title: Member of parliament

text: A member of parliament is an elected member of the "Stortinget". They are called "stortingsrepresentanter" (). Since 2009, Norway has had a unicameral parliament, which previously consisted of the "Odelstinget" and "Lagtinget"; the Odelstinget comprised three-quarters, or 127, of the total 169 members, whereas the Lagtinget comprised the remainder. The dividing of the parliament into chambers was only used when dealing with passing regular laws and in cases of prosecution by the national court ("riksrett"). In other matters, such as passing the national budget or changing the constitution (the latter requiring a majority of two-thirds), the chambers were united.


title: Member of parliament

text: The members of the unicameral parliament of Norway are chosen by popular vote for a parliamentary period of four years.


title: Member of parliament

text: From 1978 to 1984, the Philippine parliament was called the "Batasang Pambansa" (National Assembly), and its elected members were called "Mambabatas Pambansa" (National Assemblyman), often shortened to "MP".


title: Member of parliament

text: The Portuguese parliament is called the "Assembleia da República". A member of parliament is known as a "deputado", that is, a person who is appointed through democratic election to act on the people's behalf.


title: Member of parliament

text: The word parlamento -" of the same origin as Parliament in English - is used as a common name for all legislative assemblies, and hence " for the member of any of them, which can usually refer to members of:


title: Member of parliament

text: Members of the Congress of Deputies are called "diputados" (deputies), implying that they are elected to act in the name and on behalf of the people they represent. It is also usual to call members of the European Parliament "eurodiputados". Members of the Senate are called "senadores" (senators).


title: Member of parliament

text: The Parliament of South Africa consists of two houses, the National Assembly of South Africa (lower house) and the National Council of Provinces (upper house). Members of both houses are given the title "Member of Parliament".


title: Member of parliament

text: The National Assembly is made up of 400 members, who are all elected by the public in general elections using a proportional representation system with closed lists. The National Council of Provinces is composed of 90 delegates with 10 delegates for each of the nine provinces regardless of the population of the province. A provincial delegation consists of six permanent delegates and four special delegates. NCOP delegates are elected by the nine provincial legislatures on the day when they reconvene, usually the same day as the National Assembly. The delegates are sworn in the next day.


title: Member of parliament

text: A "member of Parliament" refers to a member of the Parliament of South Korea. A total of 253 MPs are elected using the first-past-the-post system from parliamentary constituencies, 30 MPs are elected by proportional compensation, and 17 MPs are elected by mixed member majoritarian.


title: Member of parliament

text: In the Second Republic of Korea or if the Constitution of South Korea is amended as a parliamentary system with bicameralism, only the members of the House of Commons of South Korea are called members of Parliament, while the members of the Senate of South Korea are called senators.


title: Member of parliament

text: The members of provincial legislatures are called members of the Legislative Assembly or MLA. In some provinces, such individuals are call councillors and members of the provincial parliament.


title: Member of parliament

text: "Members of parliament" refers to the elected members of the Riksdag. In Swedish, an MP is usually referred to as a "riksdagsledamot" ("member of the Riksdag") or a "riksdagsman" ("gentleman of the Riksdag"). The former is in more common use today, especially in official contexts, due to its status as a unisex word, while the latter was used more often historically and literally refers to a male MP exclusively.


title: Member of parliament

text: The parliament is a unicameral assembly with 349 members who are chosen every four years in general elections. To become an MP, a person must be entitled to vote (i.e. be a Swedish citizen, be at least 18 years old and be or have been resident in Sweden) and must be nominated by a political party. The MPs are elected by proportionality in constituencies across the nation. To decide which candidate will be elected the modified Sainte-Laguë method is used. This method usually but not always gives an accurate result in proportion to cast votes. In the 2014 general election the centre-right coalition government got one less MP than the overall opposition, despite more votes in total. To get a more proportional result 39 MPs are elected at compensation mandate ("Utjämningsmandat") and those MPs, therefore, do not represent their own constituency.


title: Member of parliament

text: The salaries of the MPs are decided by the Riksdag Pay Committee ("Riksdagens arvodesnämnd"), a government agency under the Riksdag. Since 1 November 2007, the basic monthly pay of an MP is SEK52,900 (ca. US$6,500). The pay of the Speaker is SEK126,000 a month (ca. US$15,000), which is the same as that of the Prime Minister. The Deputy Speakers receive an increment of 30% of the pay of a member. The chairs and deputy chairs of the parliamentary committees receive a similar increment of 20% and 15% respectively.


title: Member of parliament

text: According to a survey investigation by the sociologist Jenny Hansson, Swedish national parliamentarians have an average workweek of 66 hours, including side responsibilities. Hansson's investigation further reports that the average Swedish national parliamentarian sleeps 6.5 hours per night.


title: Member of parliament

text: In the Kingdom of Thailand, "members of parliament" (; ) refer to the members of the National Assembly of Thailand, that is, the Members of the House of Representatives and the senators. Following the military coup d'état on 19 September 2006, all members of the assembly were suspended from duty until the next election. The assembly was fully reconvened after the general elections under a slightly amended new constitution. Under the 2007 constitution there are 650 members of parliament, consisting of 500 members in the House of Representatives, of which 375 elected from constituencies and the other 125 by party-list, and 150 senators.


title: Member of parliament

text: In the Republic of Turkey, a member of parliament is an elected member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (), which has 600 members elected at a general election for a term of office of five years.


title: Member of parliament

text: A people's deputy of Ukraine ("Ukrainian": народний депутат України, narodnyi deputat Ukrayiny) is a member of parliament or legislator elected by a popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada (the unicameral parliament of Ukraine). Often people's deputies of Ukraine are referred to simply as deputies.


title: Member of parliament

text: The main statutes that define the order of elections, rights and duties of the people's deputies of Ukraine are outlined in Articles 76–81 of the Constitution of Ukraine. There are 450 people's deputies of Ukraine who are elected based on the general, equal and direct electoral right for five years. The deputies may be appointed to various parliamentary positions such as the chairperson (speaker) of parliament, a head of a committee or a parliamentary faction, etc. Upon its appointment, to the office, each people's deputy of Ukraine receives a "deputy mandate".


title: Member of parliament

text: People's deputies that run for parliament as self-nominated candidates can join factions if they wish.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainland territory was acquired in the Konkan region with the Treaty of Bassein (1802). Mahabaleswar was the summer capital.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Bombay province has its beginnings in the city of Bombay that was leased in fee tail to the East India Company, via the Royal Charter of 27 March 1668 by King Charles II of England, who had in turn acquired Bombay on 11 May 1661, through the royal dowry of Catherine Braganza by way of his marriage treaty with the Portuguese princess, daughter of John IV of Portugal. The English East India Company transferred its Western India headquarters from Surat in the Gulf of Cambay after it was sacked, to the relatively safe Bombay Harbour in 1687. The province was brought under Direct rule along with other parts of British India through Pitt's India Act, after the nationalisation of the East India Company. Major territorial acquisitions were made by the company after Anglo-Mahratta Wars when the whole of the Peshwa's dominions and much of the Gaekwad's sphere of influence were annexed to the Bombay Presidency in stages up until 1818. Aden including Socotra were placed under Bombay in 1839, Sind was annexed by the company in 1843 after defeating the Talpur dynasty in the Battle of Hyderabad.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: At its greatest extent, the Bombay Province comprised the present-day state of Gujarat, the western two-thirds of Maharashtra state, including the regions of Konkan, Desh, and Kandesh, and northwestern Karnataka state of India; it also included Pakistan's Sindh Province (1847–1935) and Aden in Yemen (1839–1932). The districts and provinces of the presidency were directly under British rule, while the internal administration of the native or princely states was in the hands of local rulers. The presidency, however, managed the defence of princely states and British relations with them through political agencies. The Bombay Presidency along with the Bengal Presidency and Madras Presidency were the three major centres of British power in South Asia.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The first English settlement in the Presidency known as Western Presidency was begun in 1618 at Surat in present-day Gujarat, when the East India Company established a factory, protected by a charter obtained from the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. In 1626 the Dutch and the English made an unsuccessful attempt to gain possession of the island of Bombay in the coastal Konkan region from Portugal, and in 1653 proposals were suggested for its purchase from the Portuguese. In 1661 Bombay was ceded to the Kingdom of England as part of the dowry of the "infanta" Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II. So lightly was the acquisition esteemed in England, and so unsuccessful was the administration of the crown officers, that in 1668 Bombay was transferred to the East India Company for an annual payment of £10, and the company established a factory there. At the time of the transfer, powers for the island's defence and for the administration of justice were also conferred on the company; a European regiment was enrolled; and fortifications were erected which in 1673 proved sufficient to deter the Dutch from an intended attack. As English trade in Bombay increased, Surat (which had been sacked by Shivaji in 1670) began its relative decline. In 1687, Bombay was made the headquarters of all the East India Company's possessions in India. However, in 1753 the governor of Bombay became subordinate to that of Calcutta.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: During the 18th century, the Maratha Empire expanded rapidly, claiming Konkan and much of eastern Gujarat from the disintegrating Mughal Empire. In western Gujarat, including Kathiawar and Kutch, the loosening of Mughal control allowed numerous local rulers to create virtually independent states. The first conflict between the British and the Marathas was the First Anglo-Maratha War which began in 1774 and resulted in the 1782 Treaty of Salbai, by which the island of Salsette, adjacent to Bombay island, was ceded to the British, while Bharuch was ceded to the Maratha ruler Scindia. The British annexed Surat in 1800. British territory was enlarged in the Second Anglo-Maratha War which ended in 1803. The East India Company received the districts of Bharuch, Kaira, etc., and the Maratha Gaekwad rulers of Baroda acknowledged British sovereignty.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: In 1803, the Bombay Presidency included only Salsette, the islands of the harbour (since 1774), Surat and Bankot (since 1756); but between this date and 1827 the framework of the presidency took shape. The Gujarat districts were taken over by the Bombay government in 1805 and enlarged in 1818. Baji Rao II, the last of the peshwas, who had attempted to shake off the British yoke, was defeated in the Battle of Khadki, captured subsequently and pensioned (1817/1818), and large portions of his dominions (Pune, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Solapur, Belgaum, Kaladgi, Dharwad, etc.) were included in the Presidency, the settlement of which was completed by Mountstuart Elphinstone, governor from 1819 to 1827. His policy was to rule as far as possible on native lines, avoiding all changes for which the population was not yet ripe; but the grosser abuses of the old regime were stopped, the country was pacified, the laws were codified, and courts and schools were established.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The period that followed is notable mainly for the enlargement of the Presidency through the lapse of certain native states, by the addition of Aden (1839) and Sindh (1843), and the lease of the Panch Mahals from Scindia (1853). In 1862, North Canara was transferred from Madras Presidency to Bombay while South Canara remained with Madras.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: In 1859, under the terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British Crown.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: Henry Bartle Frere (1862–1867) was the first Governor appointed by the Crown. The Governor's Council was reformed and expanded under the Indian Councils Act 1861, the Indian Councils Act 1892, the Indian Councils Act 1909, the Government of India Act 1919 and the Government of India Act 1935.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The establishment of an orderly administration, one outcome of which was a general fall of prices that made the unwonted regularity of the collection of taxes doubly unwelcome, naturally excited a certain amount of misgiving and resentment; but on the whole the population was prosperous and contented, and under Lord Elphinstone (1853–1860) the presidency passed through the crisis of the Revolt of 1857 without any general rising. Outbreaks among the troops at Karachi, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur were quickly put down, two regiments being disbanded, and the rebellions in Gujarat, among the Bhils, and in the southern Maratha country were local and isolated. Under Sir Bartle Frere agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe. The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the Share Mania (1864–1865), which ended in a commercial crisis and the failure of the Bank of Bombay (1866). But the peasantry gained on the whole more than they lost, and the trade of Bombay was not permanently injured. Sir Bartle Frere encouraged the completion of the great trunk lines of railways, and with the funds obtained by the demolition of the town walls (1862) he began the magnificent series of public buildings that now adorn Bombay (Mumbai).


