around $12.00 a roll at US mail order outlets.
Arguably the greatest obstacle to infrared film photography has been the increasing difficulty of obtaining infrared-sensitive film. However, despite the discontinuance of HIE, other newer infrared sensitive emulsions from EFKE, ROLLEI, and ILFORD are still available, but these formulations have differing sensitivity and specifications from the venerable KODAK HIE that has been around for at least two decades. Some of these infrared films are available in 120 and larger formats as well as 35 mm, which adds flexibility to their application. With the discontinuance of Kodak HIE, Efke's IR820 film has become the only IR film on the marketneeds update with good sensitivity beyond 750 nm, the Rollei film does extend beyond 750 nm but IR sensitivity falls off very rapidly.
Color infrared transparency films have three sensitized layers that, because of the way the dyes are coupled to these layers, reproduce infrared as red, red as green, and green as blue. All three layers are sensitive to blue so the film must be used with a yellow filter, since this will block blue light but allow the remaining colors to reach the film. The health of foliage can be determined from the relative strengths of green and infrared light reflected; this shows in color infrared as a shift from red (healthy) towards magenta (unhealthy). Early color infrared films were developed in the older E-4 process, but Kodak later manufactured a color transparency film that could be developed in standard E-6 chemistry, although more accurate results were obtained by developing using the AR-5 process. In general, color infrared does not need to be refocused to the infrared index mark on the lens.
In 2007 Kodak announced that production of the 35 mm version of their color infrared film (Ektachrome Professional Infrared/EIR) would cease as there was insufficient demand. Since 2011, all formats of color infrared film have been discontinued. Specifically, Aerochrome 1443 and SO-734.
There is no currently available digital camera that will produce the same results as Kodak color infrared film although the equivalent images can be produced by taking two exposures, one infrared and the other full-color, and combining in post-production. The color images produced by digital still cameras using infrared-pass filters are not equivalent to those produced on color infrared film. The colors result from varying amounts of infrared passing through the color filters on the photo sites, further amended by the Bayer filtering. While this makes such images unsuitable for the kind of applications for which the film was used, such as remote sensing of plant health, the resulting color tonality has proved popular artistically.
Color digital infrared, as part of full spectrum photography is gaining popularity. The ease of creating a softly colored photo with infrared characteristics has found interest among hobbyists and professionals.
In 2008, Los Angeles photographer, Dean Bennici started cutting and hand rolling Aerochrome color Infrared film. All Aerochrome medium and large format which exists today came directly from his lab. The trend in infrared photography continues to gain momentum with the success of photographer Richard Mosse and multiple users all around the world.
Digital camera sensors are inherently sensitive to infrared light, which would interfere with the normal photography by confusing the autofocus calculations or softening the image (because infrared light is focused differently from visible light), or oversaturating the red channel. Also, some clothing is transparent in the infrared, leading to unintended (at least to the manufacturer) uses of video cameras. Thus, to improve image quality and protect privacy, many digital cameras employ infrared blockers. Depending on the subject matter, infrared photography may not be practical with these cameras because the exposure times become overly long, often in the range of 30 seconds, creating noise and motion blur in the final image. However, for some subject matter the long exposure does not matter or the motion blur effects actually add to the image. Some lenses will also show a 'hot spot' in the centre of the image as their coatings are optimised for visible light and not for IR.
An alternative method of DSLR infrared photography is to remove the infrared blocker in front of the sensor and replace it with a filter that removes visible light. This filter is behind the mirror, so the camera can be used normally - handheld, normal shutter speeds, normal composition through the viewfinder, and focus, all work like a normal camera. Metering works but is not always accurate because of the difference between visible and infrared refraction. When the IR blocker is removed, many lenses which did display a hotspot cease to do so, and become perfectly usable for infrared photography. Additionally, because the red, green and blue micro-filters remain and have transmissions not only in their respective color but also in the infrared, enhanced infrared color may be recorded.
Since the Bayer filters in most digital cameras absorb a significant fraction of the infrared light, these cameras are sometimes not very sensitive as infrared cameras and can sometimes produce false colors in the images. An alternative approach is to use a Foveon X3 sensor, which does not have absorptive filters on it; the Sigma SD10 DSLR has a removable IR blocking filter and dust protector, which can be simply omitted or replaced by a deep red or complete visible light blocking filter. The Sigma SD14 has an IR/UV blocking filter that can be removed/installed without tools. The result is a very sensitive digital IR camera.
While it is common to use a filter that blocks almost all visible light, the wavelength sensitivity of a digital camera without internal infrared blocking is such that a variety of artistic results can be obtained with more conventional filtration. For example, a very dark neutral density filter can be used (such as the Hoya ND400) which passes a very small amount of visible light compared to the near-infrared it allows through. Wider filtration permits an SLR viewfinder to be used and also passes more varied color information to the sensor without necessarily reducing the Wood effect. Wider filtration is however likely to reduce other infrared artefacts such as haze penetration and darkened skies. This technique mirrors the methods used by infrared film photographers where black-and-white infrared film was often used with a deep red filter rather than a visually opaque one.
Another common technique with near-infrared filters is to swap blue and red channels in software (e.g. photoshop) which retains much of the characteristic 'white foliage' while rendering skies a glorious blue.
Several Sony cameras had the so-called Night Shot facility, which physically moves the blocking filter away from the light path, which makes the cameras very sensitive to infrared light. Soon after its development, this facility was 'restricted' by Sony to make it difficult for people to take photos that saw through clothing. To do this the iris is opened fully and exposure duration is limited to long times of more than 1/30 second or so. It is possible to shoot infrared but neutral density filters must be used to reduce the camera's sensitivity and the long exposure times mean that care must be taken to avoid camera-shake artifacts.
Fuji have produced digital cameras for use in forensic criminology and medicine which have no infrared blocking filter. The first camera, designated the S3 PRO UVIR, also had extended ultraviolet sensitivity (digital sensors are usually less sensitive to UV than to IR). Optimum UV sensitivity requires special lenses, but ordinary lenses usually work well for IR. In 2007, FujiFilm introduced a new version of this camera, based on the Nikon D200/ FujiFilm S5 called the IS Pro, also able to take Nikon lenses. Fuji had earlier introduced a non-SLR infrared camera, the IS-1, a modified version of the FujiFilm FinePix S9100. Unlike the S3 PRO UVIR, the IS-1 does not offer UV sensitivity. FujiFilm restricts the sale of these cameras to professional users with their EULA specifically prohibiting "unethical photographic conduct".
Phase One digital camera backs can be ordered in an infrared modified form.
