title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: At the very fast, forested Hockenheimring, McLarens were 1–2 in qualifying, Senna ahead of Berger. Ferraris were 3–4 with Prost ahead of Mansell and Williamses were 5–6 to complete the "Noah's Ark" (two-by-two) formation, Patrese ahead of Boutsen. At the start, Berger took off better than Senna but Senna just stayed ahead with Berger second, Prost third, Mansell fourth, Patrese fifth and Piquet sixth.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: There were no changes until lap 11 when Piquet tried to pass Patrese and went through an escape road, allowing Nannini to get ahead. Three laps later Mansell went through the grass at Ostkurve without losing a place but damaging his car. It proved crucial as he retired two laps later, the damage being too great. Meanwhile, Nannini passed Patrese as the top three stopped for tyres, the Williamses and Benettons planning to go without a stop. Piquet retired with engine trouble.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Thus, Nannini led Senna, Patrese, Piquet, Berger and Prost. Patrese's tyres were very badly damaged and he was forced to pit. Prost then passed Boutsen for fourth with Patrese following him two laps later. On lap 34, Senna passed Nannini for the lead and pulled away. Senna won from Nannini, Berger, Prost, Patrese and Boutsen.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Hungary was next and at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, the Williamses qualified ahead of the McLarens, Boutsen taking pole ahead of Patrese, Berger, Senna, Mansell and Alesi. At the start, Boutsen kept the lead but it was Berger who got away best and passed Patrese while Senna was worse and lost out to both Mansell and Alesi. Thus, it was Boutsen, Berger, Patrese, Mansell, Alesi and Senna.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: It stayed like that until lap 21 when Senna passed Alesi for fifth but he was forced to pit on the next lap with a slow puncture. Nannini soon passed Alesi to take fifth. The leaders stopped and Berger was the big loser with Nannini and Senna the big gainers, rising directly behind the Williams men. The order was: Boutsen, Patrese, Nannini, Senna, Mansell and Berger. Boutsen then pulled away while Patrese held up the others until Nannini streamed by with Senna following him.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Patrese then pitted and dropped behind Piquet as Berger passed Mansell only for Mansell to get back at him. Senna tried to pass Nannini on lap 64 and tipped Nannini into a spin and retirement. Berger tried to do the same thing on Mansell on lap 72 at the same corner with the same result – a collision but with both cars out. Boutsen won ahead of Senna, Piquet, Patrese, Warwick and Bernard.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: The financially troubled Monteverdi Onyx team pulled out of F1 before the Belgian round, which allowed the Ligier team to escape from pre-qualifying. At the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, McLaren were 1–2 with Senna on pole ahead of Berger, Prost, Boutsen, Mansell and Patrese. At the start, Piquet pushed Mansell off the road and soon Nakajima and Modena collided as well, causing the race to be stopped.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: At the second start, Senna took the lead while Boutsen sliced into second and Prost dropped to fifth. However, Paolo Barilla crashed his Minardi heavily at Eau Rouge, sending debris all over the track and causing the race to be stopped again.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: The third start was clean and Senna took the lead ahead of Berger, Prost, Boutsen, Patrese and Nannini. On lap 11, Mansell went into the pits with handling problems; he went back out but retired eight laps later. On lap 14, Prost sliced ahead of Berger who then pitted for tyres. Senna and Prost, separated by 2 seconds stopped at the same time but then Nannini who was planning to go without stopping came in between them. Then both Patrese and Boutsen went out with gearbox troubles. Prost passed Nannini and Berger tried the same but this time Nannini came back at him to keep the place. On lap 41, Nannini went wide and Berger sailed through to take third. Senna duly won from Prost, Berger, Nannini, Piquet and Gugelmin.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: With five races remaining, the Drivers' Championship now lay firmly between Senna with 63 points and Prost with 50. Berger was third with 33, Boutsen fourth with 27, and Piquet fifth with 24. McLaren held a comfortable lead in the Constructors' Championship with 96 points against Ferrari's 63, with Williams third with 42, and Benetton fourth with 40.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: After Belgium came Italy and at the historic Monza Autodrome near Milan, Senna took pole again with Prost second, Berger third, Mansell fourth, Alesi fifth and Boutsen sixth. At the start, Berger raced past Prost while Alesi was jumped by both the Ferraris. But Warwick crashed at the Parabolica, bringing out the red flags. In the restart, Berger got past Prost and Alesi repeated his previous effort and had passed both Ferraris before the second chicane, so we had Senna leading Berger, Alesi, Prost, Mansell and Boutsen.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: On lap 5, Alesi spun off and retired. Nothing changed until lap 18 when Boutsen retired with a suspension failure and Berger's tyres began to fade. Prost then passed Berger and the stops did not change anything. The top three then began to battle for the lead but none were able to close in on the other while Mansell continued to drop back, fighting a faulty throttle return spring. Senna won from Prost, Berger, Mansell, Patrese and Nakajima.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: In Portugal, at the Estoril circuit near Lisbon, the Ferraris took 1–2 in qualifying with Mansell ahead of Prost, Senna, Berger, Patrese and Piquet. At the start, Mansell got too much wheel spin and he slid across the track and almost took Prost out; as a result, the McLarens blasted by them with Piquet getting by Prost as well. The order was: Senna, Berger, Mansell, Piquet, Prost and Boutsen.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: On lap 13, Prost overtook Piquet for fourth and later Mansell went to the grass, allowing Prost to take third. Mansell and Berger pitted soon as Prost passed Senna at the same time to lead. These two soon pitted as well with a shuffled order: Senna, Mansell, Berger, Prost, Nannini and Piquet. By then, the Ferraris started to close in on the McLarens in front of them. Behind them, Piquet passed Nannini to take fifth.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: On lap 50, Mansell was close to Senna and passed him to lead. He pulled away fast but then hit Phillipe Alliot while lapping him, pushing the Ligier into a wall while Mansell got away with no damage. Prost then passed Berger on lap 59. Two laps later, Suzuki and Caffi collided and with the latter stuck in the cockpit in a zone with the wall next to the track, the race was stopped. Thus Mansell won from Senna, Prost, Berger, Piquet and Nannini.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Qualifying in Spain, at the Jerez circuit near Seville, was marred by a serious incident involving Martin Donnelly. During a hot lap on the Friday, the Northern Irishman suffered a suspension failure on one of the fastest corners of the circuit, sending his Lotus into the barriers head-on. The car was destroyed while Donnelly was thrown across the track with his seat still strapped to his back; he suffered severe leg fractures and bruising on his brain and lungs. Remarkably, he survived, though his Formula One career was over.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Senna, shaken by this incident, took his 50th career pole position ahead of Prost, Mansell, Alesi, Berger and Patrese. At the start, Senna led away from Prost, while Alesi was hit by Patrese and spun into retirement. Mansell kept up with the championship challengers, while Berger struggled on hard tyres and held up the Williams and Benettons. The pit stops saw Mansell get ahead of Prost before waving his teammate through; he did so just as Senna was emerging from his own stop. The Brazilian, realising that he could not afford to be behind Mansell, dived ahead of him.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Piquet, who had not pitted, held a narrow lead over Prost; the Frenchman pressured him into running wide on lap 29, dropping him down to fourth. He eventually retired with battery problems. Senna began to struggle with a punctured radiator, and was passed by Mansell before dropping out on lap 54. Nannini was now up to third while Boutsen and Berger disputed fourth; the two tangled on lap 57, sending Berger into retirement. Prost and Mansell duly completed a Ferrari 1–2, the Frenchman 22 seconds ahead, with Nannini, Boutsen, Patrese and Suzuki completing the top six.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: With two races to go, Senna had 78 points to Prost's 69; both had had eleven points finishes and would therefore have to drop points if they scored again. Senna was still in a strong position, however, as a win or a second place (if Prost did not win) in the next race would give him the championship. Berger was third with 40, Mansell was up to fourth with 31 and Boutsen was fifth with 30. Similarly, McLaren retained a strong position in the Constructors' Championship with 118 points against Ferrari's 100, with Williams a distant third with 49, and Benetton fourth with 47.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Before the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Nannini was involved in a helicopter crash, suffering a severed right forearm. Though it was reattached using microsurgery, his F1 career ended. Meanwhile, the EuroBrun and Life teams withdrew (meaning that pre-qualifying was unnecessary); Benetton duly took on EuroBrun's Roberto Moreno as Nannini's replacement.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: In qualifying, Senna took pole ahead of Prost, Mansell, Berger, Boutsen and Piquet. However, Senna was unhappy at the pole being located on the dirty side of the track and thus the second place being on the racing line which should give the second-placed driver the advantage into the first corner. He went to FISA president Jean Marie Balestre to change the side on which pole was located, but was refused. After this, he decided that he would intentionally drive his race car into Prost's Ferrari into the first corner if Prost had the advantage. At the start, Prost did have the advantage and Senna drove into the Frenchman, who drove the normal racing line. Senna's left front touched Prost's rear wing, spinning both of them into the gravel trap. The world championship was sealed.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Although Senna led by 9 points and there were 9 points for a win, if Prost won the last race he would have had to drop his fifth place in Canada which meant that he would be two points behind Senna even if Senna retired. Senna was the new world champion. In the race Berger was leading Mansell, Piquet, Moreno, Boutsen and Patrese. At the start of the second lap, Berger spun off into retirement after hitting debris from the Senna-Prost collision. This left Mansell who was under pressure by the Benettons leading.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Mansell then began to pull away from Piquet and Moreno as Suzuki passed Warwick for sixth. Mansell pitted with a 15-second lead on lap 27 for tyres but his driveshaft snapped as he went out of his garage. He retired giving the Constructors title to McLaren as they were 18 points ahead and a 1–2 could get only 15 points. The Benettons and Suzuki did not stop but Patrese and Boutsen did with Patrese getting ahead at the stops but both rejoined behind Suzuki. Then Nakajima passed Warwick to take sixth as Warwick then retired with gearbox trouble. Piquet won with Moreno making it a Benetton 1–2. Suzuki was third, Patrese fourth, Boutsen fifth and Nakajima sixth.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: The last race of the year was in Australia for what would be the 500th World Championship Grand Prix race, and at the Adelaide City street circuit the McLarens took 1–2 in qualifying ahead of the Ferraris, Senna ahead of Berger, Mansell, Prost, Alesi and Patrese. At the start, Senna took off into the lead with Berger defending from the Ferraris and Piquet getting by Alesi and Patrese. The order was: Senna, Berger, Mansell, Prost, Piquet and Alesi.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: On lap 2, Berger accidentally hit the engine kill switch allowing Mansell to get ahead before he could bump start the McLaren. Then while defending from Prost, he held up Prost allowing Piquet to get ahead of the Frenchman. Piquet then soon passed Berger for third and the order settled down. Senna and Mansell continued to pull away from the rest, none of them able to keep up. Soon Patrese got past Alesi with Boutsen following suit.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: Then, on lap 43, Mansell went up an escape road, giving Senna a good lead. Mansell was caught and passed by Piquet and pitted for tyres soon after. At the stops, Boutsen got ahead of Patrese. Berger then ran wide entering the Brabham straight, allowing Prost to take third. Mansell passed Berger on lap 57 and soon passed Prost on his new tyres. Senna had a gearbox glitch on lap 62 and went straight on into the wall and retired. Mansell closed in on Piquet, breaking the lap record 3 times towards the finish, taking 2 seconds a lap out of his lead. Piquet made an error with 4 laps to go, allowing Mansell to close right up. Mansell attacked on the last lap with a desperate passing attempt at the end of the straight, was too far behind to make the pass. Thus, Piquet won from Mansell, Prost, Berger, Boutsen and Patrese.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: At the end of the season, Senna was world champion with 78 points with Prost second with 71 (he got 73 but had to drop 2 points), Piquet third with 43 (he got 44 but had to drop 1 point), Berger fourth with 43 (Piquet had 2 wins to Berger's none), Mansell fifth with 37, Boutsen sixth with 34, Patrese seventh with 23 and Nannini eighth with 21. In the constructors, McLaren were champions with 121 points with Ferrari second with 110, Benetton third with 71 and Williams fourth with 55.