title: Bombay Presidency

text: During this period, parts of Bombay presidency were devastated by two great famines: Great Famine of 1876–78 and the Indian famine of 1896–97.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: British India's Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, enacted in 1921, expanded the Legislative Council to include more elected Indian members, and introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities, including agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governor's Executive Council. Some of the prominent Indian members of the Executive Council were Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, R. P. Paranjpe, Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Ali Muhammad Khan Dehlavi, Rafiuddin Ahmed, Siddappa Totappa Kambli, Shah Nawaz Bhutto and Sir Cowasji Jehangir.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: In 1932, Aden was separated from Bombay and made a separate province, and Sindh became a separate province on 1 April 1936.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Government of India Act 1935 made the Bombay Presidency into a regular province, and made Sind a separate province, with relations with the princely state of Khairpur managed by Sindh. It enlarged the elected provincial legislature and expanded provincial autonomy "vis a vis" the central government. In the 1937 elections, the Indian National Congress won the elections in Bombay but declined to form the government. The Governor Sir George Lloyd invited Sir Dhanjishah Cooper, to form an interim ministry which was joined by Jamnadas Mehta of the Lokashahi Swarajya Paksha (Democratic Swarajya Party), Sir Siddappa T. Kambli of the Non-Brahmin Party and Hoosenally Rahimtoola of the Muslim League.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: In 1939, all of the Congress ministries in British Indian provinces resigned and Bombay was placed under the Governor's rule.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: After the end of World War II, the Indian National Congress re-entered politics and won the 1946 election under the leadership of Kher who was again elected as Chief Minister. The Bombay Presidency became the Bombay State when India was granted independence on 15 August 1947 and Kher continued as the Chief Minister of the state, serving until 1952.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Bombay Presidency was bounded on the north by Baluchistan, the Punjab and Rajputana; on the east by Indore, the Central Provinces and Hyderabad; on the south by Madras Presidency and the Kingdom of Mysore; and on the west by the Arabian Sea. Within these limits were the Portuguese settlements of Goa, Daman and Diu, and the native state of Baroda which has direct relations with the government of India; while politically Bombay included the territory of Aden, in present-day Yemen. The total area, including Sind but excluding Aden, was , of which were under British and 65,761 under native rule. The total population was 25,468,209 in 1901, of which 18,515,587 were resident in British territory and 6,908,648 in native states.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Bombay Presidency had a large and diverse population. The census of 1901 gave a total of 25,468,209. By religion the population was 19,916,438 Hindu, 4,567,295 Muslim, 535,950 Jain, 78,552 Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians, and approximately 200,000 Christians. A significant number of Bene Israeli and Paradesi Jews were also present, most of them emigrated in 1948 after the Partition of Palestine and the establishment of the Jewish homeland (British mandate of Palestine) in Israel.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: In Sindh, Islam had been the predominant religion after the Caliphate of Sunni Arab origins conquered it the 8th century. In Gujarat the predominant religion remained Hinduism, although the Sultanate of Guzerat has left its influence and imprints in northern parts of the province. The Deccan region is the home of Marathis, who constituted 30% of the population. The Konkan region was home to various Konkani Christian minorities and communities since the 16th century, due to the colonial era of the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay-Bassein. While in the Belgaum area of the Carnatic region, Lingayatism, a Hindu reform movement dating to the 12th century, was accepted by nearly 45% of the population. The Marathas were the predominant caste numbering 3,650,000 (1901), 1,900,000 Kunbis and other 350,000 Konkanis, and another 1,400,000 Marathas not specified.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The chief languages of the province were Sindhi in Sindh, Gujarati in northern division, Marathi in Konkan and the central division, Gujarati and Marathi in Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency, and Marathi and Canarese in the southern division. There were also Bhil (120,000) and Gipsy (30,000) dialects.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Presidency was divided into four Commisserates and twenty-four districts with Bombay city as the capital. The four divisions were Sind, the northern or Gujarat, the central or Deccan and the southern or Carnatic.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The government of Bombay was administered by a Governor-in-Council, consisting of the Governor as president and two ordinary members. The Governor was appointed by the British Crown on the advice of the Secretary of State for India. The members of his council were appointed from the Indian Civil Service. For making laws there was a legislative council, consisting of the Governor and his executive council, with certain other persons, not fewer than eight or more than twenty, at least half of them being non-officials. Each of the members of the executive council had in his charge one or two departments of the government; and each department had a secretary, an under-secretary, and an assistant secretary, with a numerous staff of clerks. The administration of justice throughout the Presidency was conducted by a High Court at Bombay, consisting of a chief justice and seven puisne judges, along with district and assistant judges throughout the districts of the Presidency.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: Each of the four divisions were administered by a senior Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer of the rank of Commissioner while the districts were each administered by a District Collector (officially styled, Deputy Commissioner). The districts were further divided into sub-divisions each under the charge of a Deputy Collector or Assistant Collector, each sub-division comprising a few taluks or tehsils each administered by a tahsildar.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The East India Company had raised armies in each of the Presidencies, Bombay, Bengal and Madras. The Bombay Army consisted of a number of infantry regiments, sapper and miner units and irregular cavalry. A number of these continue to exist today in the Indian Army; examples being the Mahar Regiment, Maratha Light Infantry and the Grenadiers, amongst others, in the case of infantry, the Bombay Sappers as engineers and the Poona Horse amongst the cavalry.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: Under Lord Kitchener's re-arrangement of the Indian army in 1904 the old Bombay command was abolished and its place was taken by the Western army corps under a lieutenant-general. The army corps was divided into three divisions under major-generals. The 4th (Quetta) Division, with headquarters at Quetta, comprised the troops in the Quetta and Sind districts. The 5th division, with headquarters at Mhow, consisted of three brigades, located at Nasirabad, Jabalpur and Jhansi, and included the previous Mhow, Deesa, Nagpur, Narmada and Bundelkhand districts, with the Bombay district north of the Tapti. The 6th division, with headquarters at Pune, consisted of three brigades, located at Bombay, Ahmednagar and Aden. It comprised the previous Poona district, Bombay district south of the Tapti, Belgaum district north of the Tungabhadra, and Dharwar and Aurangabad districts.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The overwhelming majority of the population of the Bombay Presidency was rural and engaged in agriculture. The staple crops were Sorghum ("jowar"), and Pearl millet ("bajra") in the Deccan and Khandesh. Rice was the chief product of the Konkan. Wheat, generally grown in the northern part of the Presidency, but specially in Sind and Gujarat, was exported to Europe in large quantities from Karachi, and on a smaller scale from Bombay. Barley was principally grown in the northern parts of the presidency. Finger millet ("Nachani") and kodra furnished food to the Kolis, Bhils, Waralis, and other hill tribes. Of the pulses the most important are the chickpea or Bengal gram ("Cicer arietinum"), pigeon pea or tur ("Cajanus cajan"), catjang or kulti ("Vigna unguiculata cylindrica"), and urad bean ("Vigna mungo"). Principal oilseeds were sesame or til ("Sesamum indicum"), mustard, castor bean, safflower and linseed. Of fibres the most important were cotton, Deccan hemp ("Hibiscus cannabinus"), and sunn or tag ("Crotalaria juncea"). Much was done to improve the cotton of the presidency. American varieties were introduced with much advantage in the Dharwad collectorate and other parts of the southern Maratha country. In Khandesh the indigenous plant from which one of the lowest classes of cotton in the Bombay market takes its name has been almost entirely superseded by the superior Hinganghat variety. Miscellaneous crops: sugarcane, requiring a rich soil and a perennial water-supply, and only grown in favoured localities, chile peppers, potatoes, turmeric and tobacco.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The chief industries of Bombay Presidency involved the milling of cotton. In the late 19th century steam mills sprang up in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Khandesh. In 1905 there were 432 factories in the presidency, of which by far the greater number were engaged in the preparation and manufacture of cotton. The industry is centred in Bombay, which contains nearly two-thirds of the mills. During the decade 1891–1901 the mill industry passed through a period of depression due to widespread plague and famine, but on the whole there was a marked expansion of the trade as well as a great improvement in the class of goods produced. In addition to the mills there were (1901) 178,000 hand-loom weavers in the province, who still have a position of their own in the manipulation of designs woven into the cloth. Silk goods were manufactured in Ahmedabad, Surat, Yeola, Nasik, Thana and Bombay, the material decorated with printed or woven designs; competition from European goods caused the silk industry to decline in the early 20th century. The custom of investing savings in gold and silver ornaments gave employment to many goldsmiths: the metal was usually supplied by the customer, and the goldsmith charged for his labour. Ahmedabad and Surat are famous for their carved woodwork. Many of the houses in Ahmedabad are covered with elaborate wood-carving, and excellent examples exist in Broach, Baroda, Surat, Nasik and Yeola. Salt was made in large quantities in the government works at Kharaghoda and Udu in Ahmedabad, and was exported by rail to Gujarat and central India. There was one brewery at Dapuri near Pune.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The Province was well supplied with railways, all of which, with one exception, concentrated at Bombay City. The exception is the North-Western line, which enters Sind from the Punjab and terminated at Karachi. The other chief lines are the Great Indian Peninsula, Indian Midland, Bombay, Baroda & Central India, and the Rajputana, Malwa & Southern Mahratta systems. In 1905 the total length of railway under the Bombay government open for traffic was , which did not include the railway system in Sindh.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The University of Bombay was established in 1857, and had an administration consisting of a chancellor, vice-chancellor and fellows. The governor of Bombay was ex-officio chancellor. The education department was under a director of public instruction, who was responsible for the administration of the department in accordance with the general educational policy of the state. The native states generally adopted the government system. Baroda and the Kathiawar states employed their own inspectors. In 1905 the total number of educational institutions was 10,194 with 593,431 pupils. There were ten art colleges, of which two were managed by government, three by native states, and five were under private management. It was in the year 1913 that the first college of commerce in Asia, Sydenham College, was established. Sind Medical School, medical school in Hyderabad, Sind was established in 1881 and was affiliated with the University of Bombay. According to the census of 1901, out of a population of 25.5 million nearly 24 million were illiterate.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The film production era is said to have commenced in Bombay from 1913 when the first film, "Raja Harishchandra" by Dadasaheb Phalke made in 1912, was first shown publicly on 3May 1913 at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema, effectively marking the beginning of the Indian film industry. Around one year before, Ramchandra Gopal (known as Dadasaheb Torne) had filmed a stage drama called "Pundalik" and shown it in the same theatre. However, the credit for making the first Indian feature film is attributed to Dadasaheb Phalke.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: Other producers at Bombay during the presidency era were Sohrab Modi, Himanshu Rai, V. Shantaram, Shashadhar Mukherjee, and Ardeshir Irani. Ever since production of films took place, there started the trend of film making that established and further progressed, resulting in formation of the film industry and new film production companies as well as studios.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: Outside the Presidency, numerous small states princely states such as those of Kathiawar and Mahikantha came under British suzerainty in a system of subsidiary alliances between 1807 and 1820.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The native states eventually comprised some 353 separate units, administered internally by their own princes, with the British responsible for their external affairs. Relations between British India and the states were managed by British agents placed at the principal native capitals; their exact status varied in the different states according to the relations in which the principalities stood with the paramount power.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: The principal groups of states were North Gujarat, comprising Kutch, Kathiawar Agency, Palanpur Agency, Mahi Kantha Agency, Ambliara Rewa Kantha Agency and Cambay; South Gujarat, comprising Dharampur, Bansda and Sachin; North Konkan, Nasik and Khandesh, of the Khandesh Agency, Surgana and Jawhar; South Konkan and Dharwar, comprising Janjira, Sawantwadi and Savanur, as well as the territories under the Deccan States Agency, including the Deccan Satara Jagirs, Ichalkaranji, Sangli Akkalkot, Bhor, Aundh, Phaltan, Jath and Daphalapur, the southern Maratha states, comprising Kolhapur, among other states, and Khairpur in Sindh. The native states under the "supervision" of the government of Bombay were divided, historically and geographically, into two main groups. The northern or Gujarat group includes the territories of the Gaekwad of Baroda, with the smaller states which form the administrative divisions of Kutch, Palanpur, Rewa Kantha, and Mahi Kantha. These territories, with the exception of Kutch, have a historical connection, as being the allies or tributaries of the Gaekwad until 1805, when final engagements were included between that prince and the British government. The southern or Maratha group includes Kolhapur, Akalkot, Sawantwari, and the Satara and southern Mahratta Jagirs, and has a historical bond of union in the friendship they showed to the British in their final struggle with the power of the peshwa until 1818. The remaining territories may conveniently be divided into a small cluster of independent zamindaris, situated in the wild and hilly tracts at the northern extremity of the Sahyadri range, and certain. principalities which, from their history or geographical position, are to some extent isolated from the rest of the presidency.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: Baroda State (Vadodara), one of the residencies of British India, was combined in the 1930s with the residencies of the princely states (agencies) of the northern Bombay Presidency to form the Baroda and Gujarat States Agency and subsequently expanded in Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency in 1944.


