title: Haida people

text: There were multiple motivations for the Haida people to engage in warfare. Various accounts explain that the Haida went to battle more for revenge and slaves than for anything else. According to the anthropologist Margaret Blackman, warfare on Haida Gwaii was primarily motivated by revenge. Many Northwest coast legends tell of Haida communities raiding and fighting with neighbouring communities because of insults. Other causes included disputes over property, territory, resources, trade routes and even women. However, a battle between a Haida community and another often did not have simply one cause. In fact, many battles were the result of decades old disputes. The Haida, like many of the Northwest coast Indigenous communities, engaged in slave-raiding as slaves were highly sought after for their use as labor as well as bodyguards and warriors. During the 19th century, the Haida fought physically with other Indigenous communities to ensure domination of the fur trade with European merchants. Haida groups also had feuds with these European merchants that could last years. In 1789, some Haidas were accused of stealing items from Captain Kendrick, most of which included drying linen. Kendrick seized two Haida chiefs and threatened to kill them via cannon-fire if they did not return the stolen items. Though the Haida community complied at the time, less than two years later 100 to 200 of its people attacked the same ship.


title: Haida people

text: The missionary W. H. Collison describes having seen a Haida fleet of around forty canoes. However, he does not provide the number of warriors in these canoes, and there are no other known accounts that describe the number of warriors in a war party. The structure of a Haida war party generally followed that of the community itself, the only difference being that the chief took the lead during battles; otherwise his title was more or less meaningless. Medicine men were often brought along raids or before battles to "destroy the souls of enemies" and ensure victory.


title: Haida people

text: Battles between a group of Haida warriors and another community sometimes resulted in the annihilation of either one or both of the groups involved. Villages would be burned down during a battle which was a common practice during Northwest coast battles. The Haida burned their warriors who died in battles, though it is not known if this act was done after each battle or only after battles in which they were victorious. The Haida believed that fallen warriors went to the House of Sun, which was considered a highly honorable death. For this reason, a specially made military suit was prepared for chiefs if they fell in battle. The slaves belonging to the chiefs who died in battle were burned with them.


title: Haida people

text: The Haida used the bow and arrow until it was replaced by firearms acquired from Europeans in the 19th century, but other traditional weapons were still preferred. The weapons that the Haida used were often multi-functional; they were used not only in battle, but during other activities as well. For instance, daggers were very common and almost always the weapon of choice for hand-to-hand combat, and were also used during hunting and to create other tools. One medicine man's dagger that Alexander Mackenzie came across during his exploration of Haida Gwaii, was used both for fights and to hold the medicine man's hair up. Another dagger that Mackenzie obtained from a Haida village was said to be connected to a Haida legend; many daggers had individual histories which made them unique from one another.


title: Haida people

text: The Haida wore rod-and-slat armor. This meant greaves for the thighs and lower back and slats (a long strip of wood) in the side pieces to allow for more flexibility during movement. They wore elk hide tunics under their armor and wooden helmets. Arrows could not penetrate this armor, and Russian explorers found that bullets could only penetrate the armor if shot from a distance of less than 20 feet. The Haida rarely used shields because of their developed armor.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut through by four major rivers of peninsular India, viz., Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri. Deomali with 1672 m height is the tallest point in Odisha. Arma Konda/Jindhagada Peak with 1680 m is the highest point in Andhra Pradesh. BR hill range located in Karnataka is the tallest hill range in Eastern Ghats with many peaks above 1750 m height. Kattahi betta in BR hills with the height of 1822 m is the tallest peak in Eastern Ghats. Thalamalai hill range in Tamil Nadu is the second tallest hill range. Araku range is the third tallest hill range.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Eastern Ghats are made up of charnockites, granite gneiss, khondalites, metamorphic gneisses and quartzite rock formations. The structure of the Eastern Ghats includes thrusts and strike-slip faults all along its range. Limestone, bauxite and iron ore are found in the Eastern Ghats hill ranges.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Eparchaean Unconformity of the Tirumala Hills is a major discontinuity of stratigraphic significance that represents an extensive period of erosion and non-deposition. It is seen at the steep natural slopes, road scars and ravines in the Tirumala ghat roads in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: As with the Western Ghats, these mountain ranges also have local names along the discontinuous hill ranges.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Ponnaiyar and Palar rivers flow from headwaters on the Kolar Plateau eastward through gaps in the Ghats to empty into the Bay of Bengal; the Javadhu Hills lie between the two rivers. There are waterfalls in remote areas, such as the Kiliyur Falls.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: Madhurawada Dome in the Eastern Ghats mobile belt is formed by a tectonic arrangement with the khondalite suite and quartz Archean rocks along the Eastern Ghats north of Visakhapatnam.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Maliya Range is located in the northern portion of the Eastern Ghats. The Maliya Range generally ranges between elevations of 900–1200 m, although some of its summits soar higher. The tallest peak in this range is Mahendragiri (1,501 m).


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Madugula Konda Range is located in the northern portion of the Eastern Ghats. The Madugula Konda range is higher than the Maliyas and generally ranges between elevations of 1100–1400 m. Prominent summits include the highest peak of the Eastern Ghats - Arma Konda (1680 m), Gali Konda (1643 m) and Sinkram Gutta (1620 m).


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The Eastern Ghats are the source area for many small and medium rivers of the east coastal plains of South India.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: The endemic fauna of the Eastern Ghats are the Jerdon's courser "(Rhinoptilus bitorquatus)" and grey slender loris "(Loris lydekkerianus)". The rare geckos found here are the Indian golden gecko "(Calodactylodes aureus)", granite rock gecko "(Hemidactylus graniticolus)", Yercaud slender gecko "(Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus)", other lizards such as Sharma's skink ("Eutropis nagarjuni"), and snakes such as Gower's shieldtail snake "(Rhinophis goweri)", Shortt's shieldtail snake "(Uropeltis shorttii)", Nagarjun Sagar racer "(Coluber bholanathi)".


title: Eastern Ghats

text: Indian elephant "(Elephas maximus indicus)", blackbuck "(Antilope cervicapra)", Asian palm civet "(Paradoxurus hermaphroditus)", small Indian civet "(Viverricula indica)", Madras treeshrew "(Anathana ellioti)", common grey mongoose "(Urva edwardsii)", sambar deer "(Rusa unicolor)", Indian crested porcupine "(Hystrix indica)", Indian bison "(Bos gaurus)", wild boar "(Sus scrofa)", common muntjac "(Muntiacus muntjak)", Indian leopard "(Panthera pardus fusca)", Bengal tiger "(Panthera tigris tigris)", dhole "(Cuon alpinus)", golden jackal "(Canis aureus)", Indian giant squirrel "(Ratufa indica)", Indian hare "(Lepus nigricollis)", Asian house shrew "(Suncus murinus)", tufted grey langur "(Semnopithecus priam)", Indian flying fox "(Pteropus giganteus)", bonnet macaque "(Macaca radiata)", rhesus macaque "(Macaca mulatta)", Bengal fox "(Vulpes bengalensis)", smooth-coated otter "(Lutrogale perspicillata)", jungle cat "(Felis chaus)", cheetal "(Axis axis)", Nilgai, Indian boar, Indian Wolf, Indian mole-rat "(Bandicota bengalensis)". There are about 400 tigers in the eastern ghats.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: A survey conducted by ATREE in the northern Eastern Ghats hill region identified more than 205 species of birds including the relatively rarer ones like Brook’s flycatcher ("Cyornis poliogenys") and Jerdon’s baza. Threatened bird species like the Malabar pied hornbills were also spotted in a couple of habitats. Other bird species found in the Eastern Ghats include the Great Indian bustard "(Ardeotis nigriceps)", red-wattled lapwing "(Vanellus indicus)", spot-billed pelican "(Pelecanus philippensis)", blue peafowl "(Pavo cristatus)", Indian pond heron "(Ardeola grayii)", hoopoe "(Upupa epops)", spotted owlet "(Athene brama)", greater coucal "(Centropus sinensis)", pied crested cuckoo "(Clamator jacobinus)", Oriental white ibis "(Threskiornis melanocephalus)", Indian pitta "(Pitta brachyura)", Indian paradise flycatcher "(Terpsiphone paradisi)", red-vented bulbul "(Pycnonotus cafer)", red-whiskered bulbul "(Pycnonotus jocosus)", jungle babbler "(Turdoides striata)", painted stork "(Mycteria leucocephala)", black-rumped flameback "(Dinopium benghalense)", brahminy kite "(Haliastur indus)", jungle myna "(Acridotheres fuscus)", Indian spotted eagle "(Aquila hastata)", Indian vulture "(Gyps indicus)," and Malabar whistling thrush "(Myophonus horsfieldii)".


