title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: In 2014 it became known that 72% of the club shares are controlled by an investment company named Wroclawskie Centrum finansowo (WCF) with the club being owned by Franz-Josef Wernze. WCF is owned by Swiss investor W&C Vermögensverwaltungs AG in which Philipp Wernze, the son of the German businessman and Lechia owner Franz-Josef Wernze, is involved. In summer 2014 this German control over Lechia became more and more obvious when several players from Germany joined the club. Under Wernze's wings are also the German clubs Viktoria Köln and Lok Leipzig. In 2017 the shares of the company's main shareholder, Lechia Investment, were taken over from W&C Vermögensverwaltungs by Advancesport AG. This saw Franz-Josef Wernze staying as the owner of Lechia, but with his son Philipp Wernze, the main shareholder in Advancesport AG, having a greater role within the club and within his father's company, ETL Group.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: The players below played for their respective countries at any point during their career with the dates showing their time with Lechia.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Lechia Gdańsk operates an official second team, known as Lechia Gdańsk II, which currently plays in the fifth tier in the IV liga Pomerania. In its early years the second team was only used for games in the Polish Cup, fielding teams in four cup competitions in their first 50 years as a club. For the 1995–96 season the merger between Lechia Gdańsk and Olimpia Poznań creating Olimpia-Lechia Gdańsk, saw the second team running as the continuation of the "Lechia Gdańsk" team in the III liga.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Lechia Gdańsk II officially became the second team in the Polish league system for the 2005–06 season. The purpose of the second team was to provide more playing experience for the younger players, while providing game time for players returning from injury. The second team played for 11 continuous seasons, achieving their highest result of 2nd in the III liga in the 2014–15 season. In 2016 it was announced that the second team was to be discontinued before it was reintroduced again for the start of the 2018–19 season.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: In 2015 it was announced that all of the youth teams would once again be returning to Lechia, with Lechia taking control of coaching and player development. It was announced that there would be 11 age groups which would make up the academy starting from the Under-7's to the Under-23's. After 3 years, the Lechia Academy had 12 teams under their control, with other 200 staff seeing over the development. From the summer of 2019 the academy has been home to multiple levels of girls football teams with the formal incorporation of the Lechia Gdańsk Ladies into the Lechia Gdańsk structure.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Lechia have partnerships with academies in the Gdańsk and surrounding regions. The agreements provide Lechia with the best players, the teams to take part in competitions organised by Lechia, and better training for the coaches. Currently Lechia have partnerships with APK Jedynka Kartuzy, GAP Sparta Gdańsk, Unia Tczew, and AWFiS Gdańsk.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Initially Lechia Gdańsk was in close cooperation with Grupa Lotos for the AP LOTOS Gdańsk academy and ladies football team. The team was formerly known as ""Akademia Piłkarska Lechia Gdańsk"" due to the close association the two teams once had. The ladies team wore the Lechia kits to start with before disagreements led to Lechia and APLG starting to work more independently. Due to APLG and Lechia going in different directions Lechia's focus was less on the APLG ladies team and making a team of their own.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Lechia became closely linked with Biało-Zielone Gdańsk, which was formed in 2014. Biało-Zielone was another team closely linked with Lechia but was not officially part of the Lechia set up. In 2019 it was announced that the team would be incorporated into the Lechia Gdańsk academy structure and that their name was to become Lechia Gdańsk Ladies. The Lechia Ladies team currently plays in the III liga (Pomeranian group).


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: The following list contains the statistics from all competitive games after 1 July 2001, when Lechia Gdańsk was re-founded in the sixth tier.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Stats correct as of 19 September 2022. The managers in "italics" were given the contract on a caretaker basis.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: Lechia Gdańsk shares a lot of its history with Lechia Lwów, most notably the club's name as well as the colours used. Lechia Lwów was the oldest football team in Poland with many of the fans of the team moving to Gdańsk after Poland's borders were changed after World War II, Lwów being given to Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and the expulsion of Poles from Ukraine. Due to Lechia Lwów and Lechia Gdańsk sharing many of the same fans, Lechia Gdańsk is often seen as Lechia Lwów's ""sister team"". Lechia Lwów often played in the Polish second division, playing once in the top tier in the 1931 season suffering relegation that same season. The Lechia Gdańsk 2012–13 kit had "1903" written on their socks in commemoration of Lechia Lwów's 110 year anniversary since their founding.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: In 2019 the Retro Liga was formed in Poland of teams who had been disbanded in 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II. The league followed the same rules and kit standards of those in 1919 when the Polish Football Association was formed. Lechia Lwów were crowned the inaugural winners of the Retro Liga at the end of the 2019 season, also defending their title for the 2020 season.


title: Lechia Gdańsk

text: The Amber Cup Tournament (created 2006) is the biggest indoor footballing event in Poland, taking place in January during the football leagues' winter break. Lechia Gdańsk took a team to the Amber Cup every year from 2011 until 2018 and are the tournaments most successful team, winning the tournament four times (2011, 2013, 2016 & 2017). Players who have won the tournament with Lechia on more than one occasion are;


title: John Randle

text: John Anthony Randle (born December 12, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was a six-time first-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler. His 137.5 sacks rank 10th all-time overall and 1st among defensive tackles. On February 6, 2010, he was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


title: John Randle

text: He played college football at Texas A&M–Kingsville, went undrafted and is considered one of the greatest undrafted players of all time.


title: John Randle

text: Born in Mumford, Texas, Randle was raised in poverty and worked odd jobs when he was young. His brother Ervin played as a linebacker in the NFL for eight years. Randle played high school football in Hearne, Texas. He started his college playing career at Trinity Valley Community College, before transferring to Texas A&M University–Kingsville.


title: John Randle

text: Randle went undrafted; he tried out for his brother's team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but was thought to be too small, and was not signed to a contract. The 6'1" 244-lbs. defensive lineman was picked up by the Vikings after the draft on the recommendation of Head Scout Don Deisch. Randle was told by the Vikings that he would only be picked up if he came back with his weight over 250 lbs, but he was at 244 lbs, so when he was weighed he hid a chain under his sweats to get his weight up.


title: John Randle

text: Randle played his first season in 1990. Randle went to his first Pro Bowl in 1993 after recording 11.5 sacks, and quickly became one of the dominant defensive tackles of his era. Once Henry Thomas left the Vikings, Randle increased his training regimen. Randle would record double-digit sacks during nine different seasons, including a career-high and league-leading 15.5 sacks in 1997. In a 1999 game against the 49ers, he recorded his only career interception.


title: John Randle

text: Like fellow Minnesota Viking Chris Hovan, Randle was known for eccentric face painting as well as trash-talking on the field, and disarming on-field heckling of opposing players. Among Randle's most famous on-field catchphrases was "Six footers for LIFE!", an allusion to scouting criticism of being undersized for his position.


title: John Randle

text: Randle had an ongoing rivalry with Packers quarterback Brett Favre, whom he sacked more than any other quarterback; Favre said that Randle was the toughest defensive player he faced and that "on artificial turf he's unblockable". To play off the rivalry with Brett Favre, Randle starred in a commercial which featured him sewing a miniature version of Favre's #4 jersey which he put on a live chicken. The commercial then showed Randle chasing the chicken around what was supposed to be Randle's backyard and ended with Randle cooking chicken on his BBQ, leading to fierce protests from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.


title: John Randle

text: Randle's pass-rushing techniques were motion-captured for 989 Sports' NFL Xtreme series. He was the cover athlete for the second game in the series.


title: John Randle

text: At the end of the 2000 season, Randle signed with the Seattle Seahawks. In his first season with the Seahawks, he earned an invite to the Pro Bowl, the last of his career. Randle retired in March 2004. Although Randle had planned to retire a year earlier, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren convinced him to stay one more year. The Seahawks made the playoffs in 2003 while he was on the roster, but did not reach the Super Bowl as they lost in the Wild Card Round to the Packers. Randle also acquired his final sack in 2003.


title: John Randle

text: Randle left the NFL tied with Richard Dent for fifth in number of career sacks. His 137.5 career sacks remains the second-highest total by a defensive tackle in NFL history, only ranking below fellow Vikings legend Alan Page, who had a total of 148.5 sacks. Over his career, he was named to seven Pro Bowl squads. He was named All Tackle Machine of 1999 by "Tackle: The Magazine".


title: John Randle

text: Randle was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and inducted into the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor in 2008. He was eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame starting in 2009, and was elected in his second year of eligibility in 2010. Randle was inducted in Canton, Ohio on August 7, 2010 alongside Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Floyd Little, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson and Dick LeBeau. He was also inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame during the same year and had his number retired by his former high school team. He lives in Medina, Minnesota with his wife and children. In 2019, Randle was also inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.


title: Crust (geology)

text: In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. It is usually distinguished from the underlying mantle by its chemical makeup; however, in the case of icy satellites, it may be distinguished based on its phase (solid crust vs. liquid mantle).


title: Crust (geology)

text: The crusts of Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Io, the Moon and other planetary bodies formed via igneous processes and were later modified by erosion, impact cratering, volcanism, and sedimentation.


title: Crust (geology)

text: Most terrestrial planets have fairly uniform crusts. Earth, however, has two distinct types: continental crust and oceanic crust. These two types have different chemical compositions and physical properties and were formed by different geological processes.