title: Bombay Presidency

text: In 1947, Bombay Province became part of the Dominion of India. When provinces were replaced with states when the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, the day India became the first republic in the Commonwealth of Nations, Bombay Province became the Bombay State, a Part-A state.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: New Year's Eve is a 2011 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall. The film consists of an ensemble cast consisting of Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Héctor Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sarah Paulson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Til Schweiger, Jake T. Austin, Hilary Swank, and Sofía Vergara.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: "New Year's Eve" is the second in an unofficial trilogy of romantic comedy films directed by Garry Marshall, set on a one-day holiday and featuring an ensemble cast in a variety of stories, the other films being "Valentine's Day" (2010) and "Mother's Day" (2016). Some of the cast of "New Year's Eve" had previously appeared in "Valentine's Day", including Biel, Kutcher, and Elizondo. "New Year's Eve" was released on December 9, 2011, and grossed $142 million.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: "New Year's Eve" follows several interconnected stories of people experiencing various problems on New Year's Eve.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Vice-President of the Times Square Alliance Claire Morgan is making the final arrangements for the ball drop with the help of her friend, police officer Brendan. Meanwhile, after being nearly run over by a car and denied a vacation, Ahern Records secretary Ingrid Withers quits her job and offers deliveryman Paul Doyle tickets for the Ahern Records Masquerade Ball if he helps her complete her New Year's resolutions before midnight, and he accepts.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Paul's older sister Kim Doyle is having trouble with her teenage daughter Hailey, who wants to spend New Year's Eve with her friends and her boyfriend Seth Anderson in Times Square, though Kim wants to spend the New Year with her after her divorce. Paul's best friend, comic book illustrator Randy, hates New Year's Eve as his girlfriend left him on a date, gets stuck in an elevator with Elise, an aspiring singer providing back-up for musician Daniel Jensen at his Times Square show. Jensen is also preparing to perform at the Ahern Records ball while attempting to rekindle his relationship with his ex-fiancée, Laura.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: At a nearby hospital, Claire's father Stan Harris, in the final stages of cancer who refuses chemotherapy and wishes only to see the ball drop one last time, is kept company by Nurses Aimee and Mindy after his doctor reveals he will not last much longer. In the same hospital, a young couple (Griffin and Tess Byrne) are about to have their first child, and compete with another couple, James and Grace Schwab, for a bonus offered to the family of the first child born in the New Year.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Elsewhere, Sam Ahern, Jr., a businessman and son of the late founder Sam Ahern, Sr. of Ahern Records, attempts to go to the Ahern Records Ball to deliver an important speech. After his car malfunctions in nearby Connecticut, all the while wondering if he should reunite with a mysterious woman he met and fell in love with on the previous New Year's Eve. Failing to find a mechanic or tow truck, Sam is able to get a ride from a cheerful family in an RV.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Later that evening, one of the LED panels on the Times Square Ball malfunctions, jamming the ball and forcing Claire to call “Kominsky”, a disgruntled electrician whom the company had fired a few weeks prior. He repairs the ball before midnight, and, in gratitude, she leaves him in charge of the operation as she rushes to see the ball drop with her father, Stan. Meanwhile, Nurse Aimee has a video conference with her husband Chino, a soldier deployed in Afghanistan. Stan passes away just minutes after Claire snuck him up to the roof of the hospital to watch the ball drop, amid a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne", with Claire weeping beside him, holding his hand.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Paul helps Ingrid complete all the items on her list, and she gives him the tickets. They later say goodbye, but Paul decides to take her to the Ahern Records ball as his date. Meanwhile, Randy and Elise bond in the elevator as they share their lives and problems. Just as they are about to kiss, the elevator is repaired by the building superintendent and Elise rushes to Jensen's show. Randy notices she forgot her rubber bracelet and rushes to give it to her, still in pajamas. At Times Square, Jensen leaves midway through his show to return to the Ahern Ball to apologize to Laura, who takes him back and leaves with Sam's approval. With Jensen gone, Elise replaces him and attracts the attention of the crowd. She kisses Randy, and they start a romantic relationship.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Griffin and Tess have their baby and, although it is born first, they lie to allow James and Grace to have the $25,000 bonus after discovering they already have two other children to provide for. Meanwhile, after being forbidden from attending the celebration, Hailey runs away to Times Square, where she sees Seth being kissed by another girl, Lily, unaware that it was a kiss against his will. Heartbroken, she meets and is comforted by her mother. Kim finally realizes that she was too selfish for not allowing Hailey to spend the New Year with them. Seth finds them and apologizes, revealing Lily had stolen the kiss. Hailey forgives him and kisses him back. Her mother allows her to go to an after-party.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Kim then rushes to a restaurant to reunite with Sam, who had succeeded in delivering his speech. She is revealed to be the mysterious woman whom he met one year prior, and they finally share their names with each other. The film ends with Paul and Ingrid having fun at the Ahern Records ball party. As the credits roll, a series of bloopers and blunders are shared with the audience.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 7% based on 142 reviews and an average rating of 3.20/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Shallow, sappy, and dull, "New Year's Eve" assembles a star-studded cast for no discernible purpose." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 22 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said, ""New Year's Eve" is a dreary plod through the sands of time until finally the last grain has trickled through the hourglass of cinematic sludge. How is it possible to assemble more than two dozen stars in a movie and find nothing interesting for any of them to do?" Kimberley Jones of the "Austin Chronicle" said, "Mostly, "New Year's Eve" is appalling stuff, a poorly constructed, sentimental sham. Auld Lang Syne." Claudia Winkleman on the BBC One show "Film..." said, "I have found the worst film of all time, and it is called "New Year's Eve"." "Rolling Stone" shared the same opinion and rated it zero stars, stating, "Director Garry Marshall follows last year's "Valentine's Day" romcom crapfest with an even more puke-up-able sample of the species," and concluding, "New Year's Eve" is "bad beyond belief." British newspaper "The Telegraph" named "New Year's Eve" one of the ten worst films of 2011. British film critic Mark Kermode named it as the worst film of 2011. On the more positive side, "Entertainment Weekly"s Owen Gleiberman said, ""New Year's Eve" is dunderheaded kitsch, but it's the kind of marzipan movie that can sweetly soak up a holiday evening."


