AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Although Cassius was "the moving spirit" in the plot against Caesar, winning over the chief assassins, Brutus became their leader. On the Ides of March, 44 BC, Cassius urged on his fellow liberators and struck Caesar in the face. He and his fellow conspirators referred to themselves as the "Liberators" "(Liberatores)".
Although they succeeded in assassinating Caesar, the celebration was short-lived. Mark Antony seized power and turned the public against them. In letters written during 44 BC, Cicero frequently complains that Rome was still subjected to tyranny, because the "Liberators" had failed to kill Antony. According to some accounts, Cassius had wanted to kill Antony at the same time as Caesar, but was dissuaded by Brutus.
Cassius's reputation in the East made it easy to amass an army from other governors in the area. By this point the Senate had split with Antony and cast its lot with Cassius, making him as governor of Syria. Cassius was now secure enough to march on Egypt, but on the formation of the triumvirate, Brutus requested his assistance. Cassius quickly joined Brutus in Smyrna with most of his army, leaving his nephew behind to govern Syria.
The conspirators decided to attack the triumviri’s allies in Asia. Cassius set upon and sacked Rhodes, while Brutus did the same to Lycia. They regrouped the following year in Sardis, where their armies proclaimed them 'emperor'. They crossed the Hellespont, marched through Thrace, and encamped near Philippi in Macedon.
Octavian (later known as Augustus) and Mark Antony soon arrived. Cassius planned to starve them out, by using his superior position in the country. However, they were forced into a pair of battles by Antony, in the Battle of Philippi. Brutus was successful against Octavian, and took his camp. Cassius, however, was defeated and overrun by Antony. Cassius, unaware of Brutus' victory, committed suicide. He was mourned by Brutus as "the Last of the Romans". Brutus, like Octavian, was not an experienced military commander and, ten days later, Antony completed the victory. Brutus also committed suicide.
"Among that select band of philosophers who have managed to change the world," writes David Sedley, "it would be hard to find a pair with a higher public profile than Brutus and Cassius — brothers-in-law, fellow-assassins, and Shakespearian heroes," adding that "it may not even be widely known that they "were" philosophers".
Cassius converted to the school of thought founded by Epicurus. Arnaldo Momigliano called Cassius' conversion a "conspicuous date in the history of Roman Epicureanism," a choice made not to enjoy the pleasures of the Garden, but to provide a philosophical justification for assassinating a tyrant.
The inconsistencies between traditional Epicureanism and an active approach to securing freedom could not be resolved, and during the Empire, the philosophy of political opposition tended to be Stoic. This circumstance, Momigliano argues, helps explain why historians of the Imperial era found Cassius more difficult to understand than Brutus, and less admirable.
In Dante's "Inferno", Cassius is one of three people deemed sinful enough to be chewed in one of the three mouths of Satan, in the very center of Hell, for all eternity, as a punishment for killing Julius Caesar. The other two are Brutus, his fellow conspirator, and Judas Iscariot, the Biblical betrayer of Jesus Christ. (Canto XXXIV) In Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar" he is depicted as a ruthless manipulator. Caesar says of him, "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous". (I. ii. 190-195)
Braided river
A braided river is a network of small channels separated by islands that are often not fixed. In other words, the river channels wander across a flat area.
Braided rivers are found in places where the river carries a lot of sediment, and when it slows down and spreads out. The river delta of the Amazon River is a good example on a huge scale, and the Waimakariri River is a good example on a smaller scale.
Large braided river systems are found around the world:
All these regions contain young mountains that have quick erosion.
Europe has two notably braided rivers: the Narew, in Poland and Belarus, and the Tagliamento in northeastern Italy.
Marcus Junius Brutus (early June 85 BC – late October 42 BC), usually referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. He is best known for his leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Brutus' father was killed by Pompey the Great after he had taken part in the rebellion of Lepidus. His mother was the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later became Julius Caesar's mistress. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father. His uncle adopted him in about 59 BC.
Brutus held his uncle in high regard. His political career began when he became an assistant to Cato, during his governorship of Cyprus. During this time, Brutus enriched himself by lending money at high rates of interest. He returned to Rome a rich man, where he married Claudia Pulchra. From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with the Optimates. This was the conservative faction against the First Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar.
When civil war broke out in 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus followed his old enemy and present leader of the Optimates, Pompey. When the Battle of Pharsalus began, Caesar ordered his officers to take him prisoner if he gave himself up voluntarily, and if he persisted in fighting against capture, to let him alone and do him no violence.
After the disaster of the Battle of Pharsalus, Brutus wrote to Caesar with apologies and Caesar immediately forgave him. Caesar then accepted him into his inner circle and made him governor of Gaul when he left for Africa in pursuit of Cato and Scipio. In 45 BC, Caesar nominated Brutus to serve as urban praetor for the following year.