title: Crust (geology)

text: This is a planet's "original" crust. It forms from solidification of a magma ocean. Toward the end of planetary accretion, the terrestrial planets likely had surfaces that were magma oceans. As these cooled, they solidified into crust. This crust was likely destroyed by large impacts and re-formed many times as the Era of Heavy Bombardment drew to a close.


title: Crust (geology)

text: The nature of primary crust is still debated: its chemical, mineralogic, and physical properties are unknown, as are the igneous mechanisms that formed them. This is because it is difficult to study: none of Earth's primary crust has survived to today. Earth's high rates of erosion and crustal recycling from plate tectonics has destroyed all rocks older than about 4 billion years, including whatever primary crust Earth once had.


title: Crust (geology)

text: However, geologists can glean information about primary crust by studying it on other terrestrial planets. Mercury's highlands might represent primary crust, though this is debated. The anorthosite highlands of the Moon are primary crust, formed as plagioclase crystallized out of the Moon's initial magma ocean and floated to the top; however, it is unlikely that Earth followed a similar pattern, as the Moon was a water-less system and Earth had water. The Martian meteorite ALH84001 might represent primary crust of Mars; however, again, this is debated. Like Earth, Venus lacks primary crust, as the entire planet has been repeatedly resurfaced and modified.


title: Crust (geology)

text: Secondary crust is formed by partial melting of mostly silicate materials in the mantle, and so is usually basaltic in composition.


title: Crust (geology)

text: This is the most common type of crust in the Solar System. Most of the surfaces of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars comprise secondary crust, as do the lunar maria. On Earth, we see secondary crust forming primarily at mid-ocean spreading centers, where the adiabatic rise of mantle causes partial melting.


title: Crust (geology)

text: Tertiary crust is more chemically-modified than either primary or secondary. It can form in several ways:


title: Crust (geology)

text: The only known example of tertiary crust is the continental crust of the Earth. It is unknown whether other terrestrial planets can be said to have tertiary crust, though the evidence so far suggests that they do not. This is likely because plate tectonics is needed to create tertiary crust, and Earth is the only planet in our Solar System with plate tectonics.


title: Crust (geology)

text: Earth's crust is a thin shell on the outside of Earth, accounting for less than 1% of Earth's volume. It is the top component of the lithosphere, a division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates that move, allowing heat to escape from the interior of Earth into space.


title: Crust (geology)

text: A theoretical protoplanet named "Theia" is thought to have collided with the forming Earth, and part of the material ejected into space by the collision accreted to form the Moon. As the Moon formed, the outer part of it is thought to have been molten, a "lunar magma ocean." Plagioclase feldspar crystallized in large amounts from this magma ocean and floated toward the surface. The cumulate rocks form much of the crust. The upper part of the crust probably averages about 88% plagioclase (near the lower limit of 90% defined for anorthosite): the lower part of the crust may contain a higher percentage of ferromagnesian minerals such as the pyroxenes and olivine, but even that lower part probably averages about 78% plagioclase. The underlying mantle is denser and olivine-rich.


title: Crust (geology)

text: The thickness of the crust ranges between about 20 and 120 km. Crust on the far side of the Moon averages about 12 km thicker than that on the near side. Estimates of average thickness fall in the range from about 50 to 60 km. Most of this plagioclase-rich crust formed shortly after formation of the moon, between about 4.5 and 4.3 billion years ago. Perhaps 10% or less of the crust consists of igneous rock added after the formation of the initial plagioclase-rich material. The best-characterized and most voluminous of these later additions are the mare basalts formed between about 3.9 and 3.2 billion years ago. Minor volcanism continued after 3.2 billion years, perhaps as recently as 1 billion years ago. There is no evidence of plate tectonics.


title: Crust (geology)

text: Study of the Moon has established that a crust can form on a rocky planetary body significantly smaller than Earth. Although the radius of the Moon is only about a quarter that of Earth, the lunar crust has a significantly greater average thickness. This thick crust formed almost immediately after formation of the Moon. Magmatism continued after the period of intense meteorite impacts ended about 3.9 billion years ago, but igneous rocks younger than 3.9 billion years make up only a minor part of the crust.


title: Haw flakes

text: Haw flakes () are Chinese sweets made from the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn. The pale/dark pink candy is usually formed into discs two millimeters thick, and packaged in cylindrical stacks with label art resemblant of Chinese fireworks. The sweet and tangy snack is usually served to guests along with tea or as a treat for children. Some Chinese people take the flakes with bitter Chinese herbal medicine.


title: Haw flakes

text: Gourmet haw flakes are also available at specialty Chinese markets in the West. Gourmet haw flakes tend to be larger than the regular Shandong haw flakes (gourmet haw flakes are about 35–40 mm in diameter where as the Shandong haw flakes are about 25 mm in diameter).


title: Haw flakes

text: Low sugar and additive-free haw flakes aimed towards the health conscious are readily available in China but less so in the West. They will vary from pale beige to reddish brown in color.


title: Haw flakes

text: Haw flakes have been seized on several occasions by the United States Food and Drug Administration for containing Ponceau 4R (E124, Acid Red 18), an unapproved artificial coloring. Ponceau 4R is used in Europe, Asia and Australia but is not approved by the US FDA.


title: Haw flakes

text: Currently, certain brands of haw flakes contain Allura Red AC (FD& C #40) as the red coloring. In Europe, Allura Red AC is not recommended for consumption by children. The food coloring was previously banned in Denmark, Belgium, France and Switzerland.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking () or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. It was recruited from foreign volunteers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Belgium under the command of German officers. During World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the American forces in Austria.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, sought to expand the Waffen-SS with foreign military volunteers for the Nazi "crusade against Bolshevism". The enrollment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: the Waffen-SS Regiment Nordland (for Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish volunteers), and the Waffen-SS Regiment Westland (for Dutch and Flemish volunteers).


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: The Nordic formation, originally organised as the "Nordische Division" (Nr. 5), was to be made up of Nordic volunteers mixed with German Waffen-SS personnel. The SS Infantry Regiment Germania of the "SS-Verfügungs-Division", which was formed mostly from Germans, was transferred to help form the nucleus of a new division in late 1940. In December 1940, the new SS motorised formation was to be designated as SS-Division Germania, but after its formative period, the name was changed, to SS Division Wiking in January 1941. The division was formed around three motorised infantry regiments: Germania, Westland, and Nordland; with the addition of an artillery regiment. Command of the newly formed division was given to Felix Steiner, the former commander of the "Verfügungstruppe SS Regiment Deutschland".