title: Eastern Ghats

text: Up to 30 species of amphibians including the Gunther's toad ("Bufo hololius"), pond frogs ("Euphlyctis"), cricket frog ("Fejervarya"), bull frogs ("Hoplobatrachus"), burrowing frogs ("Sphaerotheca"), balloon frogs ("Uperodon"), small-mouthed frogs ("Microhyla"), and tree frog ("Polypedates") occur here. Endemic ones include the golden-backed frogs "(Hylarana" spp.), the bush frog "Raorchestes terebrans" and the recently described caecilian "Gegeneophis orientalis" and an "Ichthyophis" species that is known from old records.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: Nearly 100 species of reptiles occur in the Eastern Ghats. Many endangered species are also present, including the mugger crocodile "(Crocodylus palustris)", Indian black turtle "(Melanochelys trijuga)", Indian flapshell turtle "(Lissemys punctata)", Indian tent turtle "(Pangshura tentoria)", Indian star tortoise "(Geochelone elegans)", Leith's softshell turtle "(Nilssonia leithii)", many of which are found in the northern rivers and riverine valley tracts.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: Among lizards are the Roux's forest calotes "Monilesaurus rouxii", those of the genera ("Psammophilus"), ("Sitana"), Indian chameleon ("Chamaeleo zeylanicus"), Reticulated gecko "(Hemidactylus reticulatus)", the rock geckoes "Hemidactylus giganteus", "Hemidactylus graniticolus", the golden gecko ("Calodactylodes aureus"), the slender gecko ("Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus"), the rare ground geckoes ("Cyrtodactylus nebulosus"), ("Cyrtodactylus collegalensis"), the recently rediscovered ("Geckoella jeyporensis"), Leschenault's snake-eye ("Ophisops leschenaultii"), Blinking snake-eye ("Ophisops minor"), Ashwamedh's skink ("Eutropis ashwamedhii"), Beddome's skink "Eutropis beddomei", Nagarjun's skink ("Eutropis nagarjuni") and Bengal monitor "(Varanus bengalensis)". Noteworthy lizards include the endemic, fossorial genera of leg-less skinks such as Sepsophis punctatus, Barkudia melanosticta and Barkudia insularis that are known only from the northern ranges and along the adjoining Eastern coastal plains in northern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: Among snakes are the beaked worm snake ("Grypotyphlops acutus"), the endemic shield-tailed snakes like "Uropeltis ellioti", "Uropeltis shorttii", the recently described "Rhinophis goweri", the endangered Indian rock python ("Python molurus"), Forsten's cat snake ("Boiga forsteni"), yellow-green cat snake ("Boiga flaviviridis"), Srilankan flying snake ("Chrysopelea taprobanica"), Nagarjun Sagar racer ("Coluber bholanathi"), green keelback ("Rhabdophis plumbicolor"), Duméril's black-headed snake ("Sibynophis subpunctatus"), Indian reed snake ("Liopeltis calamaria"). Apart from the Big Four Indian venomous snakes, endemic ones like the Beddome's coral snake "(Calliophis beddomei)" and the Indian green Bamboo pit viper ("Trimeresurus gramineus") and the rare King cobra "(Ophiophagus hannah)" and the Banded krait "(Bungarus fasciatus)" are also known from parts of this region.


title: Eastern Ghats

text: According to a study published in 2018, the forest cover of the Eastern Ghats has shrunk drastically since 1920 and several plant species endemic to this region face the threat of extinction.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: The Indian 500-rupee banknote (500) is a denomination of the Indian rupee. In 1987, the ₹500 note was introduced, followed by the ₹1,000 note in 2000 while ₹1 and ₹2 notes were discontinued in 1995. The current ₹500 banknote, in circulation since 10 November 2016, is a part of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series. The previous banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series, in circulation between October 1997 and November 2016, were demonetised on November 8, 2016.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: The Indian 500-rupee banknote (₹500) is a denomination of the Indian rupee. In 1987, the ₹500 note was introduced, followed by the ₹1,000 note in 2000 while ₹1 and ₹2 notes were discontinued in 1995. The current ₹500 banknote, in circulation since 10 November 2016, is a part of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series. The previous banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series, in circulation between October 1987 and November 2016, were demonetised on 8 November 2016.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: On 8 November 2016, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of the ₹500 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series as a measure to fight corruption in India and address the issue of counterfeit banknotes. On 10 November 2016, the previous banknote was replaced by a new 500 banknote of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series of banknotes.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: The 500 banknote of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series is 66mm x 150mm Stone Grey coloured, with the obverse side featuring a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi as well as the Ashoka Pillar Emblem, with a signature of the governor of Reserve Bank of India. It has the Braille feature to assist the visually challenged in identifying the currency. The reverse side features a motif of the Indian heritage site of Red Fort, and the logo and a tag line of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: The 500 banknote of the Mahatma Gandhi Series is 167 × 73 mm Orange-yellow coloured, with the obverse side featuring a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi with a signature of the governor of the Reserve Bank of India. It has the Braille feature to assist the visually challenged in identifying the currency. The reverse side features the Gyarah Murti.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: As of 2011, the new sign has been incorporated into banknote of 500. In January 2014 RBI announced that it would be withdrawing from circulation all banknotes printed prior to 2005 by 31 March 2014. The deadline was later extended to 1 January 2015. Further deadline was extended until 30 June 2016.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: Starting from midnight 8 November 2016 all ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series ceased to be a form of legal tender after a televised address to India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


title: Indian 500-rupee note

text: As like the other Indian rupee banknotes, the 500 banknote has its amount written in 17 languages. On the obverse, the denomination is written in English and Hindi. On the reverse is a language panel which displays the denomination of the note in 15 of the 22 official languages of India. The languages are displayed in alphabetical order. Languages included on the panel are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.