title: 1990 Formula One World Championship

text: The 1990 season also included a single event which did not count towards the World Championship, the Formula One Indoor Trophy at the Bologna Motor Show.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Sexual abstinence or sexual restraint is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, financial, philosophical, moral, or religious reasons. Sexual abstinence is distinct from asexuality, which is a sexual orientation where people do not feel sexual attraction. Celibacy is sexual abstinence generally motivated by factors such as an individual's personal or religious beliefs. Sexual abstinence before marriage is required in some societies by social norms, or by law in some countries. It is a part of chastity.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Abstinence may be voluntary (when an individual chooses not to engage in sexual activity due to moral, religious, philosophical, or other reasons), an involuntary result of social circumstances (when one cannot find any willing sexual partners), or legally mandated (e.g. in countries where sexual activity outside marriage is illegal, in prisons etc.).


title: Sexual abstinence

text: The ancient world discouraged promiscuity for both health and social reasons. According to Pythagoras (6th century BCE) sex should be practiced in the winter, but not the summer, but was harmful to male health in every season because the loss of semen was dangerous, hard to control and both physically and spiritually exhausting, but had no effect on females. This idea may have been merged with Zoroastrian ideas of good and evil in a philosophy known as Gnosticism, which influenced Christian and Islamic attitudes to sexual activity. But others stated that the Christian religion's hold on to the ideal of sexual abstinence prior to the appearing of gnosticism and Zoroastrianism and its roots are to be found in the Old Testament (which is the base of the New Testament) in which virginity was required by law and marriage was especially protected (see Deuteronomy chapter 22).


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Throughout history, and especially prior to the 20th century, there have been those who have held that sexual abstinence confers numerous health benefits. For males, lack of abstinence was thought to cause a reduction of vitality. In modern times, the argument has been phrased in biological terms, claiming that loss of semen through ejaculation results in a depletion of vital nutrients such as lecithin and phosphorus, which are also found at high levels in the brain. Conservation of the semen allegedly allows it to be reabsorbed back into the bloodstream and aid in the healthy development of the body. Along these lines, the noted German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche spoke of the positive physiological effects of abstinence: "The reabsorption of semen by the blood ... perhaps prompts the stimulus of power, the unrest of all forces towards the overcoming of resistances ... The feeling of power has so far mounted highest in abstinent priests and hermits" (quoted by Walter Kaufman in his classic, "", p. 222). Before the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s, it was commonly believed by members of the medical profession that numerous mental and physical diseases in men were caused primarily by loss of nutrients through seminal discharge, and that the deliberate conservation of this substance would lead to increased health, vitality, and intellectual prowess. This also applied to masturbation, which was also thought to lead to bedwetting and hairy palms.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Some advantages in favor of sexual abstinence were also claimed by Walter Siegmeister, better known as Dr. Raymond W. Bernard, an early 20th-century American alternative health, esoteric writer, author and mystic, who formed part of the alternative reality subculture. In his essay entitled "Science discovers the physiological value of continence" (1957) he states:


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Historically, there has been a swing from the sexually liberal end of the Industrial Revolution to the chaste values of the early Victorian period. This was then followed by a new puritanism from the late Victorian era to the mid-1900s. This important transformation often colors discussion of sexual behavior in the later 20th century. World War I began a return to sexual freedom and indulgence, but more often than not, the appearance of conforming to the earlier moral values of abstinence before marriage was retained. With the conclusion of World War II, the societal importance of abstinence declined. The advent of the first oral contraceptive pill and widely available antibiotics suppressed many consequences of wide and free sexual behavior, while social morals were also changing. By the 1970s, abandonment of premarital chastity was no longer taboo in the majority of western societies, and the reverse became true. Some cultural groups continued to place a value on the moral purity of an abstainer, but abstinence was caught up in a wider reevaluation of moral values.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: During the early 20th century, prominent feminist and birth control advocate Margaret Sanger argued that abstinence from sexual activity led to greater endurance and strength, and was a sign of the best of the species:


title: Sexual abstinence

text: J. D. Unwin was a British ethnologist and social anthropologist at Oxford University and Cambridge University. Unwin wrote several books including "Sex and Culture", (1934). In "Sex and Culture" Unwin studied 80 primitive tribes and 6 known civilizations through 5,000 years of history and found a positive correlation between the cultural achievement of a people and the amount of sexual restraint which they observed. The author finds that the most culturally successful groups always exhibit lifelong monogamous relationships which include sexual abstinence outside of marriage. According to Unwin, after a nation becomes prosperous it becomes increasingly liberal with regard to sexual morality and as a result loses its cohesion, its impetus and its purpose, ultimately having a negative effect on society: "The whole of human history does not contain a single instance of a group becoming civilized unless it has been absolutely monogamous, nor is there any example of a group retaining its culture after it has adopted less rigorous customs."


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In most cultural, ethical, and religious contexts, sex within marriage is not considered to be contrary to notions of chastity. Some religious systems prohibit sexual activities between a person and anyone other than a spouse of that person, as have past legal systems and societal norms. In such contexts, sexual abstinence was prescribed for unmarried individuals for the purpose of chastity. "Chastity" has been used as a synonym for sexual abstinence, they are similar but with different behavior and restrictions.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In some countries any sexual activity outside marriage is illegal. Such laws are mostly tied to religion and the legal and political traditions within the particular jurisdiction. Laws differ greatly from country to country. In some Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kuwait, Maldives, Morocco, Mauritania, Qatar, Sudan, Yemen, any form of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In some parts of the world, people suspected of engaging in premarital or same-sex sexual activity can become victims of honor killings committed by their families. Stoning for sexual activity outside marriage is also a punishment in some places.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Abstinence-only sex education is a form of sex education that teaches abstinence from sex, and often excludes many other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex. Education programs which focus exclusively on abstinence have hardly been shown to delay sexual activity. Such programs promote sexual abstinence until marriage and often also condemn the use of contraceptives as an alternative. Comprehensive sex education, by contrast, covers the use of contraceptives as well as abstinence.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Organizations such as SIECUS have called abstinence-only programs "fear-based," and "designed to control young people's sexual behavior by instilling fear, shame, and guilt." Author Judith Levine has argued that there might be a natural tendency of abstinence educators to escalate their messages: "Like advertising, which must continually jack up its seduction just to stay visible as other advertising proliferates, abstinence education had to make sex scarier and scarier and, at the same time, chastity sweeter."