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: After formation, the division was sent to Heuberg in Germany for training; by April 1941, it was ready for combat. The division was ordered east in mid-May, to take part with Army Group South's advance into Ukraine during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In June 1941, the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS was formed from volunteers from that country. This unit was attached to the SS Regiment Nordland of the division. About 430 Finns who fought in the Winter War served within the SS Division Wiking since the beginning of Barbarossa. In spring 1943, the Finns' 2-year contract ended, and the Finnish battalion was withdrawn. During that same timeframe, the Regiment Nordland was removed to help form the core of the new SS Division Nordland. They were replaced by the Estonian Battalion Narwa.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: The division took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, advancing through Galicia, today's Ukraine. In July and August, Wiking participated in the encirclement battles at Uman and Kiev. Later in August, the division fought for the bridgehead across the Dnieper River at Dnepropetrovsk. Finally, the division took part in the heavy fighting for Rostov-on-Don before retreating to the Mius River line in November, to hold for the winter.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In February 1942, the Soviet’s winter offensive had established breakthroughs on either side of the transportation hub of Izium. A was formed around the 1st battalion of the regiment and the division's assault gun battery and sent north to help contain the Soviet thrusts. By the 25th of February, this was virtually annihilated in defensive battles near Izium against superior Soviet armored forces. Ultimately the front had been stabilized however, and conditions had been set for the devastating Axis counterattack at the Second Battle of Kharkov a few months later.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: During the spring of 1942, the division received reinforcements for the coming offensive, including a battalion of Finnish infantry and a battery of StuG III’s to replace earlier losses. In early June 1942, Wiking received its panzer battalion, making it among the first SS Divisions to be given its own armored contingent. The panzer battalion had just under sixty tanks, and was made up of two companies of Panzer IIIs and one company of Panzer IVs. The battalion was commanded by veteran SS officer Johannes Mühlenkamp.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In the summer of 1942, the unit took part in Army Group South's offensive Case Blue, with orders to capture Rostov and the Maikop oil fields. After capturing both targets, the division came to a halt in the foothills of the Caucasus on 14 August. In late September 1942, Wiking participated in the operation aimed to capture the city of Grozny, alongside the 13th Panzer Division. After much difficulty, the division captured the Malgobek ridge on 6 October, but the objective of seizing Grozny and opening a road to the Caspian Sea was not achieved. The division took part in the attempt to seize Ordzhonikidze. The Soviet Operation Uranus, the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, brought any further advances to a halt and later necessitated a retreat from the Caucasus.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: After Operation Winter Storm, the failed attempt to relieve the 6th Army, Erich von Manstein, the commander of Army Group South, proposed another attempt towards Stalingrad. To that end, entrained on 24 December; however, by the time it arrived at Simovniki on 30 December, the Wehrmacht was retreating westwards. The Wiking Division was tasked with covering the retreat of Kleist's First Panzer Army back across the Don. Wiking held Simovniki for seven days, covering the retreat of several large German formations, taking high casualties in the process.. The division escaped through the Rostov gap and took up a new defensive position at Stalino on 05 February.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In early 1943, the division fell back to Ukraine south of Kharkov, recently abandoned by the II SS Panzer Corps commanded by Paul Hausser. In the remaining weeks of February, the Corps, including Wiking, engaged Mobile Group Popov, the major Soviet armoured force named after Markian Popov during the Third Battle of Kharkov. As the post-Stalingrad Soviet offensive exhausted itself, Manstein was able to stabilize the front.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In 1943, Herbert Gille was appointed to command the division. The SS Regiment Nordland, along with its commander Fritz von Scholz, were removed from the division and used as the nucleus for the new SS Division Nordland. The Finnish Volunteer Battalion was also withdrawn and they were replaced by the Estonian Battalion Narwa.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In the summer of 1943, the division, along with the 23rd Panzer Division, formed the reserve for Manstein's Army Group in Operation Citadel. Immediately following the German failure in the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army launched two counter-offensives, Operation Kutuzov and Operation Rumyantsev. Wiking, together with the SS Divisions Totenkopf and Das Reich, was sent to the Mius-Bogodukhov sector. The Soviets took Kharkov on 23 August and began advancing towards the Dnieper. In October the division was pulled out to a quiet sector of the line just as the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive overtook Army Group South.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In November 1943 the division participated in Operation Harvest Festival, engaging in the mass murder of thousands of Jews at Majdanek concentration camp.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In the aftermath of the fall of Kiev in late December 1943, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army encircled several German divisions during the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket in January 1944. Over 60,000 soldiers, including the Wiking division, were trapped along the Dnieper River. Roughly half of German forces broke out of the encirclement. Similar to other formations in the pocket, Wiking suffered heavy casualties and lost nearly all of its heavy equipment.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In early March 1944, while still refitting after it’s ordeal in the Cherkassy Pocket, the division was ordered to the town of Kovel to help contain a Soviet breakthrough. Only a portion of the division’s strength, equipped only with small arms, and the division commander Gruppenführer Herbert Gille, made it into Kovel before being surrounded by Soviet forces. A breakout was deemed impractical, as there was over 2,000 German wounded in the city.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: By the end of March 1944, a relief force had been assembled outside of the pocket, lead by Obersturmführer Karl Nicolussi-Leck. This force was built around the 8th Company of Wiking’s 5th Panzer regiment, which had just received sixteen new Panther tanks. Fighting through determined Soviet resistance and heavy snow, the relief force broke through to the pocket on 30 March. Now able to be resupplied and receive reinforcements, Gille conducted counterattacks throughout April, culminating in the scattering of Soviet forces around Kovel on 24 April.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: Through May, the division received replacements for earlier losses, including Panzer IVs, Stug IVs, and Panther tanks. In early June the division was ordered west, to new defensive positions at Maciejow. On 06 July, the Soviet armored advance reached Maciejow. Wiking’s tanks and AT guns were well dug-in and camouflaged, and were able to destroy over 300 Russian armored vehicles in three days of fighting. After bringing the Red Army’s advance to a standstill in that sector, Wiking was dispatched to Poland on July 13, 1944.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In late-August 1944, the division was ordered back to Modlin Fortress on the Vistula River line near Warsaw where it joined the newly formed Army Group Vistula. Fighting alongside the Luftwaffe's ""Hermann Göring" Panzer Division", the division participated in the Battle of Radzymin. The German counterattacks brought the Soviet offensive to a halt and the front line stabilized for the rest of the year.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: The division remained in the Modlin area, grouped with the 3 SS "Totenkopf" and the IV SS Panzer Corps. Gille was promoted to the command of the new "SS Panzer" Corps, and after a brief period with "Oberführer" Dr. Eduard Deisenhofer in command, "Standartenführer" Johannes Mühlenkamp, commander of the SS Panzer Regiment 5 "Wiking", took command. Battles around Modlin followed for the rest of the year. In October, Mühlenkamp was replaced by "Oberführer" Karl Ullrich, who lead the division for the rest of the war.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In late-December 1944, the German forces, including IX SS Mountain Corps, were encircled in Budapest. The IV SS Panzer Corps was ordered south to join Hermann Balck's 6th Army for a relief effort codenamed Operation Konrad.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: As a part of Operation "Konrad I", the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" was committed to action on 1 January 1945, fighting alongside the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf". Near Tata, the advance columns of the "Wiking" attacked the 4th Guards Army. The Soviet forces halted the German advance at Bicske, 28 kilometres from Budapest. After the failure of Konrad I, "Wiking" was moved south of Esztergom, near the Danube bend.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: The second relief attempt, Operation "Konrad II", got under way on 7 January with "Wiking" advancing south towards Budapest. By 12 January, the "SS Panzergrenadier Regiment Westland" had reached Pilisszentkereszt, 20 kilometres from Buda. Despite initial successes, the division was unable to exploit its breakthrough and was ordered to pull back and regroup.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: A third attempt, Operation "Konrad III", in cooperation with the III Panzer Corps, took place 100 kilometres to the south. It started on 20 January and achieved initial tactical success. The quick redeployment of more Red Army troops prevented a German breakthrough, turning the German forces back by 28 January. By the end of January, "Wiking" and "Totenkopf" had suffered 8,000 casualties, including 200 officers. -->


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: On 13 February 1945, the division was ordered west to Lake Balaton, where "Oberstgruppenführer" Sepp Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army was preparing Operation Spring Awakening, an offensive at Lake Balaton. Gille's remained as a support to the 6th SS Panzer Army during the beginning of the operation. Dietrich's army made "good progress" at first, but as they drew near the Danube, the combination of the muddy terrain and strong Soviet resistance ground them to a halt. The division performed a holding operation on the left flank of the offensive, in the area between Lake Velence-Székesfehérvár. As the operation progressed, the division was engaged in preventing Soviet efforts at outflanking the advancing German forces. On 16 March, the Soviets forces counterattacked in overwhelming strength causing the Germans to be driven back to their starting positions. On 24 March, another Soviet attack threw the IV SS Panzer Corps back towards Vienna; all contact was lost with the neighbouring I SS Panzer Corps, and any resemblance of an organised line of defence was gone. Wiking withdrew into Czechoslovakia. The division surrendered to the American forces near Fürstenfeld, Austria on 9 May.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: Following the killing of Hilmar Wäckerle, one of the division's high ranking field officers, in the city of Lviv, Jews in the area were rounded up by members of the division's logistics units led by "Obersturmführer" Braunnagel and "Untersturmführer" Kochalty. A gauntlet was then formed by two rows of soldiers. Most of these soldiers were from the Wiking's logistics units, but some were members of the German 1st Mountain Division. The Jews were then forced to run down this path while being struck by rifle butts and bayonets. At the end of this path stood a number of SS and army officers who shot the Jews as soon as they entered a bomb crater being used as a mass grave. About 50 or 60 Jews were killed in this manner.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In addition, historian Eleonore Lappin, from the Institute for the History of Jews in Austria, has documented several cases of war crimes committed by members of Wiking in her work "The Death Marches of Hungarian Jews Through Austria in the Spring of 1945".


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: On 28 March 1945, 80 Jews from an evacuation column, although fit for the journey, were shot by three members of Wiking and five military policemen. On 4 April, 20 members of another column that left Graz tried to escape near the town of Eggenfeld, not far from Gratkorn. Troops from the division stationed there apprehended them in the forest near Mt. Eggenfeld and then herded them into a gully, where they were shot. On 7–11 April 1945, members of the division executed another eighteen escaped prisoners.


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: In 2013 the NRK quoted "the first Norwegian [to publicly admit] that he participated in war crimes and extermination of Jews in Eastern Europe" during World War II, former soldier of the division, Olav Tuff, who admitted: "In one instance in Ukraine during the autumn of 1941, civilians were herded like cattle—into a church. Shortly afterwards soldiers from my unit started to pour gasoline onto the church and somewhere between 200 and 300 humans were burned inside [the church]. I was assigned as guard, and no one came out."


title: 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

text: The 2014 Norwegian book "Morfar, Hitler og jeg" (Grandfather, Hitler and I) quotes the diary of a division soldier from 1941 to 1943: "and then we cleaned a Jew hole".


title: Mussolini family

text: The Mussolini family is a well-known family in Italy. The most prominent member was Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. Other members of the family include:


title: Grammy Award for Best Rock Album

text: The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by The Recording Academy of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".


title: Grammy Award for Best Rock Album

text: The award for Best Rock Album was first presented to the band the Rolling Stones in 1995, and the name of the category has remained unchanged since then. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented to "vocal or instrumental rock, hard rock or metal albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded material".


title: Grammy Award for Best Rock Album

text: The award goes to the artist, producer and engineer/mixer, provided they were responsible for more than 50 percent of playing time on the album. Producers and/or engineers/mixers who are responsible for "less" than 50 percent, as well as the mastering engineer, can apply for a Winners Certificate.