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: The film opened at the No. 1 spot at the box office with $13 million. It made $54.5 million in the United States and Canada, as well as $87.5 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $142 million.


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: The film earned five Razzie Award nominations: Worst Picture, Worst Director (Garry Marshall), Worst Actress (Sarah Jessica Parker), Worst Screenplay and Worst Screen Ensemble, losing all to Adam Sandler's "Jack and Jill".


title: New Year's Eve (2011 film)

text: "New Year's Eve", and its predecessor "Valentine's Day", were parodied in December 2011 on the sketch comedy series "Saturday Night Live" in a trailer for the fictional film "The Apocalypse", set on the last day on Earth. They were similarly parodied on the TV show "30 Rock", in the January 2012 episode "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell", in a trailer for a film called "Martin Luther King Day", whose large cast includes Jenna Maroney.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, where he held the WWWF Championship/WWF Championship on two occasions. His first reign was the second longest in history as recognised by the WWE. (Backlund lost the title to Antonio Inoki in Japan in 1979 but regained the belt within a week, and the WWF never acknowledged the title change in the USA) Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund began his career in amateur wrestling, competing for the North Dakota State University Bison from the late 1960s to early 1970s. He began training as a professional wrestler in 1973 under Eddie Sharkey and competed for the American Wrestling Association. He then wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship in 1976. Later that year he joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation, defeating Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1978. He held the championship until 1983, where he lost it in a match against the Iron Sheik. Shortly after losing the title, Backlund left the WWF, but returned in 1992 and was in the 1993 Royal Rumble match for over an hour, a record held until the 2004 Royal Rumble. At the 1994 Survivor Series, Backlund won his second WWF Championship, defeating Bret Hart. He held the championship for three days, before losing it to Diesel at a house show in Madison Square Garden.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In addition to his time with the WWWF/WWF, Backlund has had success in Wrestling and Romance, Championship Wrestling from Florida, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund was born in Princeton, Minnesota, in 1949. He is a graduate of Princeton High School, where he was a state finalist in wrestling. During his freshman year while at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, Backlund was an All-American in both football and wrestling (, finishing third). During his sophomore campaign, Backlund focused on wrestling and once again earned All-American honors ( and national runner-up). Backlund was an amateur wrestler at North Dakota State University, winning the Division II NCAA Championship at 190 pounds in 1971. In 1972 Backlund moved up to the heavyweight class and finished fifth at the NCAA DII Nationals. He graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in physical education.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund was trained for professional wrestling by renowned trainer Eddie Sharkey and made his debut for the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1973. Backlund's clean-cut look and technical approach made him a natural face, and he quickly got over with the fans. After leaving the AWA, Backlund traveled the United States, working for the National Wrestling Alliance in its various territories. In 1974, Backlund wrestled in Texas, for Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk's Amarillo, Texas-based Western States Sports promotion. In March, he defeated Terry Funk for the NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (the promotion's top title). Backlund held it for two months, before losing it to Karl Von Steiger in May.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In mid-1975, Backlund started working for Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW). He teamed with Jerry Brisco to win the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship from Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji in October 1975. They held the championship belts for two months before losing to Les Thornton and Tony Charles. In 1976, Backlund left Georgia for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF, NWA Florida). Here he teamed with Steve Keirn to defeat Bob Orton, Jr. and Bob Roop for the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. Backlund and Keirn lost the title to The Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown) in October 1976. While working for NWA Florida, Backlund also wrestled in St. Louis, Missouri, for Sam Muchnick's St. Louis Wrestling Club. He defeated Harley Race to win the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship on April 23, 1976, and he lost the title to Jack Brisco on November 26.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In late 1976, Backlund joined Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation. He was managed by "The Golden Boy" Arnold Skaaland. Less than four months into his WWWF run, Backlund received his first shot at the WWWF Heavyweight Championship against Superstar Billy Graham, but he lost by countout. Through 1977, Backlund received additional title shots at the champion, and his fortunes started to change; the two went to a double countout in one match, then Backlund defeated Graham, but by countout (the title can only change hands via pinfall or submission). On February 20, 1978, at Madison Square Garden, Backlund finally scored a pinfall victory over Graham and won the title, despite Graham's leg being on the rope during the pinfall.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund's early challengers for the title included Spiros Arion, Mr. Fuji, Ivan Koloff, George "the Animal" Steele, and Ken Patera, and had his first high-profile title match in Japan, defending against Antonio Inoki. He also won a series of rematches against Graham, including an April 1978 steel cage match at Madison Square Garden.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Three days after winning the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, Backlund clashed with the NWA World Heavyweight champion Harley Race in a rare "WWWF vs. NWA" title match. Both titles were on the line, but neither changed hands as the two fought to a 60-minute time limit draw. Defending against other champions became a recurring theme in Backlund's run with the title. He faced the AWA World Heavyweight champion (Nick Bockwinkel) and two NWA World Heavyweight champions (Harley Race four times and Ric Flair once) He defeated the NWA Florida Heavyweight champion Don Muraco. In 1982, he battled "international champion" Billy Robinson to a 63-minute curfew draw in Montreal.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Early in his run, Backlund and Peter Maivia formed a successful tag team and challenged for the WWWF World Tag Team Championship, held by the Yukon Lumberjacks. During a television taping in October 1978, Maivia turned on and attacked him and Skaaland. In the immediate aftermath, fans for the first time got to see another side of Backlund's personality: that of a raving, ranting maniac when angered or pushed hard enough; in the post-match interview, Backlund screamed to interviewer Vince McMahon that he was going to "kill that son of a bitch!" Backlund eventually won a series of matches against Maivia, including a steel cage match in January 1979 at Madison Square Garden, although he was not able to fulfill his threat to end the life of Maivia.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In 1979, the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). On November 30, 1979, NWF Heavyweight champion Antonio Inoki defeated Backlund in Tokushima, Japan to win the WWF title. Backlund then won a rematch on December 6. However, WWF president Hisashi Shinma declared the re-match a no contest due to interference from Tiger Jeet Singh, and Inoki remained champion. Inoki refused the title on the same day, and it was declared vacant. Backlund later defeated Bobby Duncum in a Texas death match to regain the title on December 17. Inoki's reign is not recognized by WWE in its WWF/WWE title history.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On August 9, 1980, Backlund teamed with Pedro Morales to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship from the Wild Samoans at Showdown at Shea. Backlund and Morales were forced to vacate the title due to a then-extant WWF rule stating that no one can hold two championships at the same time. Backlund had more tag team success when he (along with Antonio Inoki) won the "1980 MSG Tag Team League Tournament", last defeating Hulk Hogan and Stan Hansen on December 10 in Osaka, Japan. Backlund and Inoki finished the tournament with seven wins and two double-countout decisions.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Also during 1980, Backlund and Hogan met in a series of highly publicized matches; although he scored several countout victories over Hogan, Backlund never was able to score a decisive victory over his charismatic young challenger, and Hogan – showing flashes of his future superstardom – proved to be one of Backlund's toughest opponents. Backlund was also able to overcome a challenge from Ken Patera, with whom he feuded on-and-off from 1978 until early 1981, including during Patera's reign as WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight champion.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund's WWF Heavyweight Championship was held up after a match in New York City against Greg "the Hammer" Valentine on October 19, 1981, after a dazed referee "accidentally" gave the championship belt to Valentine as part of the storyline, it constituted an interruption of Backlund's title reign. However, Backlund was billed as the WWF Heavyweight champion in other cities in the days following the controversy. In the early part of the 1980s, when no promotion held nationally televised events, it was not uncommon practice to "hold up" the title in one area (to build interest in a rematch the "former" champion would win) while ignoring the situation in other parts of the territory. On November 23, Backlund pinned Valentine for the "vacant in New York only" WWF Heavyweight Championship. A rematch for the title, held inside a steel cage at the Philadelphia Spectrum in January 1982, also saw Backlund emerge the winner, securing the victory when he hit a piledriver on Valentine onto the mat. Even with the title being held up against Inoki and Valentine, Backlund is recognized by WWE as having one continuous title reign from 1978 to 1983 as WWE champion.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund continued to be successful into 1982 and 1983, successfully defending against a variety of contenders, ranging from Adrian Adonis, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Big John Studd, Ivan Koloff, Magnificent Muraco and Sgt. Slaughter. One of his most memorable encounters came in mid-1982, when he won a steel cage match against "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka; in that match, at Madison Square Garden, Snuka scaled the top of the cage, intending to perform his "Superfly" splash onto a prone Backlund to incapacitate him, but Backlund moved after Snuka began to fly through the air and went on to escape the cage. He also turned back a challenge from Superstar Billy Graham, who returned to the WWF in late 1982 wanting to reclaim the championship.