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In spite of these criticisms, federal government support has made abstinence the de facto focus of sex education in the United States, so that opponents frequently adopt the line that abstinence education is acceptable only if it is combined with other methods, such as instruction in the use of condoms, and easy availability thereof. Most nations of Western Europe use more comprehensive measures, and in sharp contrast to the heated discussion in the U.S., abstinence is hardly discussed as an educational measure.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: A U.S. federal government-promoted abstinence-only program was aimed at teens in 1981 in order to discourage premarital sex and unwanted pregnancies. However, recent studies conducted by Mathematica Policy Research showed ineffectiveness of this program. The Responsible Education About Life Act was introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT) to support age-appropriate sexual education. This program is focused to provide teenagers with science-based information on sexual health, so that they can make a sound decision regarding their sex-life.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In 2006, the George W. Bush administration expanded abstinence programs from teens to adults, by introducing programs to encourage unmarried adults to remain abstinent until marriage. Family-planning advocates and researchers denounced the program as unrealistic, due to the rising age of first-time marriage in the United States. In 2009, the Barack Obama administration removed most of the funding from sexual-abstinence education, and instead used the money to fund the Office of Adolescent Health, designed to prevent teenage pregnancy through evidence-based programs. During the Obama administration, between the years 2007 and 2017, the teen pregnancy rate in the US dropped by 50%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: The advent of AIDS helped build a more favorable view of abstinence. However, a review of 13 U.S. sex-abstinence programs involving over 15,000 people by Oxford University found that they do not stop risky sexual behavior, or help in the prevention of unwanted pregnancy. Other studies have found that abstinence-only education does little to affect the "age of sexual initiation; number of sexual partners; and rates of sexual abstinence, condom use, vaginal sex, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs)". Recently, the United States Congress also found similar results in a study conducted by Mathematica Policy Research on abstinence. Currently, there are also issues as to what abstinence means: is it an abstinence from sexual intercourse, or from sexual behavior? Movements such as True Love Waits in America, which ask teenagers to refrain from sex before marriage, are heavily subscribed, but surveys of sexual behavior indicate an increase in the popularity of oral sex.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Alfred Kinsey is widely regarded as the first and among the most influential figures in American sexology; his research is cited as having paved the way for a deeper exploration into sexuality among sexologists and the general public, and as having liberated female sexuality. According to Alfred Kinsey sexual ignorance led to real suffering in society and that sexual liberation, as opposed to sexual abstinence, was the key to both a strong marriage and a happy life. Kinsey believed that abstinence was a sexual dysfunction: "The only kinds of sexual dysfunction are abstinence, celibacy and delayed marriage."


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Lifelong (or at least long-term) abstinence, often associated with philosophical or religious asceticism, is distinguished from chastity before marriage. Abstinence is often viewed as an act of self-control over the natural desire to have sex. The display of the strength of character allows the abstainer to set an example for those not able to contain their "base urges". At other times, abstinence has been seen as a great social skill practiced by those who refuse to engage with the material and physical world. Some groups and teachers that propose sexual abstinence consider it an essential means to reach a particular intellectual or spiritual condition, or that chastity allows one to achieve a required self-control or self-consciousness.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Some religions regard chastity as a virtue expected of faithful adherents. This usually includes abstinence from sex for the unmarried, and fidelity to a marriage partner.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In some religions, some groups of people are expected to remain unmarried and to abstain from sex completely. These groups include monks, nuns, and priests in various sects of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Christianity. Chastity is required of the respective sacerdotal orders. The Shakers, on the other hand, impose chastity in the form of celibacy for all members, even forgoing procreation such as the case with the castration cult.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Most Christians teach that sexual intercourse should occur exclusively within marriage, and that sexual abstinence is the norm outside of that. Sex between people not married to each other is either fornication or adultery. But for married couples, Paul of Tarsus wrote that they should not deprive each other, except for a short time for devotion to prayer.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Catholicism defines chastity as the virtue that moderates the sexual appetite. Unmarried Catholics express chastity through sexual abstinence. Sexual intercourse within marriage is considered chaste when it retains the twofold significance of union and procreation.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: This is why the Catholic Church does not condone the use of contraception, even within the confines of the marital union. Pope Saint John Paul II spoke on contraception not only as its nature as sinful in the eyes of the church, but also in regards to its dangerous nature to harm married couples. Without the openness to life, John Paul said, the gift of oneself within the bond of marriage is incomplete. The Catholic Church does, however, condone the practice of periodical abstinence during a woman's natural cycle of fertility for married couples who, for just reasons, do not wish to have a child at that time. This is a key component of Natural Family Planning, which is set apart from contraceptive measures on the grounds that it does not interrupt the natural order of the marital union with artificial means.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: The entirety of the Catholic Church's stance on contraception is predicated by the way the Catholic Church views marriage, insofar as marriage is an intimate human union between man and a woman wherein the two mutually give of themselves in their entirety for the good of the other and live in such a way that is open to procreation.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: See also the Evangelical counsels. The Methodist Church teaches that "Although all persons are sexual beings whether or not they are married, sexual relations are only clearly affirmed in the marriage bond." The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches chastity until marriage. But even then, in accordance with the teaching of the Apostle Paul, periods of abstinence are encouraged among married couples. Traditionally, Orthodox spouses abstain from physical relations on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays the eves of Great Feasts and throughout the four lenten periods (Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast and Dormition Fast).


title: Sexual abstinence

text: However, the United Church of Christ is "liberal in their approaches, believing that individuals must decide for themselves how to express their sexual nature."


title: Sexual abstinence

text: The Indian tradition of Brahmacharya places great emphasis on abstinence as a way of harnessing the energy of body and mind towards the goal of spiritual realization. In males, the semen (Vīrya) is considered sacred, and its preservation (except when used for procreation) and conversion into higher life-energy (Ojas) is considered essential for the development of enhanced intellectual and spiritual capacities.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: The blending of sexual and spiritual is portrayed in Hindu iconography, as seen in ubiquitous phallic and vaginal iconography in Hindu temples and for instance in the Kharjuraho and Konarak medieval temples, where thousands of couples having sex in endless positions, and with the gods, are carved in deep bas-relief. However, these depictions of sex are not generally understood to be a license for free sexual practices, but are instead meant to celebrate procreation as an integral part of existence in the universe. In actual practice, it is highly encouraged that both males and females abstain from pre-marital sex and exercise chastity, which still exists today in Hindu cultures.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Islam forbids intercourse outside of marriage ("zina"). However, maintaining celibacy as an act of piety is not recognized, while marriage for all who are able is strongly encouraged. Abstinence is practiced during the time of a woman's menstruation or istihadha. Abstinence from sexual intercourse is also practiced from dawn to dusk during days where fasting is observed. Also in the time of Hajj people are not allowed to have sexual relationships, because their body has to stay pure while performing pilgrimage.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: "Brahmacharya" is one of the five major vows prescribed for the "śrāvakā" (layman) and ascetics in Jainism. For those Jains who adopt the path of monks, celibacy in action, words and thoughts is expected. For lay Jains who are married, the virtue of "brahmacharya" requires remaining sexually faithful to one's chosen partner (fidelity). For lay Jains who are unmarried, chaste living requires Jains to avoid sex before marriage.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: In the Jain monastic tradition, "brahmacharya" implies, among other things, the mandatory renunciation of sex and marriage. For a lay Jain, it represents a virtuous lifestyle devoid of constant sexual urges, that also includes simple living, meditation and other behaviors.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Judaism forbids intercourse outside marriage (which is termed or promiscuity), but has no ideal of chastity. Within marriage abstinence is also required during and following a woman's menstruation. The husband is not allowed to deprive sex from his wife, even if she is not fertile (known as "").


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Among some groups of people, the wearing of a purity ring is a reminder to oneself and others, that they are practicing sexual abstinence. In order to aid their sobriety, some sexual abstinents partake in the usage of anaphrodisiacs.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Historically, some individuals were said to wear a chastity belt, a locking item of clothing designed to prevent sexual intercourse. They were used to protect the wearer from rape or temptation. Some devices have been designed with additional features to prevent masturbation. Chastity belts have been created for males and females, ostensibly for the purpose of chastity.