title: Grammy Award for Best Rock Album

text: The band Foo Fighters holds the record for the most wins in this category, with five. Two-time winners include Sheryl Crow, Green Day, U2, Cage the Elephant, and Muse. Neil Young jointly holds both the record for the most nominations alongside the Foo Fighters, with seven, and the record for the most nominations without a win. To date, only two women, Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette have won the award.


title: Speed of gravity

text: In classical theories of gravitation, the changes in a gravitational field propagate. A change in the distribution of energy and momentum of matter results in subsequent alteration, at a distance, of the gravitational field which it produces. In the relativistic sense, the "speed of gravity" refers to the speed of a gravitational wave, which, as predicted by general relativity and confirmed by observation of the GW170817 neutron star merger, is the same speed as the speed of light ("c").


title: Speed of gravity

text: The speed of gravitational waves in the general theory of relativity is equal to the "speed of light" in a vacuum, . Within the theory of special relativity, the constant is not only about light; instead it is the highest possible speed for any interaction in nature. Formally, is a conversion factor for changing the unit of time to the unit of space. This makes it the only speed which does not depend either on the motion of an observer or a source of light and / or gravity. Thus, the speed of "light" is also the speed of gravitational waves, and further the speed of any massless particle. Such particles include the gluon (carrier of the strong force), the photons that make up light (hence carrier of electromagnetic force), and the hypothetical gravitons (which are the presumptive field particles associated with gravity; however, an understanding of the graviton, if it exists, requires an as-yet unavailable theory of quantum gravity).


title: Speed of gravity

text: The speed of physical changes in a gravitational or electromagnetic field should not be confused with "changes" in the behavior of static fields that are due to pure observer-effects. These changes in direction of a static field are, because of relativistic considerations, the same for an observer when a distant charge is moving, as when an observer (instead) decides to move with respect to a distant charge. Thus, constant motion of an observer with regard to a static charge and its extended static field (either a gravitational or electric field) does not change the field. For static fields, such as the electrostatic field connected with electric charge, or the gravitational field connected to a massive object, the field extends to infinity, and does not propagate. Motion of an observer does not cause the direction of such a field to change, and by symmetrical considerations, changing the observer frame so that the charge appears to be moving at a constant rate, "also" does not cause the direction of its field to change, but requires that it continue to "point" in the direction of the charge, at all distances from the charge.


title: Speed of gravity

text: The consequence of this is that static fields (either electric or gravitational) always point directly to the actual position of the bodies that they are connected to, without any delay that is due to any "signal" traveling (or propagating) from the charge, over a distance to an observer. This remains true if the charged bodies and their observers are made to "move" (or not), by simply changing reference frames. This fact sometimes causes confusion about the "speed" of such static fields, which sometimes appear to change infinitely quickly when the changes in the field are mere artifacts of the motion of the observer, or of observation.


title: Speed of gravity

text: In such cases, nothing actually changes infinitely quickly, save the point of view of an observer of the field. For example, when an observer begins to move with respect to a static field that already extends over light years, it appears as though "immediately" the entire field, along with its source, has begun moving at the speed of the observer. This, of course, includes the extended parts of the field. However, this "change" in the apparent behavior of the field source, along with its distant field, does not represent any sort of propagation that is faster than light.


title: Speed of gravity

text: Isaac Newton's formulation of a gravitational force law requires that each particle with mass respond instantaneously to every other particle with mass irrespective of the distance between them. In modern terms, Newtonian gravitation is described by the Poisson equation, according to which, when the mass distribution of a system changes, its gravitational field instantaneously adjusts. Therefore, the theory assumes the speed of gravity to be infinite. This assumption was adequate to account for all phenomena with the observational accuracy of that time. It was not until the 19th century that an anomaly in astronomical observations which could not be reconciled with the Newtonian gravitational model of instantaneous action was noted: the French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier determined in 1859 that the elliptical orbit of Mercury precesses at a significantly different rate from that predicted by Newtonian theory.


title: Speed of gravity

text: The first attempt to combine a finite gravitational speed with Newton's theory was made by Laplace in 1805. Based on Newton's force law he considered a model in which the gravitational field is defined as a radiation field or fluid. Changes in the motion of the attracting body are transmitted by some sort of waves. Therefore, the movements of the celestial bodies should be modified in the order "v/c", where "v" is the relative speed between the bodies and "c" is the speed of gravity. The effect of a finite speed of gravity goes to zero as "c" goes to infinity, but not as 1/"c" as it does in modern theories. This led Laplace to conclude that the speed of gravitational interactions is at least 7×10 times the speed of light. This velocity was used by many in the 19th century to criticize any model based on a finite speed of gravity, like electrical or mechanical explanations of gravitation.


title: Speed of gravity

text: From a modern point of view, Laplace's analysis is incorrect. Not knowing about Lorentz invariance of static fields, Laplace assumed that when an object like the Earth is moving around the Sun, the attraction of the Earth would not be toward the instantaneous position of the Sun, but toward where the Sun "had been" if its position was retarded using the relative velocity (this retardation actually "does" happen with the "optical" position of the Sun, and is called annual solar aberration). Putting the Sun immobile at the origin, when the Earth is moving in an orbit of radius "R" with velocity "v" presuming that the gravitational influence moves with velocity "c", moves the Sun's true position ahead of its optical position, by an amount equal to "vR/c", which is the travel time of gravity from the sun to the Earth times the relative velocity of the sun and the Earth. As seen in Fig. 1, the pull of gravity (if it behaved like a wave, such as light) would then always be displaced in the direction of the Earth's velocity, so that the Earth would always be pulled toward the optical position of the Sun, rather than its actual position. This would cause a pull ahead of the Earth, which would cause the orbit of the Earth to spiral outward. Such an outspiral would be suppressed by an amount "v/c" compared to the force which keeps the Earth in orbit; and since the Earth's orbit is observed to be stable, Laplace's "c" must be very large. As is now known, it may be considered to be infinite in the limit of straight-line motion, since as a static influence it is instantaneous at distance when seen by observers at constant transverse velocity. For orbits in which velocity (direction of speed) changes slowly, it is almost infinite.


title: Speed of gravity

text: The attraction toward an object moving with a steady velocity is towards its instantaneous position with no delay, for both gravity and electric charge. In a field equation consistent with special relativity (i.e., a Lorentz invariant equation), the attraction between static charges moving with constant relative velocity is always toward the instantaneous position of the charge (in this case, the "gravitational charge" of the Sun), not the time-retarded position of the Sun. When an object is moving in orbit at a steady speed but changing velocity "v", the effect on the orbit is order "v"/"c", and the effect preserves energy and angular momentum, so that orbits do not decay.


title: Speed of gravity

text: At the end of the 19th century, many tried to combine Newton's force law with the established laws of electrodynamics, like those of Wilhelm Eduard Weber, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Bernhard Riemann and James Clerk Maxwell. Those theories are not invalidated by Laplace's critique, because although they are based on finite propagation speeds, they contain additional terms which maintain the stability of the planetary system. Those models were used to explain the perihelion advance of Mercury, but they could not provide exact values. One exception was Maurice Lévy in 1890, who succeeded in doing so by combining the laws of Weber and Riemann, whereby the speed of gravity is equal to the speed of light. However, those hypotheses were rejected.


title: Speed of gravity

text: However, a more important variation of those attempts was the theory of Paul Gerber, who derived in 1898 the identical formula, which was also derived later by Einstein for the perihelion advance. Based on that formula, Gerber calculated a propagation speed for gravity of , i.e. practically the speed of light. But Gerber's derivation of the formula was faulty, i.e., his conclusions did not follow from his premises, and therefore many (including Einstein) did not consider it to be a meaningful theoretical effort. Additionally, the value it predicted for the deflection of light in the gravitational field of the sun was too high by the factor 3/2.


title: Speed of gravity

text: In 1900, Hendrik Lorentz tried to explain gravity on the basis of his ether theory and the Maxwell equations. After proposing (and rejecting) a Le Sage type model, he assumed like Ottaviano-Fabrizio Mossotti and Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner that the attraction of opposite charged particles is stronger than the repulsion of equal charged particles. The resulting net force is exactly what is known as universal gravitation, in which the speed of gravity is that of light. This leads to a conflict with the law of gravitation by Isaac Newton, in which it was shown by Pierre-Simon Laplace that a finite speed of gravity leads to some sort of aberration and therefore makes the orbits unstable. However, Lorentz showed that the theory is not concerned by Laplace's critique, because due to the structure of the Maxwell equations only effects in the order "v"/"c" arise. But Lorentz calculated that the value for the perihelion advance of Mercury was much too low. He wrote:


title: Speed of gravity

text: In 1908, Henri Poincaré examined the gravitational theory of Lorentz and classified it as compatible with the relativity principle, but (like Lorentz) he criticized the inaccurate indication of the perihelion advance of Mercury.


title: Speed of gravity

text: Henri Poincaré argued in 1904 that a propagation speed of gravity which is greater than "c" would contradict the concept of local time (based on synchronization by light signals) and the principle of relativity. He wrote:


title: Speed of gravity

text: However, in 1905 Poincaré calculated that changes in the gravitational field can propagate with the speed of light if it is presupposed that such a theory is based on the Lorentz transformation. He wrote:


title: Speed of gravity

text: Similar models were also proposed by Hermann Minkowski (1907) and Arnold Sommerfeld (1910). However, those attempts were quickly superseded by Einstein's theory of general relativity. Whitehead's theory of gravitation (1922) explains gravitational red shift, light bending, perihelion shift and Shapiro delay.