title: Bob Backlund

text: After having been popular with the fans from early on, in the final months of his title reign, Backlund changed his image, cutting his mop hair into a crew cut, wearing amateur wrestling singlets and losing muscle mass and definition. Fans seemingly grew weary of this "Howdy Doody" character (as the Grand Wizard had dubbed him). In 1983, he was voted the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter"'s "Most Overrated Wrestler". Vince McMahon, who had bought the WWF from his father, wanted to put the title on the more charismatic and muscular Hulk Hogan. McMahon initially suggested Backlund to turn heel and lose to Hogan, but when Backlund refused, a transitional champion became necessary between Backlund and Hogan. Backlund sustained a (kayfabe) arm injury when the Iron Sheik assaulted him with his Persian clubs and on December 26, 1983, Backlund lost the title to the Sheik when Backlund's manager, Arnold Skaaland, threw in the towel while Backlund was locked in the camel clutch.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Due to Backlund's injury, Hogan took over Backlund's rematch and became the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion. The injury was a television story only; Backlund wrestled the Iron Sheik at least three times for the title at house shows (including once at the Boston Garden, winning by disqualification), and also wrestled the Magnificent Muraco for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, also at a non-televised house show.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund continued to work for the WWF for a while after the title change, but did not receive another title shot for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship after Hogan's victory. On August 4, 1984, Backlund defeated Salvatore Bellomo in his last WWF match for eight years.


title: Bob Backlund

text: After leaving the WWF, Backlund had a run in the short-lived Pro Wrestling USA, a joint promotion of the NWA and the AWA, meant to combat the national expansion of the WWF. In Pro Wrestling USA, Backlund unsuccessfully challenged AWA World Heavyweight champion Rick Martel. He soon dropped out of the pro wrestling scene in 1985, but he made a surprise return in 1991 for Herb Abrams' short-lived Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). At Beach Brawl (the UWF's only pay-per-view event), he defeated Ivan Koloff. Backlund also wrestled for Newborn UWF and UWF International in Japan, in a series of matches with Nobuhiko Takada in 1988 and 1989. During his time away from the ring, he coached amateur wrestling at Bacon Academy and Rocky Hill High School in Connecticut.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In 1992, Backlund returned to the WWF. During his absence, the WWF had expanded into an international wrestling promotion, due in part to the colorful characters of the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection Era", which Hulk Hogan helped to kickstart eight years prior. Backlund, whose persona remained the same as it was in his heyday, seemed to be out of step with the evolution of the WWF. Many fans did not remember him, as he had left just prior to Vince McMahon's national expansion. His initial return to the WWF was largely uneventful and he mainly wrestled mid-card matches. However, at the 1993 Royal Rumble, Backlund, the number two entrant lasted sixty-one minutes and ten seconds, a duration record that stood until 2004, when Chris Benoit broke it. Backlund's first WrestleMania appearance was at WrestleMania IX, where he was quickly pinned by Razor Ramon. Backlund also received several shots at the Intercontinental Championship, then held by Shawn Michaels.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On the July 30, 1994, episode of "Superstars", Backlund wrestled what was billed as an "Old Generation vs. New Generation" match with Bret Hart, with Hart's WWF Championship on the line. Over the preceding weeks, the WWF aired vignettes of Backlund training for this match. Hart won the match, capitalizing after Backlund mistakenly believed he had won and helped Hart to his feet. Backlund "snapped" after Hart repeatedly tried to offer a sportsmanlike handshake following the match. He slapped Hart in the face and locked him in the crossface chickenwing submission hold, while screaming hysterically. After finally releasing the hold, Backlund stared at his hands in apparent shock. Backlund then started to regularly "snap" in similar fashion during his matches, viciously attacking his opponent with the crossface chickenwing and refusing to release it after the opponent submitted. He would then seemingly snap back to normal and appear horrified by what he had done.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On an episode of "Monday Night Raw", shortly after his match with Hart, Backlund claimed that he should still be considered the legitimate WWF Champion, as he had not been pinned by The Iron Sheik, nor submitted to the camel clutch. Backlund continued wrestling under the new gimmick of an out of touch and highly volatile eccentric, out to teach "The New Generation" a lesson. He dressed in business suits (complete with a bow tie), had a hyperactive personality and used (and often misused, for comic effect) large words during his interviews. He demanded that he be addressed as Mr. Backlund, and he would only sign autographs for wrestling fans if they could recite the names of all of the United States Presidents in chronological order. On several instances, he assaulted wrestlers and other WWF employees and placed them in the crossface chickenwing. These victims include Jim Ross, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, "WWF Magazine" writer Lou Gianfriddo, and his former manager Arnold Skaaland, whom he blamed for costing him the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On November 23, 1994, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view in San Antonio, Texas, Backlund faced Bret Hart in a special submission match for the WWF Championship where the only way for a wrestler to win was to have the opponent's valet, like Arnold Skaaland did for Backlund over a decade earlier, stop the match by throwing a towel into the ring. Backlund began displaying a white towel that he claimed was the same one that was thrown into the ring the night he lost to The Iron Sheik. To serve as his second for the match, Backlund paired up with Owen Hart, the brother and chief rival of the reigning champion who had tried and failed multiple times that year to wrest the belt from Bret.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Late in the match, as Backlund was locked in Hart's trademark Sharpshooter submission, Owen entered the ring and attacked Bret from behind to cause him to break the hold. Bret's cornerman for the match, Davey Boy Smith, chased Owen around the ring only to collide head first with the ring stairs. When Bret turned around to argue with his brother, Backlund took advantage and locked the crossface chickenwing on the champion. Hart fought the hold for an unprecedented eight-and-a-half minutes, but refused to give up.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Since Smith was unconscious on the floor, he was unable to save Hart. Owen took advantage by picking up the pink and black towel Smith carried and, feigning concern for the well-being of his brother, approached his father Stu and his mother Helen who were seated at ringside. As Backlund continued to cinch in the crossface chickenwing in the ring, Owen pleaded for his parents to stop the match. Stu refused, not trusting Owen's motives. Helen, however, did not want to see Bret risk further injury and she grabbed the towel and threw it into the ring. Backlund was awarded the championship and celebrated in the ring while Owen rejoiced in finally having cost his brother the championship. After the match, Backlund conducted a brief interview which he concluded by screaming how he felt "like God".


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund's second reign as WWF Champion was brief, as he lost the title three days later to Diesel at a non-televised show in Madison Square Garden, the site of many of Backlund's victories in the 1970s and 1980s. Diesel kicked Backlund in the stomach, hit him with a "Jackknife Powerbomb" and pinned him in eight seconds. For weeks afterwards, fans jeered Backlund with chants of "Eight seconds! Eight seconds!". In a 2005 interview for the "Pro Wrestling Torch", Kevin Nash (a.k.a. Diesel) recalled how Backlund sold his "Jackknife Powerbomb" by crawling up the aisleway, back to the dressing room area of the Garden. Nash said, "He couldn't have put me over any stronger". This match was the last time (to date) the WWF Championship changed hands at a non-televised event, and aside from Money in the Bank cash-ins, this match remains the shortest WWF title match ever; in fact, it would be tied by Randy Orton cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Daniel Bryan at the 2013 SummerSlam, or Brock Lesnar's quick victory against Kofi Kingston at SmackDown's 20th Anniversary in 2019.


title: Bob Backlund

text: After the title loss, Backlund wrestled progressively less often, never again reaching main event status. One of his final WWF matches was an "I Quit" match against Bret Hart at WrestleMania XI on April 2, 1995 which Backlund lost, even though he never actually said "I quit", instead screaming unintelligibly into the microphone, which special guest referee Roddy Piper seemed to interpret as "I quit".


title: Bob Backlund

text: Following WrestleMania, the WWF ran an angle in which Backlund declared his candidacy for President of the United States. Several vignettes aired, featuring Backlund preaching socially conservative values, and one showed him campaigning at a beach. Backlund also confronted a Bill Clinton impersonator who was seated at ringside at the 1995 Survivor Series. This angle was quietly dropped before it reached a conclusion.


title: Bob Backlund

text: From 1995 to 1996, Backlund went to mid to low card status. He lost to Bret Hart by disqualification on "Monday Night Raw" on November 21. That would be his last television appearance. He continued to appear in house shows. He lost to Savio Vega in a dark match at In Your House 5 and competed in the Royal Rumble getting eliminated by Yokozuna. This would be his last pay-per-view appearance. His last match was a loss to Savio Vega on May 19 at Madison Square Garden.