Remote sensing and thermographic cameras are sensitive to longer wavelengths of infrared (see Infrared spectrum#Commonly used sub-division scheme). They may be multispectral and use a variety of technologies which may not resemble common camera or filter designs. Cameras sensitive to longer infrared wavelengths including those used in infrared astronomy often require cooling to reduce thermally induced dark currents in the sensor (see Dark current (physics)). Lower cost uncooled thermographic digital cameras operate in the Long Wave infrared band (see Thermographic camera#Uncooled infrared detectors). These cameras are generally used for building inspection or preventative maintenance but can be used for artistic pursuits as well.
Body Painting by Flick / Flick Photographic / Carl Flick
Websites:
www.carlflick.com/bodypainting www.modelmayhem.com/flick
www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/533915/viewall
P. O. Box 432, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402, USA
Land line phone: 561-844-5488
It is easily crumbled to be added to a lit coal in an incense burner. There are a lot of other scents stored elsewhere.
The frankincense was of good quality.
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, and in therapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be used as a simple deodorant or insectifuge.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing number of uses.
Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases a smoky fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
A variety of incense cones which thankfully were not overly sweet. I am sad to have likely lost this annual Toronto ON sconce of incense cones.
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, and in therapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be used as a simple deodorant or insectifuge.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing number of uses.
Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases a smoky fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
HISTORY:
The word incense comes from Latin incendere meaning "to burn".
Combustible bouquets were used by the ancient Egyptians, who employed incense in both pragmatic and mystical capacities. Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. Resin balls were found in many prehistoric Egyptian tombs in El Mahasna, giving evidence for the prominence of incense and related compounds in Egyptian antiquity. One of the oldest extant incense burners originates from the 5th dynasty. The Temple of Deir-el-Bahari in Egypt contains a series of carvings that depict an expedition for incense.
The Babylonians used incense while offering prayers to divining oracles. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome.
Incense burners have been found in the Indus Civilization (3300–1300 BCE). Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. India also adopted techniques from East Asia, adapting the formulation to encompass aromatic roots and other indigenous flora. This was the first usage of subterranean plant parts in incense. New herbs like Sarsaparilla seeds, frankincense, and cypress were used by Indians.
At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship. Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The earliest documented use of incense comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, and sandalwood) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites. Incense usage reached its peak during the Song dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later. During the 14th-century Ashikaga shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whoever might take his head in battle). It wasn't until the Muromachi period during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (kōdō) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
COMPOSITION:
A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous peoples of North America. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.
Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, such as clergy and physicians.
COMBUSTIBLE BASE:
The combustible base of a direct burning incense mixture not only binds the fragrant material together but also allows the produced incense to burn with a self-sustained ember, which propagates slowly and evenly through an entire piece of incense with such regularity that it can be used to mark time. The base is chosen such that it does not produce a perceptible smell. Commercially, two types of incense base predominate:
Fuel and oxidizer mixtures: Charcoal or wood powder provides the fuel for combustion while an oxidizer such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate sustains the burning of the incense. Fragrant materials are added to the base prior to shaping, as in the case of powdered incense materials, or after, as in the case of essential oils. The formula for charcoal-based incense is superficially similar to black powder, though it lacks the sulfur.
Natural plant-based binders: Gums such as Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth are used to bind the mixture together. Mucilaginous material, which can be derived from many botanical sources, is mixed with fragrant materials and water. The mucilage from the wet binding powder holds the fragrant material together while the cellulose in the powder combusts to form a stable ember when lit. The dry binding powder usually comprises about 10% of the dry weight in the finished incense. These include:
Makko (incense powder) made from the bark of various trees in the genus Persea (such as Persea thunbergii) Xiangnan pi (made from the bark of trees of genus Phoebe such as Phoebe nanmu or Persea zuihoensis.
Jigit: a resin based binder used in India
Laha or Dar: bark based powders used in Nepal, Tibet, and other East Asian countries.
Typical compositions burn at a temperature between 220 °C and 260 °C.
TYPES:
Incense is available in various forms and degrees of processing. They can generally be separated into "direct-burning" and "indirect-burning" types. Preference for one form or another varies with culture, tradition, and personal taste. The two differ in their composition due to the former's requirement for even, stable, and sustained burning.
INDIRECT-BURNING:
Indirect-burning incense, also called "non-combustible incense", is an aromatic material or combination of materials, such as resins, that does not contain combustible material and so requires a separate heat source. Finer forms tend to burn more rapidly, while coarsely ground or whole chunks may be consumed very gradually, having less surface area. Heat is traditionally provided by charcoal or glowing embers. In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are the resins frankincense and myrrh, likely due to their numerous mentions in the Bible. Frankincense means "pure incense", though in common usage refers specifically to the resin of the boswellia tree.
Whole: The incense material is burned directly in raw form on top of coal embers.
Powdered or granulated: Incense broken into smaller pieces burns quickly and provides brief but intense odour.
Paste: Powdered or granulated incense material is mixed with a sticky incombustible binder, such as dried fruit, honey, or a soft resin and then formed to balls or small pastilles. These may then be allowed to mature in a controlled environment where the fragrances can commingle and unite. Much Arabian incense, also called "Bukhoor" or "Bakhoor", is of this type, and Japan has a history of kneaded incense, called nerikō or awasekō, made using this method. Within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, raw frankincense is ground into a fine powder and then mixed with various sweet-smelling essential oils.
DIRECT-BURNING:
Direct-burning incense, also called "combustible incense", is lit directly by a flame. The glowing ember on the incense will continue to smoulder and burn the rest of the incense without further application of external heat or flame. Direct-burning incense is either extruded, pressed into forms, or coated onto a supporting material. This class of incense is made from a moldable substrate of fragrant finely ground (or liquid) incense materials and odourless binder. The composition must be adjusted to provide fragrance in the proper concentration and to ensure even burning. The following types are commonly encountered, though direct-burning incense can take nearly any form, whether for expedience or whimsy.
Coil: Extruded and shaped into a coil without a core, coil incense can burn for an extended period, from hours to days, and is commonly produced and used in Chinese cultures.
Cone: Incense in this form burns relatively quickly. Incense cones were invented in Japan in the 1800s.
Cored stick: A supporting core of bamboo is coated with a thick layer of incense material that burns away with the core. Higher-quality variations have fragrant sandalwood cores. This type of incense is commonly produced in India and China. When used in Chinese folk religion, these are sometimes known as "joss sticks".
Dhoop or solid stick: With no bamboo core, dhoop incense is easily broken for portion control. This is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan and Tibet.
Powder: The loose incense powder used for making indirect burning incense is sometimes burned without further processing. Powder incense is typically packed into long trails on top of wood ash using a stencil and burned in special censers or incense clocks.
Paper: Paper infused with incense, folded accordion style, is lit and blown out. Examples include Carta d'Armenia and Papier d'Arménie.