title: Speed of gravity

text: General relativity predicts that gravitational radiation should exist and propagate as a wave at lightspeed: A slowly evolving and weak gravitational field will produce, according to general relativity, effects like those of Newtonian gravitation (it does not depend on the existence of gravitons, mentioned above, or any similar force-carrying particles).


title: Speed of gravity

text: Suddenly displacing one of two gravitoelectrically interacting particles would, after a delay corresponding to lightspeed, cause the other to feel the displaced particle's absence: accelerations due to the change in quadrupole moment of star systems, like the Hulse–Taylor binary, have removed much energy (almost 2% of the energy of our own Sun's output) as gravitational waves, which would theoretically travel at the speed of light.


title: Speed of gravity

text: Two gravitoelectrically interacting particle ensembles, e.g., two planets or stars moving at constant velocity with respect to each other, each feel a force toward the instantaneous position of the other body without a speed-of-light delay because Lorentz invariance demands that what a moving body in a static field sees and what a moving body that emits that field sees be symmetrical.


title: Speed of gravity

text: A moving body's seeing no aberration in a static field emanating from a "motionless body" therefore causes Lorentz invariance to require that in the previously moving body's reference frame the (now moving) emitting body's field lines must not at a distance be retarded or aberred. Moving charged bodies (including bodies that emit static gravitational fields) exhibit static field lines that bend not with distance and show no speed of light delay effects, as seen from bodies moving with regard to them.


title: Speed of gravity

text: In other words, since the gravitoelectric field is, by definition, static and continuous, it does not propagate. If such a source of a static field is accelerated (for example stopped) with regard to its formerly constant velocity frame, its distant field continues to be updated as though the charged body continued with constant velocity. This effect causes the distant fields of unaccelerated moving charges to appear to be "updated" instantly for their constant velocity motion, as seen from distant positions, in the frame where the source-object is moving at constant velocity. However, as discussed, this is an effect which can be removed at any time, by transitioning to a new reference frame in which the distant charged body is now at rest.


title: Speed of gravity

text: The static and continuous gravitoelectric component of a gravitational field is not a gravitomagnetic component (gravitational radiation); see Petrov classification. The gravitoelectric field is a static field and therefore cannot superluminally transmit quantized (discrete) information, i.e., it could not constitute a well-ordered series of impulses carrying a well-defined meaning (this is the same for gravity and electromagnetism).


title: Speed of gravity

text: The finite speed of gravitational interaction in general relativity does not lead to the sorts of problems with the aberration of gravity that Newton was originally concerned with, because there is no such aberration in static field effects. Because the acceleration of the Earth with regard to the Sun is small (meaning, to a good approximation, the two bodies can be regarded as traveling in straight lines past each other with unchanging velocity), the orbital results calculated by general relativity are the same as those of Newtonian gravity with instantaneous action at a distance, because they are modelled by the behavior of a static field with constant-velocity relative motion, and no aberration for the forces involved. Although the calculations are considerably more complicated, one can show that a static field in general relativity does not suffer from aberration problems as seen by an unaccelerated observer (or a weakly accelerated observer, such as the Earth). Analogously, the "static term" in the electromagnetic Liénard–Wiechert potential theory of the fields from a moving charge does not suffer from either aberration or positional-retardation. Only the term corresponding to "acceleration" and "electromagnetic emission" in the Liénard–Wiechert potential shows a direction toward the time-retarded position of the emitter.


title: Speed of gravity

text: It is in fact not very easy to construct a self-consistent gravity theory in which gravitational interaction propagates at a speed other than the speed of light, which complicates discussion of this possibility.


title: Speed of gravity

text: In general relativity the metric tensor symbolizes the gravitational potential, and Christoffel symbols of the spacetime manifold symbolize the gravitational force field. The tidal gravitational field is associated with the curvature of spacetime.


title: Speed of gravity

text: For the reader who desires a deeper background, a comprehensive review of the definition of the speed of gravity and its measurement with high-precision astrometric and other techniques appears in the textbook "Relativistic Celestial Mechanics in the Solar System".


title: Speed of gravity

text: The speed of gravity (more correctly, the speed of gravitational waves) can be calculated from observations of the orbital decay rate of binary pulsars PSR 1913+16 (the Hulse–Taylor binary system noted above) and PSR B1534+12. The orbits of these binary pulsars are decaying due to loss of energy in the form of gravitational radiation. The rate of this energy loss ("gravitational damping") can be measured, and since it depends on the speed of gravity, comparing the measured values to theory shows that the speed of gravity is equal to the speed of light to within 1%. However, according to PPN formalism setting, measuring the speed of gravity by comparing theoretical results with experimental results will depend on the theory; use of a theory other than that of general relativity could in principle show a different speed, although the existence of gravitational damping at all implies that the speed cannot be infinite.


title: Speed of gravity

text: In September 2002, Sergei Kopeikin and Edward Fomalont announced that they had measured the speed of gravity indirectly, using their data from VLBI measurement of the retarded position of Jupiter on its orbit during Jupiter's transit across the line-of-sight of the bright radio source quasar QSO J0842+1835. Kopeikin and Fomalont concluded that the speed of gravity is between 0.8 and 1.2 times the speed of light, which would be fully consistent with the theoretical prediction of general relativity that the speed of gravity is exactly the same as the speed of light.


title: Speed of gravity

text: Several physicists, including Clifford M. Will and Steve Carlip, have criticized these claims on the grounds that they have allegedly misinterpreted the results of their measurements. Notably, prior to the actual transit, Hideki Asada in a paper to the Astrophysical Journal Letters theorized that the proposed experiment was essentially a roundabout confirmation of the speed of light instead of the speed of gravity.


title: Speed of gravity

text: It is important to keep in mind that none of the debaters in this controversy are claiming that general relativity is "wrong". Rather, the debated issue is whether or not Kopeikin and Fomalont have really provided yet another verification of one of its fundamental predictions.


title: Speed of gravity

text: Kopeikin and Fomalont, however, continue to vigorously argue their case and the means of presenting their result at the press conference of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) that was offered after the results of the Jovian experiment had been peer-reviewed by the experts of the AAS scientific organizing committee. In a later publication by Kopeikin and Fomalont, which uses a bi-metric formalism that splits the space-time null cone in two — one for gravity and another one for light — the authors claimed that Asada's claim was theoretically unsound. The two null cones overlap in general relativity, which makes tracking the speed-of-gravity effects difficult and requires a special mathematical technique of gravitational retarded potentials, which was worked out by Kopeikin and co-authors but was never properly employed by Asada and/or the other critics.


title: Speed of gravity

text: Stuart Samuel also showed that the experiment did not actually measure the speed of gravity because the effects were too small to have been measured. A response by Kopeikin and Fomalont challenges this opinion.


title: Speed of gravity

text: The detection of GW170817 in 2017, the finalé of a neutron star inspiral observed through both gravitational waves and gamma rays, currently provides by far the best limit on the difference between the speed of light and that of gravity. Photons were detected 1.7 seconds after peak gravitational wave emission; assuming a delay of zero to 10 seconds, the difference between the speeds of gravitational and electromagnetic waves, − , is constrained to between −3×10 and +7×10 times the speed of light.


title: Speed of gravity

text: This also excluded some alternatives to general relativity, including variants of scalar–tensor theory, instances of Horndeski's theory, and Hořava–Lifshitz gravity.


title: Navi Group

text: Navi is an Indian financial services company founded by Sachin Bansal and Ankit Agarwal in 2018. Navi operates in the space of digital Loans, home loans, mutual funds, health insurance and micro-loans. It currently has $100 million in revenue with $10 million in profit.


title: Navi Group

text: In December 2018, Sachin Bansal, after his exit from Flipkart, along with IIT-Delhi batch mate Ankit Agarwal, founded BACQ Acquisitions Private Limited which was later renamed as Navi Technologies Private Limited. The company has its headquarters in Bengaluru.


title: Navi Group

text: Navi acquired consulting firm MavenHive in 2019, in order to boost product development. The company operates from office in Bengaluru’s Koramangala area.


title: Navi Group

text: In October 2019, Navi acquired Bengaluru based NBFC Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Private Limited (CRIDS) along with its wholly owned microfinance-NBFC Chaitanya India Private Limited (CIPL). CRIDS was later renamed as Navi Finserv Private Limited.


title: Navi Group

text: Navi launched a lending app for instant personal loans in June 2020,Karnataka. CRISIL assigned a credit rating of A− (A minus) to the company’s borrowcare.


title: Navi Group

text: In May 2021, Navi Mutual Fund moved their headquarters from Mumbai to Bengaluru, making it the first Bengaluru – headquartered asset management company.


title: Navi Group

text: The company acquired DHFL General Insurance in January 2020 and renamed as Navi General Insurance Limited. It launched Navi Health, a ‘2-Minute’ online retail health insurance product, in 2021.