Also, in June 45 BC, Brutus divorced his wife and married his first cousin, Porcia Catonis, Cato's daughter. According to Cicero the marriage caused a semi-scandal as Brutus failed to state a valid reason for his divorce from Claudia, except that he wished to marry Porcia. The marriage also caused a rift between Brutus and his mother, who resented the affection Brutus had for Porcia.
Around this time, many senators began to fear Caesar's growing power after his appointment as Dictator for life. Brutus was persuaded into joining the conspiracy against Caesar. Eventually, Brutus decided to take action against Caesar. His wife was the only woman who knew about the plot.
The conspirators planned to kill Caesar on the Ides of March (March 15) that same year. On that day, Caesar was delayed going to the Senate because his wife tried to convince him not to go. The conspirators feared the plot had been found out. Brutus persisted, however, waiting for Caesar at the Senate, and allegedly still chose to remain even when a messenger brought him news that would otherwise have caused him to leave. When Caesar finally did come to the Senate, they attacked him. The conspirators attacked in such numbers that they even wounded one another. Brutus is said to have been wounded in the hand.
After the assassination, the Senate passed an amnesty on the assassins. This amnesty was proposed by Caesar's friend and co-consul Mark Antony. Nonetheless, uproar among the people caused Brutus and the conspirators to leave Rome. Brutus settled in Crete from 44 to 42 BC.
In 43 BC, after Octavian received his consulship from the Senate, one of his first actions was to have the people that had assassinated Julius Caesar declared murderers and enemies of the state. Cicero, angry at Octavian, wrote a letter to Brutus explaining that the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony were divided. Antony had laid siege to the province of Gaul, where he wanted the governorship. In response to this siege, Octavian rallied his troops and fought a series of battles in which Antony was defeated. Upon hearing that neither Antonius nor Octavian had an army big enough to defend Rome, Brutus rallied his troops, which totalled about 17 legions.
When Octavian heard that Brutus was on his way to Rome, he made peace with Antony. Their armies, which together totaled about 19 legions, marched to meet Brutus and Cassius. The two sides met in two engagements known as the Battle of Philippi. The first was fought on 3 October 42 BC, in which Brutus defeated Octavian's forces. Cassius was defeated by Antony, and committed suicide, because he thought Brutus had also failed.
The second engagement was fought on 23 October 42 BC and ended in Brutus' defeat. After the defeat, he fled into the nearby hills with only about four legions. Knowing his army had been defeated and that he would be captured, Brutus committed suicide.
Antony, as a show of respect, ordered Brutus' body to be wrapped in his most expensive purple mantle, which was later stolen. Antony had the thief executed. Brutus was cremated, and his ashes were sent to his mother.
The well-known phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?") is famous as Caesar's last utterance in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar". The reason for the remark was that Caesar had thought him a friend.
Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini is an writer who was born in Afghanistan but came to the United States when he was fifteen years old. He is best known for his first novel, "The Kite Runner", which was first published in 2003. His second novel was published in 2007. In 2013 "And the Mountains Echoed" was published.
Mohsin Hamid
Police Camera Action!
Panchayati raj
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee () (sign: ; code: INR) is the official currency of the Republic of India. The currency is issued and controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. During the past 15 years, the value has ranged from $1 USD = 35–65 INR or 1 euro = 44–69 INR (see below: "Convertibility").
The modern rupee is sub-divided into 100 "paise" (singular "paisa"). The coins have values and of 5, 10, 20, 25 and 50 paise, as well as 1, 2, 5 and 10 rupees. The bank notes are available in values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 2000 rupees.
The Indian rupee symbol () is an amalgam of both the Devanagari consonant "र" (Ra) and the Latin letter "R" without the vertical bar. The design was presented to the public by the government of India on 15 July 2010.
The current abbreviation "INR" started in July 2010. Until then, the abbreviation "Rs" (or "Re") was used.
The word "rupee" originates from the Sanskrit word रौप्य(raupya) meaning "silver" or "made of silver". Many Indian languages use this root word, for example, రూపాయి (rūpāyi) in Telugu, ரூபாய் (rūbāi) in Tamil, रुपया (rupayā) in Hindi, રૂપિયો (rupiyo) in Gujarati, ರೂಪಾಯಿ (rūpāyi) in Kannada and Tulu, രൂപ (rūpā) in Malayalam and रुपये (rupaye) in Marathi.
However, in West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram, Odisha, and Assam, the Indian rupee is officially known by names derived from the Sanskrit word टङ्क (Tanka) which means money. The rupee is called টাকা (Taka) in Bengali, টকা (tôka) in Assamese and ଟଙ୍କା (Tanka) in Odia and is written as such on Indian banknotes.