title: Sexual abstinence

text: Abstinence can help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV, HPV, syphilis, etc. However, abstinence-only education has been found to be less effective at preventing sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancy among adolescents than comprehensive sex education.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,496,770 as of the 2019 U.S. Census, making it the third-most populous county in the state of Florida and the 25th-most populous county in the United States. The largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach. Named after one of its oldest settlements, Palm Beach, the county was established in 1909, after being split from Dade County. The county's modern-day boundaries were established in 1963.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Palm Beach County is one of the three counties in South Florida that make up the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,198,782 people in 2018.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The area had been increasing in population since the late 19th century, with the incorporation of West Palm Beach in 1894 and after Henry Flagler extended the Florida East Coast Railway and built the Royal Poinciana Hotel, The Breakers, and Whitehall. In 1928, the Okeechobee hurricane struck Palm Beach County and caused thousands of deaths. More recently, the county acquired national attention during the 2000 presidential election, when a controversial recount occurred.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: As of 2004, Palm Beach County is Florida's wealthiest county, with a per capita personal income of $44,518. It leads the state in agricultural productivity; agriculture is Palm Beach County's second-largest industry, after real estate development. In undeveloped (central and western) Palm Beach County there is significant tropical agricultural production, especially nurseries, truck crops (vegetables), and sugar cane. Palm Beach County has been called the "Winter Vegetable Capital" of the nation.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Around 12,000 years ago, Native Americans began migrating into Florida. An estimated 20,000 Native Americans lived in South Florida when the Spanish arrived. Their population diminished significantly by the 18th century, due to warfare, enslavement, and diseases from Europe. In 1513, Juan Ponce de León became the first European in modern-day Palm Beach County when he landed at the Jupiter Inlet. Among the first non-Native American residents were African Americans, many of whom were former slaves or immediate descendants of former slaves, arriving in what was then Spanish Florida in the late 17th century. Finding refuge among the Seminoles, the former slaves or descendants of former slaves fought alongside them against white settlers and bounty hunters during the Seminole Wars. Portions of the Second Seminole War occurred in Palm Beach County, including the Battles of the Loxahatchee in 1838.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The county's oldest surviving structure, the Jupiter Lighthouse, was built in 1860, after receiving authorization to the land from President Franklin Pierce in 1854. During the American Civil War, Florida was a member of the Confederate States of America. Two Confederate adherents removed the lighting mechanism from the lighthouse. One of the men who removed the light, Augustus O. Lang, was also the first white settler in Palm Beach County. He built a palmetto shack along the eastern shore of Lake Worth in 1863 after abandoning the cause of the Confederacy. After the Civil War ended, the Jupiter Lighthouse was relit in 1866.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: In October 1873, a hurricane caused a shipwreck between Biscayne Bay and the New River. The crew survived the wreck but nearly died due to starvation because of the desolation of the area. In response, five Houses of Refuge were built along the east coast of Florida from the Fort Pierce Inlet southward to Biscayne Bay. Orange Grove House of Refuge No. 3 was built near Delray Beach in 1876.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Very few people lived in modern-day Palm Beach County prior to the arrival of Henry Flagler, who first visited in the early 1890s. A Standard Oil tycoon, Flagler was instrumental in the county's development around the turn of the century. First, he purchased land on both sides of Lake Worth. Other investors followed suit, causing a small boom and bringing in existing businesses and resulting in the establishment of many new businesses. The Royal Poinciana Hotel, constructed by Flagler and his constructed crews to accommodate wealthy tourists, opened for business in February 1894. About a month later, the Florida East Coast Railway, owned by Flagler, reached West Palm Beach. On November 5, 1894, Palm Beach County's oldest city, West Palm Beach, was incorporated. In 1896, another hotel built by Flagler was opened, the Palm Beach Inn, later renamed The Breakers. He also constructed his own winter home, which he and his wife moved into in 1902. The arrivals of Major Nathan Boynton, Congressman William S. Linton, and railroad surveyor Thomas Rickards in the 1890s also proved important because they developed communities that later became Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton, respectively.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Florida Legislature voted to establish Palm Beach County in 1909, carving it out of what was then the northern portion of Dade County and initially including all of Lake Okeechobee. The southernmost part of Palm Beach County was separated to create the northern portion of Broward County in 1915, the northwestern portion became part of Okeechobee County in 1917, and southern Martin County was created from northernmost Palm Beach County in 1925. The boundaries remained the same until 1963, when the Florida Legislature reduced Palm Beach County's share of Lake Okeechobee from about 80 percent to less than 40 percent and divided the lake more equitably among Glades, Hendry, Martin, and Okeechobee counties. A final change to the county's boundaries occurred in 2009, when a small portion of land was given to Broward County.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The 1910s and much of the 1920s brought prosperity and rapid population growth to South Florida, coinciding with the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Many local historic districts and landmarks listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Palm Beach County were designed and constructed during the 1920s, with the main contributors being architects Maurice Fatio, Addison Mizner, Marion Sims Wyeth, and the firm Harvey and Clarke, which included Gustav Maass. Total property value in West Palm Beach skyrocketed from $13.6 million in 1920 to $61 million in 1925, before briefly reaching a pre-Great Depression peak of $89 million in 1929. The city's population quadrupled between 1920 and 1927.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Early on September 17, 1928, the Okeechobee hurricane made landfall near West Palm Beach as a category-4 storm and crossed Lake Okeechobee shortly thereafter. While the hurricane caused catastrophic impact in eastern portions of the county, the Lake Okeechobee region suffered a much heavier loss of life. Wind-driven storm surge in the lake inundated hundreds of square miles, including the nearby communities of Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay. At least 2,500 deaths occurred, many of whom were black migrant farmers. An assessment of impact throughout the county reported 552 businesses destroyed, 1,447 businesses damaged, 3,584 homes destroyed, and 11,409 homes damaged, leaving 4,008 families homeless. However, several cities were excluded, such as Boca Raton, Greenacres, Lantana, and South Palm Beach. Damage in South Florida totaled roughly $25 million. In response to the storm, the Herbert Hoover Dike was constructed to prevent a similar disaster.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: As a result of 1926 Miami hurricane and the 1928 storm, Palm Beach County, along with the rest of South Florida, began suffering economic turmoil and pushed the region into the Great Depression, even before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Housing prices dropped dramatically in the county, with the total real estate value in West Palm Beach falling to $41.6 million in 1930 and then to $18.2 million in 1935. However, the decade also brought an airport to the county. Morrison Field, later renamed the Palm Beach International Airport, opened in 1936.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: After the U.S. entered World War II, it was converted to an Air Force Base in 1942. During the war, thousands of servicemen arrived in Palm Beach County for training and supporting the war effort. Following the conclusion of World War II, a number of veterans returned to the area for work, vacation, or retirement. The base was closed and became a commercial airport again in 1962. Migration to the county by workers, tourists, and retirees continued into the 21st century.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: On August 28, 1949, a category-4 hurricane struck Lake Worth Beach with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h), causing considerable damage. Throughout Palm Beach County, the hurricane destroyed 65 homes and damaged 13,283 others.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The area's first television station, WIRK-TV Channel 21, began broadcasting on September 13, 1953. It went off the air less than three years later. However, NBC affiliate WPTV-TV and CBS affiliate WPEC first aired in 1954 and 1955, respectively – both of which are still in existence today.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Richard Paul Pavlick nearly attempted to assassinate then President-elect John F. Kennedy while the family vacationed in Palm Beach in December 1960. On December 11, Pavlick forwent his attempt because Kennedy was with his wife, Jacqueline, and their two children. Four days later, Pavlick's car, which had sticks of dynamite inside, was surrounded by police and he was arrested. Charges against Pavolick were dropped on December 2, 1963, 10 days after Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Additionally, a secret blast shelter was built on Peanut Island during his presidency because escalating Cold War tensions.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Hurricane David struck near West Palm Beach late on September 3, 1979, with sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h). The storm's winds shattered windows in stores near the coast and caused property damage. A few roofs were torn off, and numerous buildings were flooded from over 6 in (150 mm) of rainfall. Damage in the county reached $30 million, most of which was incurred to agriculture.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The county became the center of controversy during the 2000 presidential election. Allegedly, the "butterfly ballot", designed by Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore, led to an unexpectedly large number of votes for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, rather than for Democrat Al Gore. Due to the aforementioned "butterfly ballot" and the closeness of the statewide results between Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, the Florida Supreme Court mandated manual recounts in all counties with disputed results. However, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the decision in Bush v. Gore on December 12, allowing Florida Secretary of the State Katherine Harris to award the 25 electoral votes to Bush, as Harris's tally prior to the state-ordered recounts placed him ahead of Gore by 537 popular votes. In turn, this gave Bush victory in the national election.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, a Federal Bureau of Investigation investigation revealed that 12 of the 19 hijackers trained or resided in Palm Beach County during the months prior to the attacks. Later that month, during the anthrax attacks, a letter containing spores of this substance was mailed to the American Media, Inc. building in Boca Raton. Three people were exposed to the anthrax, including Robert Stevens, a photo editor who later died after an infection induced by exposure.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Three hurricanes severely impacted Palm Beach County in 2004 and 2005: Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma. On September 5, 2004, Frances made landfall in Martin County as a category-2 hurricane. With wind gusts in Palm Beach County peaking at , the storm inflicted structural damage on about 15,000 houses and 2,400 businesses. Six deaths occurred in the county. Jeanne struck near the same location as a category-3 hurricane on September 26, 2004. The storm also brought strong winds, with an official wind gust of . About 4,160 homes were damaged and 60 were destroyed. Jeanne left about $260 million in damage in the county. On October 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma struck Collier County as a category-3 hurricane. The storm moved northeastward, directly crossing Palm Beach County. Several locations reported hurricane-force winds, including a wind gust of 117 mph (188 km/h) in Belle Glade. Over 90% of Florida Power & Light customers lost electricity. Two deaths occurred in Palm Beach County. The storm inflicted some degree of impact to more than 55,000 homes and 3,600 businesses. Palm Beach County suffered about $2.9 billion in damages.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: In August 2012, the outer bands of Hurricane Isaac dropped at least of rain near Lion Country Safari. The consequent flooding left neighborhoods in The Acreage, Loxahatchee, Loxahatchee Groves, Royal Palm Beach, and Wellington stranded for up to several days. As Hurricane Irma approached in September 2017, mandatory or voluntary evacuations were ordered for more than 290,000 residents of Palm Beach County. Although the storm passed well west of the county, much of the area experienced hurricane-force wind gusts, with a peak gust of in West Palm Beach. Impact was generally limited to widespread power outages and damaged trees and vegetation, though isolated property damage was reported. The storm left about $300 million in damage in the county, as well as five fatalities.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The coconut palm, "Cocos nucifera", is not native to Florida (nor anywhere else in the United States). Its presence in what is today Palm Beach County is due to the shipwreck of the Spanish ship "Providencia" in 1878, near today's Mar-a-Lago. It was traveling from Havana to Cádiz, Spain with a cargo of coconuts. The shipwreck was within walking distance of the shore—the Florida State Archives conserves a picture of a painting—and a deliberate grounding so as to obtain an insurance payout has been proposed. The coconuts were salvaged, too many to be eaten, and thousands were planted. A lush grove of palm trees soon grew on what was later named Palm Beach.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (17.3%) are covered by water. It is the second-largest county in Florida by land area and third-largest by total area. Much of the water is the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Okeechobee. The county has an estimated of farmland.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The eastern third of Palm Beach County is highly urbanized, while the central and western portions of the county are suburban or rural. Palm Beach County is one of three counties in the Miami metropolitan area. However, the county's western communities along Lake Okeechobee, such as Belle Glade, South Bay, and Pahokee, have also been considered more part of the rural Florida Heartland.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Atlantic coastline of Palm Beach County is about in length. It consists mainly of barrier islands and peninsulas, including Jupiter Island, Singer Island, and Palm Beach Island. These islands are separated from the mainland by the Intracoastal Waterway, with much of the waterway locally known as the Lake Worth Lagoon. The main barrier landmasses are split by four inlets: the Jupiter Inlet, the Lake Worth Inlet, the South Lake Worth Inlet, and the Boca Raton Inlet. Two of the four inlets are natural, but significantly altered – the Jupiter and Boca Raton inlets – while the Lake Worth and South Lake Worth inlets are man-made, with the former dug in the 1890s and the latter created between 1926 and 1927. Several other islands exist within the Intracoastal Waterway, including Hypoluxo Island, Munyon Island, and Peanut Island.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: In addition, the county has an abundance of coral reef patches along its coastline and has made efforts to preserve them.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,492,191 people, 568,915 households, and 354,512 families residing in the county.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Of 664,594 households, 24.35% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.28% were married couples living together, 11.68% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.40% were not families. Around 30.11% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.70% (4.02% male and 10.68% female) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.97.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The age distribution was 20.4% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: In 2010, 4.5% of the population considered themselves to be of only "American" ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity).