title: Navi Group

text: Chaitanya India Fin Credit Private Limited (CIFCPL) is a microfinance institution (MFI), which started operations from October 2009. It is fully held by the parent company Navi Finserv. CIFCPL lends to women, primarily in rural areas, under the Grameen Bank Group Lending model. It offers microfinance loans under the joint liability group model as well as individual loans.


title: Navi Group

text: As on 31 December 2020, CIFCPL was operating out of 6 states across 12 districts with 1.59 lakh active borrowers.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The 2010 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2009-10 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP for the second straight year.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: For the 2nd time in 3 seasons and the first time since 2008, all Western Conference playoff teams had at least 50 wins. The 7 games separating 1–8 was tied for the smallest margin, also from 2008.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: Cleveland's 61 wins in the NBA was the smallest win total for best record since the Pacers won 61 in 2004. The Cavaliers' second round playoff exit (4–2 vs. Boston) was the earliest for the top seed since the Dallas Mavericks' first round loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2007.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: Many teams avenged previous losses by defeating teams who defeated them in recent years. The Spurs defeated the Mavericks, who beat them twice in the previous 4 seasons. The Cavaliers beat the Bulls for the first time since "The Shot". The Suns defeated the Spurs, who won the previous 4 meetings in the last decade. The Lakers beat the Suns, who defeated them in the first round in 2006 and 2007. The Celtics defeated the Magic, who eliminated them in 2009. And in the finals, the Lakers beat the Celtics who defeated them in the 2008 NBA Finals.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: Game 5 of the Magic-Celtics series was the last game played at Amway Arena (formerly known as Orlando Arena and TD Waterhouse Centre). The Magic, who last year upset the top-seeded Cavaliers in 6 after they went 8-0 through the first two rounds, also went 8-0 through two playoff series, only to suffer the same fate as the Cavaliers last year, losing to Boston in 6. The Cavs loss led to the LeBron James decision to join the Miami Heat. This was the last playoff appearance for the Cavs until 2015 when James returned to Cleveland and faced again his common rivals the Celtics and Bulls.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Charlotte Bobcats made their first playoff appearance in franchise history, and the first in the Charlotte NBA team's history since 2002. However, they failed to win a single playoff game in a loss to the Magic in the first round.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Celtics-Cavaliers series marked the first time that each team lost a home playoff game by record margins: Boston lost Game 3 124-95; Cleveland lost Game 5 120-88.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Oklahoma City Thunder made their first playoff appearance since relocating from Seattle in 2008; the team's last appearance was as the Seattle SuperSonics in 2005. Games 3, 4 and 6 were the first playoff games played at Ford Center (the arena's former tenants, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, didn't play a single playoff game in the building). They made the most of their debut playoff appearance, pushing the eventual champion Lakers to 6 games.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Mavericks would hold the dubious distinction of losing 3 first round series while holding the top 2 playoff seeds. They lost to the seventh-seeded San Antonio Spurs in 6. They have also lost a playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics (1987, as the second seed) and the Golden State Warriors (2007, as the top seed).


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record; however, a division winner is guaranteed to be ranked at least fourth, regardless of record.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: If there were more than two teams tied, the team that wins the tiebreaker get the highest seed, while the other teams were "re-broken" from the first step until all ties were resolved. Since the three division winners were guaranteed a spot in the top four, ties to determine the division winners had to be broken before any other ties.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The team with the better record earned the home-court advantage through any playoff round, regardless of seeding. (The NBA is the only one of the four major North American leagues that awards home advantage based strictly on record.)


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage in the NBA Finals does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record (for example, the 4th seed in the Western Conference could have a better regular season record than the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference and would therefore have home court advantage if the two met in the Finals); teams with home court advantage are shown in italics.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first five meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Hornets franchise winning the first meeting. Note that historical records of the original Charlotte Hornets franchise (later relocated and renamed the New Orleans Pelicans) from 1988–2002 are currently with the present Hornets/Bobcats franchise since the 2014–15 season.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Atlanta Hawks quickly took control of the series by winning the first 2 games against the Milwaukee Bucks, without star center Andrew Bogut. But the Bucks managed to take the next 3 games, including a shocking Game 5 win in Atlanta, where they overcame a 9-point deficit in the final 4 minutes. However, Atlanta managed to stave off elimination in front of a raucous Bradley Center crowd, coming away with an 83–69 Game 6 victory. The Hawks then finished off the Bucks in Game 7 and advanced to the next round.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning two of the first three meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning five of the first seven meetings. All previous meetings took place while the Thunder franchise were still known as the Seattle SuperSonics.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Mavs won 55 games and the Southwest Division title, but for the 3rd time in four years, they failed to escape the first round. The 2007 Mavericks were defeated by the Golden State Warriors as a No. 1 seed, and the 2008 Mavericks lost in the 1st round to the New Orleans Hornets. The Mavs took Game 1 in Dallas, but would go on to drop the next three games (including two in San Antonio) to wind up trailing 3 to 1. Dallas won Game 5 to keep their season alive, but the Spurs managed to finish them off with a 10-point win in Game 6.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning two series apiece.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning three series apiece.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning two of the first three meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Cavaliers were considered heavy favorites coming in, but had to rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to win Game 1. The Celtics took home-court in Game 2, as Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo's 19 assists powered them past the Cavaliers to an 18-point victory. The Cavaliers struck back in Game 3 and handed the Celtics their worst home-playoff loss in franchise history. Cavaliers forward LeBron James scored 21 points in the first quarter alone and 38 for the game. Antawn Jamison added another 20. Celtics forward Paul Pierce called the loss "embarrassing". Rondo's triple-double (29 points, a career playoff high 18 rebounds and 13 assists) pushed the Celtics to a Game 4 victory. The Celtics reciprocated their Game 3 humiliation with a 32-point victory in Cleveland during Game 5. LeBron James was held to 3 of 14 shooting. The Celtics clinched the series in Game 6, holding James to 8 of 21 shooting.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Cavaliers early exit led to James's departure for the Miami Heat during the offseason. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert then accused James of quitting on the team during the series and also alleged that he did the same thing the . The Cavaliers did not make the playoffs again until the 2014–2015 NBA season (James' first season back in Cleveland), and in fact, they would be the first team Byron Scott failed to take to the playoffs during his tenure as head coach, he had led his two previous teams to the playoffs at least once.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning three of the first four meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first meeting.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning three of the first five meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning six of the first nine meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Boston Celtics were able to hold off a late Magic rally to steal home-court advantage in Game 1. They even used that momentum to grab Game 2 in Orlando to take a 2-0 lead going into Boston. After winning back-to-back road games to begin a series for the first time in franchise history, the Celtics would go on to blow out the Magic by 23 points in Game 3 to take a 3 to nothing lead. The Magic, however, would rally for a desperate Game 4 victory in overtime to force Game 5 in Orlando. Dwight Howard poured in 32 points in that victory. The Celtics seemed to lose control of the series, as the Magic scored another victory in Game 5, making the series 3-2, to force it back to Boston. Boston fans began to become anxious, especially after recently seeing the NHL's Boston Bruins lose their playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers even though the Bruins had a 3-0 lead initially. No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a post-season series. However, Orlando fell short as the Celtics were able to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years with a 12-point win in Game 6.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first two meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: The Lakers put their home-court advantage to good use by winning the first two games at home. The Suns struck back to tie the series by taking Games 3 & 4 in Phoenix, but after a heart-breaking loss in Game 5 in which Ron Artest followed a missed airball by Kobe Bryant and hit the game-winner at the buzzer, the Suns found themselves trailing 3-2. Los Angeles held off a late Suns rally to steal Game 6 in Phoenix, as Kobe poured in 37 points, including a long jump shot in the final minute that put the game out of reach.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the 12th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning seven of the first 11 meetings.