On March 5, 2009, the Government of India announced a contest to create a symbol for the rupee. During the 2010 Union budget of India, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee mentioned that the proposed symbol would reflect and capture the Indian ethos and culture. Five symbols were shortlisted, and the Cabinet selected the definitive symbol created by D. Udaya Kumar on July 15, 2010. The symbol is derived from a combination of the Devanagari letter ‘र’ and English letter ‘R’. The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) make an allusion to the tricolor and also depict an equality sign which symbolizes the nation's desire to reduce economic disparity. The Indian government has plans to adopt the symbol within six months in the country and globally within 18 to 24 months. Before the adoption of the symbol, the most commonly used symbols for the rupee were Rs, Re or if the text was in an Indian language, then an appropriate abbreviation in that language.
In Indian English, values at or above a hundred thousand Indian rupees are counted in terms of lakhs (one lakh = hundred thousand) and crores (one crore = ten million). For example, the amount 3,25,84,729.25 is read as three crores, twenty-five lakhs, eighty-four thousand, seven hundred and twenty-nine rupees and twenty-five paise. The use of million or billion, as is standard in American or British English, is not very common.
India was one of the earliest issuers of coins (circa 6th century BC). The first "rupee" is believed to have been introduced by Sher Shah Suri (1486–1545), based on a ratio of 40 copper pieces (paisa) per rupee. Among the earliest issues of paper rupees were those by the "Bank of Hindustan" (1770–1832), the "General Bank of Bengal and Bihar" (1773–75, established by Warren Hastings) and the "Bengal Bank" (1784–91), amongst others. Until 1815, the Madras Presidency also issued a currency based on the fanam, with 12 fanams equal to the rupee.
Historically, the rupee, derived from the Sanskrit word raupya, which means "silver", was a silver coin. This had severe consequences in the nineteenth century, when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard. The discovery of vast quantities of silver in the U.S. and various European colonies resulted in a decline in the relative value of silver to gold. Suddenly the standard currency of India could not buy as much from the outside world. This event was known as "the fall of the rupee".
India was not affected by the imperial order-in-council of 1825 that attempted to introduce the British sterling coinage to the British colonies. British India at that time was controlled by the British East India Company. The silver rupee continued as the currency of India throughout the entire period of the British Raj and beyond. In 1835, British India set itself firmly upon a mono-metallic silver standard based on the rupee. His decision was influenced by a letter, written in the year 1805, by Lord Liverpool that extolled the virtues of mono-metallism.
Following the Indian Mutiny in 1857, the British government took direct control of British India. Since 1851, gold sovereigns were being produced in large numbers at the Royal Mint branch in Sydney, New South Wales. In the year 1864 in an attempt to make the British gold sovereign become the 'imperial coin', the treasuries in Bombay and Calcutta were instructed to receive gold sovereigns. These gold sovereigns however never left the vaults. As was realized in the previous decade in Canada and the next year in Hong Kong, existing habits are not easy to replace. And just as the British government had finally given up any hopes of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling, they simultaneously realized, and for the same reasons, that they could not easily replace the silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee, as had been the desire of the British East India Company.
Since the great silver crisis of 1873, a growing number of nations had been adopting the gold standard. In 1898, following the recommendations of the Indian Currency Committee, British India officially adopted the gold exchange standard by pegging the rupee to the British pound sterling at a fixed value of 1 shilling 4 pence (i.e., 15 rupees = 1 pound). In 1920, the actual silver value of the rupee was increased in value to 2 shillings (10 rupees = 1 pound). In British East Africa at this time, the decision was made to replace the rupee with a florin. No such opportunity was, however, taken in British India.
In 1927, the peg was once more reduced, this time to 18 pence (13⅓ rupees = 1 pound). This peg was maintained until 1966, when the rupee was devalued and pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 7.5 rupees = 1 dollar (at the time, the rupee became equal to 11.4 British pence). This peg lasted until the U.S. dollar devalued in 1971.
The Indian rupee replaced the Danish Indian rupee in 1845, the French Indian rupee in 1954 and the Portuguese Indian escudo in 1961. Following independence in 1947, the Indian rupee replaced all the currencies of the previously autonomous states. Some of these states had issued rupees equal to those issued by the British (such as the Travancore rupee). Other currencies included the Hyderabad rupee and the Kutch kori. The nominal values during British rule (and the first decade of independence) were:
In 1957, decimalisation occurred, and the rupee was divided into 100 "naye paise" (Hindi for "new paise"). In 1964, the initial "naye" was dropped. Many still refer to 25, 50 and 75 paise as 4, 8 and 12 annas, respectively, not unlike the usage of "bit" in American English for ⅛ dollar.