Rope: The incense powder is rolled into paper sheets, which are then rolled into ropes, twisted tightly, then doubled over and twisted again, yielding a two-strand rope. The larger end is the bight, and may be stood vertically, in a shallow dish of sand or pebbles. The smaller (pointed) end is lit. This type of incense is easily transported and stays fresh for extremely long periods. It has been used for centuries in Tibet and Nepal.
Moxa tablets, which are disks of powdered mugwort used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion, are not incenses; the treatment is by heat rather than fragrance.
Incense sticks may be termed joss sticks, especially in parts of East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Among ethnic Chinese and Chinese-influenced communities these are traditionally burned at temples, before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a religious divinity or local spirit, or in shrines, large and small, found at the main entrance of every village. Here the earth god is propitiated in the hope of bringing wealth and health to the village. They can also be burned in front of a door or open window as an offering to heaven, or the devas. The word "joss" is derived from the Latin deus (god) via the Portuguese deos through the Javanese dejos, through Chinese pidgin English.
PRODUCTION:
The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, is then cut and dried into pellets. Incense of the Athonite Orthodox Christian tradition is made by powdering frankincense or fir resin, mixing it with essential oils. Floral fragrances are the most common, but citrus such as lemon is not uncommon. The incense mixture is then rolled out into a slab approximately 1 cm thick and left until the slab has firmed. It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry. In Greece this rolled incense resin is called 'Moskolibano', and generally comes in either a pink or green colour denoting the fragrance, with pink being rose and green being jasmine.
Certain proportions are necessary for direct-burning incense:
Oil content: an excess of oils may prevent incense from smoldering effectively. Resinous materials such as myrrh and frankincense are typically balanced with "dry" materials such as wood, bark and leaf powders.
Oxidizer quantity: Too little oxidizer in gum-bound incense may prevent the incense from igniting, while too much will cause the incense to burn too quickly, without producing fragrant smoke.
Binder: Water-soluble binders such as "makko" ensure that the incense mixture does not crumble when dry, dilute the mixture.
Mixture density: Incense mixtures made with natural binders must not be combined with too much water in mixing, or over-compressed while being formed, which would result in either uneven air distribution or undesirable density in the mixture, causing the incense to burn unevenly, too slowly, or too quickly.
Particulate size: The incense mixture has to be well pulverized with similarly sized particulates. Uneven and large particulates result in uneven burning and inconsistent aroma production when burned.
"Dipped" or "hand-dipped" direct-burning incense is created by dipping "incense blanks" made of unscented combustible dust into any suitable kind of essential or fragrance oil. These are often sold in the United States by flea-market and sidewalk vendors who have developed their own styles. This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia.
Incense mixtures can be extruded or pressed into shapes. Small quantities of water are combined with the fragrance and incense base mixture and kneaded into a hard dough. The incense dough is then pressed into shaped forms to create cone and smaller coiled incense, or forced through a hydraulic press for solid stick incense. The formed incense is then trimmed and slowly dried. Incense produced in this fashion has a tendency to warp or become misshapen when improperly dried, and as such must be placed in climate-controlled rooms and rotated several times through the drying process.
Traditionally, the bamboo core of cored stick incense is prepared by hand from Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens since this species produces thick wood and easily burns to ashes in the incense stick. In a process known as "splitting the foot of the incense stick", the bamboo is trimmed to length, soaked, peeled, and split in halves until the thin sticks of bamboo have square cross sections of less than 3mm. This process has been largely replaced by machines in modern incense production.
In the case of cored incensed sticks, several methods are employed to coat the sticks cores with incense mixture:
Paste rolling: A wet, malleable paste of incense mixture is first rolled into a long, thin coil, using a paddle. Then, a thin stick is put next to the coil and the stick and paste are rolled together until the stick is centered in the mixture and the desired thickness is achieved. The stick is then cut to the desired length and dried.
Powder-coating: Powder-coating is used mainly to produce cored incense of either larger coil (up to 1 meter in diameter) or cored stick forms. A bundle of the supporting material (typically thin bamboo or sandalwood slivers) is soaked in water or a thin water/glue mixture for a short time. The thin sticks are evenly separated, then dipped into a tray of incense powder consisting of fragrance materials and occasionally a plant-based binder. The dry incense powder is then tossed and piled over the sticks while they are spread apart. The sticks are then gently rolled and packed to maintain roundness while more incense powder is repeatedly tossed onto the sticks. Three to four layers of powder are coated onto the sticks, forming a 2 mm thick layer of incense material on the stick. The coated incense is then allowed to dry in open air. Additional coatings of incense mixture can be applied after each period of successive drying. Incense sticks produced in this fashion and burned in temples of Chinese folk religion can have a thickness between 2 and 4 millimeters.
Compression: A damp powder is mechanically formed around a cored stick by compression, similar to the way uncored sticks are formed. This form is becoming more common due to the higher labor cost of producing powder-coated or paste-rolled sticks.
BURNING INCENSE:
Indirect-burning incense burned directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
In Japan a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉) is used by several Buddhist sects. The egōro is usually made of brass, with a long handle and no chain. Instead of charcoal, makkō powder is poured into a depression made in a bed of ash. The makkō is lit and the incense mixture is burned on top. This method is known as sonae-kō (religious burning).
For direct-burning incense, the tip or end of the incense is ignited with a flame or other heat source until the incense begins to turn into ash at the burning end. The flame is then fanned or blown out, leaving the incense to smolder.
CULTURAL VARIATIONS:
ARABIAN:
In most Arab countries, incense is burned in the form of scented chips or blocks called bakhoor (Arabic: بخور [bɑˈxuːɾ, bʊ-]. Incense is used on special occasions like weddings or on Fridays or generally to perfume the house. The bakhoor is usually burned in a mabkhara, a traditional incense burner (censer) similar to the Somali Dabqaad. It is customary in many Arab countries to pass bakhoor among the guests in the majlis ('congregation'). This is done as a gesture of hospitality.
CHINESE:
For over two thousand years, the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Traditional Chinese medicine, and daily life. Agarwood (chénxiāng) and sandalwood (tánxiāng) are the two most important ingredients in Chinese incense.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism in China came calibrated incense sticks and incense clocks. The first known record is by poet Yu Jianwu (487-551): "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches." The use of these incense timekeeping devices spread from Buddhist monasteries into Chinese secular society.
Incense-stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. There are many different types of stick used for different purposes or on different festive days. Many of them are long and thin. Sticks are mostly coloured yellow, red, or more rarely, black. Thick sticks are used for special ceremonies, such as funerals. Spiral incense, with exceedingly long burn times, is often hung from temple ceilings. In some states, such as Taiwan,
Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon incense sticks are sometimes used. These generate so much smoke and heat that they are only burned outside.