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: As of 2010, Haitians made up the largest population of immigrants, with Cuban exiled refugees second, Mexicans third, followed by Colombians fourth, then Jamaicans, Guatemalans, Canadians, Hondurans, ninth being Peruvians, and Brazilians being the tenth-highest group of expatriates. British, Germans, and Polish, which had held spots in Palm Beach County's top-10 immigrant list of 2000, dropped off the 2010 list, which now no longer has any European countries in its top 10.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: In 2010, 22.3% of the county's population was foreign born, with 43.7% being naturalized American citizens. Of foreign-born residents, 71.3% were born in Latin America, 13.6% were born in Europe, 9.2% born in Asia, 4.0% in North America, 1.8% born in Africa, and 0.1% were born in Oceania.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: As of 2010, 73.13% of all residents spoke English as a primary language, while 15.69% spoke Spanish, 4.03% French Creole (mainly Haitian Creole), 1.06% French, 0.94% Portuguese, and 0.54% of the population spoke Italian.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Companies headquartered in Palm Beach County include Office Depot, The ADT Corporation, TBC Corporation, G4S Secure Solutions, NextEra Energy, The GEO Group, Globalsat Group, and Bluegreen Vacations.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: There are a significant number of aerospace-focused facilities operating in the county. Although not headquartered in Palm Beach County, aerospace companies with facilities located within the county include United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Sikorsky Aircraft, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and B/E Aerospace. Many of these companies rank among the top 100 employers for the county. The largest employer in Palm Beach County is The School District of Palm Beach County, with 27,168 employees, including more than 12,800 teachers.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Previously W. R. Grace and Company had its headquarters in unincorporated Palm Beach County, near Boca Raton. Prior to its closing, the Boca Raton headquarters had about 130 employees. On January 27, 2011, it announced it was closing the Boca headquarters and moving its administrative staff out of state along with some employees.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Previously, American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, was headquartered in the Boca Raton. It still maintains an office there, but moved the National Enquirer to New York in 2014.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: For 2010, the median income for a household in the county was $53,242, and for a family was $64,445. Males had a median income of $44,324 versus $37,337 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,610. About 8.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those aged 65 or over.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins conduct their spring training at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. Two teams in the Class A-Advanced Florida State League also play their home games at Roger Dean Stadium: the Jupiter Hammerheads, an affiliate of the Miami Marlins, and the Palm Beach Cardinals, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, opened in February 2017 in West Palm Beach, accommodates both the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros for spring training.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Prior to the construction of Roger Dean Stadium, the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves held their spring training at Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach. The West Palm Beach Expos, a Single-A affiliate of the Montreal Expos, also played their games there.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Also popular are the Florida Atlantic Owls, an NCAA Division I school that participates in Conference USA. The FAU football team plays at FAU Stadium, and averaged 17,941 fans during the 2017 season. The FAU basketball team plays at FAU Arena, and averaged 1,346 fans during the 2013–14 season.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: A number of shopping malls exist throughout Palm Beach County, including the Palm Beach Outlets, Rosemary Square (formerly CityPlace), Boynton Beach Mall, The Gardens Mall, Town Center at Boca Raton, The Mall at Wellington Green and Mizner Park. Formerly, the Palm Beach and Cross County Malls operated in the county, though they closed in 1997 and 2010, respectively.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Florida Department of Corrections operates the Glades Correctional Institution in an unincorporated area in Palm Beach County near Belle Glade.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Palm Beach County's revenue from property taxes, sales taxes and tourist development taxes reached record levels in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, according to the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County’s annual financial report, "Checks & Balances: Your Guide to County Finances.  "