title: Bob Backlund

text: From late 1996 to early 1997, Backlund joined forces with his old nemesis, The Iron Sheik, to manage The Sultan in the WWF. He left the WWF shortly after on April 20, where he managed The Sultan in his win over Flash Funk.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In 1999, Backlund appeared on an episode of "Sunday Night Heat" in a skit in which himself, The Iron Sheik, and Dominic Denucci gave comedic advice to Mankind before his WWF Championship match with The Rock.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund returned to the WWF in the 2000 Royal Rumble. After that, he briefly managed Intercontinental and European Champion Kurt Angle, and he taught his crossface chickenwing submission hold to Angle. Later on, Angle fired Backlund and locked him in that move, after discovering Backlund had booked him in a two-fall triple threat match against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho (with both of his titles on the line) at WrestleMania 2000, where he ultimately lost both titles. Backlund teamed with Angle on "SmackDown!" as they lost to Jericho and Tazz by disqualification on March 16.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In 1994, Backlund while under contract with WWF worked for Genichiro Tenryu's Wrestle Association R in Japan. He won the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Scott Putski and former WWF wrestler The Warlord defeating Fuyuki-Gun members Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado on August 26. They dropped the titles back to Fuyuki, Gedo, and Jado a few days later.


title: Bob Backlund

text: In 1995, while still working for the WWF, Backlund started wrestling on the independent circuit. He mainly wrestled for Windy City Wrestling from 1995 to 1998. He lost to Jimmy Snuka on February 27, 1996 at Trans World Wrestling Federation event. After leaving WWF in 1997, Backlund continued in the indies. On November 11, 1998 he lost to Lance Diamond at NWA New Jersey event.


title: Bob Backlund

text: From 1998 to 1999, he wrestled for Battlarts in Japan. In October 2001 he returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling teaming with Tatsumi Fujinami for a few matches. He once again retired from wrestling.


title: Bob Backlund

text: After many references to Bob Backlund were made by Kevin Nash, he officially debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in January 2007, at the Final Resolution pay-per-view, judging the finals of the Paparazzi Championship Series (PCS) between Alex Shelley and Austin Starr. Given the tie breaking vote, Backlund launched a long explanation before declaring his decision a draw, and the match was restarted by PCS director Kevin Nash. After Shelley won the match, Starr pie-faced Backlund because he believed Backlund had cost him the match, at which Backlund responded by putting Starr in the crossface chickenwing. At Against All Odds after Senshi defeated Austin Starr, Backlund came out and put his own chickenwing on Starr before dragging him to the back.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund then began to make regular appearances on "Impact!". During this time, he was described as crazy and weird by commentators Don West and Mike Tenay, somewhat similar to the "Mr. Backlund" gimmick of his second WWF tenure. At Destination X, Backlund was in the corner of Austin Starr who lost to Senshi in a Crossface Chickenwing match. At Lockdown, Backlund was the special guest referee in a Six Sides of Steel match where Senshi defeated Austin Starr.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund made his in-ring return at Slammiversary, where he defeated Alex Shelley. He then teamed with Jerry Lynn to lose to Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (managed by Kevin Nash) at Victory Road. When TNA redesigned their website, Backlund's profile was removed, signaling the end of his run with the company.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On the 15th Anniversary episode of "Raw" on December 10, 2007, Backlund participated in the 15th Anniversary battle royal, along with 14 other wrestlers from "Raw"'s 15-year history. Backlund was eliminated from the match by Skinner.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On the July 9, 2012, episode of "Raw", after Heath Slater's match with Sin Cara, Slater issued a challenge to any "past champion" as part of a weekly series of Legend appearances. Backlund emerged from backstage to answer this challenge and, as Backlund entertained the crowd, Slater kicked him in the stomach and mocked him; Backlund responded by putting Slater in the crossface chickenwing, which he refused to break for 20 seconds after Slater had tapped out. He later appeared on "Raw 1000" with all of the other Legends who had faced Slater over prior weeks, helping Lita chase Slater back into the ring when he tried to run away from Lita and the APA.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013, by his friend Maria Menounos, and was acknowledged onstage with the year's other inductees at WrestleMania 29.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund made an appearance on the October 7, 2013, episode of "Raw", unsuccessfully attempting to canvass votes in order to become the special guest referee for the WWE Championship match at Hell in a Cell; Shawn Michaels later won a public vote and was named as the special guest referee. However, Backlund did appear in a segment at Hell in a Cell together with The Prime Time Players, where they played "WWE 2K14". Since April 2014, he has served as an ambassador for WWE.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On the May 5, 2016, episode of "SmackDown", Backlund was asked by Darren Young to be his life coach, and Backlund agreed, vowing to "Make Darren Young Great Again". Over the next several months, various vignettes featuring Young and Backlund aired, with Backlund assuming the role of Young's life coach. On the July 11 episode of "Raw", Young won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. At Battleground, Young faced The Miz in a match that resulted in a double-countout after he applied the Crossface Chickenwing to Miz outside the ring to protect Backlund from Miz and Maryse. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Backlund and Young were drafted to "Raw". In early 2017, after Young got injured, Backlund ceased appearing on television. On October 29, 2017, Young was released from WWE, ending the storyline. Backlund's profile on WWE.com was then moved to the Hall of Fame page shortly afterwards.


title: Bob Backlund

text: On September 21, 2009 Backlund defeated Jason Rumble at NWA On Fire in Springvale, Maine. He would wrestle for Juggalo Championship Wrestling Legends & Icons event defeating Ken Patera on August 12, 2011.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund at 68 years old returned to Japan. This time for Dradition Pro Wrestling for two events in April 2018. On the 20th he teamed with Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami to defeat Jinsei Shinzaki, Kazma Sakamoto and Tajiri. Then the next day he teamed with Hiro Saito and Yoshiaki Fujiwara as they lost to Fujinami, Choshu, and Masakatsu Funaki.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund's autobiography, "The All-American Boy: Lessons and Stories on Life from Wrestling Legend Bob Backlund", was released on September 18, 2015. The 452-page book, contributed to by Robert H. Miller, includes interviews with Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, The Iron Sheik and Vince McMahon.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund was a guest on MTV's "Singled Out", where he acted in sketches with hosts Jenny McCarthy and Chris Hardwick. He played the role of Friar Chuck, alongside Maria Menounos and John Waters, in the feature film comedy "In the Land of Merry Misfits". The film played at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, where Backlund appeared and signed autographs.


title: Bob Backlund

text: Backlund and his wife, high school physical education teacher Corki, have a daughter named Carrie. They live in Glastonbury, Connecticut. In 2000, he unsuccessfully ran for a Connecticut seat in Congress on a Republican ticket.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: AvtoVAZ () is a Russian automobile manufacturing company owned by the state. It was formerly named as VAZ (), an acronym for Volga Automotive Plant in Russian (). AvtoVAZ is best known for its flagship series of Lada vehicles. In the Soviet Union, its products used various names, including Zhiguli, Oka, and Sputnik, which were phased out in the 1990s and replaced by Lada for the Russian market. From December 2019 to August 2020, AvtoVAZ sold Niva cars with Chevrolet branding.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: AvtoVAZ was established in 1966 by the Soviet government as a state-run car manufacturer. It was privatized in the 1990s and was a subsidiary of Renault from October 2016 to May 2022. In May 2022, it was re-acquired by the Russian government. The company is indirectly owned by Russian state enterprises through Lada Auto Holding.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The VAZ plant was established in 1966 by the Soviet government in cooperation with the Italian car manufacturer Fiat. (later Minister of Automobile Industry) was named as director, and Vladimir Solovyov as chief designer. The plant intended to produce popular economy cars that would meet the growing demand for personal transport. It was built on the banks of the Volga in 1966. A new town, Tolyatti, named after Italian Communist Party leader Palmiro Togliatti, was built around the plant The cost of the VAZ plant was estimated at $800 million in 1970 (equivalent to $ billion in ).


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The cars to be produced (designated as "Zhiguli") was envisaged as a "people's car" like the Citroën 2CV or the VW Type 1. Production was intended to be 220,000 units a year, beginning in 1971 (other sources listed 300,000 in 1971); car production actually began before the plant was finished in 1970. The VAZ trademark, at first, was a silver Volga boat on a red pentagonal background, with "Togliatti" superimposed in Cyrillic (Тольятти); the first badges, manufactured in Turin, mistakenly had the Cyrillic "Я" rendered "R", instead (Тольʀтти), making them collector's items.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The company was not as vertically integrated as other Soviet enterprises; for example, it purchased components from a variety of suppliers over which it exerted little control; in the early years of the company certain parts and subassemblies were imported from Fiat's suppliers in Italy until they could be locally sourced.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The first VAZ-2101 was produced on 22 April 1970, the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth. About 22,000 VAZ-2101s were built in 1970, with capacity at the end of 1973 reaching 660,000 a year; 21 December, the one-millionth 2101 was built. A third production line was added in October 1974, boosting output to 2,230 cars a day. The same year, total VAZ production reached 1.5 million.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The VAZ plant was described as "ultra-modern" by the "Chicago Tribune" in a 1973 article. Production reached 750,000 cars a year in 1975, making the Tolyatti plant the third-most productive in the world. Between 1977 and 1981, AvtoVAZ acquired 30 welding robots from Japanese firms.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 1974, VAZ was given permission to begin producing Wankel engines under licence from NSU. Work began in 1976, with a single-rotor Lada appearing in 1978; the first 250 of these went on sale in the summer of 1980.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: After having built a number of prototypes and experimental vehicles, AvtoVAZ designers launched the first car entirely of their own design, the VAZ-2121 Niva, in 1977. This highly popular and innovative sport utility vehicle (SUV) was made with off-road use in mind, featuring a gearbox with a central differential lock lever, as well as a low- and high-range selector lever.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The VAZ-2105, based on the Fiat 124 mechanicals, but modernised and restyled, was introduced in 1979 and marketed outside the Soviet Union under the Riva or Laika trade names, depending on the country. Square headlights and new body panels distinguish this car from the earlier models. The 2105 was third-best selling automobile platform after the Volkswagen Beetle and the Ford Model T, and one of the longest production run platforms alongside the Volkswagen Beetle, the Hindustan Ambassador, and the Volkswagen Type 2.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In May 1980, a series of mass strikes at the Togliatti plant involving hundreds of thousands of workers was reported by the western press.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Based on the success of the Niva, the design department prepared a new family of front-wheel drive models by 1984, which was of a completely domestic design. Production started with the VAZ-2108 "Sputnik" three-door hatchback, the series was commercially known as Samara. It was the first front-wheel drive serial car built in the Soviet Union after the LuAZ-