Chinese incense sticks for use in popular religion are generally odorless or only use the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven. They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum. Inexpensive packs of 300 are often found for sale in Chinese supermarkets. Though they contain no sandalwood, they often include the Chinese character for sandalwood on the label, as a generic term for incense.
Highly scented Chinese incense sticks are used by some Buddhists. These are often quite expensive due to the use of large amounts of sandalwood, agarwood, or floral scents used. The sandalwood used in Chinese incenses does not come from India, its native home, but rather from groves planted within Chinese territory. Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Xingtian Temple, or City of Ten Thousand Buddhas do not use incense.
INDIAN:
Incense sticks, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, are the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepali/Tibetan and Japanese methods of stick making without bamboo cores. Though the method is also used in the west, it is strongly associated with India.
The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder – an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala (spice mix) powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Perfume is sometimes sprayed on the coated sticks. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India that take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approximately 200,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale. An experienced home-worker can produce 4,000 raw sticks a day. There are about 50 large companies that together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, including Moksh Agarbatti and Cycle Pure, are based in Mysore.
JEWISH TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM:
KETORET:
Ketoret was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus to be a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
TIBETAN:
Tibetan incense refers to a common style of incense found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. These incenses have a characteristic "earthy" scent to them. Ingredients vary from cinnamon, clove, and juniper, to kusum flower, ashvagandha, and sahi jeera.
Many Tibetan incenses are thought to have medicinal properties. Their recipes come from ancient Vedic texts that are based on even older Ayurvedic medical texts. The recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
JAPANESE:
In Japan incense appreciation folklore includes art, culture, history, and ceremony. It can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Incense burning may occasionally take place within the tea ceremony, just like calligraphy, ikebana, and scroll arrangement. The art of incense appreciation, or koh-do, is generally practiced as a separate art form from the tea ceremony, and usually within a tea room of traditional Zen design.
Agarwood (沈香 Jinkō) and sandalwood (白檀 byakudan) are the two most important ingredients in Japanese incense. Agarwood is known as "jinkō" in Japan, which translates as "incense that sinks in water", due to the weight of the resin in the wood. Sandalwood is one of the most calming incense ingredients and lends itself well to meditation. It is also used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The most valued Sandalwood comes from Mysore in the state of Karnataka in India.
Another important ingredient in Japanese incense is kyara (伽羅). Kyara is one kind of agarwood (Japanese incense companies divide agarwood into 6 categories depending on the region obtained and properties of the agarwood). Kyara is currently worth more than its weight in gold.
Some terms used in Japanese incense culture include:
Incense arts: [香道, kodo]
Agarwood: [ 沈香 ] – from heartwood from Aquilaria trees, unique, the incense wood most used in incense ceremony, other names are: lignum aloes or aloeswood, gaharu, jinko, or oud.
Censer/Incense burner: [香爐] – usually small and used for heating incense not burning, or larger and used for burning
Charcoal: [木炭] – only the odorless kind is used.
Incense woods: [ 香木 ] – a naturally fragrant resinous wood.
USAGE:
PRACTICAL:
Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other less desirable odours. This utility led to the use of incense in funerary ceremonies because the incense could smother the scent of decay. An example, as well as of religious use, is the giant Botafumeiro thurible that swings from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is used in part to mask the scent of the many tired, unwashed pilgrims huddled together in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A similar utilitarian use of incense can be found in the post-Reformation Church of England. Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day, this vessel is shown to be elongated and flat, with a single long handle on one side. The perfuming pan was used instead of the thurible, as the latter would have likely offended the Protestant sensibilities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The regular burning of direct-burning incense has been used for chronological measurement in incense clocks. These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve multiple senses.
Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other irritating, distracting, or pestilential insects. This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner. Currently, more effective pyrethroid-based mosquito repellent incense is widely available in Asia.
Papier d'Arménie was originally sold as a disinfectant as well as for the fragrance.
Incense is also used often by people who smoke indoors and do not want the smell to linger.
AESTHETIC:
Many people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it, in the same way that the foregoing items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the aroma. An example is the kōdō (香道), where (frequently costly) raw incense materials such as agarwood are appreciated in a formal setting.
RELIGIOUS:
Religious use of incense is prevalent in many cultures and may have roots in the practical and aesthetic uses, considering that many of these religions have little else in common. One common motif is incense as a form of sacrificial offering to a deity. Such use was common in Judaic worship and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jingxiang (敬香 "offer incense), etc.
Aphrodisiac Incense has been used as an aphrodisiac in some cultures. Both ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian mythology suggest the usage of incense by goddesses and nymphs. Incense is thought to heighten sexual desires and sexual attraction.
Time-keeper Incense clocks are used to time social, medical and religious practices in parts of eastern Asia. They are primarily used in Buddhism as a timer of mediation and prayer. Different types of incense burn at different rates; therefore, different incense are used for different practices. The duration of burning ranges from minutes to months.
Healing stone cleanser Incense is claimed to cleanse and restore energy in healing stones. The technique used is called “smudging” and is done by holding a healing stone over the smoke of burning incense for 20 to 30 seconds. Some people believe that this process not only restores energy but eliminates negative energy.
HEALTH RISK FROM INCENSE SMOKE:
Incense smoke contains various contaminants including gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and adsorbed toxic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals). The solid particles range between ~10 and 500 nm. In a comparison, Indian sandalwood was found to have the highest emission rate, followed by Japanese aloeswood, then Taiwanese aloeswood, while Chinese smokeless sandalwood had the least.
Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples. The study found gaseous aliphatic aldehydes, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic, in incense smoke.
A survey of risk factors for lung cancer, also conducted in Taiwan, noted an inverse association between incense burning and adenocarcinoma of the lung, though the finding was not deemed significant.
In contrast, epidemiologists at the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society, Aichi Cancer Center in Nagoya, and several other centers found: "No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three populations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount." However, the researchers qualified their findings by noting that incense burning in the studied population was associated with certain low-cancer-risk dietary habits, and concluded that "diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health."
Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and lung cancer, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to burning incense. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that incense use is associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer. Those who used incense heavily also were 80% more likely to develop squamous-cell carcinomas. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits. The research team noted that "This association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications."
In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters' ovarian cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
Incensole acetate, a component of Frankincense, has been shown to have anxiolytic-like and antidepressive-like effects in mice, mediated by activation of poorly-understood TRPV3 ion channels in the brain.
My attempt at keeping was was left intact which was pretty much useless but
at least it's still somewhat there.
This glass reduces rather than magnifies. Cartographers often produced a final map at 50-75 percent of its draft size, and this tool allowed them to visualize how their draft line work would appear at the final size.
The colourful second-hand U.S Bluebird school buses have been an integral part of the Panama public transport network for years but are becoming a rarer sight.
According to local media, with a new transport system being developed, the traditional Red Devils imported to Panama throughout the last 40 years are now disappearing and are only used for a few specific routes.