In East Africa, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, the Rupee and its related coins were current at various times. The usage of the Rupee in East Africa extended from Somalia in the north, to as far south as Natal. In Mozambique, the British India rupees were overstamped. In Kenya, the British East Africa Company minted the rupee and its fractions as well as pice. The rise in the price of silver, immediately after the First World War, caused the rupee to rise in value to two shillings sterling. In 1920 in British East Africa, the opportunity was then taken to introduce a new florin coin, hence bringing the currency into line with sterling. Shortly after that, the Florin was split into two East African shillings. This assimilation to sterling did not however happen in British India itself. In Somalia the Italian colonial authority minted 'rupia' to exactly the same standard, and called the pice 'besa'.
The Straits Settlements were originally an outlier of the British East India Company. The Spanish dollar had already taken hold in the Straits Settlements by the time the British arrived in the nineteenth century, however, the East India Company tried to introduce the rupee in its place. These attempts were resisted by the locals, and by 1867 when the British government took over direct control of the Straits Settlements from the East India Company, attempts to introduce the rupee were finally abandoned.
With Partition, the Pakistani rupee came into existence, initially using Indian coins and Indian currency notes simply overstamped with "Pakistan". In previous times, the Indian rupee was an official currency of other countries, including Aden, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Trucial States, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, the Seychelles, and Mauritius.
The Indian government introduced the Gulf rupee, also known as the Persian Gulf rupee (XPGR), as a replacement for the Indian rupee for circulation exclusively outside the country with the Reserve Bank of India [Amendment] Act, 1 May 1959. This creation of a separate currency was an attempt to reduce the strain put on India's foreign reserves by gold smuggling. After India devalued the rupee on 6 June 1966, those countries still using it – Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial States (which became the United Arab Emirates in 1971) – replaced the Gulf rupee with their own currencies. Kuwait and Bahrain had already done so in 1961 and 1965 respectively.
The Bhutanese ngultrum is pegged at par with the Indian rupee, and both currencies are accepted in Bhutan. The Indian rupee is also accepted in towns in Nepal which lie near the border with India. However, the Indian Rupee denominations of 500 and 1000 are banned in Nepal.
Officially, the Indian rupee has a market-set exchange rate. However, the RBI trades actively in the USD/INR currency market to impact effective exchange rates. Thus, the currency regime in place for the Indian rupee with respect to the US dollar is a "de facto" controlled exchange rate. This is sometimes called a "managed" float. Other rates such as the EUR/INR and INR/JPY have volatilities that are typical of floating exchange rates. It should be noted, however, that unlike China, successive administrations (through RBI, the central bank) have not followed a policy of "pegging" the INR to a specific foreign currency at a particular exchange rate. RBI intervention in currency markets is solely to deliver low "volatility" in the exchange rates, and not to take a "view" on the rate or direction of the Indian rupee in relation to other currencies.
Also affecting convertibility is a series of customs regulations restricting the import and export of rupees. Legally, foreign nationals are forbidden from importing or exporting rupees, while Indian nationals can import and export only up to 5000 rupees at a time, and the possession of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in Nepal is prohibited.
RBI also exercises a system of capital controls in addition to the intervention (through active trading) in the currency markets. On the current account, there are no currency conversion restrictions hindering buying or selling foreign exchange (though trade barriers do exist). On the capital account, foreign institutional investors have convertibility to bring money in and out of the country and buy securities (subject to certain quantitative restrictions). Local firms are able to take capital out of the country in order to expand globally. But local households are restricted in their ability to do global diversification. However, owing to an enormous expansion of the current account and the capital account, India is increasingly moving towards "de facto" full convertibility.
There is some confusion regarding the interchange of the currency with gold, but the system that India follows is that money cannot be exchanged for gold, in any circumstances or any situation. Money cannot be changed into gold by the RBI. This is because it will become difficult to handle it. India follows the same gold-interchange principle as Great Britain and America.
ISO 4217 is the international standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies, as established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO 4217 code list is the common way in banking and business, all over the world, for defining different currencies. In many countries, the codes for the more common currencies are so well-known, by the general public, that exchange rates written in newspapers or posted in banks use only those codes to define the different currencies, instead of translated currency names or currency symbols. ISO 4217 codes are used on airline tickets and international train tickets to remove any uncertainty about the price.
The first two letters of the code are the two letters of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (which are also used as the basis for national top-level domains on the Internet). The third letter is usually the initial of the currency itself. So Japan's currency code is JPY, "JP" for Japan and "Y" for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the names "dollar, franc" and "pound" being used in dozens of different countries, each having significantly differing values. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency code's last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. In some cases, the third letter is the initial for "new" in that country's language, to distinguish it from an older currency that was revalued; the code sometimes outlasts the usage of the term "new" itself (for example, the code for the Mexican peso is MXN). Other changes can be seen, however; the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB, where the B comes from the third letter in the word "ruble".