Indian 500-rupee note


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the Inner Temple, London in 1928. Returning to India, he practiced law in Lahore and then in Guwahati where he went on to become the Advocate General of Assam in 1946. Beginning a long association with the Indian National Congress in the 1930s, Ahmed was finance minister of Assam in the Gopinath Bordoloi ministry in 1939 and again from 1957 to 1966 under Bimala Prasad Chaliha. He was made a cabinet minister by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1966 and was in charge of ministries including Power, Irrigation, Industries and Agriculture until 1974 when he was elected president of India.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: As president, Ahmed imposed the Emergency in August 1975 and gave his assent to numerous ordinances and constitutional amendments that severely restricted civil liberties and allowed Indira Gandhi to rule by decree. Lampooned in an iconic cartoon by Abu Abraham, Ahmed’s legacy is tarnished by his support for the Emergency and he has been described as a rubber stamp president.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed died in February 1977, was accorded a state funeral and is buried in a masjid near Parliament House in New Delhi. Ahmed, who was the second Muslim to become the president of India, was also the second president to die in office. Ahmed was succeeded by B. D. Jatti as acting president and by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as the sixth president of India in 1977.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed’s grandfather, Kaliluddin Ali Ahmed, was an Islamic scholar and his father, Col. Zalnur Ali was a doctor who belonged to the Indian Medical Service and is thought to be the first medical graduate from Assam. Ahmed’s mother, Sahibzadi Ruqaiyya Sultan, was a daughter of the Nawab of Loharu. Ahmed was born in Hauz Qazi, Delhi on 13 May 1905 and was one of ten children, including five sons, of Colonel Ali. In 2018 it emerged that several of Ahmed's relatives were left out of the National Register of Citizens for Assam as they could not produce documents to prove their antecedents.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed attended Government High Schools in Gonda, United Provinces and in Delhi and attended St. Stephen’s College, Delhi during 1921-22, before leaving for England where he passed his history tripos from St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1927. He was called to the Bar from the Inner Temple, London in 1928. He returned to India the same year and practiced law at the Lahore High Court before moving to Guwahati in 1930 where he worked initially as a junior lawyer under Nabin Chandra Bardoloi. At Guwahati, Ahmed, who became the Advocate General for the state, was the founding president of the Bar Association of the Assam High Court after its formation in 1948.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed joined the Indian National Congress as a primary member in 1931 and was a member of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, the Working Committee of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee and the All India Congress Committee from 1936 onwards, except for short breaks. He was a member of the Working Committee of the All India Congress Committee in 1946-47 and again from 1964 to 1974 during which period he was also a member of the Parliamentary Board of the party.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed was elected to the legislative assembly of Assam in the provincial elections of 1937 which were held in accordance with the Government of India Act, 1935. He was one of three Muslim ministers in the Congress government headed by Gopinath Bordoloi, serving as Minister for Finance, Revenue and Labour from 20 September 1938 to 16 November 1939. In his budget for 1939-40, Ahmed introduced several new taxes including an agricultural income tax, taxes on amusements and betting and a tax on sale of goods in an effort to eliminate the state’s revenue deficit. The tax on agricultural income imposed a levy on the profits of the tea industry, a part of which was to be used for the welfare of workers in the tea plantations. This, and the pro-labour stance he took during the strike in the Assam Oil Company, was deemed inimical to British commercial interests in Assam but won much public support for the Bordoloi Ministry.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Congress Ministries across India resigned in protest against the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's action of declaring India a belligerent in the Second World War without consulting them. In 1940, Ahmed was arrested and imprisoned for a year when he performed a satyagraha on Gandhi’s behest. After the launch of the Quit India Movement, Ahmed along with several other leaders of the Assam Provincial Congress Committee was arrested on 9 August 1942. He was detained as a security prisoner for a further three years at the jail in Jorhat.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed was opposed to the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan and to the Partition of India along communal lines. However, in the elections of 1946, while the Congress won the majority of seats to form a government in Assam under Gopinath Bordoloi, Ahmed was defeated in the North Kamrup constituency by the Muslim League’s Moulvi Abdul Hye. Although the Congress Party under Gopinath Bordoloi spent much money and effort to secure Ahmed’s victory, he won only 844 votes against the 7,265 votes polled by Hye. Ahmed was thereafter appointed the Advocate General of Assam, a post he held until 1952.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Although he was offered a seat in the legislative assembly elections of 1952, Ahmed refused to contest the elections due to disagreements with the leadership of the Congress party and the Chief Minister Bishnuram Medhi. In April 1954, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and was its member until he resigned in March 1957. He contested and won the 1957 Assam Legislative Assembly election from Jania winning 66.13% of the votes cast and was re-elected to the seat in the 1962 Assam Legislative Assembly election improving his majority by winning 84.56% of the votes. Under the governments headed by Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha, Ahmed served as Minister of Finance, Law, Community Development, Panchayats and Local Self Government during 1957-1962 and was the Minister of Finance, Law, Community Development and Panchayats during 1962-66.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed facilitated the entry of Muhammed Saadulah, the Muslim League leader who preceded Gopinath Bordoloi as Assam's Prime Minister, into the Congress Party in 1951. Ahmed played a role in frustrating Chief Minister Chaliha’s attempts at enforcing the Prevention of Infiltrators Plan which, based on the National Register of Citizens, 1951, sought to identify and deport illegal migrants to Assam. He argued that if the Congress Party were to continue with this plan, it would lead to its loss of support among Muslims in Assam and across the rest of India. He has been accused of thus allowing the steady influx of Muslims from East Pakistan who became a votebank for the Congress Party. Salman Khurshid has identified this strategy, which he attributes to Ahmed, as one of the factors that led to the Nellie Massacre.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In January 1966, while serving as Assam's Finance Minister, Ahmed was appointed the Union Minister for Irrigation and Power in Indira Gandhi’s first cabinet as one of a handful of ministers she brought to Shastri's cabinet which remained largely unchanged under her. In April of that year, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha for a second time.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: He was shifted to the Ministry of Education, succeeding M.C. Chagla, and served as the Union Minister for Education between 13 November 1966 and 12 March 1967. In his brief period in that Ministry, Ahmed voiced concerns over the reduced allocations made to the Ministry and its likely impacts on educational reconstruction programs and oversaw the Amending Bill of 1966 to the Banaras Hindu University Act.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed was made the Minister of Industrial Development and Company Affairs on 13 March 1967. In the parliamentary elections of 1967 Ahmed was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Barpeta constituency in Assam winning over 60% of the votes. It was during Ahmed's tenure as Minister of Industrial Development that his ministry, through the Directorate General of Technical Development, issued a letter of intent to Sanjay Gandhi to manufacture 50,000 Maruti cars annually even though Gandhi lacked the technical expertise and the capital required for establishing such a venture. In 1969, Ahmed introduced a bill in Parliament seeking to ban corporate funding to political parties. The bill, which sought to amend the Companies Act, 1956, aimed to curb the influence of large businesses on the political establishment as also to hamstring the centre-right Swatantra Party by preventing its access to funding. The ban, introduced without establishing an alternative financing mechanism, resulted in the abolishment of the key legal source of election funds for parties and the proliferation of illegal practices in campaign funding.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In September 1969 Ahmed was sent to Rabat, Morocco as head of the Indian delegation at the Islamic Summit held there. However, upon his arrival in Morocco the Indian delegation was barred from attending the summit on the objections of the Pakistani delegation led by General Ayub Khan. The incident proved to be a diplomatic fiasco for India and led to a vote of censure in Parliament, which was defeated by the Government with the help of the communist and regional parties as the Congress Party's own strength in Parliament had reduced following the August split in the party.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed was appointed Minister for Food and Agriculture on 27 June 1970, serving in that office till 3 July 1974. He was re-elected from the Barpeta constituency in the general election of 1971, winning over 72% of the votes polled.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In May 1971, he was also made the minister in charge of wakf under the Muslim Wakfs Act, 1954. In 1971 the Central Land Reforms Committee was constituted with Ahmed as its chairman with the aim of helping the state governments undertake comprehensive land reform. The recommendations of the committee included fixing land ceilings at the level of the family, restrictively defining the family to include only a husband, wife and their minor children, and fixing ceilings between 10 and 18 acres of land for different types of land. Its recommendations paved the way for introduction of agricultural land ceilings in state legislations and the realization of 2.7 million hectares of excess land of which 53% was subsequently redistributed among people from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. As minister, Ahmed supported the creation of food and fertilizer buffer stocks to meet shortfalls in production as also various crop research programmes and the increased availability of power to the agricultural sector. The nationalization of wholesale trade in wheat by the Government of India was implemented under Ahmed in 1973. Although it was aimed at preventing market distortions and ensuring stability of prices, the policy proved disastrous, leading to lower procurements and the running down of buffer stocks forcing the import of over 60 lakh tonnes of grain at high prices. Consequently, the proposals to extend it to the trade in rice and for the wheat crop of April 1974 were abandoned.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In July 1974, Ahmed was chosen by Indira Gandhi and the Congress Party as their candidate to be the next President of India. In doing so, they overlooked the then Vice President, Gopal Swarup Pathak, who had been elected to that post in 1969 with the support of the Congress Party. Polling for the 1974 Indian presidential election was held on 17 August in a direct contest between the Congress Party’s Ahmed and the opposition candidate Tridib Chaudhuri, a Lok Sabha MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party. Ahmed won 7,65,587 or 80.18% of the 9,54,783 votes cast against Chaudhuri’s 1,89,196 and he was declared elected on 20 August. He was sworn in as the fifth President of India on 24 August 1974, becoming the second Muslim to hold that office and the first person to be directed elevated to the Presidency from the Union Cabinet. Ahmed was also the first President to be elected after the amendments to the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 that imposed a security deposit of Rs. 2,500 and made it mandatory for every candidate in a presidential election to be supported by ten proposing and ten seconding legislators. Ahmed’s election was challenged unsuccessfully before India's Supreme Court by Charu Lal Sahu, an advocate-on-record.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed imposed a national emergency under Article 352 of India’s Constitution late in the night of 25 June 1975 on the advice of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The legality of its imposition – on the ground that “a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India is threatened by internal disturbances.” – was questionable as there were no reports to that effect from the Intelligence Bureau, the Home Ministry or from any or the governors of the states nor had the proposal for its promulgation been considered by the Union Council of Ministers. Although the constitutional impropriety was pointed out to him, Ahmed raised no questions and chose to sign the order imposing the emergency, a draft of which was brought to him by the Prime Minister’s personal secretary, R. K. Dhawan. In the early hours of the next day, electricity supply was cut off to newspaper offices in Delhi and the main leaders of opposition parties placed under arrest. The Cabinet met at 7AM on 26 June, where it was informed by the Prime Minister of the imposition of emergency the previous night. The Prime Minister subsequently addressed the nation on All India Radio announcing the Emergency, beginning with the words “The President has proclaimed an emergency. This is nothing to panic about.” The Emergency which lasted until 21 March 1977 saw the suppression of civil liberties, the arrest of opposition politicians and clampdown on political parties, the suspension of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution and the muzzling of the media, and has been described as a period of darkness for India’s democracy.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: The two-thirds majority enjoyed by the Congress Party in India’s Parliament allowed it to undertake several wide-ranging constitutional amendments. The Prime Minister also instructed Ahmed to issue ordinances, sidestepping Parliament and allowing for rule by decree. In August 1975, the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth Constitutional Amendment Bills passed by Parliament received presidential assent. The 38th Amendment precluded the Emergency and the ordinances passed during this period from judicial review whereas the 39th Amendment barred the courts from adjudicating election petitions filed against the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and rendered any pending proceedings before the courts null and void.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ordinances issued in 1975 included one abolishing bonded labour, the Equal Remuneration Ordinance which provided for equal pay for equal work or work of similar nature, the amendment to the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 allowing detention of offenders for a period of two years, the amendment to the Import and Export (Controls) Act increasing the severity of penalties for offences relating to the misuse of import licences and imported goods among scores of other ordinances issued during the year. In December 1975, while President Ahmed was on a state visit to Egypt and Sudan, the Government dispatched a special courier carrying three executive ordinances preventing the publication of material deemed objectionable by the government, abolishing the Press Council of India and lifting immunities on media’s coverage of Parliament. These were promptly signed in Cairo by the President. The first session of Parliament in 1976 therefore had to consider and replace with acts the numerous ordinances issued since the proclamation of Emergency in June 1975.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In January 1976, President’s rule was declared in Tamil Nadu after Ahmed by ordinance dismissed its government, headed by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and dissolved the state’s legislative assembly.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: By two ordinances issued in March 1976, the responsibility of maintaining government accounts were taken away from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and vested with the accounts offices of individual government departments, while making the Comptroller and Auditor General responsible for the audit of these accounts. In June 1976, an ordinance extended by a year the validity of provisions allowing the government to detain any person for up to one year without disclosing the grounds for detention to the detainee under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. In December 1976 the Forty-second Constitutional Amendment Bill received President Ahmed's assent. The bill passed by both houses of Parliament in November amended as many as 53 articles of the Constitution and the Preamble, besides introducing a new section containing the Fundamental Duties of citizens. Furthermore, it sought to severely circumscribe the powers of the Supreme Court, to transfer several responsibilities hitherto entrusted with the state governments to the Central government thus weakening India's federal structure and extended the tenure of the Lok Sabha to six years.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: As President, he publicly spoke in favour of the imposition of Emergency throughout this period. In his address to the nation on Independence Day, 1975 he assured citizens that the Emergency was a “passing phase” and its imposition was necessary to save India from chaos and disruption. He also cautioned that liberty should not “degenerate into licence” and exhorted the nation to focus on increasing production. Elsewhere, he reiterated that the “Emergency is a passing phase but the era of permissive politics and national degeneration is over and we will never allow that phase to be repeated again” and that the indiscipline and disorder brought about by reactionary forces had slowed down India’s development. Addressing the nation on Republic Day, 1976, Ahmed said that the Emergency had helped India’s economy and brought about “national discipline at all levels”. On Independence Day, 1976 he stated that the Emergency would not be used to switch over from the parliamentary to a presidential system of government or to accumulate more power than was permitted under the Constitution and that it had been issued instead “to bring about such economic, social and political changes as have become relevant and necessary in the interests of the people of India”.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In private, Ahmed appeared to have misgivings about the Emergency. This was revealed in an embassy cable (disseminated by Wikileaks) sent from the United States Embassy in Delhi in August 1976 which suggested an estrangement between Ahmed and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The cable noted Ahmed’s growing concern that Indira and Sanjay Gandhi were “pushing too hard on the political and Constitutional system of India” and reported that he had rebuffed her suggestion to replace the Vice-President, B.D. Jatti with her former defence minister, Swaran Singh. Indira Gandhi’s proposal to replace her entire cabinet with younger ministers was also cautioned against by Ahmed who warned her that that this would jeopardize the unity of the Congress Party. The cable went on to note that Ahmed was “uncomfortable with some of Mrs. Gandhi's actions and certainly with those of her son” and that Indira Gandhi had apologized to Ahmed on behalf of Sanjay Gandhi for his rude remarks when the President declined to give a statement for the inaugural issue of his magazine, Surya.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: On 10 December 1975, a cartoon by Abu Abraham, which escaped the notice of the government censors, appeared in the Indian Express. The cartoon showed Ahmed, semi-naked and in a bathtub filled to its brim, handing over a paper he has signed to an outstretched hand of a person clothed in a formal suit and shirt. The speech balloon reads: “If there are any more ordinances, just ask them to wait.” The cartoon which lampooned Ahmed’s pliability in signing ordinances put before him became an iconic image of the Emergency. The cartoon irreparably damaged Ahmed’s image and legacy, and he is widely regarded as a rubber stamp President, who was willing to sign ordinances and the proclamation of Emergency put to him without questioning the government or asking it to be reconsidered. Subsequent Presidents of India who have been thought of as pliant and meekly submitting to the government of the day have been compared to Ahmed’s rubber stamp presidency.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: President Ahmed made state visits to Indonesia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Sudan, Iran and Malaysia during his term in office. His visit to Saudi Arabia in March 1975 to attend the funeral of King Faisal was the first time an Indian President was personally present at the funeral of another head of state and the first visit by a senior Indian leader after Jawaharlal Nehru's visit in 1956. He was conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Law by the University of Pristina, Kosovo during his visit to Yugoslavia. During his state visit to Sudan in December 1975, Ahmed visited Juba in South Sudan, where he addressed the Regional Peoples' Assembly, in one of the earliest visits by an Indian dignitary to South Sudan.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed was a keen sportsman throughout his life and was an active golfer during his time as President. He was a centre-half in field hockey and played for the Combined Universities Hockey Team in Cambridge. For many years he was president of Assam’s State Football and Cricket Associations and served as the Vice-Chairman of the Assam Council of Sports and was later President of the All-India Lawn Tennis Federation. Ahmed is credited with reviving the Shillong Golf Club and resurrecting the mini golf course at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Ahmed introduced the President’s Polo Cup as an open tournament in 1975 when he was the patron-in-chief of the Indian Polo Association. Discontinued in 2005, it has since 2013 been held as the President's Polo Cup Exhibition Match.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: On 10 February 1977, Ahmed who was on a three nation visit to Malaysia, Philippines and Burma flew back to New Delhi from Kuala Lumpur. He had been forced to curtail his official engagements in Malaysia due to ill health and was reportedly too weak to even attend a guard of honour arranged for him at the Kuala Lumpur airport.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: In the morning of 11 February, Ahmed, who had previously suffered heart attacks in 1966 and 1970 and whose health was described as being uncertain, was found lying unconscious in his bath in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He was attended to by doctors but was declared dead at 8.52 a.m. having succumbed to a heart attack. Ahmed was India’s second President to die in office. The Vice President, B.D. Jatti, was sworn in as the Acting President within a few hours and thirteen days of national mourning declared with flags flying at half-mast. Ahmed’s body lay in state in the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan where common citizens, politicians, ministers and constitutional functionaries from various parties paid their respects to him. Ahmed was accorded a state funeral and buried in the grounds of the Jama Masjid near Parliament House on 13 February. Among the foreign dignitaries who attended his funeral were Lillian Carter, the mother of President Jimmy Carter, Prince Michael of Kent and representing the Soviet Union. Ahmed’s death came amidst the campaigning for the General Elections of 1977 which were announced after Ahmed, on the advice of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had dissolved Parliament in January. In his address to the nation on Republic Day, 1977 Ahmed had called for an election campaign free of bitterness and rancor. Although his death brought a lull to the campaign, it was decided that the polls would be held in March 1977 as planned.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed’s tomb was designed by the architect Habib Rahman and is situated in the garden of a mosque near Parliament House. Rahman was also the architect for the tomb of Dr. Zakir Hussain who was the first Muslim and the first President to die in office. The tomb is open to the sky and features thin framed marble jalis which are clamped with the help of internal pins onto structural elements made of steel. The tomb is a post-modern interpretation of traditional Islamic forms, an abstraction of the silhouette of the Taj Mahal, and its open linear forms make it an elegant and austere building and one of Delhi’s most remarkable pieces of modern architectural heritage.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: Ahmed was survived by his the First Lady, Begum Abida Ahmed and their two sons and a daughter. Begum Ahmed is credited with having overhauled the presidential kitchen and ensuring Awadhi cuisine was included in its repertoire, as well as redecorating the rooms and upholstery of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the 1980s, she went on to become a two-term MP of the Indian National Congress from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. The elder of their sons, Parvez Ahmed, is a doctor who contested the General Elections of 2014 in the Barpeta constituency as a candidate of the Trinamool Congress party. Their other son, Badar Durrez Ahmed, served as a judge of the Delhi High Court and retired as Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: "Salute To The President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed" is a 1977 short documentary film directed by J.S. Bandekar and produced by the Films Division of India on the life and career of Ahmed. A commemorative postage stamp was issued by India Post in 1977.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: The Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College in Barpeta, Assam has been named after him, as was the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Committee, which works to promote Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages and the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Teachers Training College in Darbhanga, Bihar.