Samples of reduced fat and salt taco ingredients, mango, kiwi, celery, carrots and backed potato chips are ready for serving by Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNS) Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Janey Thornton and school officials to students participating in the inaugural International School Meals Day at Harmony Hills Elementary School in Silver Spring, MD, on Friday, March 8, 2013. Mr. Damien Grasso's 5th grade class was paired with Mrs. Karen McAllister’s class at Dalry Primary School in North Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. Using a real-time online video website service, the children shared some of the healthy eating and physical activity choices available to them. The Dalry fitness program includes Zumba classes, and Harmony Hills includes a Fitness Club. Both schools have soccer programs. The Harmony Hills 5th grade students shared their thoughts about their healthy menu items, mango, kiwi, and hummus. The Dalry students honored the Maryland students, by having prepared a Southern Maryland dessert, Smith Island cake (made with 7 thin cake layers). Initially, 14 classrooms (grades 3-8) in the U.S. are now connected with 14 classrooms in Scotland. USDA plans to expand the initiative to include partnerships with additional countries in future years. Harmony Hills participates in the Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA), In-Classroom breakfast program, the fresh fruit and vegetable program, and the summer food service program. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance programs that work in concert to form a national safety net against hunger. Learn more by visiting www.fns.usda.gov and twitter @USDANutrition. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Gerani (Greek: Γεράνι, literally 'Geranium', Turkish: Turnalar) is a village in the Famagusta District of Cyprus, located 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of Trikomo. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.
A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.
Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.
Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.
The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.
Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.
Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.
By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.
EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.
However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.
On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.
In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.
By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.
In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.
The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.
After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".
As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.
Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.
The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.
Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.
The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.
Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.
Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria
An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."
In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.
Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.
In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.
Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.
Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.
Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:
UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.
The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.
By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."
After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.
On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.
The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.
During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.
In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.
Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.
A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.
Highest price of the day.
At 01:00 in Video Part 4 of 5 of the five videos I took of the car on stage, Evan starts up the car to the crowd's delight. At 01:25, I say, "I think he's trying to hide a chuckle." At 01:40, I say, "So, I saw this car in the back being pulled by a strap by a Japanese SUV. They were trying to start it." Evan was the guy in tow trying to start the Simplex. Wish I had put my camera on that. Evan certainly had fun with this one, from the back lot to the stage. ☺
Evan Ide -- works with Bonhams, has been featured on Wayne Carini's "Chasing Classic Cars" several times, and is an advisor to several major museum collections around the world -- driving the car on stage.
*The Eleonora Sears Simplex Purchased new by Harold Vanderbilt for Eleonora Sears, Ex-Charles Chayne*
1912 Simplex 50HP 5 Passenger Torpedo Tourer
Sold for US$4,845,000 inc. premium
From the catalog:
Coachwork by JM Quinby and Company
597.2ci T-Head, 4-Cylinder Engine (5.75" bore x 5.75" stroke)
50 horsepower ALAM rated
4-Speed Transaxle With 1.97:1 Final Drive by Dual Chains
Semi-Elliptic Leaf Spring Suspension
Inboard Transaxle Mounted Drum Brakes and Rear Axle Drum Brakes
*Unique example of the pinnacle of American pre-war sporting cars
*Owned for over 25 years by Eleonora Sears America's greatest pre-war sportswoman
*Matching numbers, dual-chain drive and desirable short-stroke specification
*Original coachwork with faultless, dramatic styling
*Performance surpassing most cars made decades later
SIMPLEX
The collector car hobby is now in its ninth or perhaps tenth decade with roots going back as early as the 1920s. Few cars have the distinction of being highly coveted for this entire period of time. Simplex without question is one of the few cars to have remained a great prize of collecting from day one to the present day. No car so completely embodies the romance and excitement of this period better than a Simplex. Possessing all the fleeting features of this charismatic era, massive four-cylinder, T-head engine, with power getting to the rear wheels via prodigious pair of chains all in a svelte and sporty package.
The Smith and Mabley Company's beginnings are in the importation of high-end European automobiles. S&M imported Panhard, Renault, Mors and most importantly Mercedes. S&M was the exclusive importer of Mercedes for the US market.
After a few years of importing the superb Mercedes products S&M developed their own Mercedes-like car but designed with uniquely American dimensions. S&M based much of the design around the Mercedes Simplex four-cylinder design — the world's finest automobile at the time. In 1908 Smith & Mabley would become the Simplex Automobile Company and focus exclusively on enormous displacement sporting cars. To power the Simplex an enlarged Mercedes type t-head engine of 597ci was designed. Simplex deviated from Mercedes by cleverly matched the bore and stroke at 5.75" to give the engine a combination of brute power and at a surprisingly wide RPM range. The cross flow, t-head design allowed Simplex to fit equally massive valves to aid the voluminous engine flow. Ignition was by Bosch twin-spark dual-magneto and carburetion by a Mercedes type unit by Newcomb. The huge cylinders were mated to a large aluminum crankcase and lubrication was a total loss with copious amounts of fresh oil supplied to the main bearings. S&M used the established high performance chassis configuration of midship mounted transaxle feeding power to the rear wheels through dual chains. This design reduced the cars unsprung weight and allowed for easy final-drive gear ratio changes. Placing the transaxle and brake weight more forward improved the cars balance and handling. Additionally this design allowed for separate braking system inboard at the transaxle as well as in the rear wheel drums helping keep the independent systems cool. This configuration since its development by Panhard et Levassor had become almost universally adopted for racing in this period.
The new 50 horse power Simplex was introduced to the public and despite its breathtaking price tag of $5750 they immediately found favor with sporting car enthusiasts. Unlike some of Simplex's competition the enormous engine was not designed to lug around heavy coachwork this car was designed from the ground up for driving performance. Simplex quickly cemented their reputation with success in motorsports. Unlike many builders Simplex competed with their standard production cars. Wining the Brighton Beach 24 hours and victories at Lowell and Fairmont all bolstered the Simplex reputation.. This was a race car for the street and few cars in the world could rival them for their shear performance.
Simplex offered the 50hp several attractive coachwork options for clients including the classic five-passenger toy tonneau and two passenger speedster by Holbrook. Customers could also specify unique coachwork designs by coach builders of their choosing as is the case with this magnificent Quinby example.
ELEONORA RANDOLF SEARS
Ms Sears born into wealthy family in 1881 would become renowned as one of the finest American sporting figures of the first half of the 20th century. Excelling most notably in international tennis, squash, show jumping, golf among others. She is considered one of the first female motorists in the US as one of the first woman to drive a racing car and the first Woman to contest a speeding ticket. She maintained her sporting prowess for decades even winning the national squash title in 1928 at age 47! She even remained active in competitive in squash at age 73.
