title: Life insurance

text: The endowment policy is a life insurance contract designed to pay a lump sum after a specific term (on its 'maturity') or on death. Typical maturities are ten, fifteen, or twenty years up to a certain age limit. Some policies also pay out in the case of critical illness.


title: Life insurance

text: Policies are typically traditional with-profits or unit-linked (including those with unitized with-profits funds).


title: Life insurance

text: Endowments can be cashed in early (or surrendered) and the holder then receives the surrender value which is determined by the insurance company depending on how long the policy has been running and how much has been paid into it.


title: Life insurance

text: Accidental death insurance is a type of limited life insurance that is designed to cover the insured should they die as a result of an accident. "Accidents" run the gamut from abrasions to catastrophes but normally do not include deaths resulting from non-accident-related health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurance policies.


title: Life insurance

text: Such insurance can also be "accidental death and dismemberment insurance" or "AD&D". In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death but also for the loss of limbs or body functions such as sight and hearing.


title: Life insurance

text: Accidental death and AD&D policies pay actual benefits only very rarely, either because the cause of death is not covered by the policy or because death occurs well after the accident, by which time the premiums have gone unpaid. Various AD&D policies have different terms and exclusions. Risky activities such as parachuting, flying, professional sports, or military service are often omitted from coverage.


title: Life insurance

text: Accidental death insurance can also supplement standard life insurance as a rider. If a rider is purchased, the policy generally pays double the face amount if the insured dies from an accident. This was once called "double indemnity insurance". In some cases, triple indemnity coverage may be available.


title: Life insurance

text: Insurance companies have in recent years developed products for niche markets, most notably targeting seniors in an aging population. These are often low to moderate face value whole life insurance policies, allowing senior citizens (ages 50-85) to purchase affordable insurance later in life. This may also be marketed as "final expense insurance" or burial insurance and usually have death benefits between $2,000 and $40,000. One reason for their popularity is that they only require answers to simple "yes" or "no" questions, while most other life insurance policies require a medical exam to qualify. As with other policy types, the range of premiums can vary widely.


title: Life insurance

text: Health questions can vary substantially between exam and no-exam policies. It may be possible for individuals with certain conditions to qualify for one type of coverage and not another. Because seniors sometimes are not fully aware of the policy provisions, policyholders may believe that their policies last for a lifetime, for example, and that Premiums on some policies increase at regular intervals, such as every five years.


title: Life insurance

text: "Pre-need life insurance policies" are limited premium payment, whole life policies that are usually purchased by older applicants, though they are available to everyone. This type of insurance is designed to cover specific funeral expenses that the applicant has designated in a contract with a funeral home. The policy's death benefit is initially based on the funeral cost at the time of prearrangement, and it then typically grows as interest is credited. In exchange for the policy owner's designation, the funeral home typically guarantees that the proceeds will cover the cost of the funeral, no matter when death occurs. Excess proceeds may go either to the insured's estate, a designated beneficiary, or the funeral home as set forth in the contract. Purchasers of these policies usually make a single premium payment at the time of prearrangement, but some companies also allow premiums to be paid over as much as ten years.


title: Life insurance

text: "Riders" are modifications to the insurance policy added at the same time the policy is issued. These riders change the basic policy to provide some features desired by the policy owner. A common rider is "accidental death". Another common rider is a "premium waiver", which waives future premiums if the insured becomes disabled.


title: Life insurance

text: "Joint life insurance" is either term or permanent life insurance that insures two or more persons, with proceeds payable on the death of "either".


title: Life insurance

text: Unit-linked insurance plans are unique insurance plans which are similar to mutual funds and term insurance plans combined as one product. The investor does not participate in the profits of the plan per se but gets returns based on the returns on the chosen funds.


title: Life insurance

text: Some policies afford the policyholder a share of the profits of the insurance company—these are termed with-profits policies. Other policies provide no rights to a share of the profits of the company—these are "non-profit" policies.


title: Life insurance

text: With-profit policies are used as a form of collective investment scheme to achieve capital growth. Other policies offer a guaranteed return not dependent on the company's underlying investment performance; these are often referred to as "without-profit" policies, which may be construed as a misnomer.


title: Life insurance

text: According to section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (of the Indian penal code) premiums paid towards a valid life insurance policy can be exempted from the taxable income. Along with life insurance premiums, section 80C allows an exemption for other financial instruments such as Employee Provident Fund (EPF), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS), National Savings Certificate (NSC), and health insurance premiums are some of them. The total amount that can be exempted from the taxable income for section 80C is capped at a maximum of INR 150,000. The exemptions are eligible for individuals (Indian citizens) or Hindu Undivided Family (HUF).


title: Life insurance

text: Apart from tax benefit under section 80C, in India, a policy holder is entitled for a tax exemption on the death benefit received. The received amount is fully exempt from Income Tax under Section 10(10D).


title: Life insurance

text: Where the life insurance is provided through a superannuation fund, contributions made to fund insurance premiums are tax deductible for self-employed persons and substantially self-employed persons and employers. However, where life insurance is held outside of the superannuation environment, the premiums are generally not tax deductible. For insurance through a superannuation fund, the annual deductible contributions to the superannuation funds are subject to age limits. These limits apply to employers making deductible contributions. They also apply to self-employed persons and substantially self-employed persons. Included in these overall limits are insurance premiums. This means that no additional deductible contributions can be made for the funding of insurance premiums. Insurance premiums can, however, be funded by undeducted contributions. For further information on deductible contributions see "under what conditions can an employer claim a deduction for contributions made on behalf of their employees?" and "what is the definition of substantially self-employed?". The insurance premium paid by the superannuation fund can be claimed by the fund as a deduction to reduce the 15% tax on contributions and earnings. (Ref: ITAA 1936, Section 279).


title: Life insurance

text: Premiums paid by a policyholder are not deductible from taxable income, although premiums paid via an approved pension fund registered in terms of the Income Tax Act are permitted to be deducted from personal income tax (whether these premiums are nominally being paid by the employer or employee). The benefits arising from life assurance policies are generally not taxable as income to beneficiaries (again in the case of approved benefits, these fall under retirement or withdrawal taxation rules from SARS). Investment return within the policy will be taxed within the life policy and paid by the life assurer depending on the nature of the policyholder (whether natural person, company-owned, untaxed, or a retirement fund).


title: Life insurance

text: Premiums paid by the policy owner are normally not deductible for federal and state income tax purposes, and proceeds paid by the insurer upon the death of the insured are not included in gross income for federal and state income tax purposes. However, if the proceeds are included in the "estate" of the deceased, it is likely they will be subject to federal and state estate and inheritance tax.


title: Life insurance

text: Cash value increases within the policy are not subject to income taxes unless certain events occur. For this reason, insurance policies can be legal and legitimate tax shelter wherein savings can increase without taxation until the owner withdraws the money from the policy. In flexible-premium policies, large deposits of premiums could cause the contract to be considered a "modified endowment contract" by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which negates many of the tax advantages associated with life insurance. The insurance company, in most cases, will inform the policy owner of this danger before deciding their premium.


title: Life insurance

text: The tax ramifications of life insurance are complex. The policy owner would be well advised to carefully consider them. As always, both the United States Congress and state legislatures can change the tax laws at any time.


title: Life insurance

text: In 2018, a fiduciary standard rule on retirement products by the United States Department of Labor posed a possible risk.


title: Life insurance

text: Premiums are not usually deductible against income tax or corporation tax, however, qualifying policies issued prior to 14 March 1984 do still attract LAPR (Life Assurance Premium Relief) at 15% (with the net premium being collected from the policyholder).


title: Life insurance

text: Non-investment life policies do not normally attract either income tax or capital gains tax on a claim. If the policy has an investment element such as an endowment policy, whole of life policy, or an investment bond then the tax treatment is determined by the qualifying status of the policy.


title: Life insurance

text: Qualifying status is determined at the outset of the policy if the contract meets certain criteria. Essentially, long-term contracts (10+ years) tend to be qualifying policies and the proceeds are free from income tax and capital gains tax. Single premium contracts and those running for a short term are subject to income tax depending upon the marginal rate in the year a gain is made. All UK insurers pay a special rate of corporation tax on the profits from their life book; this is deemed as meeting the lower rate (20% in 2005-06) of liability for policyholders. Therefore, a policyholder who is a higher-rate taxpayer (40% in 2005-06), or becomes one through the transaction, must pay tax on the gain at the difference between the higher and the lower rate. This gain is reduced by applying a calculation called top-slicing based on the number of years the policy has been held. Although this is complicated, the taxation of life assurance-based investment contracts may be beneficial compared to alternative equity-based collective investment schemes (unit trusts, investment trusts, and OEICs). One feature which especially favors investment bonds is the "5% cumulative allowance"—the ability to draw 5% of the original investment amount each policy year without being subject to any taxation on the amount withdrawn. If not used in one year, the 5% allowance can roll over into future years, subject to a maximum tax-deferred withdrawal of 100% of the premiums payable. The withdrawal is deemed by the HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) to be a payment of capital and therefore, the tax liability is deferred until maturity or surrender of the policy. This is an especially useful tax planning tool for higher rate taxpayers who expect to become basic rate taxpayers at some predictable point in the future, as at this point the deferred tax liability will not result in tax being due.