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The County collected $1.1 billion in property tax revenue in FY 2018, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year. Sales tax collections rose to $175.8 million, marking the eighth consecutive year of growth. Revenue from Tourist Development Tax receipts was $53.8 million, up from $48.5 million in FY 2017. Meanwhile, Local Option Gas Taxes paid by motorists for gasoline decreased for the first time in five years, partially due to higher gasoline prices, which reduced the number of miles driven, according to the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller's "Checks & Balances" report.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The county is governed by a board of commissioners, consisting of seven commissioners, who are all elected from single-member districts. One of the commissioners is elected County Mayor and one of them is elected Vice Mayor. Commissioners serve staggered terms, and commissioners from Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 are elected during presidential election years, while the commissioners from Districts 2, 4, and 6 are elected in gubernatorial election years.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Elected county officers include a clerk of courts and comptroller, sheriff, property appraiser, tax collector, and supervisor of elections. State officers serving the Florida judicial district include the state attorney and public defender. All positions are 4-year terms, requiring direct election by voters in presidential election years.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Five former county commissioners have been accused or found guilty of corruption from 2006 to 2009. A grand jury recommended a strong inspector general. This position was approved by county voters in 2010. A county judge found that the mandate covered municipal government in 2015.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO) provides police services to the county's unincorporated areas and the 13 municipalities covered by PBSO. PBSO also oversees the county jail system, provides security at all four of the county courthouses, and is the primary law enforcement agency covering Palm Beach International Airport. The Sheriff's Office is composed of roughly 4,200 employees, including approximately 1,600 sworn law enforcement personnel, 700 sworn corrections personnel, 1,900 civilian personnel and 1,800 volunteers. The annual operating budget for the PBSO is approximately $740,000,000. Ric L. Bradshaw has been sheriff for Palm Beach County since January 2005, and has served over 45 years in law enforcement.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: There are two jail facilities operated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. One is in Belle Glade, called the West Detention Center, which houses all custody levels from minimum to maximum security. At any one time it can contain up to 991 inmates (total bed capacity), with a staff of 188. The facility has a video visitation program which allows families to communicate with inmates remotely. The largest jail is the Main Detention Center. Three towers make up the center, The South Tower, The East Tower, and The West Tower. The largest is The South Tower, the building was constructed in 1993 from concrete and steel with a cost of $52 million. The East and West Towers were built in 1983; they now flank the South Tower, completing the Main Detention Center. The Main Detention Center's primary function is to hold high risk inmates, federal inmates, and those inmates who are in need of special medical attention and/or are unable to operate at other facilities. The total number of beds at the facility is 2,166. The South Tower can hold 1,285 inmates, East Tower has 418 beds, and The West Tower has 404 beds.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: In the United States House of Representatives, Palm Beach County is represented by three Democrats and one Republican: Brian Mast of the 18th district, Sheila Cherfillus-McCormick of the 20th district, Ted Deutch of the 21st district, and Lois Frankel of the 22nd district.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Nine districts of the Florida House of Representatives represent parts of Palm Beach County, with the seats held by Kelly Skidmore (D) of 81st district, John Snyder (R) of the 82nd district, Rick Roth (R) of the 85th district, Matt Willhite (D) of the 86th district, David Silvers (D) of the 87th district, Omari Hardy (D) of the 88th district, Mike Caruso (R) of the 89th district, Joseph Casello (D) of the 90th district, and Emily Slosberg (D) of the 91st district. Additionally, the county has four seats in the Florida Senate, which are represented by Gayle Harrell (R) of the 25th district, Tina Polsky (D) of the 29th district, Bobby Powell (D) of the 30th district, and Lori Berman of the 31st district.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: As of October 1, 2021, the county has a strong Democratic plurality, with large Republican and independent minorities, respectively. In gubernatorial races, the county had also been a democratic stronghold, dating back to the 1980s until the 2022 gubernatorial election where Ron DeSantis won a majority of the vote.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Consequently, Palm Beach County has supported the Democratic Party nominee for the presidency since 1992, though the county had been carried by the Republican Party nominee for every election from 1948 to 1988. Republicans have been gaining an increased share of the votes in Palm Beach County since 2000, however. That year, Al Gore defeated George W. Bush in the county by a margin of approximately 27 percent, while Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump (who is a resident of the county) by just 13 percent in 2020.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Palm Beach County's roadways for being dangerous for non-motorized users. Local municipalities are working to increase safety, but county and state authorities have been hesitant to modify designs.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: I-95 and Florida's Turnpike are controlled-access expressways that serve Palm Beach county. Southern Boulevard (signed SR 80/US 98), which runs east–west through central Palm Beach County, is a partial freeway from Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach to US 441/SR 7 in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. In the late 1980s, there were plans to construct two additional expressways in Palm Beach County. One was to be an toll freeway from Royal Palm Beach to downtown West Palm Beach. It would have run between Belvedere Road and Okeechobee Boulevard; necessitating the destruction of several homes and churches along its path. The other proposed route was a northern extension of the Sawgrass Expressway which was to be called "University Parkway". The University Parkway would have snaked around suburban developments west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach; its path bordering the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Ultimately, both expressways were canceled due to opposition from county residents.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The national intercity train system, Amtrak, offers the "Silver Meteor" and the "Silver Star" in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Port of Palm Beach is located in Riviera Beach, where Celebration Cruise Line operates 2-day cruises to the Bahamas.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, a segment of the Florida National Scenic Trail, passes through the county.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: All of Palm Beach County is served by the School District of Palm Beach County. As of 2006, it was the fourth largest school district in Florida and the 11th largest school district in the United States. As of August 2006, the district operated 164 schools, including 25 high schools, and, as of July 22, 2006, had an additional 33 charter schools, with seven more scheduled to open in August 2006. Newsweek listed three Palm Beach County high schools in the top 50 schools in the list 1200 Top U.S. Schools - Atlantic Community High School, Suncoast High School and the Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts, all public magnet schools. Private schools in the county include American Heritage School, Cardinal Newman High School, Jupiter Christian School, The King's Academy, The Benjamin School, Oxbridge Academy, Palm Beach Day Academy, Pope John Paul II High School, St Andrew's School and Weinbaum Yeshiva High School.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Palm Beach County is served by the Palm Beach County Library System, established in 1967 through a Special Act of the Florida Legislature, and operates as a department of county government. It is currently made up of 17 library branches, as well as a bookmobile which travels to more than 40 stops each month. As Palm Beach County continues to see population growth, the library system will also need to plan for continued expansion. Presently, the county plans to build a new 30,000-square-foot branch in the Canyon Town Center, located in western Boynton Beach. This new branch is projected to be completed in 2021. The system's Main Library is located on Summit Boulevard in an unincorporated section of West Palm Beach. It is the largest provider of library services in the county, serving an area that is comparable to the size of the state of Delaware, with holdings of over 1.88 million items.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Unlike many county library systems, including neighboring Broward and Miami-Dade counties, several municipalities continue to operate their own libraries. The county library systems works together in a cooperative system model which allows interoperation between the county system and the 13 city libraries in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Lake Park, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Manalapan (J. Turner Moore Public Library), North Palm Beach, Palm Springs, Palm Beach (Society of the Four Arts), Riviera Beach, and West Palm Beach (Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach).


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The county's first library began as a Free Reading Room in 1895 in West Palm Beach's first church, the Union Congregational Church, when Reverend Asbury Caldwell began collecting books for a reading club he hoped would keep construction workers out of the city's many drinking establishments located along First Street, or “Thirst Street” as it was known. The reading club floundered when Caldwell left West Palm Beach, but in 1899, the West Palm Beach Public Library got its official start, housed in a two-story former Palm Beach Yacht Club building donated by Commodore Charles John Clarke, a Palm Beach yachtsman, with the collection of books from the Reading Room and a $100 donation from Henry Flagler. A permanent building was constructed in 1924 in Flagler Park along the Intracoastal Waterway. Two additional buildings have also housed the library – one at 100 Clematis Street, a state-of-art building complete with a 250-seat auditorium that opened to much fanfare in 1964. The second, located at 411 Clematis Street, is a four-story building in the West Palm Beach City Center complex, which houses both city hall and the library, is two and one-half times the size of the previous building. In 2012, the West Palm Beach Public Library Foundation formally changed its name to the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach after receiving a $5 million grant from the Mandel Foundation.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The largest city and county seat is West Palm Beach, with a population of 117,415 as of the 2020 US Census. Boca Raton, is the southernmost and second-largest, bordering Broward County and having 97,422 people in 2020 within its city limits. Boynton Beach (between Boca Raton and West Palm Beach), is the third-largest city, with a 2020 population nearing 80,380 residents.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: The county has 39 municipalities in total. The municipalities are numbered corresponding to the attached image, except for the newest municipality, Westlake. Municipality populations are based on the 2020 Census.


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Several unincorporated parts of Palm Beach County were listed as census-designated places for the 2000 census, but were not listed for the 2010 census:


title: Palm Beach County, Florida

text: Palm Beach County borders Martin County to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Broward County to the south, Hendry County to the west, and extends into Lake Okeechobee in the northwest, where it borders Okeechobee County and Glades County at one point in the center of the lake.


title: Weekly Shōnen Magazine

text: It is one of the best-selling manga magazines. By March 2008, the magazine had 2,942 issues, having sold 4.55billion copies, with an average weekly circulation of . At an average issue price of ($3800/2942 round 2), the magazine had generated approximately () in sales revenue by March 2008. In addition, about compiled "tankōbon" volumes had been sold by March 2008.


title: Weekly Shōnen Magazine

text: Jason Thompson stated that it is "more down-to-earth, as well as just a tad more guy-oriented" compared to "Weekly Shōnen Jump" and likened this magazine to "more like something you'd find in the guys' locker room."


title: Weekly Shōnen Magazine

text: There are currently 27 manga titles being serialized in "Weekly Shōnen Magazine". Out of them, "Ahiru no Sora" and "To Your Eternity" are currently on hiatus.


title: Weekly Shōnen Magazine

text: The "Weekly Shōnen Magazine" achieved success in the 1970s and subsequently had increased sales. As a result, it became the top-selling manga magazine in Japan of its period, appearing popular amongst many otaku. But the position was later occupied by "Weekly Shōnen Jump", when this competitor was born in 1968, knocking "Shōnen Magazine" off the top spot. "Shōnen Jump" had begun to circulate and dominate the manga magazine market. This started from the 1970s and continued throughout the 1990s, owed mainly to Akira Toriyama's "Dragon Ball".


title: Weekly Shōnen Magazine

text: In the middle of the 1990s, "Shōnen Jump" suffered the loss of "Dragon Ball", as the franchise had come to an end in 1996, and thus lost much of its readership. "Shōnen Magazine" had now made a comeback in October 1997, regaining its original position as the top-selling manga magazine of its day until this was brokered in 2002. Currently, the two magazines have competed closely in terms of market circulation. Sales of the two magazines now remain very close. Circulation has dropped below two million. In a rare event due to the closeness of the two magazine's founding dates, "Weekly Shōnen Magazine" and "Weekly Shōnen Sunday" released a special combined issue on March 19, 2008. In addition, other commemorative events, merchandise, and manga crossovers were planned for the following year as part of the celebrations.


title: Weekly Shōnen Magazine

text: Others include "Shōnen Magazine", published by Kobunsha of the same Kodansha group. "Shōnen Magazine" famously serialized "Tetsujin 28-go", the first mecha anime from July 1956 to May 1966.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay "(portmanteau of Rupee and Payment)" is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system, conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 26 March 2012. It was created to fulfil the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) vision of establishing a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions. NPCI maintains ties with Discover Financial, JCB to enable RuPay card scheme to gain international acceptance.


title: RuPay

text: As of November 2020, around 60.3 crores (603.6 million) RuPay cards have been issued by nearly 1,158 banks. All merchant discount rate (MDR) charges were eliminated for RuPay transactions from 1 January 2020. All Indian companies with an annual turnover exceeding are required to offer RuPay payment options to their customers.


title: RuPay

text: In 2009, RBI had asked the Indian Bank Association to create a non-profit payment company which will design an indigenous payment card. The card was tentatively referred as India Pay. After years of planning, NPCI was entrusted with the implementation and finalised the name of the proposed card as RuPay, a portmanteau of the words "ru"pee and "pay"ment to avoid naming conflicts with other financial institutions using the same name. The colours used in the logo are an allusion to the tricolour flag of India. NPCI conceived it as an alternative to Mastercard and Visa while consolidate and integrate various payment systems in India.


title: RuPay

text: RBI in its vision paper 2009–2012 on payment systems in India said that the need for such a system arises from the absence of a domestic price setter that has caused the Indian banks to bear the high cost for affiliation and the connection with international card associations schemes like Visa and Mastercard resulting in the need for routing even domestic transactions which account for more than 90%, through a switch located outside the country.