She began her rise to high level tennis in 1904. She competed in every US tennis championship from 1911 to 1929 and was national doubles champion four time. A three-time competitor at Wimbledon and US Squash champion in 1928. She was not afraid of a public wager and embarked in a much publicized 47 mile walk from Newport, Rhode Island to Boston in 10.5 hours. She frequently caused trouble by wearing trousers and male riding apparel and pushed for allowing more equity in sports and society.
She was often in the spotlight of the gossip pages but caused a sensation when she became engaged to Harold Sterling Vanderbilt in 1911. Son of the pioneering motor racer and sportsman William Kissam Vanderbilt, Harold had a similar sporting flair. Most famous for his yacht racing success and ultimately defending the America's cup in Newport Rhode Island three times with the J class yachts Rainbow, Enterprise and Ranger. He maintained excellent taste in high performance motor cars and is remembered for his contribution to the popularity of contract bridge. He and Eleonora made a great celebrity couple with their seemingly compatible sporting interests. Mr Vanderbilt purchased Ms. Sears this Simplex motorcar as a gift for their engagement. Mr Vanderbilt was had several of his own Simplex motorcars including a spectacularly racy v-radiator equipped roadster. The engagement did not last but seemed to have a lasting impact on both. Harold would not marry for another 20 years and Eleonora would keep her beloved engagement gift for at least another 25 years.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
Ordered in 1911 this unique coachwork example is arguably the greatest survivor of the marque. Adorned in magnificent sporting coachwork by JM Quinby that is perfectly in harmony with the power and purpose of the Simplex chassis. The deep enveloping, cowl free from the bulk of a windshield with sleek built-in electric side lamps that also act as cockpit ventilators. The rakish fenders hint at the transitional nature of the car with their crisp flat lines and work perfectly with the innovative, torpedo bodywork. The wonderful wooden toolboxes were fitted from new, and the styling is further enhanced by the set of rear mounted spares. Having this sleek and light weight coachwork the Simplex was specified with ultra tall 1.97:1 final drive ratio allowing for 85mph at 1200rpm! There is nothing fussy about the final product pure, un-compromised style.
In 1939 Sears herself would drive the car to an early VMCCA at Raceland in Framingham Massachusetts. Ms Sears was awarded a beautiful silver trophy at the event which is still with the car. Original color films survive from this early antique car gathering. Around this time the cars ownership changed for the first time when Ms. Sears sold her beloved Simplex to VMMCA meter Sam Eliott.
Eventually the Simplex would find its way to the head of Buick and General Motors chief engineer Charles Chayne. A prolific engineer who developed countless products, Chayne was well known for his collection including the a Bugatti type 57S and most notably the Bugatti Type 41 "Royale" Weinberger roadster. Chayne had GM's full engineering capabilities at his disposal for his restorations. The best talents of GM had their way with Simplex and perfected the operation of the car to the highest standard. The engine was precession balanced and blue printed - to the finest possible standard. The brakes and the steering also received the full GM engineering attention. The Simplex steers light even when not moving and the brakes are shockingly powerful. The light steering and great cornering give enormous confidence during spirited driving. The electric starter installation is probably the crown jewell of the job - a discreet aircraft starter expertly mounted in place of the starting handle. The result is what most agree the finest driving Simplex, bar none.
Chayne would gradually disperse his collection many ending up in Museums - the Simplex at Brookline Massachusetts Museum of Transportation (now the Larz Anderson Auto Museum). Eventually the car was sold at auction to The Collings Foundation in the early 1980s. A short time later noted brass era collector Charles LeMaitre would acquire the car where it would reside for the next 20+ years. Of the more than 1000 antique cars Mr. Lemaitre would own this was the one he considers the finest. Mr. LeMaitre would use the car regularly and had the car fully restored starting in the mid 2000s. Trusting the Simplex to the capable hands of noted brass era restorer Fred Gonet in Proctorsville, Vermont. In this time the car was resprayed and new upholstery fitted. The wheels were rebuilt with new wood spokes and fellows. The mechanicals were fully refurbished while keeping the GM engineering that had been done under Chayne's restoration.
In 2013 the Sears Simplex was acquired by Seattle collector Craig McCaw. During this time he car was toured with and exhibited in the Simplex celebration at Pebble Beach. Eventually the car made it into the hands of the current owner a passionate collector with a diverse collection of world class automobiles. The Simplex is frequently used and always kept in "on the button" condition.
Cars of this quality rarely come to public auction. It has been nearly 17 years since an original bodied Simplex has been offered publicly. This car is among the finest antique cars in America and the opportunity to acquire something of this caliber is truly special.
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It's Bonhams day!
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This year I was able to escape the snow and join Fred in Scottsdale for sunshine, cars, and music! I also drove down to Tucson to meet Doug for lunch and spend a nice evening visting with Richard and Lola.
Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2015
In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.
Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m. and wreaths of remembrance poppies are then laid on the memorials.
The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.
The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past by veterans, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.
Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.
From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.
Each year, the music at the National Ceremony of Remembrance remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:
Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne
Heart of Oak by William Boyce
The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore
Men of Harlech
The Skye Boat Song
Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly
David of the White Rock
Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson
Flowers of the Forest
Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar
Dido's lament by Henry Purcell
O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris
Solemn Melody by Walford Davies
Last Post – a bugle call
Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch
O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft
Reveille – a bugle call
God Save The Queen
Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.
The following is complied from press reports on 8 November 2015:
"The nation paid silent respect to the country's war dead today in a Remembrance Sunday service. Leading the nation in remembrance, as ever, was the Queen, who first laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in 1945 and has done so every year since, except on the four occasions when she was overseas.
Dressed in her customary all-black ensemble with a clutch of scarlet poppies pinned against her left shoulder, she stepped forward following the end of the two-minute silence marked by the sounding of Last Post by 10 Royal Marine buglers.
The Queen laid her wreath at the foot of the Sir Edwin Lutyens Portland stone monument to the Glorious Dead, then stood with her head momentarily bowed.
She was joined by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who was invited to the Cenotaph for the first time to lay a wreath marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by British troops.
Watched by his wife Queen Maxima, who stood next to the Duchess of Cambridge in the Royal Box, the King laid a wreath marked with the simple message, 'In remembrance of the British men and women who gave their lives for our future.'
Wreaths were then laid by members of the Royal Family, all wearing military uniform: Prince Philip; then Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Prince William at the same time ; then Prince Edward, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent at the same time.
Three members of the Royal Family laying wreaths at the same time was an innovation in 2015 designed to slightly reduce the amount of time of the ceremony and thereby reduce the time that the Queen had to be standing.
Prince Charles attended a remembrance service in New Zealand.
The Prime Minister then laid a wreath. The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, appeared at the Cenotaph for the first time. He wore both a suit and a red poppy for the occasion.