title: Life insurance

text: The proceeds of a life policy will be included in the estate for death duty (in the UK, inheritance tax) purposes. Policies written in trust may fall outside the estate. Trust law and taxation of trusts can be complicated, so any individual intending to use trusts for tax planning would usually seek professional advice from an independent financial adviser and/or a solicitor.


title: Life insurance

text: Although available before April 2006, from this date pension term assurance became widely available in the UK. Most UK insurers adopted the name "life insurance with tax relief" for the product. Pension term assurance is effectively normal term life assurance with tax relief on the premiums. All premiums are paid at a net basic rate tax of 22%, and higher-rate taxpayers can gain an extra 18% tax relief via their tax return. Although not suitable for all, PTA briefly became one of the most common forms of life assurance sold in the UK until Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the withdrawal of the scheme in his pre-budget announcement on 6 December 2006.


title: Life insurance

text: "Stranger-originated life insurance" or STOLI is a life insurance policy that is held or financed by a person who has no relationship to the insured person. Generally, the purpose of life insurance is to provide peace of mind by assuring that financial loss or hardship will be alleviated in the event of the insured person's death. STOLI has often been used as an investment technique whereby investors will encourage someone (usually an elderly person) to purchase life insurance and name the investors as the beneficiary of the policy. This undermines the primary purpose of life insurance, as the investors would incur no financial loss should the insured person die. In some jurisdictions, there are laws to discourage or prevent STOLI.


title: Life insurance

text: Although some aspects of the application process (such as underwriting and insurable interest provisions) make it difficult, life insurance policies have been used to facilitate exploitation and fraud. In the case of life insurance, there is a possible motive to purchase a life insurance policy, particularly if the face value is substantial, and then murder the insured. Usually, the larger the claim and/or the more serious the incident, the larger and more intense the ensuing investigation by police and insurer investigators. Multiple fictional and non-fictional works, including books, films, television series and podcasts have featured the scenario as a plot device or actually occurring as a true crime. There was also a documented case in Los Angeles in 2006 where two elderly women were accused of taking in homeless men and assisting them. As part of their assistance, they took out life insurance for the men. After the contestability period ended on the policies, the women are alleged to have had the men killed via hit-and-run vehicular homicide.


title: Life insurance

text: On April 17, 2016, a report by Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" claimed that life insurance companies do not pay significant numbers of beneficiaries. This is because many people named as beneficiaries never submit claims to the insurance companies upon the death of the insured, and are unaware that any benefit exists to be claimed, though the insurance companies have full knowledge. The amounts of such benefits are often small, but the numbers of would-be beneficiaries are quite large. These unclaimed benefits eventually become sources of profit.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel (in his feature directorial debut), written by Scott Kosar, and starring Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, and R. Lee Ermey. Its plot follows a group of young adults traveling through rural Texas who encounter Leatherface and his murderous family. It is a remake of Tobe Hooper's 1974 film of the same name, and the fifth installment in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise. Several crew members of the original film were involved with the project: Hooper and writer Kim Henkel served as co-producers, Daniel Pearl returned as cinematographer, and John Larroquette reprised his voice narration for the opening intertitles.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The film was released in the United States on October 17, 2003, received mostly negative reviews from critics, and grossed $107 million at the box office on a budget of $9.5 million. A prequel was released in 2006, titled "". "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was the first film to be produced by Platinum Dunes, who would go on to produce remakes of several other 20th-century horror films.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: On August 18, 1973, five young adults – Erin, her boyfriend Kemper, and their friends Morgan, Andy, and Pepper – are on their way to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert after traveling to Mexico to purchase marijuana. While driving through Texas, they pick up a traumatised hitchhiker walking in the middle of the road. After they try to talk with her, she speaks incoherently about "a bad man", and pulls out a revolver and shoots herself in the mouth.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The group goes to a nearby gas station to contact the police, where a woman named Luda Mae tells them to meet Sheriff Hoyt at the mill. Instead, they find a young boy named Jedidiah, who says Hoyt is at home getting drunk. Erin and Kemper go through the woods to find his house, leaving Morgan, Andy, and Pepper at the mill with Jedidiah. They come across a plantation house, and Erin is allowed inside by an amputee named Monty to call for help. Kemper goes inside to look for Erin, and is killed with a sledgehammer by Thomas Hewitt, also known as "Leatherface", who drags his body into the basement.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Meanwhile, Hoyt arrives at the mill, and disposes of the hitchhiker's body. After Erin discovers that Kemper is missing, she and Andy go back to Monty's house, and Erin distracts him, while Andy searches for Kemper. When Monty realizes that Andy is inside, he summons Leatherface, who attacks him with a chainsaw. Erin escapes and heads towards the woods, but Leatherface severs Andy's leg, carries him to the basement, and impales him on a meat hook. Erin makes it back to the mill, but before she and the others can leave, Hoyt arrives. After finding marijuana on the dashboard, he orders Erin and Pepper to get out of the van, gives Morgan the gun he took from the hitchhiker, and tells him to reenact how she killed herself. Morgan attempts to shoot Hoyt, but the gun is unloaded. Hoyt handcuffs Morgan and drives him back to the Hewitt house, taking the van's key with him.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Erin and Pepper are tracked down by Leatherface, who is wearing Kemper's face as a mask, and when Pepper attempts to run, she is killed by Leatherface. Erin runs and hides in a nearby trailer, belonging to an obese middle-aged woman known as the Tea Lady, and a younger woman named Henrietta, who gives her tea that has been drugged. Erin discovers that they have kidnapped the hitchhiker's baby, but passes out before she can escape. Erin wakes up at the Hewitt house, surrounded by the entire family: Leatherface, his mother Luda Mae, Hoyt, Monty, and Jedidiah. Luda Mae explains to Erin that Leatherface was tormented his whole life, because of a skin disease that left his face disfigured, and she felt that no one cared for her family besides themselves.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Erin is taken to the basement, where she finds Andy and kills him to end his suffering. Afterwards, she finds Morgan handcuffed in a bathtub. Jedidiah, who does not agree with his family's actions, leads them out of the house, and distracts Leatherface long enough for them to escape. Erin and Morgan find an abandoned shack in the woods, and barricade themselves inside. Leatherface breaks in and discovers Erin, but Morgan attacks Leatherface, who hangs him from a chandelier by his handcuffs, and cuts through his groin with the chainsaw. Erin escapes into the woods with Leatherface in tow. She finds a slaughterhouse and attacks Leatherface with a meat cleaver, severing his right arm.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Erin runs outside and flags down a trucker, whom she tries to convince to drive away from the Hewitt house, but he stops to find help at the gas station. While the family is distracted by the trucker, Erin sneaks the baby out of the eatery, and places her in the sheriff's car. Erin hot-wires the car and Hoyt tries to stop her, but she runs him over repeatedly until he is dead. Leatherface suddenly appears in the road and slashes the car with his chainsaw, but Erin escapes with the baby. Two days later, two officers investigating the Hewitt house are killed by Leatherface, and a narrator states that the case remains open.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: On December 5, 2001, Creature Corner.com reported that Michael Bay's newly created company Platinum Dunes (which was created in order to produce low-budget films), had set its focus on remaking "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". Early announcements on the site indicated that the story would be told in flashback with actress Marilyn Burns, who starred in the original film, reprising her role as an aged Sally Hardesty recounting the events in the film. It was later announced that the filmmakers had already purchased the rights to the original film.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Early in the film's production the original filmmakers Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel would be writing a script for the film, but it was unknown at the time whether or not their script would be used. In June 2002, it was announced that Marcus Nispel would direct the film in his directorial debut. Nispel said that he was initially against the idea of remaking the film, calling it "blasphemy" to his longtime director of photography, Daniel Pearl, who had shot the original film. Pearl, however, encouraged Nispel to join the project, as he wanted to bookend his career with "Chainsaw" films.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: As in the original 1974 version, it is loosely inspired by the real-life crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein. Gein's crimes had also inspired novels such as "Psycho" and "The Silence of the Lambs", both of which were later adapted into subsequent films.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The screenplay was written by Scott Kosar, who went on to write the screenplays for "The Machinist" and Platinum Dunes remake of "The Amityville Horror".


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The film was Kosar's first professional job as a screenwriter and later recalled feeling both thrilled and honored at the prospect of writing the screenplay for the remake. Kosar also realized early on that he was dealing with "one of the seminal works of the genre" and one that could not be bettered. When discussing with the film's producers, Kosar felt that the new film shouldn't try to compete with the original film, as he felt that it was made under different circumstances.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: In earlier drafts Erin, the film's main character, was revealed to be nine months pregnant throughout the film but was removed from later drafts at producer Michael Bay's insistence.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Jessica Biel, who previously starred in the television series "7th Heaven", was cast as the main character Erin.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Actor Andrew Bryniarski, who starred in Bay's "Pearl Harbor" and stayed friends with him afterwards, personally met with producer Bay and asked him for the role of Leatherface. Another actor, named Brett Wagner, was cast for the role before Bryniarski, but, on the first day, the actor was hospitalized and fired for lying about his physical abilities. Without an actor for the film's main antagonist, the filmmakers called and asked if Bryniarski still wanted the role, which he accepted. To prepare for the role, Bryniarski ate a diet of brisket and white bread in order to get his weight to nearly 300 pounds. Bryniarski would later reprise his role as Leatherface in the film's .