title: 2010 NBA playoffs

text: This was the 12th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning nine of the first 11 meetings.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glacial epochs, from 2.58 million years ago to the present.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The last advance covered most of northern North America between c. 95,000 and c. 20,000 years before the present day and, among other geomorphological effects, gouged out the five Great Lakes and the hosts of smaller lakes of the Canadian Shield. These lakes extend from the eastern Northwest Territories, through most of northern Canada, and the upper Midwestern United States (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan) to the Finger Lakes, through Lake Champlain and Lake George areas of New York, across the northern Appalachians into and through all of New England and Nova Scotia.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: At times, the ice sheet's southern margin included the present-day sites of coastal towns of the Northeastern United States, and cities such as Boston and New York City and Great Lakes coastal cities and towns as far south as Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri, and then followed the present course of the Missouri River up to the northern slopes of the Cypress Hills, beyond which it merged with the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The ice coverage extended approximately as far south as 38 degrees latitude mid-continent.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: This ice sheet was the primary feature of the Pleistocene epoch in North America, commonly referred to as the ice age. During the Pre-Illinoian Stage, the Laurentide Ice Sheet extended as far south as the Missouri and Ohio River valleys. It was up to thick in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, but much thinner at its edges, where nunataks were common in hilly areas. It created much of the surface geology of southern Canada and the northern United States, leaving behind glacially scoured valleys, moraines, eskers and glacial till. It also caused many changes to the shape, size, and drainage of the Great Lakes. As but one of many examples, near the end of the last ice age, Lake Iroquois extended well beyond the boundaries of present-day Lake Ontario, and drained down the Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: Its cycles of growth and melting were a decisive influence on global climate during its existence. This is because it served to divert the jet stream southward, which would otherwise flow from the relatively warm Pacific Ocean through Montana and Minnesota. That gave the Southwestern United States, otherwise a desert, abundant rainfall during ice ages, in extreme contrast to most other parts of the world which became exceedingly dry, though the effect of ice sheets in Europe had an analogous effect on the rainfall in Afghanistan, parts of Iran, possibly western Pakistan in winter, as well as North Africa.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: Its melting also caused major disruptions to the global climate cycle, because the huge influx of low-salinity water into the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River is believed to have disrupted the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water, the very saline, cold, deep water that flows from the Greenland Sea. That interrupted the thermohaline circulation, creating the brief Younger Dryas cold epoch and a temporary re-advance of the ice sheet, which did not retreat from Nunavik until 6,500 years ago.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: After the end of the Younger Dryas, the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated rapidly to the north, becoming limited to only the Canadian Shield until even it became deglaciated. The ultimate collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet is also suspected to have influenced European agriculture indirectly through the rise of global sea levels.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: Canada's oldest ice is a 20,000-year-old remnant of the Laurentide Ice Sheet called the Barnes Ice Cap, on central Baffin Island.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: During the Late Pleistocene, the Laurentide ice sheet reached from the Rocky Mountains eastward through the Great Lakes, into New England, covering nearly all of Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: Three major ice centers formed in North America: the Labrador, Keewatin, and Cordilleran. The Cordilleran covered the region from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains and the Labrador and Keewatin fields are referred to as the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Central North America has evidence of the numerous lobes and sublobes. The Keewatin covered the western interior plains of North America from the Mackenzie River to the Missouri River and the upper reaches of the Mississippi River. The Labrador covered spread over eastern Canada and the northeastern part of the United States abutting the Keewatin lobe in the western Great Lakes and Mississippi valley.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The Cordilleran ice sheet covered up to at the Last Glacial Maximum. The eastern edge abutted the Laurentide ice sheet. The sheet was anchored in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta, south into the Cascade Range of Washington. That is one and a half times the water held in the Antarctic. Anchored in the mountain backbone of the west coast, the ice sheet dissipated north of the Alaska Range where the air was too dry to form glaciers.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: It is believed that the Cordilleran ice melted rapidly, in less than 4000 years. The water created numerous Proglacial lakes along the margins such as Lake Missoula, often leading to catastrophic floods as with the Missoula Floods. Much of the topography of Eastern Washington and northern Montana and North Dakota was affected.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The Keewatin ice sheet has had four or five primary lobes identified ice divides extending from a dome over west-central Keewatin. Two of the lobes abut the adjacent Labrador and Baffin ice sheets. The primary lobes flow (1) towards Manitoba and Saskatchewan; (2) toward Hudson Bay; (3) towards the Gulf of Boothia, and (4) towards the Beaufort Sea.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The Labrador ice sheet flowed across all of Maine and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, completely covering the Maritime Provinces. The Appalachian Ice Complex, flowed from the Gaspé Peninsula over New Brunswick, the Magdalen Shelf, and Nova Scotia.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The Labrador flow extended across the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, reaching the Gaspé Peninsula and across Chaleur Bay. From the Escuminac center on the Magdalen Shelf, flowed onto the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick and southeastward, onto the Gaspe, burying the western end of Prince Edward Island and reached the head of Bay of Fundy. From the Gaspereau center, on the divide crossing New Brunswick flowed into the Bay of Fundy and Chaleur Bay.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: In New York, the ice that covered Manhattan was about 2,000 feet high before it began to melt in about 16,000 BC. The ice in the area disappeared around 10,000 BC. The ground in the New York area has since risen by more than 150 ft because of the removal of the enormous weight of the melted ice.


title: Laurentide Ice Sheet

text: The Baffin ice sheet was circular and centered over the Foxe Basin. A major divide across the basin, created a westward flow across the Melville Peninsula, from an eastward flow over Baffin Island and Southampton Island. Across southern Baffin Island, two divides created four additional lobes. The Penny Ice Divide split the Cumberland Peninsula, where Pangnirtung created flow toward Home Bay on the north and Cumberland Sound on the south. The Amadjuak Ice Divide on the Hall Peninsula, where Iqaluit sits created a north flow into Cumberland Sound and a south flow into the Hudson Strait. A secondary Hall Ice Divide formed a link to a local ice cap on the Hall Peninsula. The current ice caps on Baffin Island are thought to be a remnant from this time period, but it was not a part of the Baffin ice flow, but an autonomous flow.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: A seal, in an East and Southeast Asian context, is a general name for printing stamps and impressions thereof which are used in lieu of signatures in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgement or authorship. On documents they were usually used to print an impression using a pigmented paste or ink, unlike the wax impression commonly used in Europe. Of Chinese origin, the process soon spread beyond China and across East and Southeast Asia. Various countries in these regions currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and, increasingly, electronic signatures.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Chinese seals are typically made of stone, sometimes of metals, wood, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink or cinnabar paste (). The word 印 ("yìn" in Mandarin, "in" in Japanese and Korean, "ấn" and "in" in Vietnamese) specifically refers to the imprint created by the seal, as well as appearing in combination with other morphemes in words related to any printing, as in the word "印刷", "printing", pronounced "yìnshuā" in Mandarin, "insatsu" in Japanese. In the western world, Asian seals were traditionally known by traders as chop marks or simply chops, a term adapted from the Hindi "chapa" and the Malay "cap", meaning stamp or rubber stamps.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: In Japan, seals, referred to as or , have historically been used to identify individuals involved in government and trading from ancient times. The Japanese emperors, shōguns, and samurai had their personal seals pressed onto edicts and other public documents to show authenticity and authority. Even today, Japanese citizens' companies regularly use name seals for the signing of a contract and other important paperwork.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Throughout Chinese history, seals have played an important part and are known to have been used both by government authorities and private individuals for thousands of years. The earliest known examples of seals in ancient China date to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and were discovered at archaeological sites at Anyang. However, how these ancient seals were used remains to be uncovered as it is only starting from the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC) of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) that there is an increase in the quantity of Chinese seals paired together with textual references to them. Until the end of the Warring States period (476 BC–221 BC), all seals were only known as "xǐ" (), regardless if they were used by government officials or in private use and regardless of any material used to make them.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: During the Han dynasty (202–220 AD), an origin myth of the supposed first seal in Chinese history was recorded, this myth states that the first seal was given to the Yellow Emperor by a yellow dragon which had a chart on its back. According to another origin myth, the first seal was given to Emperor Yao by a "fenghuang" (a mythical bird) as he was sitting in a boat. In both of these origin legends, the gifting of the seal is a symbol that the Mandate of Heaven was conferred to its recipient. So when Tang, the first ruler of the Shang dynasty, overthrows the last tyrannical ruler of the (possibly mythical) Xia dynasty (presumed c. 2070–1600 BC), he seizes the royal seal from him to symbolically establish his power.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: During China's Imperial Period, the term "xǐ" would gradually begin to become a designation exclusively reserved for the seals of the Emperors. During the Han dynasty, the Emperor of China only had 6 imperial seals, later during the Tang dynasty (618–907) this number had grown to 8, during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) this number would further grow to there now being over a dozen imperial seals, and by the reign of the Qing dynasty (1636–1912, 1917), there were several dozen official imperial seals that were used by its Emperors. The inscriptions on these official imperial seals usually refer to either the Emperor receiving the Mandate of Heaven or to the Emperor being "the successor of Heaven".


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: According to "The New Book of Tang" ("Tangshu"), Empress Wu Zetian issued a decree that changed the usage of the word "xǐ", which was up until then used for imperial seals, to "bǎo" (, "treasure"). Her reasoning behind this change was that she thought that the word "xǐ" sounded too much like death (si, 死) or rest (xi, 息). But when Emperor Zhongzong was resumed to the throne of the Tang dynasty in the year 705, he changed the name for imperial seals back to "xǐ". In subsequent centuries both the terms "xǐ" and "bǎo" were alternated, depending on the period.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Another type of seal that was used by the Chinese Emperors was a seal to indicate that a certain text or official document was written in the Emperor’s own handwriting as opposed to written by someone ordered to do so by the Emperor. In the case of the Qing dynasty period Qianlong Emperor, who was known for his literary ambitions, including his ability to write in well-renowned calligraphy, had produced a large amount of texts which were affixed with the seal to indicate that they were his own writing. When the calligraphy of the Qianlong Emperor was carved into stone steles, the print of the seal was also copied onto the stone surface.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: The Chinese emperors, their families and officials used large seals known as "xǐ" (), later renamed "bǎo" (; "'treasure"'), which corresponds to the Great Seals of Western countries. These were usually made of jade (although hard wood or precious metal could also be used), and were originally square in shape. They were changed to a rectangular form during the Song dynasty, but reverted to square during the Qing dynasty.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: The most important of these seals was the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, which was created by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, and was seen as a legitimising device embodying or symbolising the Mandate of Heaven. The Heirloom Seal was passed down through several dynasties, but had been lost by the beginning of the Ming dynasty. This partly explains the Qing emperors' obsession with creating numerous imperial seals - for the emperors' official use alone the Forbidden City in Beijing has a collection of 25 seals - in order to reduce the significance of the Heirloom Seal.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: These seals typically bore the titles of the offices, rather than the names of the owners. Different seals could be used for different purposes: for example, the Qianlong Emperor had a number of informal appreciation seals () used on select paintings in his collection.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: The most popular style of script for government seals in the imperial eras of China (from the Song dynasty to Qing dynasty) is the Nine-fold Script (), a highly stylised script which is unreadable to the untrained.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: In its 143 years of existence, the government of the Nguyễn dynasty had created more than 100 imperial seals. According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hải, Director of the Huế Monuments Conservation Centre, at the end of the Nguyễn dynasty period the Purple Forbidden City in Huế contained a total of 93 jade and gold seals of which 2 seals were from the Nguyễn lords period.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: The government of the Republic of China in Taiwan has continued to use traditional square seals of up to about 13 centimetres, known by a variety of names depending on the user's hierarchy. Part of the inaugural ceremony for the President of the Republic of China includes bestowing on them the "Seal of the Republic of China" and the "Seal of Honor".