title: RuPay

text: The RuPay scheme was launched on 26 March 2012. RuPay was dedicated to India on 8 May 2014, by the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. NPCI launched an international subsidiary called NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) on 19 August 2020 to increase the globalisation and availability of RuPay in foreign markets. As of March 2021, the market share of RuPay in India by volumes of traction is at 34% and by value 30% respectively.


title: RuPay

text: On December 14, 2021, the Government of India approved ₹1,300 crore ($170 million) package to promote RuPay among marginalised section of the population. Mastercard and Visa called this move protectionism which threaten their duopoly in the Indian card payment market. Both the companies further raised their complaint with Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).


title: RuPay

text: Around 77.7 crore (777 million) Indian consumers shop cross-border in 2021. To make ease of payment, NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UK based PPRO Financial on 17 November 2021 to expand the acceptance of RuPay into foreign markets especially in China and United States which accounts for half of all international transaction coming from India.


title: RuPay

text: Under Payments Vision 2025, RBI will further push for internationalization of RuPay with countries using United States dollar, Pound sterling and Euro under bilateral treaties.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay offers debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards and government scheme cards. Government scheme cards include both debit cards such as the RuPay PMJDY, RuPay Mudra and RuPay PunGrain cards, and the RuPay Kisan credit card. It also offers combo cards that offer debit and credit, debit and prepaid, or credit and prepaid features through a single card.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay issues debit cards in three variants - RuPay Classic, RuPay Platinum and RuPay Select. Classic is the standard basic RuPay-branded card which offers minimum features such as various merchant offers in categories like dining, travel, pharmacy, lifestyle, cosmetics, retails, shopping, and jewelry. It does not offer benefits such as airport lounge access. Platinum is the middle tier offering from RuPay which provides all the features of Classic, plus more offers and benefits such as airport lounge access, comprehensive insurance coverage of up to ₹2,00,000 and various other merchant offers.


title: RuPay

text: NPCI launched the RuPay Select card in the 2020 targeting affluent customers. It is the most premium debit card offering from RuPay. The card is different from previous offerings as it is independent of issuing bank that form partnership with various businesses to provide card specific benefits. Now all the benefits are curated under one package independent of bank partnerships, so as to stop customer to apply for multiple card schemes. The RuPay Select is for NPCI to capture the market-share of high spending customers and provide an Indian alternative against the premium offerings from Mastercard, Visa etc.


title: RuPay

text: As of July 2018, RuPay cards have been issued by banks across India. Apart from the main private-sector and public-sector banks, RuPay cards are also issued by cooperative banks (scheduled cooperative banks, district cooperative banks, state cooperative banks, urban cooperative banks) and regional rural banks (RRBs) in the country.


title: RuPay

text: Like RuPay debit cards, RuPay credit cards are also available in three variants - RuPay Classic, RuPay Platinum and RuPay Select. RuPay credit cards were in operation since June 2017, with eight public sector banks, one private sector bank and one cooperative bank issuing the card without any formal launch. A pilot project was going on to technically enabling more and more banks in RuPay credit cards with additional five public sector banks and by March 2018, NPCI plans to have 25 banks altogether on board. Total 17 banks launched RuPay credit cards.


title: RuPay

text: To further boost the fast-growing payment network, SBI Cards & Payments Services Ltd will soon launch RuPay credit cards. This is a last agreement that is left out between NPCI and SBI with the proposed product launch in fiscal 2019. After a moratorium from RBI on Mastercard due to data localization issue, Federal Bank and Yes Bank started on-boarding new credit card customers on RuPay platform. In 2021, Fiserve with NPCI launched a stack of services called nFiNi that will help Indian banks improve the quality of services on RuPay credit cards. Union Bank of India (UBI) in September 2021 launched RuPay and JCB co-branded international credit card.


title: RuPay

text: Federal Bank RuPay Signet Contactless Credit Card launched on 27 September 2021. NPCI in collaboration with Kotak Mahindra Bank launched specially designed RuPay credit cards for Indian Armed Forces on 28 October 2021. BOB Financial and NPCI partner to launch Bank of Baroda RuPay and JCB co-branded international credit card on 16 November 2021. Launched on the RuPay-JCB International network, both network cards support global acceptance. The Digital Payment Utsav held in the city on Sunday, 5 December 2021. India Post Payments Bank-Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and City Union Bank launched Contactless Credit cards on the RuPay network.


title: RuPay

text: From 8 June 2022, RBI allowed linking RuPay Credit Card with Unified Payments Interface (UPI). In the absence of a physical card, customers can use UPI as credit card for transaction. The service was officially launched on 20 September 2022.


title: RuPay

text: The Union Bank of India launched RuPay Combo Debit Cum Credit Card in November 2018, the first RuPay card that facilitates both debit and credit transactions through a single card. The card has 2 EMVs and 2 magnetic stripes.


title: RuPay

text: Sodexo launched the Sodexo Multi-Benefit Pass in partnership with RuPay in May 2019. The card contains a magnetic stripe that allows users to pay for meal-benefits and a chip that allows them make purchases through the RuPay network. It can also be used to make online purchases on web portals that accept RuPay payments.


title: RuPay

text: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in collaboration with the Union Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India launched the IRCTC-UBI RuPay pre-paid card on 2015 to book tickets, do shopping and pay service bills. The card is a first-of-its-kind in the market as both virtual as well as physical cards are being issued to customers in two variants.


title: RuPay

text: Kochi1, a RuPay prepaid smart card rolled out by the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) with the help of the Axis Bank on 2 March 2019, became the first inter-modal transit card when its usage was extended to private buses with additional services including parking solutions in near future. It is launched under Kochi Smart City project and there are plans to extend the card to auto-rickshaws, ferries including that of the Kerala State Water Transport Department, proposed Water Metro, KSRTC buses so as to make it a Common Mobility Card in all respects.


title: RuPay

text: RBL Bank had partnered with GI Technology, a Wirecard subsidiary and India's largest wallet-based domestic money remittance company operating under the Brand Name ICashCard to launch RBL-ICASH co-branded, open loop RuPay Prepaid Card.


title: RuPay

text: ItzCash, India's largest digital payments company announced that it has partnered with RBL Bank to launch the country's first co-branded Rupay Platinum Prepaid Card. The multi-purpose card will roll out a suite of prepaid services across physical and virtual platforms. The service was launched to ensure seamless interoperability, access to unlocking multiple solutions and driving the prepaid program of the nation.


title: RuPay

text: The NPCI started issuing global cards in 2014. Singapore has offered assistance to promote India's digital payment network RuPay card overseas by becoming its first international partner. On 7 March 2012, NPCI entered into a strategic partnership with Discover Financial Services (DFS) for RuPay, enabling the acceptance of RuPay Global Cards to utilise the Discover, Diners Club International and PULSE networks for international purchases and cash access outside of India. Both companies were also working to implement D-PAS, Discover's EMV technology to offer chip-based cards to RuPay card members. The cards are accepted by over 42.4 million POS terminals and 1.90 million ATMs in 185 countries.


title: RuPay

text: NPCI with JCB launched RuPay-JCB Global card on 22 July 2019. After extending domestic POS terminal and ATM support for incoming foreign JCB card holders in 2017, NPCI entered into the second phase of partnership with the launch of co-branded card to further increase the international acceptance of RuPay. The card will offer special cashback program for POS transactions outside India in addition to selected popular international destinations for travellers. It will support additional services such as in-city JCB Lounges located in airports with round the year merchant promotions all over the world. While debit cards are only being issued initially through the partnership, credit and prepaid cards are also on the anvil.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay issued 64 million (64 million) Global Cards between 2014 and March 2019. RuPay has tied-up with international players like Discover, Japan Credit Bureau and China Union Pay to enhance its international acceptance and recently achieved a milestone of issuing 25 million RuPay – Discover global cards.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay E-com is the payment gateway that facilitates online transactions by RuPay card holders. It supports one click payments, Seamless APIs, and Connected Checkout, and also offers additional payment options such as subscription payments, EMI, online credit card bill payments and balance transfers.


title: RuPay

text: NPCI launched the RuPay Commercial Credit Card for corporate clients on 23 July 2020 at Global Fintech Fest in partnership with State Bank of Mauritius (SBM). Fintech startup Yap helped in developing the application programming interface (API) powering the card while EnKash will provide dedicated customer support and expense management service. SBM is targeting the product towards SMEs and MSMEs. It will be available through State Bank of Mauritius touch-points across India which is undergoing business expansion. RuPay Business credit card is offering instant bulk payout, 30-day credit period on business purchase, automated goods and services tax (GST) and a dashboard to manage business spending that will further help the clients move towards more powerful corporate offerings from NPCI in future.


title: RuPay

text: Central Bank of India with NPCI launched RuPay Business Platinum on 29 December 2021 for corporate customers. The card will help people from small business and micro-enterprise to maintain personal and business account separately.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay Pro credit card is also launched on 23 July 2020 at Global Fintech Fest but is mainly oriented towards young individual entrepreneurs. It is offering variable billing cycle, travel expenses, rental payments with dedicated customer services and expense tracking mechanism. It supports digital and paperless know you customer (KYC) process on-boarding.