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Nispel favored shooting the film in California, but Bay suggested Texas, where he had previously shot three times. Principal photography began in Austin in July 2002 and lasted 40 days. Nispel intentionally shot the film in a different style, using more traditionally narrative elements, as he did not want to make a shot-for-shot remake replicating the original film's documentary-like style. Cinematographer Pearl explained from an on-set interview: "People ask me, 'Is it going to be as gritty and grainy as the last one I did?' No. I did that. There's no point in making the exact same film with the exact same look."


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The remake includes references to the previous film, including John Larroquette, who returns in his role as the film's narrator.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The weather during filming was very hot and humid. Bryniarski, who portrays Leatherface in the film, did all his own stunts and was forced to wear a "fat suit", which increased his near-300 lbs to 420 lbs. The suit also heated up quickly, so the actor had to ensure that he drank a lot of fluids before a shoot. Leatherface's mask was also a problem; the mask was made out of silicone and was difficult for the actor to breathe through. The crew had many prop chainsaws for actor Bryniarski to use, such as chainsaws that put out smoke, and live chainsaws.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was released in North America on October 17, 2003, in 3,016 theaters. It grossed $10,620,000 on its opening day and concluded its opening weekend with $29.1 million, debuting at number 1 at the U.S. box office. Within 17 days of its release, the film had grossed over $66 million in the US.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The film opened in various other countries in the following months (including a Halloween release in the United Kingdom) and grossed $26.5 million, while the North American gross stands at $80.6 million, bringing the worldwide gross to $107 million. The film's budget was $9.5 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the franchise even when adjusted for inflation. Adjusted for inflation as of 2018 the film would have grossed over $162 million.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows an approval rating of 37% based on 156 reviews; the average rating is 4.87/10. The consensus is: "An unnecessary remake that's more gory and less scary than the original." Metacritic, another review aggregator, calculates an average of 38%, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Manohla Dargis of the "Los Angeles Times" praised the polish of Pearl's cinematography (in contrast to his grittier work in the original), though noted: "The remake moves faster and sounds louder, but comes off as callous rather than creepy." Robert K. Elder of the "Chicago Tribune" gave it three out of four stars and called it "an effectively scary slasher film" despite its absurd premise. William Thomas of "Empire" rated it three stars out of five and wrote: "You'll have to overcome resentment towards this unnecessary remake before you can be properly terrorised but, on its own terms, it plays well." Roger Ebert gave the film a rare zero stars out of four, calling it "A contemptible film: Vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of reason to see it. Those who defend it will have to dance through mental hoops of their own devising, defining its meanness and despair as 'style' or 'vision' or 'a commentary on our world'." "Variety" gave the film an unfavorable review, writing that the film was an "initially promising, but quickly disappointing retread of a hugely influential horror classic".


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" awarded the film two stars out of four, writing: "Director Marcus Nispel, acclaimed for his ads and music videos, has a sharp eye and the good sense to hire Daniel Pearl, who shot the first "Chainsaw". But all the bad-rehash mojo from "Friday the 13th" to "The Blair Witch Project" has infected Scott Kosar's script. Hooper went for primitive, Nispel goes for slick. Hooper went easy on the gore, Nispel pours it on" and called the film "soulless". Dave Kehr from "The New York Times" gave the film an unfavorable review, noting: "Rather than exhilaration, this bilious film offers only entrapment and despair," further commenting that the film was about as much fun as sitting in on an autopsy. Leonard Maltin awarded the film 1.5 stars out of four, complimenting the film's intensity but criticized the lack of likable characters and the lack of humor which was present in the original, stating, "Once it kicks into gear, it's brutally unrelenting toward its unappealing characters and the audience."


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: On SBS' The Movie Show Australian critic Margaret Pomeranz said this was the first film she has walked out of (giving it half an hour) and declined it a rating while fellow host David Statton rated it one star. “I was in a cinema and there was about 10 single men sitting around, and I just thought, I don’t have to see this,” she says. “So yes, I did walk out. I choose to embrace movies, but there is a lot of average movies out there. You just have to try and look at the good things in them. “Certain genres are not to my taste — prison dramas, man's cruelty to other men or women … I used to embrace violence in cinema in a lot of ways, but I’m reacting against that.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The BBC's Jamie Russell gave the film some praise, referring to it as "a gory, stylish, and occasionally scary push-button factory of shocks and shrieks remarkably better than anyone had the right to expect." but goes on to lament, "if the filmmakers could churn out something this decent, why didn't they shoot an original script, or even a sequel to Hooper's 1974 classic instead of a remake?" "The Guardian"s Peter Bradshaw awarded the film two stars out of five, referring to it as a "bullish revival" of the original, adding: "The movie finds tastily grotesque Diane Arbus locals to freak out our poor heroes and heroines. Everything is as unsubtle as you like, and let's face it, unsubtlety is the order of the day."


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Due to the film's financial success, it influenced a plethora of horror movie franchises to remake their original films across the span of the 2000's and 2010's. Notable examples include "House of Wax", "The Wicker Man", "The Omen", "Halloween," "My Bloody Valentine 3D", "Friday the 13th", and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". These were met with negative to mixed reviews and have been heavily criticized by audiences and critics alike for being unnecessary additions to their franchises.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The film was released on VHS and DVD March 30, 2004, through New Line Home Entertainment. Special features include seven TV spots, a soundtrack promo and trailers and a music video for "Suffocate" by Motograter.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: A two-disc Platinum Series Edition was also released that same day, containing a collectible metal plaque cover, three filmmaker commentaries with producer Michael Bay, director Marcus Nispel and others, crime city photo cards, deleted scenes, an alternate opening and ending, "Chainsaw Redux: In-Depth" documentary, "Gein: The Ghoul of Planifield" documentary, cast screen tests, art gallery, seven TV spots and trailers, heavy metal song "Suffocate" by "Motograter" Music Video, a soundtrack promo and DVD-ROM content, including script-to-screen


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Stephen Hand wrote a novelization that was published March 1, 2004, by Black Flame. Hand previously wrote the novelization for "Freddy vs. Jason", also for New Line and Black Flame.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: There were two soundtrack albums released by Bulletproof Records/La-La Land Records for the film; the first was meant for regular audiences featuring popular metal music and was released on November 4, 2003.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: The second was the film's original score as composed by Steve Jablonsky. This was released on October 21, 2003, and has a run time of 50:25.


title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film)

text: Trailers and TV spots used a version of This Mortal Coil's cover of "Song to the Siren", which was just recorded for the trailer and was sung by the singer Renee of the band Moneypenny.


South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid (also stylized South Park: Post COVID: The Return of COVID) is a 2021 American adult animated comedy television film written and directed by Trey Parker. It is the second in a series of "South Park" television films for the streaming service Paramount+ and premiered on December 16, 2021. It is a direct sequel to and continues the storyline of the previous film, "". It is the fourth and final episode of the 24th season and the 311th episode of the series.


title: South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid

text: Stan Marsh flashes back to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Eric Cartman were sent home from school before they could blackmail fellow student Heather Wiliams into attending a Denver Nuggets game; and the events leading to him burning down Tegridy Farms and inadvertently killing his sister Shelley, leading to their mother Sharon's suicide.


text: Presently, South Park remains under quarantine due to the new COVID-19 variant. On the run and guarding his last sprout of marijuana, Randy Marsh is cornered by Shady Acres nurses when Token Black defeats them and takes Randy to Kenny's laboratory. At the lab, Stan and Kyle, alongside Wendy Testaburger, Tweek Tweak, Craig Tucker, Jimmy Valmer, and Clyde Donovan, cannot get past Kenny's firewall without a voice command from either him or his institutionalized associate, Victor Chouce. Wendy realizes that the experiment will need aluminum foil, all supplies of which are in grounded cargo ships. Stan and Kyle head out to retrieve Chouce while Tweek and Craig search for foil.


text: Stan and Kyle find that "Chouce" is actually "Chaos" at the South Park Mental Asylum. They enter Chaos' cell to discover that he is actually Butters Stotch, who gradually became insane after his parents abandoned him. In his isolation, Chaos began dealing in NFTs, upon mention of which asylum personnel subdue Chaos and remove Kyle and Stan from his cell. Chaos uses a paper on Kenny's research given to him by Kyle to convince a guard to release him. Meanwhile, Randy cultivates his marijuana as the others explain Kenny's plan to time travel and prevent the pandemic. Randy is convinced that his marijuana is the solution to their problem. Their plans are further complicated by Clyde's refusal to be vaccinated.


text: At the South Park Church, Father Scott Malkinson is approached by Cartman and his family. Cartman forms the Foundation Against Time Travel while hiding his family in the attic, intent on preventing Kyle from implementing Kenny's plan. Tweek and Craig arrive at the church and inadvertently inform Cartman of their purpose, resulting in their capture. Cartman convinces Clyde to join his cause; he later finds Chaos selling NFTs to senior citizens and uses him to hinder the group at the laboratory. Upon Stan and Kyle's return, Wendy, Token, Jimmy, and Randy have been brainwashed into investing in NFTs, while Cartman and his group have stolen the equipment. At the church, Cartman reveals his plan to have Kyle killed in the past, while Kyle and Stan undo Chaos' brainwashing. Wendy admits that Kenny's plan was not to prevent the pandemic but to salvage the boys' friendship and improve the future; Token states that "Tegridy Weed" was only in Kenny's notes as a reminder to take some marijuana with him. A depressed Randy forgives Stan for his actions and gives him his last seed of marijuana.