title: AvtoVAZ

text: A white 2108 became the nine-millionth Lada built, on 24 May 1985, with the ten-millionth, on 9 October 1986, also a 2108. The twelve-millionth, a right-hand drive 2109, was produced 6 July 1989.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: By the late 1980s, AvtoVAZ was suffering from the deterioration of its capital goods, such as tools and machinery, resulting from insufficient levels of investment over a long period. Unproductive and antiquated management techniques also contributed to the decline, as did the absence of market competition. The first privately owned AvtoVAZ dealership was established by Boris Berezovsky in 1989. Dealerships quickly turned into criminal rackets that at times simply stole cars from the factory.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In June 1991, Bear Stearns was hired by the Soviet government to conduct an appraisal of AvtoVAZ and negotiate a venture with a Western partner, in preparation for the privatization of the company. An independent trade union was started during the same year, as workers deemed the traditional trade union to be too close to the interests of management.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In January 1993, AvtoVaz was re-established as a joint-stock company under Russian law. The company came to be controlled by the management, including Vladimir Kadannikov, head of AvtoVAZ. It was listed on the Moscow Exchange. As with many other privatized post-Soviet companies, the financial situation at AvtoVAZ was dire, with workers being unpaid for months at a time.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 1994, Boris Berezovsky's dealership company, called Logovaz, accounted for nearly 10% of the domestic sales of AvtoVAZ. Despite the state of the Russian economy at the time, demand for AvtoVAZ cars remained buoyant, but widespread corruption in the distribution network led the company to accumulate massive debts.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The 110-series sedan was introduced in 1995, two years after its original 1993 deadline. Development costs for the car were estimated at $2 billion. The 2111 station wagon followed in 1998 and the 2112 hatchback completed the range in 2001.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: By 1995, car sales, distribution, and spare parts at AvtoVAZ were all controlled by criminal organizations. This situation was made possible by the close relationship that existed between the criminals and part of the management. Additionally, gangsters were used to control the workers and break strikes.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: By late 1996, AvtoVAZ had become the country's largest tax debtor, owing $2.4 billion in unpaid taxes. In 1997, the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched Operation Cyclone, an investigation that ultimately uncovered evidence that gangsters connected to AvtoVAZ had carried out at least 65 murders of company managers, dealers, and business rivals.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The 1998 Russian financial crisis improved the company's market position, by improving the effectiveness of export sales and making imported cars too expensive for most Russians. The VAZ-2120 Nadezhda, a minivan based on the Lada Niva, was introduced in 1998. In the second half of the 1990s, some efforts were made to improve the quality of production, but in 1999, nearly 50,000 cases of cars were still being assembled with missing parts.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 2001, GM-AvtoVAZ, a joint venture with General Motors, was established. Increased competition from foreign car manufacturers had the company's share of the Russian market fall to 49% in 2002, compared to 56% four years earlier. In 2003, VAZ presented the concept car Lada Revolution, an open single-seater sports car powered by a 1.6-L engine producing . Production of the Wankel engine used on some Lada models (mostly the police versions) stopped in 2004.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The introduction of the new Kalina B-segment lineup to the market occurred in 2005. AutoVAZ built a new modern plant for this model and was hoping to sell some 200,000 cars annually. The Kalina had been originally designed in the early 1990s, and its launch was repeatedly delayed, exemplifying the company's difficulty in bringing products to market in time. In October 2005, control of the company, which had until then been exercised by subsidiaries of AvtoVAZ connected to Kadannikov, was transferred to Rosoboronexport. March 2007 had the start of production of Lada Priora, a restyled and modernised 110-series model.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In March 2008, Renault purchased a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ in a US$1 billion deal, with Rostec retaining most of the remaining 75%. The deal was agreed at a time when the Russian car market was booming.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The onset of the Great Recession caused considerable problems to the company. By April 2009, AvtoVAZ was on the verge of bankruptcy, which was only avoided because of a $600 million bailout from the Russian government. As an anticrisis measure, the Russian government introduced a car scrappage scheme in March 2010. Avtovaz sales doubled in the second quarter of 2010 as a result, and the company returned to profit. By the end of 2010, automotive production in Russia had returned to precrisis levels.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 2011, production of the classic Fiat 124-based 2105 and 2107 series models was completely moved from the Togliatti plant to the IzhAvto plant near Izhevsk, to make space for the company's forthcoming 2016 model. In April 2012, AvtoVAZ confirmed the end of the model 2107 (Lada Riva or Lada Nova), after more than 40 years.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Sales of the Lada Granta, a subcompact car developed in collaboration with Renault, started in December 2011. The Lada Largus was launched in the Russian market in the middle of July 2012. In August 2012, the Lada XRAY concept car was launched at the Moscow International Automobile Salon. The XRAY was designed by chief designer Steve Mattin, formerly of Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. The second generation of the Lada Kalina, basically a facelifted first generation, was also revealed at the 2012 Moscow International Motor Show. The Kalina was also produced with a more powerful version named Lada Kalina Sport. On 3 May 2012, the Renault-Nissan alliance signed a letter of intent to raise its stake in Avtovaz to 51.01%. On 12 December 2012, the Renault–Nissan Alliance formed a joint venture with Roste (Alliance Rostec Auto BV) with the aim of becoming the long-term controlling shareholder of AvtoVAZ. In the same year, it was announced that Avtovaz and Sollers planned to jointly produce vehicles in Kazakhstan. The plant was set to open in 2016 and built in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the eastern part of the country, to produce around 120,000 cars a year.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In November 2013, Bo Andersson joined AvtoVAZ as CEO, the first non-Russian to head the company. He became involved in conflicts with local suppliers, which he accused of supplying low-quality products.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The takeover of AvtoVAZ was completed in June 2014, and the two companies of the Renault-Nissan Alliance took a combined 67.1% stake of Alliance Rostec, which in turn acquired 74.5% of AvtoVAZ, thereby giving Renault and Nissan indirect control over the Russian manufacturer.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 2014, AvtoVAZ sold 448,114 vehicles, down 16.3% comparing to the previous year, due to the overall market slowdown in Russia. The total production capacity of the Togliatti factory is 910,000 vehicles. By 2014, the company's liabilities exceeded assets by 68 billion rubles, for UK-based Ernst & Young to express "significant doubt" about the company's "ability to continue as a going concern". In 2014, the Largus got a new modification, the Lada Largus Cross. In the fall of 2014 AvtoVAZ began production of a new Kalina model, the Lada Kalina Cross.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Production of the Lada Vesta, based on a new b\C platform developed by AvtoVAZ in cooperation with Renault-Nissan Alliance, started on September 25, 2015, at Lada Izhevsk manufacturing site. For the first time in Lada history, only a year had passed between concept car and start of production. Lada XRAY was the first compact city crossover in company's history. Starts of sales was held on February 14, 2016.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Total Lada sales in 2015 amounted to 269,096 cars, of which 207,389 were built by AvtoVAZ in Tolyatti, while the rest were made by Lada Izhevsk, giving the company a 17.9% share of the Russian automotive market.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In March 2016, Nicolas Maure became the company's CEO. In April 2016, Carlos Ghosn, Renault-Nissan Chairman, ceded his AvtoVAZ chairmanship position to Sergey Skvortsov, Deputy General Director of Rostec, the minority shareholder in Avtovaz. Despite massive layoffs since 2008, in 2016, the company remained unprofitable.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In October 2016, Renault invested $1.33 billion in another recapitalization of AvtoVAZ, this time without involvement from Nissan, making the company a subsidiary of the French group. In September 2017, Nissan sold its AvtoVAZ stake to Renault for €45 million.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In December 2018, Renault and Rostec completed the acquisition of all AvtoVAZ shares through their Alliance Rostec venture. The company then delisted from the Moscow Exchange. In 2018, AvtoVAZ posted a net profit of $90.5 million, its first positive result in a decade. In June 2019, Rostec announced it would eventually reduce its stake in AvtoVAZ to 25%. In December 2021, Renault and Rostec transferred its shares from the Netherlands-registered Alliance Rostec to the Russia-registered Lada Auto Holding. The new holding kept the same Renault-Rostec shareholding ratio as its Dutch predecessor. In March 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and international pressure to doing so, Renault said it was "assessing" its AvtoVAZ ownership.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In December 2019, AvtoVAZ acquired General Motors' stake in their GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture. As part of the deal, AvtoVAZ used Chevrolet branding for the Niva models until August 2020, before replacing it with Lada.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In January 2021, following a company revamp, Renault said it would integrate Lada and sister Dacia brands into a new business unit. AvtoVAZ was made part of the business unit structure.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: On 16 May 2022, Renault said it had sold its controlling stake in AvtoVAZ to the Central Research and Development Automobile and Engine Institute (NAMI), a state-backed research center, for one rouble. The agreement has a buyback option for Renault within six years after the sale.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: After its re-establishment as a joint stock company in January 1993, the ownership structure of AvtoVAZ became opaque, with two different management groups controlling the majority of the shares, one led by company chairman Kadannikov, holding 33.2% through the AVVA company, while another group held 19.2% through the AFC company. AvtoVAZ, in turn, owned over 80% of AVVA, which was said to be under the influence of Boris Berezovsky.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: , AvtoVAZ's owner is Lada Auto Holding, which is a joint venture between two state enterprises, NAMI and Rostec.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Various AvtoVAZ's subsidiaries and affiliates produce vehicles within Russia. The main plant is the one in Tolyatti, with three assembly lines, which assembled 312,000 cars in 2016. Lada West Togliatti is a car manufacturing plant within the Tolyatti complex, formerly owned by GM-AvtoVAZ.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: , its production has been halted. Lada Izhevsk, a company established in 1965 and that adopted its present name in 2017, has one assembly line and produced 96,000 cars in 2016. VIS-AVTO is a company established in 1991. It converts AvtoVAZ cars into commercial vehicles and produces Bronto-badged Nivas. It assembled 4,146 vehicles in 2015. Lada Sport is AvtoVAZ's motorsport and performance subsidiary which produced 3,153 cars in 2015.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Apart from its own facilities, AvtoVAZ has associated companies for production. CJSC Super-Avto, a company associated to AvtoVAZ and established in 1997, is focused on the modification of Lada cars. In 2015, it converted 569 of them. In June 2016, the company filed for bankruptcy, but it resumed business by late 2016. ChechenAvto, a state-owned enterprise based in Argun, produced 6,700 cars in 2016. AvtoVAZ has had overseas partners for assembly in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan  and other countries.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: , other relevant AvtoVAZ subsidiaries include JSC Lada-Service (a holding of the AvtoVAZ-controlled dealerships which exists in its present form since 2007), JSC Lada-Image (official spare parts distributor in Russia, established in 2003), PPPO LLC, ZAK LLC, LIN LLC, Sockultbilt-AvtoVAZ LLC, and Lada International Ltd.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: AvtoVAZ financial affiliate is RN Bank, a joint venture whose controllers are UniCredit Bank Russia, AvtoVAZ's former parent Renault (through RCI Banque), and Nissan. The first financial affiliate for AvtoVAZ was AvtoVAZbank, which operated as such from 1988 to 1996. In 1997, it was replaced by Lada-Credit (originally named Automotive Banking House).