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: In China, the Seal of the People's Government of the People's Republic of China was a square bronze seal with side length of 9 centimetres. Its inscription reads "Seal of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China". Notably, the seal uses the relatively modern Song typeface rather than the more ancient seal scripts, and the seal is called a "yìn" (), not a "xǐ" (). Government seals in the People's Republic of China today are usually circular in shape, and have a five-pointed star in the centre of the circle. The name of the governmental institution is arranged around the star in a semicircle – a form also adopted by some company chops.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Government bureaucrats would receive office seals that served as a status token of both their office and authority. These government office seals tended to be small enough in size that they could be carried by the official on their belts. Unlike imperial seals and other seals of high office which were known as "xi" (璽); lower seals of rank and appointment were known as "yin" (印).


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Throughout history different regulations existed for these office seals that would prescribe what materials should be used (copper-alloys or gold) and how their seal knobs should be shaped (some with a handle in the shape of a turtle, some of a camel). Until the Eastern Han dynasty period government regulations stipulated that the ink used to affix official seals had their colours determined based in the rank of the official in question, with various colours such as green, purple, yellow, Etc.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Throughout Chinese history the calligraphy used for government office seals changed in radical ways. By the Han dynasty period the inscriptions of office seals tended to become thicker and more angular. From the Sui dynasty period the calligraphy had become more rounded and thinner than before, and later during the Song and Yuan dynasties periods the "jiudie" (nine-folded) script was the preferred type of calligraphy. During the Qing dynasty period, most government office seals were bilingual with the Chinese (Seal script) inscription on the right side of the seal and the Manchu script inscription on its left.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: There are many classes of personal seals. Private seals are naturally unregulated; therefore they show the largest variety in content, shape, size, material, and calligraphy of any type of seal. Seals with names, pen names, pseudonyms, etc on them were used as an early type of signature by people in their private lives. Artists would also sign their works and letters with their seals. Furthermore, Chinese literati are known to usually use a number of different pen names in their works, so trying to identify a person's name from a specific seal can be a tricky business.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Can contain the person's personal philosophy or literary inclination. These can be any shape, ranging from ovals to dragon-shaped.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Carry the name of the person's private studio (), which most literati in ancient China had, although probably in lesser forms. These are usually rectangular in shape.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: In Imperial China it was considered to be customary for collectors and connoisseurs of art to affix the print of their seals on the surface of a scroll of painting or calligraphy. Artists themselves often used their own seals on artworks, such as on works of Chinese calligraphy or Chinese paintings. Collector seals were chiefly used for the function of authenticating different pieces of art. Thus a collector seal identified to be of a famous art collector or connoisseur would become an integral part of an artwork itself and could substantially raise its monetary value on the Chinese art market. Thus in the course of several centuries, some Chinese paintings have become covered by a number of different seals of their different owners during the course of their existence.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: The Emperors of China also had their own imperial seals to appraise and appreciate art. As such, many famous paintings from the Forbidden City in Beijing tend to have the imperial seals for art appraisal and appreciation of generations of subsequent emperors on them.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Many types of private seal not categorised above are usually categorised under the umbrella term "leisure seals". The inscription on leisure seals is usually a short text which is either a quote from a famous writing or just some saying that the owner of the seal thought is important. Typical inscriptions on leisure seals include "Respect fate", "Attain wisdom", "Respect", "Use loyalty and humanity in your affairs", among many others. Chinese leisure seals are comparable to Signature blocks with a quote at the end of an e-mail or internet messages where the author append some sort of proverb or saying that they consider valuable at the end.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: There are two types of seal paste (to make the impression) depending on what base material they are made of. The standard colour is vermilion red (or lighter or darker shades of red) but other colours can be used such as black, navy, etc. for specific purposes.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Plant-based paste tends to dry more quickly than silk-based pastes because the plant extract does not hold onto the oil as tightly as silk. Depending on the paper used, plant pastes can dry in 10 to 15 minutes. The more absorbent the paper is, the faster it dries as the paper absorbs most of the oil. Also, plant pastes tend to smudge more easily than silk pastes due to the loose binding agent.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: The paste is kept covered after it has been used, in its original container (be it plastic or ceramic). It is kept in an environment away from direct sunlight and away from intense heat to prevent it from drying out. The paste for silk based pastes need to be stirred with a spatula every month or so to avoid the oil sinking down and drying out the paste as well as to prepare it for use. A good paste would produce a clear impression in one go; if the impression is not clear requiring further impressions then it indicates that the paste is either too dry or the cinnabar has been depleted.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: When the seal is pressed onto the printing surface, the procedure differs according to plant or silk based paste. For silk based paste, the user applies pressure, often with a specially made soft, flat surface beneath the paper. For plant based paste, the user simply applies light pressure. As lifting the seal vertically away from its imprint may rip or damage paper, the seal is usually lifted off one side at a time, as if bent off from the page. After this, the image may be blotted with a piece of paper to make it dry faster, although this may smudge it. Usually there needs to be a pile of soft felt or paper under the paper to be imprinted for a clear seal impression.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Many people in China possess a personal name seal. Artists, scholars, collectors and intellectuals may possess a full set of name seals, leisure seals, and studio seals. A well-made seal made from semi-precious stones can cost between 400 and 4000 yuan (about 60 to 600 United States dollars in 2021).


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Seals are still used for official purposes in a number of contexts. When collecting parcels or registered post, the name seal serves as an identification, akin to a signature. In banks, traditionally the method of identification was also by a seal. Seals remain the customary form of identification on cheques in mainland China and Taiwan. Today, personal identification is often by a hand signature accompanied by a seal imprint. Seals can serve as identification with signatures because they are more difficult to forge than a signature, and only the owner has access to his own seal.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Seals are also often used on Chinese calligraphy works and Chinese paintings, usually imprinted in such works in the order (from top to bottom) of name seal, leisure seal(s), then studio seal. Owners or collectors of paintings or books will often add their own studio seals to pieces they have collected. This practice is an act of appreciation towards the work. Some artworks have had not only seals but inscriptions of the owner on them; for example, the Qianlong Emperor had as many as 20 different seals for use with inscriptions on paintings he collected. Provided that it is tastefully done (for example, not obscuring the body of the painting, appropriate inscription, fine calligraphy, etc.), this practice does not devalue the painting but could possibly enhance it by giving it further provenance, especially if it is a seal of a famous or celebrated individual who possessed the work at some point.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Seals are usually carved by specialist seal carvers, or by the users themselves. Specialist carvers carve the user's name into the stone in one of the standard scripts and styles described above, usually for a fee. Some people carve their own seals using soapstone and fine knives, which are widely available; this is cheaper than paying a professional for expertise, craft and material. Results vary, but individuals can carve perfectly legitimate seals for themselves.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: As a novelty souvenir, seal carvers also ply tourist business at Chinatowns and tourist destinations in China. They often carve on-the-spot or translations of foreign names on inexpensive soapstone, sometimes featuring Roman characters. Though such seals can be functional, they are typically nothing more than curios and may be inappropriate for serious use, and could devalue or deface serious works of art.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Determining which side of the seal should face up may be done in a number of ways: if there is a carving on top, the front should face the user; if there is an inscription on the side, it should face to the left of the user; if there is a dot on the side, it should face away from the user.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Once seals are used, as much paste as possible is wiped from the printing surface and off the edges with a suitable material. The seals are kept in a constant environment, especially seals made of sandalwood or black ox horn. Tall thin seals are best kept on their sides, to prevent them from wobbling and falling down. More important seals, such as authority and society seals, are encased or wrapped in a golden silk cloth for protection.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: In Hong Kong, seals have fallen out of general use, as signatures are often required. In the past, seals were used by businesses on documents related to transactions. Seals have also been used in lieu of a signature for the city's illiterate population.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: Lisa Lim of the "South China Morning Post" stated in 2016 that often Hong Kongers are asked to use the word "stamp" instead of chop in formal writing so non-Hong Kongers may understand.


title: Seal (East Asia)

text: In Japan, seals in general are referred to as or . "Inkan" is the most comprehensive term; "hanko" tends to refer to seals used on less important documents.