text: Cartman prepares for Clyde to travel back in time when Stan and Kyle arrive and use their Amazon Alexas to neutralize Chaos. Cartman and Kyle begin fighting until Yentl, Cartman's wife, convinces him to allow Kyle and Stan to implement their plan. Cartman’s infant son activates the machine, sending Clyde back in time. Arriving to retrieve his father's gun, Clyde convinces his past self not to be vaccinated. Adult Clyde approaches the boys with the intent to kill young Kyle when Stan, Kyle, and Cartman arrive, having traveled through time to intervene. Before Clyde can fire, Cartman shoots him dead.


text: Realizing that they cannot prevent the pandemic, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman instead decide to change their reaction to it. They approach Heather Williams and blackmail her to get their younger selves courtside tickets to the Nuggets game, where the boys forgive each other. Stan sends Randy the marijuana strain from the future, which Randy cultivates for mass distribution. Under the strain's influence, everyone forgives each other for their behavior during the pandemic, changing the future. Almost everyone's lives have changed for the better in the revised future, with Sharon, Shelley, and Kenny alive in the new future, while Cartman has become a homeless alcoholic on the street.


text: Dan Caffey of "The A.V. Club" said about the film "Picking up where November’s "Post COVID" left off, "The Return of COVID" finds South Park's grownup kids in full "" mode, trying to figure out how to travel back in time to reverse the shitty present in which they currently live. If that sounds like an overly basic distillation of the plot, that's because, like the first movie, "The Return of COVID" complicates the story with subplots that sometimes make the core narrative feel like it's stalling." The ending of the film, which revealed the fate of an adult Eric Cartman, led to some strong reactions from longtime fans of the show.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Raising Arizona is a 1987 American crime comedy film directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, a former police officer and his wife. Other members of the cast include Trey Wilson, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, Sam McMurray, and Randall "Tex" Cobb.


title: Raising Arizona

text: The Coen brothers set out to work on the film with the intention of making a film as different from their previous film, the dark thriller "Blood Simple", as possible, with a lighter sense of humor and a faster pace. "Raising Arizona" received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Some criticized it as too self-conscious, manneristic, and unclear as to whether it was fantasy or realism. Other critics praised the film for its originality.


title: Raising Arizona

text: The film ranks 31st on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Laughs list, and 45th on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies" list. "Raising Arizona" was released in the United States on March 13, 1987.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Convenience store robber H.I. "Hi" McDunnough meets police officer Edwina ("Ed") as she takes his mugshots before one of multiple sentences in prison. During a later stay, Hi learns that Ed's fiancé has left her and proposes after being released. They marry and move into a desert mobile home, and Hi gets a job in a machine shop. They want to have children, but Ed is infertile and they cannot adopt due to Hi's criminal record.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Hi and Ed learn of the quintuplet sons known as the "Arizona Quints" born to regionally famous furniture magnate Nathan Arizona. They kidnap one of the babies, whom they believe to be Nathan Jr. Upon returning home, Hi's old cellmates Gale and Evelle Snoats arrive after escaping from prison. They convince Hi to shelter them and tempt him to return to his former life of crime. That night, Hi has an intense nightmare of monstrous biker Leonard Smalls.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Hi's foreman Glen and his large and unruly family visit on the next day. When Glen suggests that he and Hi exchange wives, Hi punches Glen in the face. That night, Hi succumbs to the temptation to rob a convenience store while buying baby diapers, leading to a chase with police and a pack of dogs that he manages to outrun. As Ed and Nathan Jr. sleep, Hi decides to leave his family to join Gale and Evelle in a bank robbery. Glen returns the next morning to fire Hi, revealing his inference that Hi and Ed kidnapped Nathan Jr. Glen threatens to turn them in unless they agree to give him and his wife custody of the child. Gale and Evelle overhear this conversation and, following a conflict with Hi, kidnap Nathan Jr. themselves. Once freed from bondage, Hi joins with a despondent Ed to rescue the baby. Meanwhile, Leonard Smalls approaches Nathan Arizona and offers to return his son for $50,000, but indicates his plan to sell the baby on the black market when Nathan Sr. refuses to pay.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Gale and Evelle grow attached to Nathan Jr. After nearly leaving him behind at a robbed convenience store, the two promise never to give him up. But they again leave Nathan Jr. behind during the bank robbery along with a dye pack going off in their sack of cash and covering them and the interior of the car with sky blue dye, allowing Smalls to capture the baby before Hi and Ed arrive. In the ensuing struggle, Ed grabs Nathan Jr. while Hi occupies Smalls. Despite being severely beaten, Hi ultimately manages to kill Smalls by detonating one of the hand grenades on Smalls's jacket.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Remorseful, Hi and Ed sneak into the Arizona home to return Nathan Jr. but are caught by Nathan Sr. Upon learning the reason for the kidnapping, Nathan Sr. sympathizes and decides not to turn them in. When he hears that Hi and Ed plan to split, Nathan Sr. advises them to "sleep on it".


title: Raising Arizona

text: In the final scene, Hi sleeps beside Ed and has a series of prophetic dreams: Gale and Evelle willingly return to prison upon realizing they aren't ready to return to society, Glen is ticketed by a Polish-American police officer following "one Polack joke too many", and Nathan Jr. becomes a football star after receiving a football as a Christmas present from "a kindly couple who wish to remain unknown". The dream ends as an elderly couple (implied to be Hi and Ed) enjoy a holiday visit from a large family of children and grandchildren. Hi reflects on the reality of this dream and his conviction that he and Ed have the ability to be good and raise a good family, "if not in Arizona, then somewhere close...maybe it was Utah."


title: Raising Arizona

text: The Coen Brothers started working on "Raising Arizona" with the idea to make it as different as possible from their previous film, "Blood Simple", by having it be far more optimistic and upbeat. The starting point of scriptwriting came from the idea of the character of Hi, who has the desire to live a regular life within the boundaries of the law. To create their characters' dialect, Joel and Ethan created a hybrid of local dialect and the assumed reading material of the characters, namely, magazines and the Bible. In contrast to "Blood Simple", the characters in "Raising Arizona" were written to be very sympathetic. The Coens wrote the character Ed for Holly Hunter. The character of Leonard Smalls was created when the Coen Brothers tried to envision an "evil character" not from their imagination, but one that the character would have thought up. His name is widely thought to be a reference to the character of Lennie Small, from John Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men". John Goodman was drawn to characters of "great feeling, [guys] who could explode or start weeping at any moment" and became a frequent collaborator following his performance as Gale Snoats. The script took three and a half months to write.


title: Raising Arizona

text: The film was influenced by the works of director Preston Sturges and writers such as William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor (who was known for her Southern literature; "She also has a great sense of eccentric character," Ethan Coen told one interviewer). Joel and Ethan showed the completed script to Circle Films, their American distributor for "Blood Simple". Circle Films agreed to finance the movie. The Coens came to the set with a complete script and storyboard. With a budget of just over five million dollars, Joel Coen noted that "to obtain maximum from that money, the movie has to be meticulously prepared".


title: Raising Arizona

text: "Raising Arizona" was shot in ten weeks. Many crew members who had worked with Joel and Ethan on "Blood Simple" returned for "Raising Arizona", including cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, co-producer Mark Silverman, production designer Jane Musky, associate producer and assistant director Deborah Reinisch, and film composer Carter Burwell.


title: Raising Arizona

text: The relationship between actor Nicolas Cage and the Coens was respectful, but turbulent. When he arrived on-set, and at various other points during production, Cage offered suggestions to the Coen brothers, which they ignored. Cage said that "Joel and Ethan have a very strong vision and I've learned how difficult it is to accept another artist's vision. They have an autocratic nature." Randall "Tex" Cobb also gave the Coens difficulty on set, with Joel noting that "he's less an actor than a force of nature ... I don't know if I'd rush headlong into employing him for a future film."


title: Raising Arizona

text: "Raising Arizona" was initially released in the US, three dates; A New York City premiere on March 6, 1987, a limited release on March 13, 1987 and a nationwide release on April 17, 1987. The film was also released in Argentina on March 25, 1987 before it was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Despite the cult following of their later films, such as "The Big Lebowski", in 2000 Ethan Coen described their second feature as "the last movie [we] made that made any significant amount of money".


title: Raising Arizona

text: David Denby of "New York" wrote that the film was a "deranged fable of the New West" which turned "sarcasm into a rude yet affectionate mode of comedy". Richard Corliss of "Time" referred to the film as "exuberantly original". Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" gave a positive review, stating that it was "the best kidnapping comedy since last summer's "Ruthless People"". On the film review television show "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies", critic Gene Siskel said the film was as "good looking as it is funny" and that "despite some slow patches" he recommended the film, giving it a "thumbs up". Writing for "The New Yorker", Pauline Kael wrote that ""Raising Arizona" is no big deal, but it has a rambunctious charm".