His bow as he laid a wreath marked with the words 'let us resolve to create a world of peace' was imperceptible – and not enough for some critics. Yet unlike the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Battle service earlier this year, Mr Corbyn did join in with the singing of the national anthem.
Following the end of the official service at the Cenotaph, a mammoth column more than 10,000-strong (some 9,000 of whom were veterans) began marching along Whitehall, saluting the Cenotaph as they passed, Parliament Street, Great George Street, Horse Guards Road and back to Horse Guard Parade. The Duke of Cambridge took the salute from the column on Horse Guards Parade.
Time takes its inevitable toll on even the most stoic among us, and this year only a dozen World War Two veterans marched with the Spirit of Normandy Trust, a year after the Normandy Veterans' Association disbanded.
Within their ranks was 95-year-old former Sapper Don Sheppard of the Royal Engineers. Sheppard was of the eldest on parade and was pushed in his wheelchair by his 19-year-old grandson, Sam who, in between studying at Queen Mary University, volunteers with the Normandy veterans.
'It is because of my admiration for them,' he says. 'I see them as role models and just have the utmost respect for what they did.'
While some had blankets covering their legs against the grey November day, other veterans of more recent wars had only stumps to show for their service to this country during 13 long years of war in Afghanistan.
As well as that terrible toll of personal sacrifice, the collective losses – and triumphs - of some of the country’s most historic regiments were also honoured yesterday.
The Gurkha Brigade Association - marking 200 years of service in the British Army – marched to warm ripples of applause. The King’s Royal Hussars, represented yesterday by 126 veterans, this year also celebrate 300 years since the regiment was raised.
They were led by General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of Nato and Colonel of the regiment who himself was marching for the first time.
'We are joined by a golden thread to all those generations who have gone before us,” he said. “We are who we are, because of those that have gone before us.' "
Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 8 November 2015
Summary of Contingents
Column Number of marchers
B (Lead) 1,754
C 1,298
D 1,312
E 1,497
F 1,325
A 1,551
Ex-Service Total 8,737
M (Non ex-Service) 1,621
Total 10,358
Column B
Marker Detachment Number
1 Reconnaissance Corps 18 Anniversary
2 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Assoc 10
3 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association 60
4 Royal Artillery Association 18
5 Royal Engineers Association 37
6 Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association 65 Anniversary
7 Airborne Engineers Association 24
8 Royal Signals Association 48
9 Army Air Corps Association 42
10 Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps Transport Assoc 54
11 RAOC Association 18
12 Army Catering Corps Association 48
13 Royal Pioneer Corps Association 54 Anniversary
14 Royal Army Medical Corps Association 36
15 Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association 48
16 Royal Military Police Association 100
17 The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 12
18 Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association 36
19 Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps 18
20 Royal Army Physical Training Corps 24
21 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Assoc 48
22 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 30
23 Royal Dragoon Guards 78
24 Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish) 12
25 Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association 126
26 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers 36
27 17/21 Lancers 30
28 The Royal Lancers 24 New for 2015
29 JLR RAC Old Boys' Association 30
30 Association of Ammunition Technicians 24
31 Beachley Old Boys Association 36
32 Arborfield Old Boys Association 25
33 Gallipoli & Dardenelles International 24
34 Special Observers Association 24
35 The Parachute Squadron Royal Armoured Corps 24 New
36 Intelligence Corps Association 48
37 Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120
38 656 Squadron Association 24
39 Home Guard Association 9
40 British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Research Team) 12
41 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48
42 British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association 24
43 Royal Hospital Chelsea 30
44 Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen & Women 30
45 The Royal Star & Garter Homes 20
46 Combat Stress 48
Total 1,754
Column C
Marker Detachment Number
1 Royal Air Force Association 150
2 Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300
3 Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association 20
4 Royal Observer Corps Association 75 Anniversary
5 National Service (Royal Air Force) Association 42
6 RAFLING Association 24
7 6 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association 18
8 7 Squadron Association 25
9 8 Squadron Association 24
10 RAF Habbaniya Association 25
11 Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association 30
12 Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association 30
13 Units of the Far East Air Force 28 New
14 Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association 16
15 Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association 12
16 RAFSE(s) Assoc 45 New
17 Royal Air Force Movements and Mobile Air Movements Squadron Association (RAF MAMS) 24
18 Royal Air Force Masirah & Salalah Veterans Assoc 24 New
19 WAAF/WRAF/RAF(W) 25
19 Blenheim Society 18
20 Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association 24
21 Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club 15
22 Federation of RAF Apprentice & Boy Entrant Assocs 150
23 Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association 24
24 Royal Air Force Police Association 90
25 Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association 40
Total 1,298
Column D
Marker Detachment Number
1 Not Forgotten Association 54
2 Stoll 18
3 Ulster Defence Regiment 72
4 Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association 48
5 North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association 78
6 Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 40
7 Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12
8 ONET UK 10
9 St Helena Government UK 24
10 South Atlantic Medal Association 196
11 SSAFA 37
12 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12
13 Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48
14 British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48
15 War Widows Association 132
16 Gurkha Brigade Association 160 Anniversary
17 British Gurkha Welfare Society 100 Anniversary
18 West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18
19 Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18
20 Bond Van Wapenbroeders 35
21 Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain 25
22 Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów Limited 18 New
23 Royal Hong Kong Regiment Association 12
24 Canadian Veterans Association 10
25 Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24
26 Hong Kong Military Service Corps 28
27 Foreign Legion Association 24
28 Undivided Indian Army Ex Servicemen Association 11 New
Total 1,312
Column E
Marker Detachment Number
1 Royal Marines Association 198
2 Royal Naval Association 150
3 Merchant Navy Association 130
4 Sea Harrier Association 24
5 Flower Class Corvette Association 18
6 HMS Andromeda Association 18
7 HMS Argonaut Association 30
8 HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association 25
9 HMS Cumberland Association 18
10 HMS Ganges Association 48
11 HMS Glasgow Association 30
12 HMS St Vincent Association 26
13 HMS Tiger Association 25
14 Algerines Association 20
15 Ton Class Association 24
16 Type 42 Association 48
17 Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service 36
18 Association of WRENS 90
19 Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association 10
20 Royal Naval Communications Association 30
21 Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 24
22 Royal Naval Benevolent Trust 18
23 Yangtze Incident Association 24
24 Special Boat Service Association 6
25 Submariners Association 30
26 Association of Royal Yachtsmen 30
27 Broadsword Association 36
28 Aircraft Handlers Association 36
29 Aircrewmans Association 40 Anniversary
30 Cloud Observers Association 10
31 The Fisgard Association 40
32 Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association 36
33 Fleet Air Arm Association 25