There is also a three-digit code number assigned to each currency, in the same manner as there is also a three-digit code number assigned to each country as part of ISO 3166. This numeric code is usually the same as the ISO 3166-1 numeric code. For example, USD (United States dollar) has code 840 which is also the numeric code for the US (United States).
The standard also defines the relationship between the major currency unit and any minor currency unit. Often, the minor currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but 1/1000 is also common. Some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all. In others, the major currency unit has so little value that the minor unit is no longer generally used (e.g. the Japanese "sen", 1/100th of a yen). This is indicated in the standard by the currency exponent. For example, USD has exponent 2, while JPY has exponent 0. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya (UM) = 5 khoums, and Madagascar has 1 ariary = 5 iraimbilanja.
ISO 4217 includes codes not only for currencies, but also for precious metals (gold, silver, palladium and platinum; by definition expressed per one troy ounce, as compared to "1 USD") and certain other entities used in international finance, e.g. Special Drawing Rights. There are also special codes allocated for testing purposes (XTS), and to indicate no currency transactions (XXX). These codes all begin with the letter "X". The precious metals use "X" plus the metal's chemical symbol; silver, for example, is XAG. ISO 3166 never assigns country codes beginning with "X", these codes being assigned for privately customized use only (reserved, never for official codes)—for instance, the ISO 3166-based NATO country codes (STANAG 1059, 9 edition) use "X" codes for imaginary exercise countries ranging from XXB for "Brownland" to XXR for "Redland", as well as for major commands such as XXE for SHAPE or XXS for SACLANT. Consequently, ISO 4217 can use "X" codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes.
Supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO are normally also represented by codes beginning with an "X". The euro is represented by the code EUR (EU is included in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list to represent the European Union). The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit (ECU), had the code XEU.
In 1973, the ISO Technical Committee 68 decided to develop codes for the representation of currencies and funds for use in any application of trade, commerce or banking. At the 17th session (February 1978) of the related UN/ECE Group of Experts agreed that the three-letter alphabetic codes for International Standard ISO 4217, "Codes for the representation of currencies and funds", would be suitable for use in international trade.
Over time, new currencies are created and old currencies are discontinued. Frequently, these changes are due to new governments (through war or a new constitution), treaties between countries standardizing on a currency, or revaluation of the currency due to excessive inflation. As a result, the list of codes must be updated from time to time. The ISO 4217 maintenance agency (MA), SIX Interbank Clearing, is responsible for maintaining the list of codes.
The following is a list of active codes of official ISO 4217 currency names.
The following is a list of active, unofficial codes that emulate the ISO 4217 format.
The US dollar actually has three codes assigned: USD, USS (same day) and USN (next day). According to UN/CEFACT recommendation 9, paragraphs 8-9 ECE/TRADE/203, 1996, available online:
A number of territories are not included in ISO 4217, because their currencies are: (a) not "per se" an independent currency but a variant of another currency, (b) a legal tender only issued as commemorative banknotes and/or coinage, or (c) a currency of an unrecognized or partially recognized state. These currencies are:
The following non-ISO codes are, however, sometimes used commercially:
A number of currencies were official ISO 4217 currency codes and currency names until their replacement by the euro or other currencies.
Note that the currency names used below may not match the currency names used in the ISO standard itself, but the codes do match.
Calcium nitride
Calcium nitride is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is CaN. It contains calcium and nitride ions.
It is a red-brown solid. It reacts with water to make calcium hydroxide and ammonia. It reacts with hydrogen to make calcium hydride and calcium amide.
It is made by burning calcium in nitrogen. It is also made when calcium burns in air.
It can be used as a source of the reactive nitride ion.
Uthman ibn Affan
Uthman ibn Affan () was the third ruler of the Muslim Empire and one of the four righteous caliphs of Sunni Islam. Uthman belonged to a noble family of Ummayyah, branch of the Quraish in Makkah. Uthman was one of the very few who was literate. When he became older, he started a business in cloth, which made him very rich.
He was born in about the year 583 and was ruler for 12 years. During his time as ruler he conquered Khurasan and the regions of the west of the Arabian Peninsula. He also united the Muslim upon one uniform version of the Quran. He was well known for marrying two of Muhammad's daughters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, both at different times. For this, he became known as "Dhu al-Nurayn", the "Possessor of Two Lights". He participated in both immigrations, first to Ethiopia and then to Medina.
He was attacked while in his house, although he did not defend himself out of fear of further trouble. He was killed while reading the Qur'an by Sudaan ibn Hamran on Friday, June 17, 656. He died aged 72-73 years.
Calcium permanganate
Calcium permanganate is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is Ca(MnO). It contains calcium and permanganate ions.
Calcium permanganate is a dark purple solid. It is a powerful oxidizing agent. It is similar to potassium permanganate. It can catch some organic chemicals like alcohol on fire. It can cause an explosion when mixed with sulfuric acid. This is because manganese(VII) oxide.