title: Raising Arizona

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A terrifically original, eccentric screwball comedy, "Raising Arizona" may not be the Coens' most disciplined movie, but it's one of their most purely entertaining." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 based on 23 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Negative reviews focused on a "style over substance" view of the film. "Variety" wrote, "While ["Raising Arizona"] is filled with many splendid touches and plenty of yocks, it often doesn't hold together as a coherent story." Writing for "The New York Times", Vincent Canby wrote, "Like "Blood Simple", it's full of technical expertise but has no life of its own ... The direction is without decisive style." Julie Salamon of the "Wall Street Journal" wrote that the Coen Brothers "have a lot of imagination and sense of fun—and, most of all, a terrific sense of how to manipulate imagery," but "by the end, the fun feels a little forced." Dave Kehr of the "Chicago Tribune" wrote that "the overlooked form peels away from the slight, frail content, and the film starts to look like an episode of "Hee Haw" directed by an amphetamine-crazed Orson Welles". Roger Ebert wrote a negative review, stating the film "stretches out every moment for more than it's worth, until even the moments of inspiration seem forced. Since the basic idea of the movie is a good one and there are talented people in the cast, what we have here is a film shot down by its own forced and mannered style."


title: Raising Arizona

text: Later writings about the film have been generally positive. Both the British film magazine "Empire" and film database Allmovie gave the film five stars, their highest ratings. Allmovie's Lucia Bozzola wrote, "Complete with carefully modulated over-the-top performances from the entire cast, "Raising Arizona" confirmed the Coens' place among the most distinctive filmmakers to emerge from the 1980s independent cinema", while Caroline Westbrook of "Empire" declared it a "hilarious, madcap comedy from the Coen brothers that demonstrates just why they are the kings of quirk". Bilge Ebiri considers "Raising Arizona" to be "the Coens' masterpiece — their funniest movie, and quite possibly their most poignant as well". The Dutch magazine "Vrij Nederland" placed its bank robbery scene second on their list of "the 5 best bank robberies in film history", behind a bank robbery scene from the 1995 thriller "Heat". Actor Simon Pegg described the film as "a living, breathing Looney Tunes cartoon" during a BFI screening. Pegg's friend and frequent collaborator Edgar Wright has stated that "Raising Arizona" is his favorite film of all time. Likewise, Spike Lee put "Raising Arizona" on his "Essential Films" list.


title: Raising Arizona

text: The score to "Raising Arizona" is written by Carter Burwell, the second of his collaborations with the Coen brothers. The sounds are a mix of organ, massed choir, banjo, whistling, and yodeling.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Themes are borrowed from the "Goofing Off Suite", originally recorded by Pete Seeger in 1955, which includes an excerpt from the Chorale movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and "Russian Folk Themes and Yodel". Credited musicians for the film include Ben Freed (banjo), Mieczyslaw Litwinski (Jew's harp and guitar), and John R. Crowder (yodeling). Holly Hunter sings a traditional murder ballad, "Down in the Willow Garden", as an incongruous "lullaby" during the film.


title: Raising Arizona

text: Selections from Burwell's score to "Raising Arizona" were released on an album in 1987, along with selections from the Coens' sole previous feature film, "Blood Simple". The tracks from "Raising Arizona" constitute the first ten tracks on a 17-track CD that also features selections from the "Blood Simple" soundtrack.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs). The OBCs were found to comprise 52% of the country's population by the Mandal Commission report of 1980, and were determined to be 41% in 2006 when the National Sample Survey Organisation took place. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India; it is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is higher than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey.


title: Other Backward Class

text: In the Indian Constitution, OBCs are described as socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC), and the Government of India is enjoined to ensure their social and educational development — for example, the OBCs are entitled to 27% reservations in public sector employment and higher education. The list of OBCs maintained by the Indian Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is dynamic, with castes and communities being added or removed depending on social, educational and economic factors. In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed that as in January 2016, the percentage of OBCs in central government services is 21.57% and has shown an increasing trend since September, 1993. Likewise, in 2015, at educational institutions, funds meant for OBC students under the reservation policy were not used properly or were underused in cases of upgrading infrastructure as well as in violation of faculty recruitment of OBCs according to the 49% reservation policy.


title: Other Backward Class

text: Until 1985, the affairs of the Backward Classes were looked after by the Backward Classes Cell in the Ministry of Home Affairs. A separate Ministry of Welfare was established in 1985 (renamed in 1998 to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) to attend to matters relating to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs. The Backward Classes Division of the Ministry looks after the policy, planning and implementation of programmes relating to social and economic empowerment of OBCs, and matters relating to two institutions set up for the welfare of OBCs, the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation and the National Commission for Backward Classes.


title: Other Backward Class

text: Under Article 340 of the Indian Constitution, it is obligatory for the government to promote the welfare of the OBCs.


title: Other Backward Class

text: A 1992 decision of the Supreme Court of India resulted in a requirement that 27% of civil service positions be reserved for members of OBCs. In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed that as in January 2016, the percentage of OBCs in central government jobs is 21.57%. This difference between proportion of different communities in higher educational institutions is mainly because of difference in primary school enrollment. Political parties in India have attempted to use these communities as votebanks.


title: Other Backward Class

text: Below is the distribution of population of each religion by caste categories, obtained from merged sample of Schedule 1 and Schedule 10 of available data from the National Sample Survey Organisation 55th (1999–2000) and National Sample Survey Organisation 61st Rounds (2004–05) Round Survey.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The First Backward Classes Commission was established by a presidential order on 29 January 1953 under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar, and submitted its report on 30 March 1955. It had prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes or communities for the entire country, of which 837 had been classified as the "most backward". Some of the most notable recommendations of the Kalelkar commission were:


title: Other Backward Class

text: The commission in its final report recommended "caste as the criteria" to determine backwardness. However, the report was not accepted by the government, which feared that the backward classes excluded from the caste and communities selected by the commission might not be considered, and those in most need would be swamped by the multitudes, thus receiving insufficient attention.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The decision to set up a second backward classes commission was made official by the president on 1 January 1979. The commission popularly known as the Mandal Commission, its chairman being B. P. Mandal, submitted a report in December 1980 that stated that the population of OBCs, which includes both Hindus and non-Hindus, was around 52 per cent of the total population according to the Mandal Commission. The number of backward castes and communities was 3,743 in the initial list of Mandal Commission set up in 1979–80. The number of backward castes in Central list of OBCs has now increased to 5,013 (without the figures for most of the Union Territories) in 2006 as per National Commission for Backward Classes. Mandal Commission developed 11 indicators or criteria to identify OBCs, of which four were economic.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The National Sample Survey puts the figure at 41%. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India, with census data compromised by partisan politics. It is generally estimated to be sizable, but lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or and National Sample Survey.


title: Other Backward Class

text: 27 percent of reservation was recommended owing to the legal constraint that the total quantum of reservation should not exceed 50 percent. States which have already introduced reservation for OBC exceeding 27 per cent will not be affected by this recommendation. With this general recommendation the commission proposed the following overall scheme of reservation for OBC:


title: Other Backward Class

text: These recommendations in total are applicable to all recruitment to public sector undertakings, both under the central and state governments as well as to nationalised banks. All private sector undertakings which have received financial assistance from the government in one form or other should also be obliged to recruit personnel on the aforesaid basis. All universities and affiliated colleges should also be covered by the above scheme of reservation. Although education is considered an important factor to bring a desired social change, "educational reform" was not within the terms of reference of this commission. To promote literacy the following measures were suggested:


title: Other Backward Class

text: In October 2017, President of India Ram Nath Kovind notified a five-member Commission headed by Delhi High Court's former Chief Justice G. Rohini under Article 340 of Indian Constitution, to explore the idea of OBC sub-categorisation. The National Commission for Backward Classes had recommended it in 2011 and a standing committee too had repeated this. The committee has a three-point mandate:


title: Other Backward Class

text: The committee will have to deliver the report in 12 weeks of its constitution. The lower OBCs form around 35% of the population in Uttar Pradesh. OBC sub-categorisation have already been implemented at State level by 11 states : West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, Jammu and kashmir region and Haryana, and the union territory of Puducherry. The term of the commission has been extended to 31 May 2019. Its report stated that prime beneficiaries of 97% OBC reservation includes Yadav, Kurmi, Jat (Jats of Rajasthan except those of Bharatpur and Dholpur district are in Central OBC list), Saini, Thevar, Ezhava and Vokkaliga castes.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The term creamy layer was first coined by Justice Krishna Iyer in 1975 in State of Kerala vs NM Thomas case, wherein he observed that "the danger of 'reservation', it seems to me, is three-fold. Its benefits, by and large, are snatched away by the top creamy layer of the 'backward' caste or class, thus keeping the weakest among the weak always weak and leaving the fortunate layers to consume the whole cake". 1992 Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India judgment laid down the limits of the state's powers: it upheld the ceiling of 50 per cent quotas, emphasized the concept of "social backwardness", and prescribed 11 indicators to ascertain backwardness. The nine-Judge Bench judgement also established the concept of qualitative exclusion, such as "creamy layer". The creamy layer is only applicable in the case of Other Backward Castes and not applicable on other group like SC or ST. The creamy layer criteria were introduced at Rs 100,000 in 1993, and revised to Rs 250,000 in 2004, Rs 450,000 in 2008 and Rs 600,000 in 2013. In October 2015, National Commission for Backward Classes proposed that a person belonging to OBC with an annual family income of up to Rs 1.5 million should be considered as minimum ceiling for OBC. NCBC also recommended sub-division of OBCs into 'backward', 'more backward' and 'extremely backward' blocs and divide 27% quota amongst them in proportion to their population, to ensure that stronger OBCs don't corner the quota benefits. In August 2017, NDA government announced the creamy layer ceiling in the OBC category from getting reservation in jobs, has been raised from Rs 6 lakh a year to Rs 8 lakh.