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Exports of AvtoVAZ vehicles to the West began in 1974; Ladas were sold as in several Western nations during the 1970s and 1980s, though trade sanctions banned their export to the United States.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Economic instability in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, combined with tightening emissions regulations and increasing stringency of safety legislation, triggered the withdrawal of AvtoVAZ from most Western markets by late 1997.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In later years, Lada again began exporting vehicles. Lada products are marketed in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanon, Moldova, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Serbian Republic, Syria, Peru, and Jordan.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 2015, 28,461 Lada cars were exported, mostly to Kazakhstan (14,278 vehicles), Azerbaijan (4,690), Belarus (2,360), Egypt (2,128), and Germany (1,515).


title: AvtoVAZ

text: On 3 March 2022 AvtoVAZ announced the suspension of the assembly of cars in Tolyatti and Izhevsk from 5 March. The company issued a press release blaming 'the ongoing crisis in the supply of electronic components.'


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 1970, AvtoVAZ CEO Viktor Polyakov set the task to create sport versions of the Lada 2101. The engines were built in Italy, whereas fine tuning was done by engineers in Togliatti. In 1971, three sport cars based on the 2101 model took part in the Soviet Winter Rally Championship. Later in the same year, a VAZ-Autoexport team earned their first prize, the Silver Cup in the 1971 Tour d'Europe.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In the 1970s–1980s, the Autoexport racing team, using different Lada models, participated in different motorsport competitions. A special Zhiguli class was created for the Soviet Rally Championship. There were different rally and track races featuring Avtovaz sports cars. In 1978, a Lada Niva took part in the famous Dakar Rally. It was also successful in a number of international competitions. In 1981, Guy Moerenhout Racing made two special models for Lada Belgium: Lada 21011 RS Sport, model with two Weber carburetors and special sport equipment, and Lada Niva Dream, with big wing extension, special colours and larger wheels. In the late 1990s, Lada Canada supported a rally operation in the Canadian Rally Championship, winning in the 'Production 1750' class on numerous occasions.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In 2012, the Lada Granta Cup was launched. The first stage of the new race series began in Moscow on the Myachkovo race track.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: In the 2013 season, AvtoVAZ returned to the WTCC championship through Lada Sport. The team used a new car: the Lada Granta WTCC, driven by WTCC World Champion Robert Huff.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: The team returned for the 2014 World Touring Car Championship season, again fielding a Granta. Since the beginning of 2015, the Lada team took part in the WTCC as Lada Sport Rosneft. Starting in the 2015 season, Lada Sport used Lada Vestas. The official Lada Sport team left the category at the end of the 2016 season, although an unofficial entry by the RC Competition team kept the Vesta on the grid for another year. In 2021, Lada Sport had a one-off entry for the final race of the TCR-spec World Touring Car Cup at the Sochi Autodrom.


title: AvtoVAZ

text: Lada sponsored the Renault F1 Team in 2010 after they signed Russia's first Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov.


title: World Games

text: The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 days. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association, under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.


title: World Games

text: In the most recent editions, between 25 and 34 sports have been included in the official programme. Several sports or disciplines that were on the programme of The World Games have been discontinued because they are now included in the programme of the Olympic Games. Around 3500 participants from around 100 nations take part.


title: World Games

text: The World Games differs from other multi-sport events, such as the Olympic Games, in that host cities are not required to construct new venues or facilities for the Games. The competitors are selected by the sports' international federations, as opposed to by National Olympic Committees or national governing bodies. In most disciplines, qualification is by a top ranking at the world championships or a qualification tournament. This is intended to ensure the top athletes in a sport compete at the Games.


title: World Games

text: The first edition of The World Games was held in Santa Clara, California, United States, in 1981, and the eleventh edition was held in Birmingham, Alabama, United States from 7 to 17 July 2022. The current edition was originally intended to be held in 2021, but it was delayed one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: World Games

text: The idea for a multi-sport event for non-Olympic sports came from the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). Realising that there were few opportunities to become part of the Olympic programme, non-Olympic federations wanted to form their own showcase event to increase the publicity of their sports, which they called The World Games. These federations formed a steering group in early 1979 to decide on the structure and principles of the games and search for a venue.


title: World Games

text: In May 1979, the steering group announced that they had found a venue for the first event: Santa Clara, USA.


title: World Games

text: The GAISF steering committee became the World Games Executive Council in October 1979, and the inaugural meeting of the World Games Council was held on 19–22 May 1980, with a purpose of creating the concept of the Games. The World Games Council was renamed the International World Games Association, or IWGA in 1985.


title: World Games

text: The first edition of The World Games was held in Santa Clara, USA, in 1981. It was opened by Kim Un-yong, President of The World Games I executive committee, at Buck Shaw Stadium. At the opening ceremony, the athletes marched sorted by sport and not by nation.


title: World Games

text: The 15 sports at the inaugural games included badminton, casting, racquetball, and taekwondo. The first medals of the Games were awarded in the 640 kilo class of tug-of-war, with the gold going to the team from England.


title: World Games

text: After the inaugural Games, the West Nally Group, which had provided financing for the Games in Santa Clara, became owners of the rights to the event, and took the second edition to their headquarters in London.


title: World Games

text: For the third Games in Karlsruhe, 1989, the West Nally Group still owned the commercial rights to the Games, but the host city was responsible for the staff and volunteers organising the event. After this, the IWGA bought back the commercial rights, and the organising committees of the host cities have been responsible for the organisation and financing since. This led to the organisers of The World Games in The Hague (1993) asking the participants to pay accommodation costs.


title: World Games

text: The 1997 edition of the Games was due to be held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, but in August 1994, Port Elizabeth pulled out of hosting the Games due to the political situation in the country. Lahti in Finland volunteered to host instead and signed the host contract in January 1995. Airsports, dancesport, aerobics and jujitsu made their debut in Lahti and have been contested at the Games ever since.


title: World Games

text: Following the Games in Lahti, the IWGA and IOC agreed on a memorandum of understanding, which was signed in 2000 Here, the IOC recognised the importance of The World Games and set out shared values, including the IOC providing patronage to Organising Committees, encouraging multi-sport national teams, and working together on anti-doping. It also set out that "disciplines/events of sport that are not on the Olympic Games programme could be included on the programme of the World Games". A further memorandum of understanding was signed in 2016.


title: World Games

text: In 2001, the Games were held in Akita, Japan – the first time it had been held outside of North America or Europe. Several competitions were delayed or moved to an alternative venue when a typhoon hit the city. For the first time, some National Olympic Committees organised hotel accommodation for their athletes, beyond the time they were hosted by the IWGA.


title: World Games

text: The World Games in 2005, in Duisburg, Germany, were the first World Games where athletes paraded into the opening ceremony grouped by nation. Also several standards were set in place which continue to this day, such as the television production of all sports and sports grouped by category, such as ball sports and precision sports.


title: World Games

text: The 2013 Games in Cali, Colombia were particularly noted for the large numbers of spectators, estimated at 500,000. For example, the Bullfight Ring, which was the venue for dancesport, was 'packed' for the salsa dance finals. This edition of the Games saw the first time a competition was cancelled: due to concerns about temperature and air flow at the Del Pueblo Gymnasium, where the sport of rhythmic gymnastics was taking place, the ribbons event was cancelled.


title: World Games

text: The 2017 Games in Wrocław, Poland were the first to be broadcast on the Olympic Channel, to 130 countries. Both the raffa and lyonnaise disciplines of boules were cancelled after a storm destroyed the venue and it could not be repaired in time.


title: World Games

text: In 2015, it was announced that the 11th edition of The World Games was to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA in 2021, beating bids from Lima, Peru and Ufa, Russia. On 2 April 2020, the Games were postponed to 2022 so as not to clash with the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo due to the coronavirus pandemic.


title: World Games

text: No parasport federations are currently part of the IWGA, but The World Games in Birmingham was the first edition to include parasports, with the inclusion of wheelchair rugby. Birmingham was also to include disabled athletes (one per gender) in archery. The IWGA is also aiming to secure a partnership with the International Paralympic Committee and include a quota for para-athletes.


title: World Games

text: In order for hosting to be sustainable, organisers of The World Games are not required to build any new venues or facilities.