It can be made by calcium oxide with manganese(IV) oxide and calcium nitrate.
It might whiten teeth. It can be used as an oxidizing agent, although potassium permanganate is more common.
Calcium nitrate
Calcium nitrate, also known as Norwegian saltpeter, is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is Ca(NO). It contains calcium and nitrate ions.
Calcium nitrate is a colorless solid. It is an oxidizing agent. It absorbs water from the air. It decomposes to make nitrogen dioxide and calcium oxide when heated.
Calcium nitrate is made by reacting calcium hydroxide or calcium carbonate with nitric acid. It is made when nitric acid reacts with calcium phosphate. It can be made by reacting ammonium nitrate and calcium hydroxide.
Calcium nitrate is used in fertilizers to add nitrogen to the soil. It can be complexed with urea to make a different nitrogen fertilizer.
Bray Wyatt
Windham Rotunda (born May 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently wrestling in WWE under the ring name Bray Wyatt. He was known as the leader of a stable with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan known as The Wyatt Family. Daniel Bryan was also a member for a short time before turning against the stable.
He first wrestled in WWE from 2009 to 2011 where he competed under the name Husky Harris and was a part of the stable, The Nexus. He competed on the 2nd season of WWE NXT but was eliminated 5th. Rotunda stayed in WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), and made his debut as Bray Wyatt in FCW in April 2012. He stayed in FCW through its name change to NXT Wrestling (now WWE NXT), and returned to the main WWE roster in July 2013. The Wyatt Family quickly became some of the company's biggest heels ("bad guys").
WWE Smackdown Live! Tag Team Champion
WWE Champion
Terrestrial locomotion
Terrestrial locomotion has evolved as animals adapted from aquatic to terrestrial places. Movement on land makes different problems than that on water, with less friction instead being the effects of gravity.
There are three basic forms of movement found among land animals:
Movement on legs is the most common form of land movement. It is the simple form of movement of two big groups with many members, the vertebrates and the arthropods.
There are a number of land and amphibious limbless vertebrates and invertebrates. These animals, due to lack of legs, use their bodies to move. These movements are sometimes called to as "slithering" or "crawling".
Although animals have never have wheels for locomotion, some animals can move by rolling their whole body.
The fastest terrestrial animal is the cheetah, which can get speeds of about 104 km/h (64 mph).
Strong acid
In chemistry, a strong acid is an acid which ionizes (splits) completely in a solution of water. It always loses a proton (A H) when put in water. A weak acid does not always lose a proton, though; It can lose its proton, but not all the time. They also have a very low pH, usually between 1 and 3. Many strong acids have a negative pKa value, which means they are very strong.
The six common strong acids are: (Acronym:CBSPIN)
Almost strong acids include:
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is New Zealand's fourth largest city. It has a population of 140,700 people. It is the largest inland city in New Zealand. It has an area of . The mayor is Andrew King.
Incubator (disambiguation)
Incubator may refer to:
Liu Xiaobo
Liu Xiaobo (28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese intellectual, writer, human rights activist and a political prisoner in China.
He has been President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003. On 8 December 2008, police stopped Liu and held him because of his work with Charter 08. He was not actually arrested until 23 June 2009. The government accused him of encouraging people to turn against the state. He had a trial on 23 December 2009. On 25 December 2009, the court decided he must go to prison for eleven years. The court also took away his political rights for two years.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize on 8 October 2010, for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." This was during the fourth time Liu was in prison.
He is the first Chinese person to win a Nobel Prize while living in China. He is also the third person to win the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention. The others were Germany's Carl von Ossietzky in 1935 and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991.
On 26 June 2017, he was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He died a few weeks later on 13 July 2017.
Liu was born in 1955 in Changchun, Jilin to an intellectual family. His father took him to the Inner Mongolia from 1969 to 1973 during the Down to the Countryside Movement. He worked in a village in Jilin province when he was 19 years old. He worked at a construction company after that.
In 1976, he studied at Jilin University and got a B.A. degree in literature in 1982. He earned an M.A. degree in 1984 from Beijing Normal University. Liu joined the faculty at Beijing Normal University after he graduated. He also received a Ph.D. degree there in 1988.
In the 1980s, his most important essays, "Critique on Choices - Dialogue with Le Zehou" and "Aesthetics and Human Freedom"' earned him fame in the academic field. The essay criticised a prominent Chinese thinker Li Zehou's philosophy.
Between 1988 and 1989, he was a visiting scholar at several universities outside of China, including Columbia University, the University of Oslo and the University of Hawaii.
During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests he was in the United States but decided to go back to China to join the movement. He was later named as one of the "Four Junzis of Tiananman Square" by many Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based Chinese media.