title: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

text: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has since 1977 given out the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award for scientists doing research in tribal and remote areas. The award carries a citation and a purse of Rs. 2 lakhs. In 2013, Ahmed was posthumously conferred the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour by the Government of Bangladesh in recognition of his role in helping Bangladesh win its independence.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest (, ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, with 12,042 people, after Milford Haven. The suburbs include the former parish of Prendergast, Albert Town and the residential and industrial areas of Withybush (housing, retail parks, hospital, airport and showground).


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest is located in a strategic position, being at the lowest bridging point of the Western Cleddau prior to the opening of the Cleddau Bridge in 1975.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest is a market town, the county town of Pembrokeshire and an important road network hub between Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock, Fishguard and St David's as a result of its position at the tidal limit of the Western Cleddau. The majority of the town, comprising the old parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin and St. Thomas, lies on the right (west) bank of the river. On the left bank are the suburbs of Prendergast and Cartlett. At this point, a pair of sandstone ridges extending from east to west and separated by a deep, narrow valley, are cut through by the Western Cleddau. This leaves two high spurs on the west side of the river. On the northern spur, the castle and its surrounding settlement form the core of St Martin's parish. On the southern spur, the High Street ascends steeply from the river and forms the core of St Mary's parish. From the foot of each spur, ancient bridges cross the river to Prendergast: St Martin's Bridge ("the Old Bridge") and St Mary's Bridge ("the New Bridge", built in 1835). St Thomas's parish occupies the south side of the southern spur. From these core areas, the town has spread, mainly along the ridges. In addition to the four ancient parish churches, the remains of an Augustinian priory are visible at the southern edge of the town.


title: Haverfordwest

text: The name of the town means "ford used by heifers" or "ford used by goats" from Old English "hæfer". In local dialect, it is pronounced "Harford". "West" was added in the 15th century, to distinguish the town from Hereford. It is marked as "Herfordwest" on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire. The Welsh name is said by B. G. Charles to be "merely a corruption of the English name".


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest has been English-speaking for centuries. South Pembrokeshire is known as 'Little England Beyond Wales', but because the markets traded with Welsh farmers in the north and east, there has always been a significant Welsh-speaking influence. The suburb of Prendergast seems to have originated as an extramural Welsh dormitory, dating from the times when all agricultural trade had to pass through the borough, and the fearful Normans before the destruction of Anglo-Norman power in 1136 tried to prevent Welshmen bearing arms from entering within the castle walls after nightfall.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Scores of Iron Age and Roman coinage and artefact discoveries, and excavations by the Dyfed Archaeological Trust under the direction of Heather James at Carmarthen (Moridunum) in the 1980s, point to significant Roman penetration to this westernmost part of Wales. The strategic position of Haverfordwest with its defensive bluff overlooking the lowest fordable point on the western Cleddau and accessible to sea traffic would have required a Roman presence, probably modest in scale, from the 1st century AD to protect supplies to and from the coast, e.g. the Roman legionary headquarters at Caerleon were roofed with slates from the lower slopes of the Preseli Hills. In 1992, aerial photography identified a Roman road running to the west of Carmarthen, past Wiston to Poyston Cross, raising the possibility of Roman fortlets at strategic river crossings at Whitland and Haverfordwest. Edward Llwyd's note to Camden's "Britannia" (ed. 1695) refers to a valuable find of silver coins at Llanboidy, the latest coin being one of Domitian struck in AD 91. In the 1920s Sir Mortimer Wheeler partially excavated a Roman dwelling or villa at Wolfscastle; work was restarted in 2002 by Professor Merroney. James Phillips, in "The History of Pembrokeshire" (published 1909), records a find of Roman silver coins in Haverfordwest, the earliest dated coin a Valerian and the latest a Claudius Gothicus. The museum in which the coins were deposited has been "scattered to the winds" and the whereabouts of the coins is unknown.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Phillips claimed that the pre-Norman name of Haverfordwest was Caer Alun, so named by the Emperor Maximus (Macsim Gwledig). His sources are not given but the "Cambro-Briton" in 1822 also recorded that Maximus, the last Roman Emperor of Britain, a man who for a time divided the Roman Empire with Theodosius I, on withdrawing Roman legions from Britain granted civic status and Celtic names to a number of pacified Romano-British settlements, including Southampton, Chichester, Old Sarum near Salisbury, Carmarthen (Caerfyrddin) and Haverfordwest (Caer Alun). Maximus had married Elen, a Welsh noblewoman, and they had three sons. Phillips claims that the name actually given to the town was Caer Elen, in honour of his wife (the name later changing to Caer Alun).