title: Other Backward Class

text: On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions like IITs and IIMs. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness".


title: Other Backward Class

text: On 10 April 2008 the Supreme Court of India upheld the government's initiative of 27% OBC quotas in government-funded institutions. The Court has categorically reiterated its prior stand that those considered part of the "Creamy layer" should be excluded by government-funded institutions and by private institutions from the scope of the reservation policy. The verdict produced mixed reactions from supporting and opposing quarters.


title: Other Backward Class

text: Several criteria to identify the portion of the population comprising the "creamy layer" have been recommended, including the following:


title: Other Backward Class

text: In March 2015, Supreme Court of India scrapped Jat Reservations saying that Jats are not socially and economically backward in reference with National Commission for Backward Classes' (NCBC) opinion. Supreme Court judgement quashed the proposed inclusion of Jats in Central list of OBCs on the basis that Jats are already given OBC status in 9 States. On 21 July 2015, Supreme Court rejected Centre's review plea for its verdict of quashing Jat reservation in OBCs.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The Karnataka State Government has issued notification granting OBC reservation benefits to Brahmin Christian, Kuruba Christian, Madiga Christian, Akkasali Christian, Sudri Christian, Scheduled Caste converted to Christianity, Setty Balija Christian, Nekara Christian, Paravar Christian and Lambani Christian.


title: Other Backward Class

text: The Kerala government grants OBC reservation benefits to Latin Catholics of Kerala, Anglo Indians and Nadar Christians included in South India United Church (SIUC).


title: Other Backward Class

text: Lists of OBCs are maintained by both the National Commission for Backward Classes and the individual states. The central list does not always reflect the state lists, which can differ significantly. A community identified as a nationally recognized OBC in the NCBC central list may be so recognized only in specific states or only in limited areas within specific states. Occasionally, it is not an entire community that is thus classified but rather some parts within it.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, between May 1919 and October 1922.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Greek campaign was launched primarily because the western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, recently defeated in World War I. Greek claims stemmed from the fact that Anatolia had been part of Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire before the Turks conquered the area in the 12th-15th centuries. The armed conflict started when the Greek forces landed in Smyrna (now İzmir), on 15 May 1919. They advanced inland and took control of the western and northwestern part of Anatolia, including the cities of Manisa, Balıkesir, Aydın, Kütahya, Bursa, and Eskişehir. Their advance was checked by Turkish forces at the Battle of the Sakarya in 1921. The Greek front collapsed with the Turkish counter-attack in August 1922, and the war effectively ended with the recapture of Smyrna by Turkish forces and the great fire of Smyrna.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: As a result, the Greek government accepted the demands of the Turkish National Movement and returned to its pre-war borders, thus leaving Eastern Thrace and Western Anatolia to Turkey. The Allies abandoned the Treaty of Sèvres to negotiate a new treaty at Lausanne with the Turkish National Movement. The Treaty of Lausanne recognized the independence of the Republic of Turkey and its sovereignty over Anatolia, Istanbul, and Eastern Thrace. The Greek and Turkish governments agreed to engage in a population exchange.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The geopolitical context of this conflict is linked to the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire which was a direct consequence of World War I and involvement of the Ottomans in the Middle Eastern theatre. The Greeks received an order to land in Smyrna by the Triple Entente as part of the partition. During this war, the Ottoman government collapsed completely and the Ottoman Empire was divided amongst the victorious Entente powers with the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: There were a number of secret agreements regarding the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. The Triple Entente had made contradictory promises about post-war arrangements concerning Greek hopes in Asia Minor.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire if Greece entered the war on the Allied side. These included Eastern Thrace, the islands of Imbros (İmroz, since 29 July 1979 Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada), and parts of western Anatolia around the city of Smyrna, which contained sizable ethnic Greek populations.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Italian and Anglo-French repudiation of the Agreement of St.-Jean-de-Maurienne signed on 26 April 1917, which settled the "Middle Eastern interest" of Italy, was overridden with the Greek occupation, as Smyrna (İzmir) was part of the territory promised to Italy. Before the occupation the Italian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, angry about the possibility of the Greek occupation of Western Anatolia, left the conference and did not return to Paris until 5 May. The absence of the Italian delegation from the Conference ended up facilitating Lloyd George's efforts to persuade France and the United States to support Greece and prevent Italian operations in Western Anatolia.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: According to some historians, it was the Greek occupation of Smyrna that created the Turkish National movement. Arnold J. Toynbee argues: "The war between Turkey and Greece which burst out at this time was a defensive war for safeguarding of the Turkish homelands in Anatolia. It was a result of the Allied policy of imperialism operating in a foreign state, the military resources and powers of which were seriously under-estimated; it was provoked by the unwarranted invasion of a Greek army of occupation." According to others, the landing of the Greek troops in Smyrna was part of Eleftherios Venizelos's plan, inspired by the Megali Idea, to liberate the large Greek populations in the Asia Minor. Prior to the Great Fire of Smyrna, Smyrna had a bigger Greek population than the Greek capital, Athens. Athens, before the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, had a population of 473,000, while the central kaza of Smyrna, according to Ottoman Census, in 1914, had a Greek population of 73.676 and the entire Aydın Vilayet including modern day İzmir, Manisa, Aydın and Denizli provinces had a Greek population of 299,096. While the sanjak of Muğla had a Greek population of 19,923


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: One of the reasons proposed by the Greek government for launching the Asia Minor expedition was that there was a sizeable Greek-speaking Orthodox Christian population inhabiting Anatolia that needed protection. Greeks had lived in Asia Minor since antiquity, and in 1912, there were 2.5 million Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Census of 1906-1907 gives a higher figure for the entire Greek Orthodox population including Orthodox Albanians, Slavic-speakers, Vlachs, Arab Orthodox Christians, of the empire amounted to 2,823,063. According to the Ottoman Census of 1914 the Greek Orthodox population of Ottoman Empire after losing its Balkan & Aegean Island provinces, including 188,047 Arab Orthodox Christians from modern day Syria, Lebanon & Israel was 1,729,738. The suggestion that the Greeks constituted the majority of the population in the lands claimed by Greece has been contested by a number of historians. Cedric James Lowe and Michael L. Dockrill also argued that Greek claims about Smyrna were at best debatable, since Greeks constituted perhaps a bare majority, more likely a large minority in the Smyrna Vilayet, "which lay in an overwhelmingly Turkish Anatolia." Precise demographics are further obscured by the Ottoman policy of dividing the population according to religion rather than descent, language, or self-identification. On the other hand, contemporaneous British and American statistics (1919) support the point that the Greek element was the most numerous in the region of Smyrna, counting 375,000, while Muslims were 325,000.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Greek Prime Minister Venizelos stated to a British newspaper that "Greece is not making war against Islam, but against the anachronistic Ottoman Government, and its corrupt, ignominious, and bloody administration, with a view to expelling it from those territories where the majority of the population consists of Greeks."


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: To an extent, the above danger may have been overstated by Venizelos as a negotiating card on the table of Sèvres, in order to gain the support of the Allied governments. For example, the Young Turks were not in power at the time of the war, which makes such a justification less straightforward. Most of the leaders of that regime had fled the country at the end of World War I and the Ottoman government in Constantinople was already under British control. Furthermore, Venizelos had already revealed his desires for annexation of territories from the Ottoman Empire in the early stages of World War I, before these massacres had taken place. In a letter sent to Greek King Constantine in January 1915, he wrote that: "I have the impression that the concessions to Greece in Asia Minor ... would be so extensive that another equally large and not less rich Greece will be added to the doubled Greece which emerged from the victorious Balkan wars."


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Through its failure, the Greek invasion may have instead exacerbated the atrocities that it was supposed to prevent. Arnold J. Toynbee blamed the policies pursued by Great Britain and Greece, and the decisions of the Paris Peace conference as factors leading to the atrocities committed by both sides during and after the war: "The Greeks of 'Pontus' and the Turks of the Greek occupied territories, were in some degree victims of Mr. Venizelos's and Mr. Lloyd George's original miscalculations at Paris."


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: One of the main motivations for initiating the war was to realize the Megali (Great) Idea, a core concept of Greek nationalism. The Megali Idea was an irredentist vision of a restoration of a Greater Greece on both sides of the Aegean that would incorporate territories with Greek populations outside the borders of the Kingdom of Greece, which was initially very small — roughly half the size of the present-day Greek Republic. From the time of Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, the Megali Idea had played a major role in Greek politics. Greek politicians, since the independence of the Greek state, had made several speeches on the issue of the "historic inevitability of the expansion of the Greek Kingdom." For instance, Greek politician Ioannis Kolettis voiced this conviction in the assembly in 1844: "There are two great centres of Hellenism. Athens is the capital of the Kingdom. Constantinople is the great capital, the City, the dream and hope of all Greeks."