title: RuPay

text: nth Rewards is a loyalty benefits platform operated by the NPCI that enables corporate clients to sponsor rewards for RuPay card holders.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay Contactless is a contactless payment technology feature that allows cardholders to wave their card in front of contactless payment terminals without the need to physically swipe or insert the card into a point-of-sale device. This is an EMV-compatible, contactless payment feature similar to Mastercard Contactless, Visa Contactless, and ExpressPay which use RFID technology.


title: RuPay

text: The National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI) card network RuPay has launched a contactless prepaid NFC card. It launched the contactless card for the Ahmedabad Smart city project in association with ICICI Bank and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. It also launched similar prepaid contactless cards for the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) in association with Axis Bank.


title: RuPay

text: Contactless can currently be used on transactions up to and including ₹2000. In March 2019 under ‘One Nation, One Card’ scheme a National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) for transportation was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function in Ahmedabad on RuPay platform in order to avoid vendor lock-in and create an interoperable system under Make in India.


title: RuPay

text: This is the latest development in the forward movement of the Interoperable Fare Management System. The main aim behind the card is to redefine payment for public transport systems and retail ease of access, at the cutting edge of digital payments. The project is under the purview of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with the vision "One Card for all payments". With this theme, the card needed to be accepted across multiple verticals. It then made sense to take up a card which is gaining a significant amount of adoption in the contactless payment space. The specifications for the NCMC programme are with the government and it is not owned by any specific body, hence all card payment schemes are welcome to join the programme.


title: RuPay

text: Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) buses are set to become the first public transportation in India to roll out the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC). The one nation, one card system will initially be implemented on a pilot basis from November 2019 and will be available widely only from 2020. More than 10,000 BEST conductors will be given the hand-held devices that would be able to scan the NCMC cards with just one tap, alongside generating paper tickets.


title: RuPay

text: Visa is ready with the specifications to start issuing cards on the NCMC network and has started discussions with banks to issue their cards on NCMC as well, but it will take some time for the cards to start getting rolled out in the market. Just weeks after its biggest competitor Visa, Mastercard set to join One Nation One Card project.


title: RuPay

text: After discussions with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) confirmed the trial run from 1 January 2020 with four automatic fare collection (AFC) gates at Nadaprabhu, Kempegowda and Baiyyappanahalli stations. Passengers of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses and Metro trains on the Majestic-Whitefield route will be able to use the card. Existing AFC gates at Phase 1 metro stations will have to be upgraded while AFC gates at Phase 2 metro stations operational by 2024 will accept new cards. Around 11,000 old electronic ticketing machines will be replaced with new android-based ones of which around 2,000 have already been changed to accept the card.


title: RuPay

text: The State Bank of India (SBI) in collaboration with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launched SBI-IRCTC RuPay contactless card on 28 July 2020 to reward frequent railway travellers in India with the proposal of maximum savings during the journey period. The card uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and can be used by the railway travellers for benefits on retail, dining and entertainment besides transaction fee waivers.


title: RuPay

text: NPCI on the eve of Global Fintech Festival 2021 launched RuPay On-the-Go interoperable, open-loop contactless solution that are made available on smartwatch and other personal electronic accessories eliminating the need to carry physical card.


title: RuPay

text: In view of RBI guidelines on card payment, NPCI on 21 October 2021 launched Token Reference On File (TROF) service that will help keep RuPay card details into RuPay Network Secure Vault. This will help share unique token reference ID number instead of actual card details between customers, merchants and banks for transactions and stop identity theft and hacks.


title: RuPay

text: On 6 December 2021, PayPhi became the first digital payment platform in the country to officially certified for RuPay Tokenisation System.


title: RuPay

text: This is developed by NPCI in collaboration with Mastercard, and Visa as an integrated interoperable QR code based payment system and was launched in September 2016. It facilitates users to transfer their money from one source to another without the need of physical cards. The money transferred through BharatQR is received directly in the user's linked bank account using IMPS. It provides a common interface between RuPay, Mastercard, Visa, American Express as opposed to other such individual proprietary systems. BharatQR is supported on both Android and iOS devices. Bijlipay, an end to end digital payment solutions company, is the first Indian Point-of-Sale (PoS) devices providing company to enable Bharat QR code on the screens of its POS machines. According to RBI, the Bharat QR Code is the world's first inter-operable payment acceptance solution.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay Card is expected to roll out recurring payments without the two-factor authentication process for transactions of less than ₹2,000 during first quarter of 2020, as per National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) chief operating officer (COO) Praveena Rai. The technology work is going on and the entire ecosystem is gearing up for the shift.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay cards are accepted at almost all ATMs across India. On 21 June 2013, NPCI launched RuPay PaySecure that enabled card holders make online payment. Till November 2020, over 1,158 banks issued 603.6 million RuPay cards.


title: RuPay

text: PayPal supports the RuPay card system. Amazon accepts all RuPay debit cards, and some RuPay credit cards issued by select banks. Apple began accepting RuPay debit and credit cards on the App Store and iTunes Store in July 2021. RuPay cards are yet not accepted as a valid payment method on Google Play for making purchases in apps and games.


title: RuPay

text: The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched the RuPay scheme in Singapore on 31 May 2018. The launch took place in parallel with related services offered by the NPCI, such as UPI and BHIM. The State Bank of India, Singapore will be the first bank to issue RuPay cards in the country.


title: RuPay

text: RuPay users will be able to make payments at NETS terminals across Singapore. NETS users will be able to make online purchases on e-commerce merchant websites in India using 2.8 million RuPay PoS terminals. The rollout will happen mid 2018.


title: RuPay

text: Following Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering's visit to India on 28 December 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that RuPay cards would be introduced in Bhutan. RuPay cards were officially launched in Bhutan on 17 August 2019 with Prime Minister Modi making the first RuPay transaction in the country with a purchase from Simtokha Dzong.


title: RuPay

text: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA) announced that they would integrate the financial switches of the two countries in order to simplify cross border transactions. India will support an estimated cost of the integration work. Post-integration, RuPay card holders can use their cards across all ATMs and POS terminals in Bhutan. The RMA maintains an account with the State Bank of India. Any withdrawal by a RuPay card holder in Bhutan would be settled through an instant credit into the RMA's account. The arrangement is expected to benefit both countries by minimising foreign currency outflow. Visa and MasterCard payments are settled in US dollars, while RuPay can be settled in rupees. The Bhutanese Ngultrum is fixed at a one-to-one exchange rate with the Indian rupee making settlement easy for both countries. In addition, Bhutanese banks will issue RuPay cards that will allow Bhutanese card holders to access the RuPay network in India.


title: RuPay

text: On 20 November 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Bhutan, Dr. Lotay Tshering jointly launched Phase-2 of RuPay Bhutan in which Bhutan National Bank will now issue RuPay-based cards allowing Bhutanese RuPay card holders to use them within Bhutan and in India.


title: RuPay

text: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that RuPay cards would be launched in the Maldives during his address to the People's Majlis (the Maldivan Parliament) on 8 June 2019. Modi added that the introduction of RuPay would increase the number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives.


title: RuPay

text: On 4 December 2019, Bank of Maldives (BML) partnered with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to introduce RuPay Cards in Maldives. BML and NPCI signed a MoU to introduce the acceptance of RuPay cards in Maldives. BML will accept RuPay cards on the bank's ATMs, POS machine and other digital channels. BML revealed that the issuance of RuPay co-branded prepaid cards by the bank, and the acceptance of the co-branded cards across ATMs, POS machines and digital channels in India will also take place in due time.


title: RuPay

text: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a technology interface between the payment platforms in India and UAE was exchanged between the National Payments Corporation of India and UAE's Mercury Payments Services. UAE is the first country in the Gulf where RuPay was launched.


title: RuPay

text: An MoU on 25 August 2019 was signed between The Benefit Company for handling ATM and POS transactions among others, and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for launch of RuPay card in the Gulf Kingdom. As of 2021, BENEFIT is enabling its member acquirers of 515 ATMs and 40,000 PoS terminals in Bahrain to accept and recognize Issuer Identification Numbers (IIN) from NPCI International Payment Limited (NIPL).


title: RuPay

text: Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on 24 October 2019 that to help domestic pilgrims visiting Mecca and Madina, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch RuPay card in Saudi Arabia during a state visit to the gulf country on 29 October 2019. During a meeting with Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi on 19 September 2022, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussed introduction of RuPay in the country. Operationalization of RuPay is one of the priority area in bilateral digital Fintech collaboration.


title: RuPay

text: Myanmar has decided to work together with India on the launch of RuPay enabled cards at the earliest and explore the creation of a digital payment gateway, according to a joint statement issued by the President of Myanmar, Win Myint on 28 February 2020. NPCI needs to adhere to Myanmar financial regulation and laws which would not only stimulate the economy of Myanmar but further facilitate cross border tourism and business from India.


title: RuPay

text: BC Card announced on 23 August 2017 that it has signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) for strategic network partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Through the MoU, the two companies have agreed to provide services allowing transactions using domestic-use-only cards issued by BC Card in India and RuPay in South Korea. There are also plans to expand the areas of co-operation through the launch of BC Card-NPCI "co-branded" cards and development of new business models. NPCI released a circular on 8 April 2020 on acceptance of RuPay cards in South Korea.


title: RuPay

text: NIPL signed MoU with French payment company Lyra Network, that will allow Indian tourists and students make payment using RuPay on supported terminals and machines in France.