title: Haverfordwest

text: The ecclesiastical centre of the area (perhaps the seat of a bishop in the "Age of the Saints") was probably one of the several churches of the local St Ismael, most probably St. Ishmael's. This occurred around 1110.


title: Haverfordwest

text: The proposition that Haverfordwest Castle was founded by Tancred, a Flemish Marcher Lord, is questionable. The Marcher Lords were not Flemish but Norman barons originally along the Marches (Anglo-Welsh border). The castle is recorded as having been founded in 1100 by the Norman Gilbert de Clare. The Flemings, said to have arrived in three groups in 1107, 1111 and 1151, are likely to have participated in its later development for their own and the Normans' protection from the Welsh warlords. It is recorded that the Constable of the castle in 1207 was Itohert, son of Richard Tancard, possibly a descendant of the first Tancred.


title: Haverfordwest

text: The Flemish presence, reputed to result from floods in the Low Countries, was more likely to have consisted initially of Flemish mercenaries originally in the invading army of William the Conqueror, who in reward for their part in William's victory were granted lands in parts of Northern Britain, and in Wales in the Gower, and Geraldus Cambrensis recorded their presence in the Hundred of Roose in Pembrokeshire.


title: Haverfordwest

text: A Fleming, Wizo, who died in 1130 founded at Wiston a motte and bailey fortification, the forerunner of the stone castle, for protection against the Welsh warlords: the Flemings were reportedly unpopular wherever they settled. The precarious position of Normans and Flemings was demonstrated in 1136 when the Normans, having already lost 500 men in battle at Loughor, re-recruited from Lordships from all over South Wales and led by Robert fitz Martin at Crug Mawr near Cardigan attacked Owain Gwynedd and his army. Routed, they fled over the Teifi Bridge which collapsed; the retreating Normans drowning under the weight of their armour. Their leader Richard de Clare had previously been intercepted and killed by Iorwerth ab Owen. Wiston and the castle were overrun in 1147 by Hywel Sais, son of Lord Rhys. Ranulf Higden, in his "Polychronicus", records the Flemings as extinct in Pembrokeshire by 1327 but Flemish mercenaries reappear in 1400 when at the behest of Henry IV they joined an army of 1,500 English settlers who marched north from Pembrokeshire to attack the army of Owain Glyndŵr at Mynydd Hyddgen. The attack was repulsed with heavy casualties and legend has it that English prisoners were spared but surviving Flemish mercenaries were massacred or sold into slavery.


title: Haverfordwest

text: St Mary's Church originated at the end of the 12th century and the current (Grade I listed) building was constructed between the 13th and 15th centuries and prominently visible at the top of the High Street.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest rapidly grew, initially around the castle and St Martin's Church (the settlement being called Castletown), then spreading into the High Street area. It immediately became the capital of the hundred of Roose (part of Little England beyond Wales), and because of its pivotal position, the commercial centre of western Dyfed, which it has remained to this day. In common with other British towns, its growth was rapid during the period up to 1300, and its extent by then was much the same as it was in the early 19th century. A large town by the standards of the time, its population was probably around 4,000–5,000. It received its first marcher charter from William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke sometime between 1213 and 1219, and obtained the lucrative trading privileges of an English borough. It traded both by land and sea and had a busy tidal quay on the river below the "New" Bridge. At least ten guilds operated, and there was significant woollen cloth manufacture. In 1545, the town was designated a county corporate by Henry VIII, with the aim of supporting a campaign against piracy in local waters. It was one of only two such counties corporate in Wales (the other being Carmarthen), and remained officially "The Town and County of Haverfordwest" until the abolition of the borough in 1974.


title: Haverfordwest

text: In common with other large towns in Europe, Haverfordwest was hit hard by the Black Death in 1348, suffering both depopulation (perhaps by more than 50%) and diminution of trade. Large parts of the town were abandoned, and it did not start to recover until the Tudor period. At the end of the 17th century, the town was still significantly smaller than in 1300. In 1405, the town was burned by the French allies of Owain Glyndwr, although in its early history Haverfordwest suffered less than most towns in Wales from such depredations.


title: Haverfordwest

text: During the English Civil War, the burgesses of the borough supported Parliament, while the ruling gentry were Royalist. As a result, there was considerable conflict, and the town changed hands five times. There followed a period of stagnation in which the comparative status of the town declined.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Some 1,200 men of Pembrokeshire lost their lives in World War I, and Haverfordwest was the location chosen for the County of Pembroke War Memorial, unveiled in 1921. Its current location is Picton Place, close by County Hall, and it is Grade II listed. Haverfordwest was bombed for the first time during World War II on 24 September 1940. The City Road and New Road areas were hit, although there had been little preparation and no warning siren sounded. There were no casualties.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest today has the air of a typical small country market town, but the centre still conveys the feel of the important mediaeval borough. The once run-down riverside area has been renovated and Bridge Street has been pedestrianised and improved.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverford Township, Haverford and Havertown in Pennsylvania, United States, are all named after Haverfordwest.


title: Haverfordwest

text: In October 2022, the remains of 307 people, including children, were unearthed by archaeologists working on the remnants of a medieval priory found beneath the old Ocky White building, a former department store which closed in 2013. It is believed that the graveyard could have been used until the early 18th century.


title: Haverfordwest

text: There are two tiers of local government covering Haverfordwest, at community (town) and county level: Haverfordwest Town Council and Pembrokeshire County Council. The town council is based at the Old Wool Market on Quay Street. Pembrokeshire County Council is also based in Haverfordwest, at County Hall on Freemens Way.


title: Haverfordwest

text: For local government purposes the community of Haverfordwest comprises five wards: Castle, Prendergast, Portfield, Priory and Garth. The community has its own town council and mayor.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Pembrokeshire County Council conducted an extensive review of community boundaries in 2007 which made a number of submissions to the boundary commission for Wales. These submissions included a number of recommendations for the extension of the Haverfordwest community boundary where there had been perceived community overspill due to housing developments. These suggestions were mostly implemented, with one significant exception leading to an increase in the number of electors in the Haverfordwest community. One area of contention concerned the status of the village of Merlin's Bridge which continues to have its own community council despite its close proximity to Haverfordwest and a degree of community overspill. As such the conurbation of Haverfordwest and Merlin's Bridge is the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire though Haverfordwest's community boundaries mean it is only the second most populous community in the county after Milford Haven.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest is part of the Preseli Pembrokeshire Senedd constituency and UK Parliamentary constituency. The local Assembly Member is Paul Davies of the Conservative Party and the local Member of Parliament is Stephen Crabb also a Conservative.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest was an ancient borough, receiving its first charter from Henry II in 1169. The borough was given the right to appoint its own sheriff in 1479, and in 1545 was declared to be a county corporate. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The borough covered all of the parish of St Mary, parts of the parishes of St Martin, St Thomas, Prendergast, and Uzmaston, and an extra-parochial area (deemed to be a parish from 1866) called Furzy Park and Portfield. Under the Local Government Act 1894, parishes which straddled borough boundaries were split into separate parishes for the parts inside and outside the borough. The part of Uzmaston within the borough therefore became a parish called Cartlett, the part of Prendergast outside the borough became a parish called North Prendergast, and the parts of St Martin and St Thomas parishes outside the borough became parishes called St Martin Hamlet and St Thomas Hamlet respectively. The parishes outside the borough were all included in the Haverfordwest Rural District. The six parishes within the borough after 1894 were therefore Cartlett, Furzy Park and Portfield, Prendergast, St Mary, St Martin, and St Thomas. These were urban parishes and so did not have their own parish councils, with the lowest level representative body being the Haverfordwest Borough Council.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest's status as a county corporate from 1545 made it independent from Pembrokeshire. When elected county councils were established in 1889 the town was brought back into Pembrokeshire for local government purposes, being under the control of Pembrokeshire County Council and losing its separate police force at the same time. For other purposes the town retained its independence from the county, having its own Lord Lieutenant until 1931, and keeping its own Quarter Sessions until 1951. The status of county corporate was finally abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. One remaining legacy from Haverfordwest's former status as a county corporate is that it retains the right to appoint its own sheriff.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest had a medieval guildhall which stood at the top (west end) of High Street in front of St Mary's Church. The guildhall served as the meeting place for both the borough corporation and the Pembrokeshire Quarter Sessions until the 1830s. In 1837 the county authorities built themselves Shire Hall at the bottom (east end) of High Street. The guildhall was demolished and the borough corporation met instead in a room above the north porch of St Mary's Church until that room was demolished in 1861. In 1871 the borough acquired newly-built premises at 1 St Mary's Lane to serve as the council's offices and meeting place. In 1954 the borough council moved to Picton House at 2 Picton Place, an 1830s house on the bank of the Western Cleddau, and remained based there until the council's abolition in 1974.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest Municipal Borough was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the district of Preseli (renamed Preseli Pembrokeshire in 1987) within the county of Dyfed. A community covering the former borough was established at the same time, with its council taking the name Haverfordwest Town Council. Preseli Pembrokeshire was abolished in 1996 and the area became part of a re-established Pembrokeshire. Haverfordwest Town Council continued to use the former borough council's premises at Picton House as its headquarters until 2020, when it moved to the Old Wool Market, a converted late eighteenth century wool market and warehouse building on the quayside.


title: Haverfordwest

text: The 2011 census recorded a population of 12,042 living within the community boundary. The urban area extends beyond the community boundary in various places, notably at Merlin's Bridge to the south of the town, which forms a separate community but is deemed by the Office for National Statistics to form part of the Haverfordwest built-up area. The population of the Haverfordwest built-up area was 14,596 in 2011.


title: Haverfordwest

text: In accordance with its status as a sub-regional hub-town, Haverfordwest continues to serve as Pembrokeshire's principal commercial and retail centre. The development of the riverside shopping centre in Withybush on the outskirts of the town includes Marks & Spencer in 2010 and Debenham's in 2013.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Concerns about the relative decline of the historic town centre compared to the growth of the retail centre at Withybush led to Welsh historian John Davies expressing his concern that Haverfordwest is becoming "a medieval town surrounded by tin sheds".