Liu Xiaobo works to increase human rights. He has asked the Chinese government to be more open and honest about its actions. The Chinese government has brought him to police stations, arrested him, and sent him to prison many times for his peaceful political activities. The first time was for his actions in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Organizations outside China have noticed Liu's human rights work and given him awards. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders honored Liu's human rights work, awarding him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom.
In January 1991, Liu Xiaobo was convicted of "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement." However, the government did not give him any punishment as a criminal. In October 1996, he was ordered to serve three years of labour for "disturbing public order" by criticizing the Communist Party of China. In 2007, police took Liu for a short time and asked him about articles he had written. The articles were posted on websites hosted outside China.
Liu Xiaobo actively participated in the writing of Charter 08. Then, along with more than three hundred Chinese citizens, he signed "Charter 08". This was a manifesto, or statement of beliefs and principles. It was released on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 2008). They wrote it in the style of the Czechoslovak Charter 77 calling for greater freedom of expression, human rights, and free elections. As of May 2009, the Charter has collected over 8,600 signatures from Chinese of various walks of life.
Police took Liu Xiaobo away from his home late in the evening of 8 December 2008. This was two days before the official release of the Charter. Police also took away Zhang Zuhua at that time. He is another scholar who signed Charter 08. According to Zhang, the two men were taken by police because they thought Liu and Zhang were trying to get more people to sign the Charter. While Liu was kept alone in solitary confinement, he was not allowed to meet with his lawyer or family. He was allowed to eat lunch with his wife, Liu Xia, and two policemen on New Year's Day 2009. On 23 June 2009, an officer of the government in Beijing (the procuratorate) approved Liu Xiaobo's arrest on charges of "suspicion of inciting subversion of state power." This is a crime under Article 105 of the Law of the People's Republic of China. The Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) said in a press release that Liu had incited the subversion of state power and the overturn of the socialist system through methods such as spreading rumors and slander, using almost the exact words of Article 105. The Beijing PSB also said that Liu had "fully confessed."
On 1 December 2009, Beijing police transferred Liu's case to the procuratorate for investigation and processing; on 10 December, the procuratorate formally indicted Liu on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" and sent his lawyers, Shang Baojun and Ding Xikui, the indictment document. He was tried at Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court on 23 December 2009. His wife was not permitted to watch the trial, but his brother-in-law was there. Diplomats from more than 12 countries – including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand – were not allowed in the court. They could not watch the trial. Some diplomats stood outside the court during the whole trial. Gregory May, political officer at the U.S. Embassy, and Nicholas Weeks, first secretary of the Swedish Embassy were among the diplomats who waited outside.
On 25 December, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court on charges of "inciting subversion of state power." According to Liu's family and counsel, he plans to fight this and ask for a new trial. The court said that Charter 08 was part of the evidence supporting his conviction.
Many individuals, states, and organizations around the world asked the Chinese government to release Liu. The Chinese government said no and told people outside China not to become involved.
On 11 December 2008, the United States Department of State called for Liu's release.
On 22 December 2008, an organization of scholars, writers, lawyers, and human rights workers wrote an open letter to ask the government to let Liu out of prison. On 21 January 2009, 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Ha Jin and Jung Chang, called for Liu's release in a statement put out through PEN. In March 2009 Liu Xiaobo was awarded with the Homo Homini Award by the One World Film Festival, organized by the People in Need foundation, for promoting freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights.
In December 2009, the European Union and United States both officially asked the Chinese government to release of Liu Xiaobo without any special rules or conditions.
Before the court decision, China said that other nations should "respect China's judicial sovereignty and to not do things that will interfere in China's internal affairs."
Responding to the result in court, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay expressed concern political rights in China becoming worse. German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly criticized the verdict, stating "despite the great progress in other areas in the expression of views, I regret that the Chinese government still massively restricts press freedom." Canada and Switzerland also condemned the verdict. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou called on Beijing to "tolerate dissent". On 6 January 2010, former Czech president Václav Havel joined with other communist-era dissidents at the Chinese embassy in Prague to present a petition calling for Liu's release. On 22 January 2010, European Association for Chinese Studies sent an open letter to Hu Jintao on behalf of over 800 scholars from 36 countries calling for Liu's release.
On 18 January 2010, Liu was named by many people as a nominee (possible winner) of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. These included Václav Havel, the 14th Dalai Lama, André Glucksmann, Vartan Gregorian, and Desmond Tutu. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu said that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu would be "totally wrong". Geir Lundestad, a secretary of the Nobel Committee, stated the award would not be influenced by Beijing's opposition. On 25 September 2010, "The New York Times" reported that a petition in support of the Nobel nomination was being circulated in China.