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Great Idea was not merely the product of 19th century nationalism. It was, in one of its aspects, deeply rooted in many Greeks' religious consciousnesses. This aspect was the recovery of Constantinople for Christendom and the reestablishment of the Christian Byzantine Empire which had fallen in 1453. "Ever since this time the recovery of St. Sophia and the City had been handed down from generation to generation as the destiny and aspiration of the Greek Orthodox." The Megali Idea, besides Constantinople, included most traditional lands of the Greeks including Crete, Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, the coastlands of Asia Minor and Pontus on the Black Sea. Asia Minor was an essential part of the Greek world and an area of enduring Greek cultural dominance. In antiquity, from late Bronze Age up to the Roman conquest, Greek city-states had even exercised political control of most of the region, except the period ca. 550–470 BC when it was part of the Achaimenid Persian Empire. Later, during Middle Ages, the region had belonged to the Byzantine Empire until the 12th century, when the first Seljuk Turk raids reached it.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The National Schism in Greece was the deep split of Greek politics and society between two factions, the one led by Eleftherios Venizelos and the other by King Constantine, that predated World War I but escalated significantly over the decision on which side Greece should support during the war.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The United Kingdom had hoped that strategic considerations might persuade Constantine to join the cause of the Allies, but the King and his supporters insisted on strict neutrality, especially whilst the outcome of the conflict was hard to predict. In addition, family ties and emotional attachments made it difficult for Constantine to decide which side to support during World War I. The King's dilemma was further increased when the Ottomans and the Bulgarians, both having grievances and aspirations against the Greek Kingdom, joined the Central Powers.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Though Constantine did remain decidedly neutral, Prime Minister of Greece Eleftherios Venizelos had from an early point decided that Greece's interests would be best served by joining the Entente and started diplomatic efforts with the Allies to prepare the ground for concessions following an eventual victory. The disagreement and the subsequent dismissal of Venizelos by the King resulted in a deep personal rift between the two, which spilled over into their followers and the wider Greek society. Greece became divided into two radically opposed political camps, as Venizelos set up a separate state in Northern Greece, and eventually, with Allied support, forced the King to abdicate. In May 1917, after the exile of Constantine, Venizélos returned to Athens and allied with the Entente. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of "Venizelism") began to take part in military operations against the Bulgarian Army on the border.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The act of entering the war and the preceding events resulted in a deep political and social division in post–World War I Greece. The country's foremost political formations, the Venizelist Liberals and the Royalists, already involved in a long and bitter rivalry over pre-war politics, reached a state of outright hatred towards each other. Both parties viewed the other's actions during the First World War as politically illegitimate and treasonous. This enmity inevitably spread throughout Greek society, creating a deep rift that contributed decisively to the failed Asia Minor campaign and resulted in much social unrest in the inter war years.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The military aspect of the war began with the Armistice of Mudros. The military operations of the Greco-Turkish war can be roughly divided into three main phases: the first phase, spanning the period from May 1919 to October 1920, encompassed the Greek Landings in Asia Minor and their consolidation along the Aegean Coast. The second phase lasted from October 1920 to August 1921, and was characterised by Greek offensive operations. The third and final phase lasted until August 1922, when the strategic initiative was held by the Turkish Army.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: On 15 May 1919, twenty thousand Greek soldiers landed in Smyrna and took control of the city and its surroundings under cover of the Greek, French, and British navies. Legal justifications for the landings was found in Article 7 of the Armistice of Mudros, which allowed the Allies "to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the security of Allies." The Greeks had already brought their forces into Eastern Thrace (apart from Constantinople and its region).


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Christian population of Smyrna (mainly Greeks and Armenians), according to different sources, either formed a minority or a majority compared to Muslim Turkish population of the city. The Greek army also consisted of 2,500 Armenian volunteers. The majority of the Greek population residing in the city greeted the Greek troops as liberators.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: During the summer of 1920, the Greek army launched a series of successful offensives in the directions of the Büyük Menderes River (Meander) Valley, Bursa (Prusa) and Alaşehir (Philadelphia). The overall strategic objective of these operations, which were met by increasingly stiff Turkish resistance, was to provide strategic depth to the defence of Izmir (Smyrna). To that end, the Greek zone of occupation was extended over all of Western and most of North-Western Anatolia.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: In return for the contribution of the Greek army on the side of the Allies, the Allies supported the assignment of eastern Thrace and the millet of Smyrna to Greece. This treaty ended the First World War in Asia Minor and, at the same time, sealed the fate of the Ottoman Empire. Henceforth, the Ottoman Empire would no longer be a European power.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: On 10 August 1920, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Sèvres ceding to Greece Thrace, up to the Chatalja lines. More importantly, Turkey renounced to Greece all rights over Imbros and Tenedos, retaining the small territories of Constantinople, the islands of Marmara, and "a tiny strip of European territory". The Straits of Bosporus were placed under an International Commission, as they were now open to all.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Turkey was furthermore forced to transfer to Greece "the exercise of her rights of sovereignty" over Smyrna in addition to "a considerable Hinterland, merely retaining a 'flag over an outer fort'." Though Greece administered the Smyrna enclave, its sovereignty remained, nominally, with the Sultan. According to the provisions of the Treaty, Smyrna was to maintain a local parliament and, if within five years time she asked to be incorporated within the Kingdom of Greece, the provision was made that the League of Nations would hold a plebiscite to decide on such matters.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: In October 1920, the Greek army advanced further east into Anatolia, with the encouragement of Lloyd George, who intended to increase pressure on the Turkish and Ottoman governments to sign the Treaty of Sèvres. This advance began under the Liberal government of Eleftherios Venizelos, but soon after the offensive began, Venizelos fell from power and was replaced by Dimitrios Gounaris. The strategic objective of these operations was to defeat the Turkish Nationalists and force Mustafa Kemal into peace negotiations. The advancing Greeks, still holding superiority in numbers and modern equipment at this point, had hoped for an early battle in which they were confident of breaking up ill-equipped Turkish forces. Yet they met with little resistance, as the Turks managed to retreat in an orderly fashion and avoid encirclement. Churchill said: "The Greek columns trailed along the country roads passing safely through many ugly defiles, and at their approach the Turks, under strong and sagacious leadership, vanished into the recesses of Anatolia."


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: During October 1920, King Alexander, who had been installed on the Greek throne on 11 June 1917 when his father Constantine was pushed into exile by the Venizelists, was bitten by a monkey kept at the Royal Gardens and died within days from sepsis. After King Alexander died without heirs, the legislative elections scheduled to be held on 1 November 1920, suddenly became the focus of a new conflict between the supporters of Venizelos and the Royalists. The anti-Venizelist faction campaigned on the basis of accusations of internal mismanagement and authoritarian attitudes of the government, which, due to the war, had stayed in power without elections since 1915. At the same time they promoted the idea of disengagement in Asia Minor, without though presenting a clear plan as to how this would happen. On the contrary, Venizelos was identified with the continuation of a war that did not seem to go anywhere. The majority of the Greek people were both war-weary and tired of the almost dictatorial regime of the Venizelists, so opted for change. To the surprise of many, Venizelos won only 118 out of the total 369 seats. The crushing defeat obliged Venizelos and a number of his closest supporters to leave the country. To this day his rationale to call elections at that time is questioned.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The new government under Dimitrios Gounaris prepared for a plebiscite on the return of King Constantine. Noting the King's hostile stance during World War I, the Allies warned the Greek government that if he should be returned to the throne they would cut off all financial and military aid to Greece .