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest County play association football in the Cymru Premier (the top tier of Welsh football) at Bridge Meadow Stadium, while Merlins Bridge play in the local Pembrokeshire League. Haverfordwest RFC, which formed in 1885, play rugby union at their Pembroke Road ground, and Haverfordwest Cricket Club play at Dale Road.


title: Haverfordwest

text: In 2009, Haverfordwest's sports and leisure provision benefited from significant investment, with the opening of a new £8 million leisure centre situated at St. Thomas Green.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest High VC School benefits from a wide range of sporting facilities, including a purpose-built sports centre with a hockey pitch, artificial turf and a full-sized athletics track.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Withybush General Hospital is one of the main hospitals of West Wales and part of the Hywel Dda University Health Board, formerly Pembrokeshire & Derwen NHS Trust. The hospital has most services, but paediatric and maternity services have been moved to Glangwili General Hospital, Carmarthen.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest railway station is on the West Wales Line. It is served by Transport for Wales services to Manchester Piccadilly and Milford Haven.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Haverfordwest bus station is located beside Riverside Quay Shopping Centre. It has six bus stops with two additional bays for coach drop off/pickup. It is served by Edwards Coaches, First Cymru, National Express and Richards Brothers.


title: Haverfordwest

text: Forming one of the major "road hubs" of West Wales, the town is at the junction of the A40, A4076 and A487 roads and several rural B roads, including the B4329 running northwards to Eglwyswrw across the Preseli Mountains. The A40 connects Haverfordwest with Carmarthen to the east and Fishguard to the north; the A4076 connects Haverfordwest with Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock to the south; the A487 connects Haverfordwest with St Davids to the northwest.


title: Change.org

text: Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care about to potential signers, including 196 countries which are "creating change" in their communities. Designed to raise awareness within communities to influence "decision-makers" at the highest levels of governments, leading organizations use the website to advance their causes and mobilize supporters. Businesses also use the platform to engage with their constituents and consumers. In terms of media, the organization's mission is to source powerful stories and cover campaigns hundreds of times a day.


title: Change.org

text: In 2013 the organisation's CEO stated its mission as: "Our role is to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see." Popular topics of petitions created on the website include general justice, economic justice, criminal justice, human rights, education, environmental protection, animal rights, health, and sustainable food.


title: Change.org

text: Change.org was launched in 2007 by current chief executive Ben Rattray, with the support of founding chief technology officer Mark Dimas, Darren Haas, and Adam Cheyer. As of February 2012, the site had 100 employees with offices on four continents. By the end of 2012, Rattray stated "he plans to have offices in 20 countries and to operate in several more languages, including Arabic and Chinese." In May 2013, the company announced a $15 million round of investment led by Omidyar Network and said it has 170 staff members in 18 countries.


title: Change.org

text: In 2011, Change.org claimed it was the subject of a distributed denial of service attack by "Chinese hackers" and that the alleged attack was apparently related to its petition to the Chinese government to release artist Ai Weiwei. In 2011, there was a proposal to merge the Spanish-speaking counterpart website "Actuable" into "Change.org"; the merger occurred in 2012 when the voluntary union of "Actuable" users into the "Change.org" platform was approved.


title: Change.org

text: In 2012, Arizona State University decided to block access to Change.org in response to a petition created by student Eric Haywood protesting "rising tuition costs at the school". University officials claimed that "Change.org is a spam site" and the blocking was conducted "to protect the use of our limited and valuable network resources for legitimate academic, research, and administrative uses".


title: Change.org

text: It was reported on April 5, 2012, that Change.org hit 10 million members, and was the fastest-growing social action platform on the web. At that time, they were receiving 500 new petitions per day. On May 13, 2012, "The Guardian", BBC News and other sources reported that Change.org would launch a UK-specific platform for petitions, placing Change.org in competition with 38 Degrees, a British not-for-profit political-activism organization.


title: Change.org

text: An August 2013 "Fast Company" article reported that Change.org would soon begin featuring petition recipients, saying, "For the first time, companies will be able to post a public response to any given petition (currently, they can only respond to the person who started the campaign). They will also be able to create their own Decision Maker page, which will show all petitions against them, the number of signatures gathered, and their statuses."


title: Change.org

text: On June 30, 2021, workers for Change.org announced that a majority of staff in the US and Canada had signed union authorization cards in favor of being represented for collective bargaining by CODE-CWA, and that Change.org had voluntarily recognized CODE-CWA as the representative of the workers.


title: Change.org

text: Created by Caio Coppolla, March 15, 2021, Supreme Federal Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes’s impeachment request received more than 4,770,000 signatures.


title: Change.org

text: On October 13th, 2017, Ana Clara Leite was sexually harassed twice in taxis after drivers accessed her information using a mobile phone app called Easy Taxi. She won her petition asking Easy Taxi App to introduce safety measures, with the backing of more than 27,000 Brazilians.


title: Change.org

text: In December 2011, a fourth-grade class in Brookline, Massachusetts, launched the "Lorax Petition Project" through Change.org requesting Universal Studios to include more of an environmental message on its website and trailer for its upcoming film, "The Lorax", a classic Dr. Seuss children's story. The petitioners felt that the website and trailer lacked an important message from the book, "to help the environment". The petition collected over 57,000 signatures, and on January 26, 2012, the studio updated the website "with the environmental message the kids had dictated".


title: Change.org

text: On the morning of February 2, 2012, Stef Gray, a 23-year-old graduate in New York, held a news conference at the Washington offices of Sallie Mae where she presented the results of her Change.org, Sallie Mae, the "nation's largest private student-loan provider" petition, which had received about 77,000 signers. That afternoon the company changed its forbearance fee policy.


title: Change.org

text: In November 2013, Aaron Thompson from Tuscaloosa, Alabama started a petition, directed at Seth MacFarlane to bring back Brian Griffin on the TV series "Family Guy", after he was briefly killed off in the Season 12 episode "Life of Brian". Thompson's petition gained 30,000 signatures within 36 hours. The character was brought back to the show a few episodes later. However, this was not a result of the petition, as the episodes were conceived months prior.


title: Change.org

text: In September 2014, Karol Wilcox of Hayti, Missouri started a petition against the planned execution of Beau, a two-and-a-half-year-old dog in Dyersburg, Tennessee, for allegedly killing a duck on his owner's property. By November, this petition had gained over 540,000 signatures. The petition worked and the dog was spared.


title: Change.org

text: On December 5, 2015 the U.S. Congress reauthorizes the Zadroga Act. After many efforts, John Feal, a 9/11 first responder, was integral in passing the Zadroga Act in 2010. This act covers health expenses and compensates other first responders who are "suffering debilitating illnesses and injuries as a result of their service". When Congress stalled on reauthorizing the bill, he started a petition to help push it through that was signed by nearly 187,000 people.


title: Change.org

text: The "New York Daily News" reported:"Lifetime health benefits for sickened 9/11 first responders won overwhelming approval Friday from Congress after a long and contentious battle. The House and the Senate both voted to extend the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, giving coverage to those afflicted with Ground Zero-related health woes for the next 75 years. [...] In addition to extending the healthcare program for first responders and others suffering lingering 9/11 health issues, Congress renewed the Victims Compensation Fund for another five years to aid first responders too sick to work and their families."


title: Change.org

text: After the 2016 United States presidential election, in which Donald Trump was declared President-elect of the United States, there were mass protests. As part of these protests, one California man started a petition on November 10, 2016, which called for electors in states that Trump won to become faithless electors and cast their vote for Hillary Clinton instead at state Electoral College meetings. The petition acquired over 4 million signatures by November 14, 2016, only 4 days after it started. By November 23, 2016, it had gotten 4.5 million signatures. The petition ultimately failed as, on December 19, 2016, Trump officially gained the presidency with 304 electors. The petition closed with 4.9 million signatures, the highest in the platforms history, until March 5, 2019, when it was surpassed by a petition opposing the Article 13 of the proposed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. That petition was then toppled


title: Change.org

text: In summer 2017, a petition called for /r/incels (incel named after an abbreviation for "involuntary celibate") to be banned for inciting violence against women.


title: Change.org

text: On November 3, 2017, following sexual assault claims made against actor Kevin Spacey, Netflix fired the actor from, and stalled the production of, the sixth and final season of the television series in which Spacey had starred in on the network, "House of Cards". Following Spacey's dismissal, a petition created on November 2, 2017, calling for Spacey to be replaced by actor Kevin James as a post-plastic surgery Frank Underwood began gaining a rapid number of supporters; this petition has gained media notability since its inception, gaining 50,000 supporters within eight days.


title: Change.org

text: In wake of the Logan Paul suicide video controversy, user "... - .- -.-- .- .-.. .. ...- ." ("stayalive" in Morse code) created a petition entitled “Delete Logan Paul’s YouTube Channel", having received more than 520,000 signatures as of January 15, 2018. While numerous other petitions have been created for the same purpose, none have received as much attention.


title: Change.org

text: On July 14, 2019, an online petition titled "The Immediate Halt to the Construction of the TMT Telescope" was posted on Change.org in protest against the Thirty Meter Telescope. The online petition has currently gathered over 278,057 signatures worldwide.


title: Change.org

text: On May 30, 2020, a petition titled “Justice for George Floyd” was created, after George Floyd, an unarmed, African-American man who was murdered by police, which lead to mass protests. As of early July 2020, the petition had nearly 19 million signatures, making it the most signed petition in the history of the platform, surpassing the Article 13 opposition petition over a year ago.


title: Change.org

text: During the "Depp v. Heard" defamation trial, a petition to remove actress Amber Heard from her role as Mera in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom", which had initially gained 1.5 million within a month of its creation in November 2020, has surpassed 4.5 million as of June 2022, after the trial was livestreamed publicly in May 2022.


title: Change.org

text: On March 10, 2015, political blogger Guido Fawkes, whose real name is Paul Staines, started a petition to reinstate Jeremy Clarkson, BBC co-host of TV series "Top Gear". This followed the BBC's decision to suspend him over a "fracas" involving a producer on the show. The petition gained over 500,000 signatures within 24 hours, making it the fastest growing petition to date for the site, while having the servers at Change.org in the UK regularly become unresponsive due to the high demand. It had gained 1,060,980 signatures by March 20, 2015, and it was delivered to the BBC. On March 25, 2015, the BBC released an official statement confirming that, as a result of the actions which led to his suspension, they would not be renewing his contract with the show.


title: Change.org

text: A petition was started in 2020, to get fundraiser Tom Moore knighted, as of April 30, 1 million people had signed. It gained 1,043,729 signatures, and he was knighted on 20 May that year.


title: Change.org

text: A petition was started in 2020, to get Dominic Cummings sacked after it emerged he travelled from London to his parents' home in Durham with coronavirus symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown, as of 13 Jan 2022, this had 1,201,401 signatures.


title: Change.org

text: On March 31, 2015, Iranian prisoners were freed with the help of United Kingdom Citizens. Ghoncheh, a law student in the University of London and a British Iranian dual citizen, was in Iran teaching literacy to street children for charity as well as to visit family. She was arrested in June 2014 for attending the World League Volleyball matches, after the Iranian government was informed of the matter by the International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB). Iman Ghavami, the prisoner's brother, created a change.org campaign in petition to the Government of Iran and the Government of the United Kingdom. He gained 747,476 supporters after public outrage in the United Kingdom began in support of freeing Ghoncheh.


title: Change.org

text: In August 2014, Erica Perry from Vancouver, BC, started a petition asking Centerplate, a large food and beverage corporation serving entertainment venues in North America and the UK, to fire its then-CEO Desmond "Des" Hague after the public release of security camera footage allegedly showing Hague abusing a young Doberman Pinscher in an elevator. In response to Centerplate not taking action after the incident other than releasing a statement of apology from Hague, and an agreement by Hague to commit to perform certain charitable acts, the petition called for Centerplate to fire Hague. On September 2, 2014, after the petition had received over 190,000 signatures, Hague resigned from his position as CEO of Centerplate.


title: Change.org

text: On April 29, 2018, two nights after the release of "", Ryan Leger from Bolton, Ontario started a petition for Marvel Studios to extend Mark Ruffalo's contract for him to appear in an "Incredible Hulk 2" and for Universal Pictures to let Disney have the distribution rights to any potential post-"" Hulk films and Disney, in return, give Universal, for each, a marquee credit (including placement of the studio's opening logo) and 8-9% of the profits as they have for Paramount Pictures with "The Avengers" and "Iron Man 3".


title: Change.org

text: On February 7, 2015, two 13-year-old girls made consent part of Canada’s sex-ed program after they stated “In Canada 1 in 4 women will experience at least one incident of sexual assault in their life. Half of these assaults will be against women under 16 years of age.” The goal of the campaign was to include the conversation of consent into the curriculum of sex education. By the end of the campaign they had 40,484 supporters and met with Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister Liz Sandals, which led to the topic of consent being taught in Canada.


title: Change.org

text: In February 2016, 50 petitions have exceeded 100,000 signatories. A petition against the "Loi El Khomri", a labor law project by the French Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri has over 1 million signatures.


title: Change.org

text: On October 24, 2015, Marion, a victim of harassment at her school that led to her ending her life, was the inspiration of a campaign started to “train in the prevention and management of school violence and bullying with teaching and educational teams will be reformed and improved.”As well as victim assistance. The campaign raised public interest and the campaign leader, the mother of Marion, met with the Ministry of National Education and had an interview with the Minister Najat Vallaud Belkacem, of National Education. This campaign had 79,432 supporters.


title: Change.org

text: The petition to have death row convict Mary Jane Veloso released was the fastest ever growing petition from the Philippines with over 250,000 signatories from over 125 countries.


title: Change.org

text: In 2018, an anonymous creator of a Facebook community built on hatred for people riding bikes started a Change.org anti-cycling petition that has grown in a short time to reach over 100,000 signatures. Allegedly, there is evidence many of the names on the petition are fake.


title: Change.org

text: In 2019, a petition directed towards the Australian government to remove Senator Fraser Anning from the Australian Federal Parliament after his comments on the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand. Anning blamed immigration laws, the victims and heightening fears of Muslims for the attack. The petition (as at 10:11 AM UTC on March 24, 2019) has 1,418,105 signatures, making it one of the second most signed petitions on Change.org, and the highest concerning Australian affairs.


title: Change.org

text: On July 3rd, 2015, a 14-year-old girl guaranteed domestic violence prevention is covered in the Australian curriculum. The campaign was started as a campaign to raise awareness to victims that were not aware they were victims of domestic violence. After the campaign the Minister Pru Goward announced that the school districts will introduce domestic violence education into schools. The campaign had 101,747 supporters.


title: Change.org

text: After two earthquakes hit Central Mexico on September 7 and September 19, 2017, there were different petitions to force the "Instituto Nacional Electoral" ("National Electoral Institute"), the Mexican Senate, and President Enrique Peña Nieto to donate most or all of the money destined for the upcoming 2018 general elections be redirected to victims of the natural disaster in Mexico City and neighbor states of Morelos, Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Puebla. All petitions together sum the number of more than 3 million signatures.


title: Change.org

text: Change.org makes revenue through a subscription membership model and people promoting petitions on the site.


title: Change.org

text: Change.org is a for-profit, "venture-backed company that hosts activist petitions written by members of the public, gathers email addresses from signees, and encourages people to circulate the petitions heavily on social media. While for-profit, Change.org is a public benefit company with B Corp status." It has raised $72 million from backers including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.


title: Change.org

text: Donations through the platform do not go to the campaign makers, according to the change.org spokesperson, "The money raised from petitions goes toward helping the campaign win and helping us build and maintain our technology platform, making it possible for us to provide people with the tools they need to win the change they want to see.”


title: Change.org

text: Change.org members contribute monthly to sustain the technology and the small teams of campaigners who coach and support petition starters. The majority of the company's revenue is advertising - individuals and organizations who start or sign petitions then chip in to promote those petitions to other site visitors.


title: Change.org

text: To date, Change.org has raised $50 million to fuel its growth from mission-aligned investors in business, technology and the media. In 2017 an investment round driven by Reid Hoffman helped drive the shift to the current business model.


title: Change.org

text: The website previously made revenue by running advertisements called sponsored campaigns for advocacy organizations such as Amnesty International


title: Change.org

text: In May 2013 the website started "crowd-promoted petitions" that allowed a signatory to promote the petition by paying $5 to $1000 at the final stage of petition signing.


title: Change.org

text: In 2018, Anne Savage, the CEO of Bicycle Queensland, claimed that a massive Australian–based anti-cycling petition on Change.org was full of false names. She said Bicycle Queensland had received information that many of the names were created by electronic “bots”. A spokesperson for Change.org denied that the signatures were fake, saying that the organization's engineering team had double-checked the petition and confirmed they had not detected any unusual activity.


title: Change.org

text: Under certain conditions, signatures and other private information including email addresses can be found by search engines. Change.org operates a system for signature hiding, which works only if the user has an account on Change.org. Conversely, the platform has been criticized for not providing enough information on who has signed a petition; for instance a means of verifying that a petition protesting a politician has been signed by his or her constituents or that the signatures are genuine at all.


title: Change.org

text: Change.org is a Delaware General Corporation Law organized benefit corporation and certified B corporation.


title: Change.org

text: This has resulted in debate and criticism of its use of the .org domain suffix rather than the commercial .com. The site has been accused of fooling its users and hiding the fact that it is "a for-profit entity that has an economic incentive to get people to sign petitions".


title: Change.org

text: Change.org spokesperson Charlotte Hill countered this criticism in a September 2013 article in "Wired", saying, "We are a mission-driven social enterprise, and while we bring in revenue, we reinvest 100% of that revenue back into our mission of empowering ordinary people. It's not just that we're not yet making a profit – it's that we are decidedly not for-profit."


title: Change.org

text: In 2012, the site dropped most of the restrictions it previously placed on paid content. Internal documents began referring to "clients" and "partners" as "advertisers" and stated that "only advertisers strictly identified as 'hate groups' are to be banned." As a result, Change.org was accused of encouraging astroturfing and abandoning the progressive user base from which it initially gained traction. Additional controversy arose when the employee who initially leaked the documents was fired. Of the users who lost interest in the site after this change, a number of them expressed difficulty in being removed from Change.org mailing lists.


title: Change.org

text: Change.org has also been accused of selling the personal data provided by the users to third-party companies that hire its services.