In September 2010 Václav Havel, Dana Němcová, and Václav Malý published an open letter in "The International Herald Tribune" calling for the award to be given to Liu. All three had been leaders of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution. Soon after, people began signing a petition.
Freedom Now is a non-governmental organization and works as a lawyer for Liu Xiaobo outside China. On 6 October 2010, they publicly released a letter from 30 U.S. Members of Congress to President Barack Obama (the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner). This letter strongly asked President Obama to talk directly to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G-20 Summit in November 2010. They wanted Obama to talk about Liu Xiaobo and another political prisoner named Gao Zhisheng .
On 8 October 2010 the Nobel Committee awarded Liu the Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China". The Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjørn Jagland said the choice of Liu as the recipient of the prize had become clear early on in the process. The Chinese foreign ministry had already warned the Nobel committee not to give Liu the prize. They said that it would be against Nobel principles.
All news about the announcement of the award was immediately censored in China. Foreign news broadcasters including CNN and the BBC were immediately blocked after mentioning the award in China. Web searches for Liu Xiabo were immediately deleted and no information can be searched about him in China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement that said, "The Nobel Peace Prize is meant to award individuals who promote international harmony and friendship, peace and disarmament. Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law. Awarding the peace to Liu runs completely counter to the principle of the award and is also a desecration of the Peace Prize." The state-run Xinhua News Agency later carried a report saying that awarding Liu Xiaobo the prize “defiles” (亵渎) Alfred Nobel's purpose of creating this prize and "may harm China-Norway relations". The spokesperson added that Liu had broken Chinese law and his "actions run contrary to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize."
Many world leaders congratulated Liu for the award. These included Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, The British Foreign Secretary William Hague, US President Barack Obama, and The Dalai Lama.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry called the Norwegian ambassador to the People's Republic of China to the ministry on 8 October 2010. The Chinese gave the ambassador an official complaint against awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo. The Norwegian foreign minister replied that the Chinese government complaint was not needed because the group of people who decide the Nobel Prize is independent from the Norwegian government. However, the Norwegian Nobel Committee that gives the peace prize is appointed by the Norwegian parliament.
He is married to Liu Xia, who lives in the couple's apartment in Beijing.
In May 2017, Liu was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. On 10 July 2017, Liu was listed in critical condition in hospital in Shenyang.
Liu died at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning, China on 13 July 2017 of multiple organ failure as a set of complications of the disease at the age of 61.
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University is a public university in China, located in Beijing. It is one of the most highly ranked universities in China, and focuses on teaching humanities and sciences. It was first opened in 1902, which makes it one of the oldest universities in China. Its nickname is Beishida.
Originally, it was called a "normal school" because it was only a school for teachers, and all teacher schools were named the same way. It was attached to the Imperial University of Peking. Later, it became a university on its own, teaching subjects other than education, but kept its name the same.
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo (, ) is the oldest and largest university in Norway. It is in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
The university began in 1811 as The Royal Frederick University (in Norwegian "Det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet" and in Latin "Universitas Regia Fredericiana"). The university was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin, and originally named after King Frederick of Denmark and Norway. In 1939 it changed to the name it has now.
The university has faculties of (Lutheran) Theology, Law, Medicine, Humanities, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Dentistry, Social Sciences, and Education. The Faculty of Law is still located at the old campus on Karl Johans gate, near the National Theatre, the Royal Palace, and the Parliament. Most of the other faculties are at a modern campus area called Blindern. The Faculty of Medicine is split between several university hospitals in the Oslo area.
In 2019, the university had 30,505 students and employed 6,595 people.
Central Region, Singapore
The Central Region of Singapore is also known as the south of Singapore. It is a place where most commercial buildings are in. The Istana is also found in this area.
When Sir Stamford Raffles first arrived in Singapore in 1819, he signed a treaty with Tengku Abdul Rahman (the local Sultan) and Tengku Hussein (the Temmengong which became Sultan since he was the elder brother). The Sultan and Temmengong were paid money for allowing the British to set up a port in Singapore.
The British were given the southern part of Singapore to develop. Therefore, it was also recognised as the Central Region of Singapore, or also called Central Business District.
The Central Region of Singapore starts from the harbour all the way to Bishan as the north, Queenstown as the west and Marine Parade as the east. In total, it takes up 13,150 hectares of land area.
The Southern Islands are also part of the Central Region of Singapore.
Tuas is a region in the far west of the island of Singapore. It is not reachable by the Mass rapid transit (MRT) of Singapore. The nearest MRT station is Joo Koon.
Tuas is mainly an industrial estate like Jurong and the Tuas checkpoint (called the Tuas Second Link) is found there.
Orchard Road is a street in Singapore that has many shopping centres. It is in the south of Singapore.
Orchard Road got its name from the nutmeg, pepper and fruit orchards that used to grow on both sides of the street. It only started to develop in the twentieth century.