34 Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association 24
35 Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association 24
36 Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association 18
37 Fleet Air Arm Officers Association 30
38 Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association 24
39 Royal Navy School of Physical Training 24
Total 1,497
Column F
Marker Detachment Number
1 Blind Veterans UK 198
2 Far East Prisoners of War 18
3 Burma Star Association 40
4 Monte Cassino Society20
5 Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard 18
6 Pen and Sword Club 15
7 TRBL Ex-Service Members 301
8 The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 4
9 The Royal British Legion Scotland 24
10 Officers Association 5
11 Black and White Club 18
12 National Pigeon War Service 30
13 National Service Veterans Alliance 50
14 Gallantry Medallists League 46
15 National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association 98
16 National Gulf Veterans & Families Association 30
17 Fellowship of the Services 100
18 Memorable Order of Tin Hats 24
19 Suez Veterans Association 50
20 Aden Veterans Association 72
21 1st Army Association 36
22 Showmens' Guild of Great Britain 40
23 Special Forces Club 12
24 The Spirit of Normandy Trust 28
25 Italy Star Association, 1943-1945, 48
Total 1,325
Column A
Marker Detachment Number
1 1LI Association 36
2 Royal Green Jackets Association 198
3 Parachute Regimental Association 174
4 King's Own Scottish Borderers 60
5 Black Watch Association 45
6 Gordon Highlanders Association 60
7 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 12
8 Queen's Own Highlanders Regimental Association 48
9 London Scottish Regimental Association 30
10 Grenadier Guards Association 48
11 Coldstream Guards Association 48
12 Scots Guards Association 48
13 Guards Parachute Association 36
14 4 Company Association (Parachute Regiment) 24
15 Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment 72
16 Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association 30
17 Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) Regimental Association 24
18 Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association 14
19 The Royal Hampshire Regimental Club 24 New for 2015
20 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers 48 New
21 Royal Sussex Regimental Association 12
22 Green Howards Association 24
23 Cheshire Regiment Association 24
24 Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment 36
25 Mercian Regiment Association 30
26 Special Air Service Regimental Association 4
27 The King's Own Royal Border Regiment 100
28 The Staffordshire Regiment 48
29 Rifles Regimental Association 40
30 The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association 30
31 Durham Light Infantry Association 60
32 King's Royal Rifle Corps Association 50
33 King's African Rifles 14 New for 2015
Total 1,551
Column M
Marker Detachment Number
1 Transport For London 48
2 Children of the Far East Prisoners of War 60
3 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 24
4 Munitions Workers Association18
5 Evacuees Reunion Association48
6 TOC H 20
7 Salvation Army 36
8 Naval Canteen Service & Expeditionary Force Institutes Association 12 Previously NAAFI
9 Royal Voluntary Service 24
10 Civil Defence Association 8
11 National Association of Retired Police Officers 36
12 Metropolitan Special Constabulary 36
13 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 36
14 London Ambulance Service Retirement Association 18
15 St John Ambulance 36
16 British Red Cross 12
17 St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6
18 The Firefighters Memorial Trust 24
19 Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association 36
20 Ulster Special Constabulary Association 30
21 Commonwealth War Graves Commission 12
22 Daniel's Trust 36
23 Civilians Representing Families 180
24 Royal Mail Group Ltd 24
25 Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 24
26 The Blue Cross 24
27 PDSA 24
28 HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association 24 Anniversary
29 Old Cryptians' Club 12
30 Fighting G Club 18 Anniversary
31 Malayan Volunteers Group 12
32 Gallipoli Association 18
33 Ministry of Defence 20
34 TRBL Non Ex-Service Members 117
35 TRBL Women's Section 20
36 Union Jack Club 12
37 Western Front Association 8
38 Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign 18
39 Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes 24
40 National Association of Round Tables 24
41 Lions Club International 24
42 Rotary International 24
43 41 Club 6
44 Equity 12
45 Romany & Traveller Society 18
46 Sea Cadet Corps 30
47 Combined Cadet Force 30
48 Army Cadet Force 30
49 Air Training Corps 30
50 Scout Association 30
51 Girlguiding London & South East England 30
52 Boys Brigade 30
53 Girls Brigade England & Wales 30
54 Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade 30
55 Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets 18
56 St John Ambulance Cadets 18
57 YMCA 12
Total 1,621
Chhattisgarh is a very young state, only 19 years old, and is currently on a growing trajectory. Its education system is catching up with the other states. The lack of proper educational infrastructure is definitely a problem but the government has joined hands with private players in the state and together they are uplifting higher education in the state. Among these private players is one of the Best University in Chhattisgarh, Dr CV Raman University, Bilaspur.
The 21st century is rightly named as the digital era and the internet has clearly taken over every aspect of our life, including education. Technology is the biggest driver of the education sector of any country and this college has definitely leveraged the use of the internet. From providing full-fledged computer labs to fully functional digitized libraries, the college has taken care of everything.
Technological evolutions like AI, ML, Data Science have had a resounding impact on the education sector and this college has included all these topics in their management courses Chhattisgarh. They are making sure that the state is at par with the changing scenario of the world around. Their curriculum also focuses on technology, innovation, general skills and business management which other colleges generally overlook.
According to the world economic forum, by 2025, demand for critical thinking and computer skills would increase by 20% which in turn would create 2.1 million jobs by 2020 in all related domains. Incorporation of digitized courses by the university helps its students learn critical thinking, innovation, problem solving and collaboration.
Exams from pen and paper have now moved to online portals, powerpoint presentations have taken the place of projects and the computer is taking over everything. This college has signed up for many online portals such as LMS, MOOC, KConnect and many more. Students directly get quizzes to solve, submit projects, divide into groups through online platforms are now getting the gist of technology.
CV Raman University is emerging as the Top Private College in Chhattisgarh and it is making sure that its students walk that path with them. They have clearly understood the outcomes of digitized education and have taken up the challenge to ensure that everyone gets to reap the benefits of it. The students of this college are involved in a more research-oriented and thought based learning process. The business world is rapidly moving towards newer technologies like IOT and Block Chain and the college organizes regular guest lectures from experts in the industry to keep the students up-to-date with the latest trends. The students, while graduating, are industry ready and take upon new challenges.
With the pace technology is moving at, the future of jobs will be defined by speed, scale and digitization. In order to embrace this change, India needs to skill their youth to ensure that we excel in it. This will help us raise the living standards of people in our country. All these transformational changes are bound to take higher education of the country to another level.
To Know More: cvru.ac.in/
GB Railfreight Class 92, 92043 does its best to make up some time as it works the Caledonian Sleeper Up Highlander through Hartford.
The service was running around an hour late (and was similarly delayed on arrival at Euston) due to issues with the Mk5s during the shunt at Edinburgh.
This was also the first night of the reduced service in response to the second national lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the latest revision to the timetable, only one train ran in each direction, serving Edinburgh and Inverness. The usual services to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Fort William were cancelled.