title: Change.org

text: On May 17, 2021, Change.org updated their privacy policy which included a formal statement from the company regarding the selling of personal data; "Change.org does not sell the personal information of any of our users and we have not sold data in the last 12 months."


title: Change.org

text: They said they do however pass users personal data to a third party as listed in their privacy policy in order to "ensure the smooth running of the Change.org platform." As well as they have "contracts in place with our 3rd party service providers to ensure they keep your personal information safe. These contracts prohibit them from sharing the information about you that they collect or receive with anyone else or from using such information for other purposes than those we have agreed with them."


title: Change.org

text: Topics for Change.org petitions have grown to include disagreement with the Academy Awards and removing milk from certain types of coffee. The authors of these petitions have been criticized for focusing on “first world problems”. Further debate over the content of petitions came in November 2014 when Martin Daubney called some of them "bizarre" and stated that the site was being used to promote censorship. In response, the Change.org communication director John Coventry defended the wide range of petitions, saying that "people make an informed choice in what they want to support." The following week saw criticism alleging that petitions about the media receive more attention than petitions about "saving 'actual' lives."


title: Change.org

text: Change.org solicits signers to also donate money upon signing the petition. Although the donation is optional, it can be misleading to users who may believe the donations are used to fund petition organizers, or to advance that particular petition. The donations are "unrestricted" according to its FAQ. As further reported, "Change.org keeps the money and uses it to 'circulate' petitions more widely and pay for its own operating costs."


title: Change.org

text: Over 140 former employees of Change.org published an open letter noting "these contributions serve to market the petition and Change.org itself via billboards and digital ads" and, following the murder of George Floyd and consequent Black Lives Matter uprisings in June 2020, that "these actions constitute Change.org profiting from the death of Black people."


title: Change.org

text: Change.org has attracted the interest of researchers working in the field of civic technology. In a quantitative analysis of the website's data, researchers found that while there are some users who can be identified as natural power users, average users also learn from their experience, while the change.org recommendation system reinforces their willingness to continue using the website through tailored recommendations, turning average users into power users. Research also suggests that petitions containing positive emotions have higher chances of success, while petitions appealing to moral and cognitive content are less likely to be successful. Another study examining a data set of 3.9 million signers of petitions across 132 countries showed that men and women have different policy priorities, and that even though women create fewer petitions than men, their petitions are more likely to be more successful.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: Pure Land Buddhism (; ; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most widely practiced traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. According to Charles B. Jones "Pure Land is the dominant form of Buddhism in China, Japan and Korea." In Chinese Buddhism, the tradition is sometimes called a zōng (school) in an institutional sense, but historically it was most commonly described as a "dharma-gate" (fǎmén 法門), referring to a method of Buddhist practice. In Japanese Buddhism, the term more commonly refers to specific institutions. In Tibetan Buddhism, prayers and practices which aim at rebirth in a Buddha-field are a popular religious orientation, especially among laypersons.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: Pure Land is a tradition which is primarily focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's "pure land" or buddha-field (Sanskrit: "buddhakṣetra"), which generally speaking is a Buddha's field of influence. Some Buddha-fields are considered to be superior places to spiritually train for full Buddhahood, since a Buddha has compassionately "purified" it for this purpose and since in these realms, one can meet a Buddha face to face and study under them. Since it is much easier to attain enlightenment in one of these buddha-fields (due to the corrupt nature of our age), many Mahayana Buddhists strive to be reborn in such a place.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: The most common pure land today is that of Amitābha, called Sukhavati, "Land of Bliss". Mahayana Buddhists may also aspire to be reborn in other pure lands, such as the Buddhafields of Aksobhya and Medicine Guru (though this is rarer). In Tibetan Buddhism, adherents may also aspire to other pure lands such as that of Ratnasambhava. Although the Buddhas are venerated in Pure Land traditions and are seen as savior figures, the tradition clearly distinguishes itself from theistic religions, due to its roots in the classic Mahayana understanding of Buddhahood and bodhisattvas, as well as the Buddhist doctrines of emptiness and mind-only.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: Pure Land oriented practices and concepts form an important component of the Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions of China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas and Inner Asian regions such as Tibet. The term "Pure Land Buddhism" is used to describe both the tradition's practice and soteriology, which may be better understood as "Pure Land traditions" or "Pure Land teachings" (and is found throughout Mahayana Buddhism), as well as various separate Pure Land sects which focus exclusively on Pure land practice.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: According to Charles B. Jones, the most distinctive feature of East Asian Pure Land traditions is that "it offered a chance for non-elite or even morally evil people to attain a goal that was tantamount to the attainment of buddhahood itself: rebirth in the Pure Land of the Buddha Amitābha, circumvention of the normal working out of their accumulated karma, escape from samsara, and the stage of non-retrogression."


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: In East Asian Buddhism, the three primary texts of the Pure Land tradition (the "Three Pure Land Sutras") are the "Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra" ("Infinite Life Sutra"), "Amitayurdhyana Sutra" ("Contemplation Sutra") and the "Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra" ("Amitabha Sutra"). The "Pratyutpanna-samādhi-sūtra" is also an important source, particularly for early Chinese Pure Land. East Asian Pure Land Buddhism mostly relies on the practice of mindfulness of the Buddha, which is called "niànfó" (念佛, "Buddha recitation", Japanese: nembutsu) in Chinese and entails reciting the name of Amitabha (Chinese: "Āmítuófó", Japanese: "Amida"). However, Pure Land Buddhism also includes a large group of practices which are done alongside Buddha recitation.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: Teachings which focus on seeking rebirth in a buddha-field ("buddhakṣetra") were first developed in Indian Mahayana Buddhist Sutras, and were very popular in Kashmir and Central Asia, where they might have originated. The methods taught in the Mahayana sources which discuss "buddhakṣetras" are generally devotional Mahayana forms of the classic Buddhist practice known as mindfulness of the Buddha (Skt. ""). Andrew Skilton argues that the intermingling of Mahāyāna teachings with Sarvāstivādin meditation traditions in Kashmir led to the Buddha meditation practices which later influenced Pure Land in China.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: Remembrance of the Buddha is an early Buddhist practice which was taught in the Early Buddhist Texts. According to Paul Harrison, the term "anusmṛti" means 'recollection', 'remembrance', and, by extension, 'calling to mind', 'keeping in mind' (cf. smriti, commonly translated as 'mindfulness'). Buddha recollection was part of a group of "anusmṛti" practices. In the "Anguttara Nikaya", one finds six "anusmṛtis:" the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, sila (moral observance), caga (liberality), and the devata (gods). In the "Sutta Nipata", a Brahmin follower of the Buddha, named Pingiya, notes that even though his physical state does not allow him to be with the Buddha personally,there is no moment for me, however small, that is spent away from Gotama, from this universe of wisdom, this world of understanding . . . with constant and careful vigilance it is possible for me to see him with my mind as clearly as with my eyes, in night as well as day. And since I spend my nights revering him, there is not, to my mind, a single moment spent away from him.The "Ekottara-agama" (EA) also contains various unique passages on buddhānusmṛti. EA III, 1 (Taisho Vol. II, p. 554a7-b9) states that buddhānusmṛti can lead to the unconditioned, nirvana, as well as magic power. This sutra explains that a monk should sit down and "contemplates the image of the Tathagatha without taking his eyes off it...he calls to mind the qualities of the Tathagatha." These qualities which one contemplates include his vajra body, ten powers, his moral qualities, samadhis and wisdom (prajña).


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: According to Paul Williams, this practice of "Buddha mindfulness" gained further importance within Mahayana Buddhism, which had an expanded cosmology that held that there were infinite numbers of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas living in infinite Buddhafields throughout the universe. The practice of mindfulness of the Buddhas was seen as a way to contact these living Buddhas and attain awakening. For example, the "Saptaśatikā" (700 line) "Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra" states that through the ‘Single Deed Samadhi’ one can quickly attain enlightenment:The meditators should live in seclusion, cast away discursive thoughts, not cling to the appearance of things, concentrate their minds on a Buddha, and recite his name single-mindedly. They should keep their bodies erect and, facing the direction of that Buddha, meditate upon him continuously. If they can maintain mindfulness of the Buddha without interruption from moment to moment, then they will be able to see all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future right in each moment. A related idea associated with this Mahayana Buddhology was that through proper conduct, worship, and meditation, one could attain rebirth in the Buddha-field of one of these Buddhas.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: In the more expansive Mahayana cosmology, there are an infinite number of Buddhas, and each one has a field of activity where they teach and guide sentient beings to awakening. This teaching activity, which is done out of a sense of great compassion, is how Buddhas and bodhisattvas "purify" their Buddha-fields. Indeed, the very existence of a buddha-field depends on the acts of a bodhisattva on their path to Buddhahood. According to Jan Nattier, these ideas may have developed out of meditative experiences which provided certain meditators with "visions of a universe far more vast than had previously been supposed", with many world systems, some of which contained other Buddhas. This introduced the possibility that one could be reborn in these Buddhafields. Indian Mahayanists also held that these buddha-fields had a splendor and purity that matched the purity of the Buddha's mind. Sentient beings who are reborn in these pure buddha-fields due to their good karma also contribute to the development of a Buddha-field, as can bodhisattvas who are able to travel there. These buddha-fields are therefore powerful places which are very advantageous to spiritual progress.


title: Pure Land Buddhism

text: According to Jan Nattier, the wish to be reborn in a Buddhafield may have become popular in India due to the common idea that the bodhisattva path was very difficult and entailed much suffering and self-sacrifice. It also was seen as lasting a very long time, in some formulations, it lasts three incalculable eons (asamkhyeya kalpas), which would mean spending millions of lifetimes on the path.