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: A month later a plebiscite called for the return of King Constantine. Soon after his return, the King replaced many of the World War I Venizelist officers and appointed inexperienced monarchist officers to senior positions. The leadership of the campaign was given to Anastasios Papoulas, while King Constantine himself assumed nominally the overall command. The High Commissioner in Smyrna, Aristeidis Stergiadis, however was not removed. In addition, many of the remaining Venizelist officers resigned, appalled by the regime change.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: A group of officers, headed by Georgios Kondylis, formed in Constantinople a "National Defence" organization, which reinforced with Venizelist deserters, soon started to criticize the royalist government of Athens.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Greek Army which had secured Smyrna and the Asia Minor coast was purged of most of Venizelos's supporters, while it marched on Ankara. However, tension inside the Army between the two factions remained.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: By December 1920, the Greeks had advanced on two fronts, approaching Eskişehir from the North West and from Smyrna, and had consolidated their occupation zone. In early 1921 they resumed their advance with small scale reconnaissance incursions that met stiff resistance from entrenched Turkish Nationalists, who were increasingly better prepared and equipped as a regular army.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Greek advance was halted for the first time at the First Battle of İnönü on 11 January 1921. Even though this was a minor confrontation involving only one Greek division, it held political significance for the fledgling Turkish revolutionaries. This development led to Allied proposals to amend the Treaty of Sèvres at a conference in London where both the Turkish Revolutionary and Ottoman governments were represented.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Although some agreements were reached with Italy, France and Britain, the decisions were not agreed to by the Greek government, who believed that they still retained the strategic advantage and could yet negotiate from a stronger position. The Greeks initiated another attack on 27 March, the Second Battle of İnönü, where the Turkish troops fiercely resisted and finally halted the Greeks on 30 March. The British favoured a Greek territorial expansion but refused to offer any military assistance in order to avoid provoking the French. The Turkish forces received arms assistance from Soviet Russia.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: By this time all other fronts had been settled in favour of the Turks, freeing more resources for the main threat of the Greek Army. France and Italy concluded private agreements with the Turkish revolutionaries in recognition of their mounting strength. They viewed Greece as a British client, and sold military equipment to the Turks. The new Bolshevik government of Russia became friendly to the Turkish revolutionaries, as shown in the Treaty of Moscow (1921). The Bolsheviks supported Mustafa Kemal and his forces with money and ammunition. In 1920 alone, Bolshevik Russia supplied the Kemalists with 6,000 rifles, over 5 million rifle cartridges, and 17,600 shells as well as 200.6 kg (442.2 lb) of gold bullion. In the subsequent two years the amount of aid increased.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Between 27 June and 20 July 1921, a reinforced Greek army of nine divisions launched a major offensive, the greatest thus far, against the Turkish troops commanded by İsmet İnönü on the line of Afyonkarahisar-Kütahya-Eskişehir. The plan of the Greeks was to cut Anatolia in two, as the above towns were on the main rail-lines connecting the hinterland with the coast. Eventually, after breaking the stiff Turkish defences, they occupied these strategically important centres. Instead of pursuing and decisively crippling the nationalists' military capacity, the Greek Army halted. In consequence, and despite their defeat, the Turks managed to avoid encirclement and made a strategic retreat on the east of the Sakarya River, where they organised their last line of defence.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: This was the major decision that sealed the fate of the Greek campaign in Anatolia. The state and Army leadership, including King Constantine, Prime Minister Dimitrios Gounaris, and General Anastasios Papoulas, met at Kütahya where they debated the future of the campaign. The Greeks, with their faltering morale rejuvenated, failed to appraise the strategic situation that favoured the defending side; instead, pressed for a 'final solution', the leadership was polarised into the risky decision to pursue the Turks and attack their last line of defence close to Ankara. The military leadership was cautious and asked for more reinforcements and time to prepare, but did not go against the politicians. Only a few voices supported a defensive stance, including Ioannis Metaxas. Constantine by this time had little actual power and did not argue either way. After a delay of almost a month that gave time to the Turks to organise their defence, seven of the Greek divisions crossed east of the Sakarya River.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Following the retreat of the Turkish troops under İsmet İnönü in the battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir the Greek Army advanced afresh to the Sakarya River (Sangarios in Greek), less than west of Ankara. Constantine's battle cry was "to Angira" and the British officers were invited, in anticipation, to a victory dinner in the city of Kemal. It was envisaged that the Turkish Revolutionaries, who had consistently avoided encirclement would be drawn into battle in defence of their capital and destroyed in a battle of attrition.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Despite the Soviet help, supplies were short as the Turkish army prepared to meet the Greeks. Owners of private rifles, guns and ammunition had to surrender them to the army and every household was required to provide a pair of underclothing and sandals. Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament, not happy with the performance of İsmet İnönü as the Commander of the Western Front, wanted Mustafa Kemal and Chief of General Staff Fevzi Çakmak to take control.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Greek forces marched for a week through the desert to reach attack positions, so the Turks could see them coming. Food supplies were 40 tons of bread and salt, sugar and tea, the rest to be found on the way.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The advance of the Greek Army faced fierce resistance which culminated in the 21-day Battle of Sakarya (23 August – 13 September 1921). The Turkish defense positions were centred on series of heights, and the Greeks had to storm and occupy them. The Turks held certain hilltops and lost others, while some were lost and recaptured several times over. Yet the Turks had to conserve men, for the Greeks held the numerical advantage. The crucial moment came when the Greek army tried to take Haymana, south of Ankara, but the Turks held out. Greek advances into Anatolia had lengthened their lines of supply and communication and they were running out of ammunition. The ferocity of the battle exhausted both sides but the Greeks were the first to withdraw to their previous lines. The thunder of cannon was plainly heard in Ankara throughout the battle.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: That was the furthest in Anatolia the Greeks would advance, and within a few weeks they withdrew in an orderly manner back to the lines that they had held in June. The Turkish Parliament awarded both Mustafa Kemal and Fevzi Çakmak with the title of Field Marshal for their service in this battle. To this day no other person has received this five-star general title from the Turkish Republic.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Having failed to reach a military solution, Greece appealed to the Allies for help, but early in 1922 Britain, France and Italy decided that the Treaty of Sèvres could not be enforced and had to be revised. In accordance with this decision, under successive treaties, the Italian and French troops evacuated their positions, leaving the Greeks exposed.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: In March 1922, the Allies proposed an armistice. Feeling that he now held the strategic advantage, Mustafa Kemal declined any settlement while the Greeks remained in Anatolia and intensified his efforts to re-organise the Turkish military for the final offensive against the Greeks. At the same time, the Greeks strengthened their defensive positions, but were increasingly demoralised by the inactivity of remaining on the defensive and the prolongation of the war. The Greek government was desperate to get some military support from the British or at least secure a loan, so it developed an ill-thought plan to force the British diplomatically, by threatening their positions in Constantinople, but this never materialised. The occupation of Constantinople would have been an easy task at this time because the Allied troops garrisoned there were much fewer than the Greek forces in Thrace (two divisions). The result though was instead to weaken the Greek defences in Smyrna by withdrawing troops. The Turkish forces, on the other hand, were recipients of significant assistance from Soviet Russia. On 29 April, the Soviet authorities supplied the Turkish consul critical quantities of arms and ammunition, sufficient for three Turkish divisions. On 3 May, the Soviet government handed over 33,500,000 gold rubles to Turkey—the balance of the credit of 10,000,000 gold rubles.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Voices in Greece increasingly called for withdrawal, and demoralizing propaganda spread among the troops. Some of the removed Venizelist officers organised a movement of "National Defense" and planned a coup to secede from Athens, but never gained Venizelos's endorsement and all their actions remained fruitless.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The Turks finally launched a counter-attack on 26 August, what has come to be known to the Turks as the "Great Offensive" ("Büyük Taarruz"). The major Greek defense positions were overrun on 26 August, and Afyon fell next day. On 30 August, the Greek army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Dumlupınar, with many of its soldiers captured or slain and a large part of its equipment lost. This date is celebrated as Victory Day, a national holiday in Turkey and salvage day of Kütahya. During the battle, the Greek generals Nikolaos Trikoupis and Kimon Digenis were captured by the Turkish forces. General Trikoupis learned only after his capture that he had been recently appointed Commander-in-Chief in General Hatzianestis' place. According to the Greek Army General Staff, major generals Nikolaos Trikoupis and Kimon Digenis surrendered on 30 August 1922 by the village of Karaja Hissar due to lack of ammunitions, food and supplies On 1 September, Mustafa Kemal issued his famous order to the Turkish army: "Armies, your first goal is the Mediterranean, Forward!"


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: On 2 September, Eskişehir was captured and the Greek government asked Britain to arrange a truce that would at least preserve its rule in Smyrna. However Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had categorically refused to acknowledge even a temporary Greek occupation of Smyrna, calling it a foreign occupation, and pursued an aggressive military policy instead. Balıkesir and Bilecik were taken on 6 September, and Aydın the next day. Manisa was taken on 8 September. The government in Athens resigned. Turkish cavalry entered Smyrna on 9 September. Gemlik and Mudanya fell on 11 September, with an entire Greek division surrendering. The expulsion of the Greek Army from Anatolia was completed on 18 September. As historian George Lenczowski has put it: "Once started, the offensive was a dazzling success. Within two weeks the Turks drove the Greek army back to the Mediterranean Sea."


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: The vanguards of Turkish cavalry entered the outskirts of Smyrna on 8 September. On the same day, the Greek headquarters had evacuated the town. The Turkish cavalry rode into the town around eleven o'clock on the Saturday morning of 9 September. On 10 September, with the possibility of social disorder, Mustafa Kemal was quick to issue a proclamation, sentencing to death any Turkish soldier who harmed non-combatants. A few days before the Turkish capture of the city, Mustafa Kemal's messengers distributed leaflets with this order written in Greek. Mustafa Kemal said that the Ankara government would not be held responsible for any occurrence of a massacre.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Atrocities were committed against Greek and Armenian populaces, and their properties were pillaged. Most of the eye-witness reports identified troops from the Turkish army having set the fire in the city. The Greek and Armenian quarters of the city were burned, the Turkish as well as Jewish quarters stood.


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: After re-capturing Smyrna, Turkish forces headed north for the Bosporus, the sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles where the Allied garrisons were reinforced by British, French and Italian troops from Constantinople. In an interview with George Ward Price published in the "Daily Mail", 15 September, Mustafa Kemal stated that: ""Our demands remain the same after our recent victory as they were before. We ask for Asia Minor, Thrace up to the river Maritsa and Constantinople... We must have our capital and I should in that case be obliged to march on Constantinople with my army, which will be an affair of only a few days. I must prefer to obtain possession by negotiation though, naturally I cannot wait indefinitely.""


title: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

text: Around this time, several Turkish officers were sent to infiltrate secretly into Constantinople to help organize Turkish population living in the city in the event of a war. For instance, Ernest Hemingway, who was at the time a war correspondent for the newspaper "Toronto Star," reported that: