prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What is the group's request to the Connecticut DEEP Commissioner?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 1: Outdoors	February 19, 2017
You are here: Home / Archives for Departments / OutdoorsActor Sam Waterson Hosts PBS Documentary on Lyme Land Trust January 14, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment Jack Tiffany, owner of Tiffany Farms on Rte  156 and an earlier pioneer in Lyme land preservation, is interviewed by PBS “Visionaries” documentary producers 
Filed Under: Lyme, Outdoors Application Deadline for Environmental Leadership Scholarship is Feb  1 January 8, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment Applications are now being accepted for the Virginia R  Rollefson Environmental Leadership Scholarship, a $1,000 award to recognize a high school student who has demonstrated leadership and initiative in promoting conservation, preservation, restoration, or environmental education 
Filed Under: Lyme, News, Old Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story Preserves in Lyme Now Closed for Hunting During Weekdays November 17, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Starting yesterday, Wednesday, Nov  16, the following Preserves in Lyme will be closed Monday through Friday until Tuesday, Dec  20, 2016, except to licensed hunters with valid consent forms from the Town of Lyme Open Space Coordinator:
Banningwood Preserve
Beebe Preserve
Chestnut Hill Preserve
Eno Preserve
Hand Smith
Honey Hill Preserve
Jewett Preserve
Mount Archer Woods
Pickwick’s Preserve
Plimpton Preserve
Slawson Preserve
These preserves, owned by the Town of Lyme or the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, will be open on Saturdays and Sundays during this hunting period as no hunting is allowed on weekends 
The hunting program is fully subscribed 
For more information on the hunting program in Lyme, visit http://www lymelandtrust org/stewardship/hunting-program/
Filed Under: Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story Town of Old Lyme Offers Part-time Land Steward Opportunity October 11, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment The Town of Old Lyme is seeking a part-time individual to maintain and manage the trail systems on its major preserves  Keeping trails cleared, maintaining markers, kiosks, entrances, parking areas, and managing for wildlife and other natural resources are the priorities 
For more information, visit the job posting on the home page of the Town’s web page at http://www oldlyme-ct gov/Pages/index 
To learn about the Open Space Commission and the properties it manages, visit http://www oldlyme-ct gov/Pages/OldLymeCT_Bcomm/open_space
Filed Under: Old Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story CT Fund for the Environment Annual Meeting to be Held Sunday in Hartford September 22, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Engaging and educating communities for preservation of the Long Island Sound tidal estuary
Save the Sound is celebrating National Estuaries Week Sept  17 – 24 with a series of interactive and educational events throughout the Long Island Sound region  This annual celebration of estuaries—the vital coastal zones where freshwater rivers meet salty seas—is sponsored by Restore America’s Estuaries and its member organizations including Save the Sound  This year’s events call attention to the many benefits of thriving coastal ecosystems, including how estuary conservation efforts support our quality of life and economic well-being 
“The Long Island Sound estuary is not only where freshwater rivers meet the saltwater Atlantic, but where wildlife habitat meets beaches and boating, and where modern industry meets traditional oystering,” said Curt Johnson, executive director of Save the Sound, which is a bi-state program of Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) 
Johnson continued, “All over the country, estuaries are the lifeblood of coastal economies  From serving as natural buffers to protect our coastlines from storms to providing unique habitat for countless birds, fish, and wildlife, estuaries deserve our protection and our thanks ”
Save the Sound is celebrating estuaries with a number of events this week, including the release of a new video, a presentation on Plum Island at the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library and the CFE/Save the Sound annual meeting:
Aerial view of Plum Island lighthouse  (From Preserve Plum Island website)
Chris Cryder, Special Projects Coordinator for Save the Sound and Outreach Coordinator for the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, will host Preserving Plum Island for Future Generations, a special presentation on the importance of conserving the wildlife habitats and historic buildings of Plum Island, New York 
Plum Island flanks Plum Gut in the Long Island Sound estuary’s eastern end, where fast-moving tides create highly productive fishing grounds  The talk is part of a multi-week series featuring photographs and paintings of Plum Island, and lectures on its ecology, geology, and history 
Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, 2 Library Lane, Old Lyme, Connecticut
Register by calling the library at 860-434-1684 
The Annual Meeting of Connecticut Fund for the Environment and its bi-state program Save the Sound will take place in the Planet Earth exhibit at the Connecticut Science Center  The event is open to the public with registration, and will feature a keynote address from Curt Spalding, administrator of EPA’s New England Region  Spalding is a leader in combatting nitrogen pollution and in climate change resilience planning efforts for New England 
Connecticut Science Center, 250 Columbus Blvd, Hartford, Connecticut
4 – 7 p m
RSVP to mlemere@ctenvironment org
To celebrate the contributions of volunteers to restoring the Long Island Sound estuary, Save the Sound has released a new video of a habitat restoration planting at Hyde Pond in Mystic  Following removal of the old Hyde Pond dam and opening 4 1 miles of stream habitat for migratory fish last winter (see time lapse video here), in May about 30 volunteers planted native vegetation along the Whitford Brook stream bank, under the direction of U S  Fish and Wildlife Service, CT DEEP’s Fisheries division, and Save the Sound staff 
Find more information on the project’s benefits and funders here 
Look for the planting video on Save the Sound’s website, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts 
Filed Under: Old Lyme, Outdoors 750+ Volunteers Clean Beaches from Norwalk to New London Including Griswold Point in Old Lyme September 17, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Kendall Perkins displays a skull she found during Save The Sound‘s Coastal Clean-up Day held yesterday at White Sand Beach 
Save the Sound, a bi-state program of Connecticut Fund for the environment, organized 31 cleanups across Connecticut’s shoreline this weekend  The efforts are part of International Coastal Cleanup, which brings together hundreds of thousands of people each year to remove plastic bags, broken glass, cigarette butts, and other trash from the world’s shores and waterways  One of the areas included in the cleanup effort was from White Sand Beach to the tip of Griswold Point in Old Lyme 
The event was founded by Ocean Conservancy in 1985, and Save the Sound has served as the official Connecticut coordinator for the last 14 years 
“We didn’t plan it this way, but I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the 31st anniversary of International Coastal Cleanup Day than with 31 cleanups!” said Chris Cryder, special projects coordinator for Save the Sound  “The cleanup just keeps growing, in Connecticut and worldwide  We have some terrific new and returning partners this year, including the SECONN Divers, folks from the U S  District Court, multiple National Charity League chapters, and many more ”
Cryder continued, “The diversity of the groups involved really reflects the truth that ocean health affects all of us  Clean beaches and oceans are safer for beachgoers and boaters, they’re healthier for wildlife that aren’t eating plastic or getting tangled up in trash, and they’re economic powerhouses for the fishing and tourism industries ”
The cleanups are co-hosted by a wide array of local partners including high schools, youth groups, and scout troops; churches; boaters and divers; watershed associations, park stewards, and land trusts  Twenty-eight cleanups will be held Saturday, with three more on Sunday and others through mid-October, for a total of 70 cleanups statewide 
Based on the estimates of cleanup captains, between 750 and 900 volunteers were expected to pitch in on Saturday alone  Last year, a total of 1,512 volunteers participated in Save the Sound cleanups throughout the fall  They collected more than three tons of litter and debris from 58 sites on Connecticut beaches, marshes, and riverbanks 
Over the event’s three-decade history, 11 5 million volunteers have collected 210 million pounds of trash worldwide  Every piece of trash volunteers find is tracked, reported to Save the Sound, and included in Ocean Conservancy’s annual index of global marine debris  The data is used to track trends in litter and devise policies to stop it at its source 
Filed Under: Old Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story Stonewell Farm Hosts Two-Day Workshop on Dry Stone Wall Building, Sept  24, 25 September 13, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Andrew Pighill’s work includes outdoor kitchens, wine cellars, fire-pits, fireplaces and garden features that include follies and other whimsical structures in stone 
KILLINGWORTH — On Sept  24 and 25, from 9 a m  to 4 p m  daily, Andrew Pighills, master stone mason, will teach a two-day, weekend long workshop on the art of dry stone wall building at Stonewell Farm in Killingworth, CT 
Participants will learn the basic principles of wall building, from establishing foundations, to the methods of dry laid (sometimes called dry-stacked) construction and ‘hearting’ the wall  This hands-on workshop will address not only the structure and principles behind wall building but also the aesthetic considerations of balance and proportion 
This workshop expresses Pighill’s commitment to preserve New England’s heritage and promote and cultivate the dry stone wall building skills that will ensure the preservation of our vernacular landscape 
This workshop is open to participants, 18 years of age or older, of all levels of experience  Note the workshop is limited to 16 participants, and spaces fill up quickly 
You must pre-register to attend the workshop  The price for the workshop is $350 per person  Stonewell Farm is located at 39 Beckwith Rd , Killingworth CT 06419
If you have any questions or to register for the workshop, contact the Workshop Administrator Michelle Becker at 860-322-0060 or mb@mbeckerco com
At the end of the day on Saturday you’ll be hungry, tired and ready for some rest and relaxation, so the wood-fired Stone pizza oven will be fired up and beer, wine and Pizza Rustica will be served 
About the instructor: Born in Yorkshire, England, Andrew Pighills is an accomplished stone artisan, gardener and horticulturist  He received his formal horticulture training with The Royal Horticultural Society and has spent 40+ years creating gardens and building dry stone walls in his native England in and around the spectacular Yorkshire Dales and the English Lake District  Today, Pighills is one of a small, but dedicated group of US-based, certified, professional members of The Dry Stone Walling Association (DSWA) of Great Britain  Having moved to the United States more than 10 years ago, he now continues this venerable craft here in the US, building dry stone walls, stone structures and creating gardens throughout New England and beyond 
His particular technique of building walls adheres to the ancient methods of generations of dry stone wallers in his native Yorkshire Dales  Pighills’ commitment to preserving the integrity and endurance of this traditional building art has earned him a devoted list of private and public clients here and abroad including the English National Trust, the English National Parks, and the Duke of Devonshire estates  His stone work has been featured on British and American television, in Charles McCraven’s book The Stone Primer, and Jeffrey Matz’s Midcentury Houses Today, A study of residential modernism in New Canaan Connecticut  He has featured in the N Y Times, on Martha Stewart Living radio, and in the Graham Deneen film short “Dry Stone”, as well as various media outlets both here and in the UK, including an article in the Jan/Feb 2015 issue of Yankee Magazine 
Pighills is a DSWA fully qualified dry stone walling instructor  In addition to building in stone and creating gardens, Pighills teaches dry stone wall building workshops in and around New England  He is a frequent lecturer on the art of dry stone walling, and how traditional UK walling styles compare to those found in New England  His blog, Heave and Hoe; A Day in the Life of a Dry Stone Waller and Gardener, provides more information about Pighills 
For more information, visit www englishgardensandlandscaping com
Filed Under: Outdoors CT Port Authority Chair Tells Lower CT River Local Officials, “We’re All on One Team” August 27, 2016 by Olwen Logan 2 Comments Enjoying a boat ride on the Connecticut River, but still finding time for discussions, are (from left to right) Chester First Selectwoman Lauren Gister, Old Lyme First Selectwoman and Connecticut Port Authority (CPA) board member Bonnie Reemsnyder, Essex First Selectman Norm Needleman, CPA Chairman Scott Bates and Deep River First Selectman Angus McDonald, Jr 
Filed Under: Chester, Deep River, Essex, News, Old Lyme, Outdoors, Politics, Top Story House Approves Courtney-Sponsored Amendment Restricting Sale of Plum Island July 10, 2016 by admin 2 Comments Representative Joe Courtney
Local Congressional Representative Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced Thursday (July 7) that a bipartisan amendment he had led, along with Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Peter King (R-NY), to prohibit the sale of Plum Island was passed by the House of Representatives 
The amendment, which will prohibit the General Services Administration (GSA) from using any of its operational funding to process or complete a sale of Plum Island, was made to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2017  
In a joint statement, the Representatives said, “Our amendment passed today is a big step toward permanently protecting Plum Island as a natural area  Plum Island is a scenic and biological treasure located right in the middle of Long Island Sound  It is home to a rich assortment of rare plant and animal species that need to be walled off from human interference ”
The statement continued, “Nearly everyone involved in this issue agrees that it should be preserved as a natural sanctuary – not sold off to the highest bidder for development ” Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump had shown interest in the property at one time 
In 2008, the federal government announced plans to close the research facility on Plum Island and relocate to Manhattan, Kansas  Current law states that Plum Island must be sold publicly to help finance the new research facility 
Aerial view of Plum Island 
The lawmakers joint statement explained, “The amendment will prevent the federal agency in charge of the island from moving forward with a sale by prohibiting it from using any of its operational funding provided by Congress for that purpose,” concluding, ” This will not be the end of the fight to preserve Plum Island, but this will provide us with more time to find a permanent solution for protecting the Island for generations to come ”
For several years, members from both sides of Long Island Sound have been working in a bipartisan manner to delay and, ultimately, repeal the mandated sale of this ecological treasure  Earlier this year, the representatives, along with the whole Connecticut delegation, cosponsored legislation that passed the House unanimously to delay the sale of Plum Island 
Filed Under: Outdoors July 1 Update: Aquatic Treatment Planned for Rogers Lake, July 5 July 1, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment We received this updated information from the Old Lyme Selectman’s office at 11:05 a m  this morning:
Filed Under: Lyme, Old Lyme, Outdoors, Town Hall They’re Everywhere! All About Gypsy Moth Caterpillars — Advice from CT Agricultural Experiment Station June 2, 2016 by Adina Ripin Leave a Comment Gypsy moth caterpillars – photo by Peter Trenchard, CAES 
The potential for gypsy moth outbreak exists every year in our community 
Dr  Kirby Stafford III, head of the Department of Entomology at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, has written a fact sheet on the gypsy moth available on the CAES website  The following information is from this fact sheet 
The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, was introduced into the US (Massachusetts) by Etienne Leopold Trouvelot in about 1860  The escaped larvae led to small outbreaks in the area in 1882, increasing rapidly  It was first detected in Connecticut in 1905  By 1952, it had spread to 169 towns  In 1981, 1 5 million acres were defoliated in Connecticut  During the outbreak of 1989, CAES scientists discovered that an entomopathogenic fungus, Entomophaga maimaiga, was killing the caterpillars  Since then the fungus has been the most important agent suppressing gypsy moth activity 
The fungus, however, cannot prevent all outbreaks and hotspots have been reported in some areas, in 2005-06 and again in 2015 
The life cycle of the gypsy moth is one generation a year  Caterpillars hatch from buff-colored egg masses in late April to early May  An egg mass may contain 100 to more than 1000 eggs and are laid in several layers  The caterpillars (larvae) hatch a few days later and ascend the host trees and begin to feed on new leaves  The young caterpillars, buff to black-colored, lay down silk safety lines as they crawl and, as they drop from branches on these threads, they may be picked up on the wind and spread 
There are four or five larval stages (instars) each lasting 4-10 days  Instars 1-3 remain in the trees  The fourth instar caterpillars, with distinctive double rows of blue and red spots, crawl up and down the tree trunks feeding mainly at night  They seek cool, shaded protective sites during the day, often on the ground  If the outbreak is dense, caterpillars may feed continuously and crawl at any time 
With the feeding completed late June to early July, caterpillars seek a protected place to pupate and transform into a moth in about 10-14 days  Male moths are brown and fly  Female moths are white and cannot fly despite having wings  They do not feed and live for only 6-10 days  After mating, the female will lay a single egg mass and die  The egg masses can be laid anywhere: trees, fence posts, brick/rock walls, outdoor furniture, cars, recreational vehicles, firewood  The egg masses are hard  The eggs will survive the winter and larvae hatch the following spring during late April through early May 
The impact of the gypsy moth can be extensive since the caterpillar will feed on a wide diversity of trees and shrubs  Oak trees are their preferred food  Other favored tree species include apple, birch, poplar and willow  If the infestation is heavy, they will also attack certain conifers and other less favored species  The feeding causes extensive defoliation 
Healthy trees can generally withstand one or two partial to one complete defoliation  Trees will regrow leaves before the end of the summer  Nonetheless, there can be die-back of branches  Older trees may become more vulnerable to stress after defoliation  Weakened trees can also be attacked by other organisms or lack energy reserves for winter dormancy and growth during the following spring  Three years of heavy defoliation may result in high oak mortality 
The gypsy moth caterpillars drop leaf fragments and frass (droppings) while feeding creating a mess for decks, patios, outdoor furniture, cars and driveways  Crawling caterpillars can be a nuisance and their hairs irritating  The egg masses can be transported by vehicles to areas where the moth is not yet established  Under state quarantine laws, the CAES inspects certain plant shipments destined to areas free of the gypsy moth, particularly for egg masses 
There are several ways to manage the gypsy moth: biological, physical and chemical 
Biologically, the major gypsy moth control agent has been the fungus E  maimaiga  This fungus can provide complete control of the gypsy moth but is dependent on early season moisture from rains in May and June to achieve effective infection rates and propagation of the fungus to other caterpillars  The dry spring of 2015 resulted in little or no apparent fungal inoculation or spread until it killed late-stage caterpillars in some areas of the state, after most defoliation 
Infected caterpillars hang vertically from the tree trunk, head down  Some die in an upside down “V” position, a characteristic of caterpillars killed by the less common gypsy moth nucleopolyhedrosis virus (NPV)  This was not detected in caterpillars examined in 2015 
Physical controls include removing and destroying egg masses, which can be drowned in a soapy water and disposed of  Another method is to use burlap refuge/barrier bands wrapped around tree trunks so that migrating caterpillars will crawl into or under the folded burlap or be trapped by the sticky band 
There are a number of crop protection chemicals labeled for the control of gypsy moth on ornamental trees and shrubs  There are treatments for egg masses, larvae and adult moths  Detailed information about these chemical treatments is available in the CAES factsheet 
For complete information about the gypsy moth and its management, visit the CAES website and look for the fact sheet on gypsy moth 
Filed Under: News, Outdoors East Lyme Public Trust Invites Community to Celebrate Boardwalk Re-dedication May 25, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment On Saturday, May 28, at 11 a m , the East Lyme Public Trust Foundation, in co-operation with East Lyme Parks and Recreation Department, will sponsor A Dream Fulfilled, the official re-dedication of the East Lyme Boardwalk  The re-dedication ceremony, which will be held on the Boardwalk, will feature keynote speaker, Sen  Paul Formica, former First Selectman of East Lyme 
Other speakers will include East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson, Public Trust President Joe Legg, Public Trust Past-President Bob DeSanto, Public Trust Vice-President John Hoye, and Parks and Recreation Director Dave Putnam; all the speakers will recognize the many people who have helped made this dream a reality 
The East Lyme Public Trust Foundation would like to invite the general public to witness this historic occasion  In addition, the members would especially like to encourage the participation of the 200 people who dedicated benches and the innumerable people who sponsored plaques  They would also love to welcome all members of the Trust – past and present – and all those who originally helped make the Boardwalk a reality 
Participants should enter the Boardwalk at Hole-in-the Wall on Baptist Lane, Niantic  Then, there will be a short walk to the area of the monument where the ceremony will take place  At the entrance to Hole-in-the Wall, the Public Trust will have a display of historical information and memorabilia related to the construction and re-construction of the Boardwalk  Public Trust members, Pat and Jack Lewis will be on hand to host the exhibit titled Before and After and to welcome participants  After the ceremony, participants will have the opportunity to visit “their bench” and re-visit “their plaque ” During and after the dedication, music will be provided by Trust member, Bill Rinoski, who is a “D J  for all occasions ” Rinoski will feature “Boardwalk-related” music and Oldies plus Top 40 selections  This historic occasion will be videotaped as a public service by Mike Rydene of Media Potions of East Lyme  High school volunteers will be on hand to greet participants and help with directions 
The organizing committee is chaired by Michelle Maitland  Her committee consists of Joe Legg, President of the East Lyme Public Trust, Carol Marelli, Bob and Polly DeSanto, June Hoye, and Kathie Cassidy 
Visit Facebook – East Lyme Public Trust Foundation – for more information on the re-dedication ceremony  For more information on the Boardwalk, explore this website 
Filed Under: Outdoors Lyme Land Trust Seeks to Preserve Whalebone Cove Headwaters May 8, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Lyme Land Trust Preservation Vice President Don Gerber stands with Chairman Anthony Irving (kneeling) next to Whalebone Creek in the proposed Hawthorne Preserve in Hadlyme 
The Lyme Land Conservation Trust has announced a fund raising drive to protect 82 acres of ecologically strategic upland forest and swamp wildlife habitat in Hadlyme on the headwaters of Whalebone Cove, one of the freshwater tidal wetlands that comprises the internationally celebrated Connecticut River estuary complex 
The new proposed preserve is part of a forested landscape just south of Hadlyme Four Corners and Ferry Road (Rt  148), and forms a large part of the watershed for Whalebone Creek, a key tributary feeding Whalebone Cove, most of which is a national wildlife refuge under the management of the US Fish & Wildlife Service 
The Land Trust said it hopes to name the new nature refuge in honor of William Hawthorne of Hadlyme, whose family has owned the property for several generations and who has agreed to sell the property to the Land Trust at a discount from its market value if the rest of the money necessary for the purchase can be raised by the Land Trust 
“This new wildlife preserve will represent a triple play for habitat conservation,” said Anthony Irving, chairman of the Land Trust’s Preservation Committee 
“First, it helps to protect the watershed feeding the fragile Whalebone Cove eco-system, which is listed as one of North America’s important freshwater tidal marshes in international treaties that cite the Connecticut River estuary as a wetland complex of global importance  Whalebone Creek, one of the primary streams feeding Whalebone Cove, originates from vernal pools and upland swamps just south of the Hawthorne tract on the Land Trust’s Ravine Trail Preserve and adjacent conservation easements and flows through the proposed preserve  Virtually all of the Hawthorne property comprises much of the watershed for Whalebone Creek 
“Second, the 82 acres we are hoping to acquire with this fund raising effort represents a large block of wetlands and forested wildlife habitat between Brush Hill and Joshuatown roads, which in itself is home to a kaleidoscope of animals from amphibians and reptiles that thrive in several vernal pools and swamp land, to turkey, coyote, bobcat and fisher  It also serves as seasonal nesting and migratory stops for several species of deep woods birds, which are losing habitat all over Connecticut due to forest fragmentation 
“Third, this particular preserve will also conserve a key link in the wildlife corridors that connects more than 1,000 acres of protected woodland and swamp habitat in the Hadlyme area ” Irving explained that the preserve is at the center of a landscape-scale wildlife habitat greenway that includes Selden Island State Park, property of the US Fish & Wild Life’s Silvio O Conte Wildlife Refuge, The Nature Conservancy’s Selden Preserve, and several other properties protected by the Lyme Land Conservation Trust 
“Because of its central location as a hub between these protected habitat refuges,” said Irving, “this preserve will protect forever the uninterrupted access that wildlife throughout the Hadlyme landscape now has for migration and breeding between otherwise isolated communities and families of many terrestrial species that are important to the continued robust bio-diversity of southeastern Connecticut and the Connecticut River estuary ”
Irving noted that the Hawthorne property is the largest parcel targeted for conservation in the Whalebone Cove watershed by the recently developed US Fish & Wildlife Service Silvio O Conte Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan  Irving said the Land Trust hopes to create a network of hiking trails on the property with access from both Brush Hill Road on the east and Joshuatown Road on the west and connection to the Land Trust’s Ravine Trail to the south and the network of trails on the Nature Conservancy’s Selden Preserve 
Irving said there is strong support for the Land Trust’s proposal to preserve the property both within the Hadlyme and Lyme communities and among regional and state conservation groups  He noted letters of support have come from the Hadlyme Garden Club, the Hadlyme Public Hall Association, the Lyme Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency, the Lyme Planning and Zoning Commission, the Lyme Open Space Committee, the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, the Lyme Garden Club, the Lyme Public Hall, The Nature Conservancy, The Silvio O Conte Refuge, the Connecticut River Watershed Council, and the Friends of Whalebone Cove, Inc 
He reported that between Hawthorne’s gift and several other pledges the Land Trust has already received commitments of 25 percent of the cost of the property 
Filed Under: Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story, vnn Old Lyme Tree Commission Celebrates Arbor Day April 29, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Members of the three groups gather around the new oak tree  From left to right are Kathy Burton, Joanne DiCamillo, Joan Flynn  Anne Bing, Emily Griswold and Barbara Rayel 
Filed Under: Old Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story, Town Hall Enjoy a Tour of Private Gardens in Essex, June 4 April 28, 2016 by Adina Ripin Leave a Comment See this beautiful private garden in Essex on June 4 
ESSEX – On Saturday, June 4, from 10 a m  to 3 p m , plan to stroll through eight of the loveliest and most unusual private gardens in Essex  Some are in the heart of Essex Village while others are hidden along lanes most visitors never see  While exploring, you will find both formal and informal settings, lovely sweeping lawns and panoramic views of the Connecticut River or its coves  One garden you will visit is considered to be a ‘laboratory’ for cultivation of native plants  Master Gardeners will be available to point out specific features, offer gardening tips, and answer questions 
The garden tour is sponsored by the Friends of the Essex Library  Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the Essex Library the day of the event  Cash, checks, Visa or Master Card will be accepted  Tickets can be reserved by visiting the library or by completing the form included in flyers available at the library and throughout Essex beginning May 2  Completed forms can be mailed to the library  Confirmations will be sent to the email addresses on the completed forms 
Your ticket will be a booklet containing a brief description of each garden along with a map of the tour and designated parking  Tickets must be picked up at the library beginning at 9:45 a m  the day of the event 
Richard Conroy, library director, has said, “The Essex Library receives only about half of its operating revenue from the Town  The financial assistance we receive each year from the Friends is critical  It enables us to provide important resources such as Ancestry com and museum passes, as well as practical improvements like the automatic front doors that were recently installed  I urge you to help your Library by helping our Friends make this event a success! Thank you for your support ”
The tour will take place rain or shine  For more information, call 860-767-1560  All proceeds will benefit Friends of the Essex Library 
Filed Under: Outdoors Potapaug Presents Plum Island Program April 7, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Potapaug Audubon presents “Preserving Plum Island” on Thursday, April 7, at 7 p m  at Old Lyme Town Hall, 52 Lyme St , Old Lyme, with guest speaker Chris Cryder, from the Preserve Plum Island Coalition 
Cryder will discuss the efforts to protect the island, which provides vital habitat for threatened and endangered birds 
This is a free program and all are welcome 
Filed Under: Old Lyme, Outdoors CT Legislators Support Study to Preserve Plum Island From Commercial Development March 28, 2016 by Jerome Wilson 1 Comment Aerial view of Plum Island lighthouse  (From Preserve Plum Island website)
Last Thursday, March 24, at a press conference in Old Saybrook, a triumvirate of Congressional legislators from Connecticut, State Senator Richard Blumenthal and US Representatives Joe Courtney (D-2nd District) and Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd District) confirmed their support for a study to determine the future of Plum Island located in Long Island Sound 
Members of the Plum Island Coalition — which has some 65 member organizations all dedicated to preserving the island — were in attendance to hear the good news 
The island still houses a high-security, federal animal disease research facility, but the decision has already been taken to move the facility to a new location in Kansas with an opening slated for 2022  The current facility takes up only a small percentage of the land on the island and significantly for environmentalists, the remainder of the island has for years been left to nature in the wild 
In supporting a federal study on the future of Plum Island, Sen  Blumenthal said, “This study is a step towards saving a precious, irreplaceable national treasure from developers and polluters  It will provide the science and fact-based evidence to make our case for stopping the current Congressional plan to sell Plum Island to the highest bidder ” He continued, “The stark truth is the sale of Plum Island is no longer necessary to build a new bioresearch facility because Congress has fully appropriated the funds  There is no need for this sale – and in fact, Congress needs to rescind the sale ” Congress, however, still has a law on the books that authorizes the sale of Plum Island land to the highest bidder  Therefore, opponents of the sale will have the burden of convincing Congress to change a law that is currently in place 
Filed Under: Old Lyme, Outdoors, Top Story, vnn Land Trusts’ Photo Contest Winners Announced March 24, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment Winner of the top prize, the John G  Mitchell Environmental Conservation Award – Hank Golet
The 10th Annual Land Trust’s Photo Contest winners were announced at a March 11 reception highlighting the winning photos and displaying all entered photos  Land trusts in Lyme, Old Lyme, Salem, Essex and East Haddam jointly sponsor the annual amateur photo contest to celebrate the scenic countryside and diverse wildlife and plants in these towns  The ages of the photographers ranged from children to senior citizens 
Hank Golet won the top prize, the John G  Mitchell Environmental Conservation Award, with his beautiful photograph of a juvenile yellow crowned night heron in the Black Hall River in Old Lyme  Alison Mitchell personally presented the award, created in memory of her late husband John G  Mitchell, an editor at National Geographic, who championed the cause of the environment 
William Burt, a naturalist and acclaimed wildlife photographer, who has been a contest judge for ten years, received a special mention  Judges Burt; Amy Kurtz Lansing, an accomplished art historian and curator at the Florence Griswold Museum; and Skip Broom, a respected, award-winning local photographer and antique house restoration housewright, chose the winning photographs from 219 entries 
The sponsoring land trusts – Lyme Land Conservation Trust, Essex Land Trust, the Old Lyme Land Trust, Salem Land Trust, and East Haddam Land Trust – thank the judges as well as generous supporters RiverQuest/ CT River Expeditions, Lorensen Auto Group, the Oakley Wing Group at Morgan Stanley, Evan Griswold at Coldwell Banker, Ballek’s Garden Center, Essex Savings Bank, Chelsea Groton Bank, and Alison Mitchell in honor of her late husband John G  Mitchell  Big Y and Fromage Fine Foods & Coffee provided support for the reception 
The winning photographers are:
John G  Mitchell Environmental Award, Hank Golet, Old Lyme
1st: Patrick Burns, East Haddam
2nd: Judah Waldo, Old Lyme
3rd: James Beckman, Ivoryton
Honorable Mention Gabriel Waldo, Old Lyme
Honorable Mention Sarah Gada, East Haddam
Honorable Mention Shawn Parent, East Haddam
Cultural/Historic
1st: Marcus Maronne, Mystic
2nd: Normand L  Charlette, Manchester
3rd: Tammy Marseli, Rocky Hill
Honorable Mention Jud Perkins, Salem
Honorable Mention Pat Duncan, Norwalk
Honorable Mention John Kolb, Essex
Landscapes/Waterscapes
1st: Cheryl Philopena, Salem
2nd: Marian Morrissette, New London
3rd: Harcourt Davis, Old Lyme
Honorable Mention Cynthia Kovak, Old Lyme
Honorable Mention Bopha Smith, Salem
1st: Mary Waldron, Old Lyme
2nd: Courtney Briggs, Old Saybrook
3rd: Linda Waters, Salem
Honorable Mention Pete Govert, East Haddam
Honorable Mention Marcus Maronne, Mystic
Honorable Mention Marian Morrissette, New London
First place winner of the Wildlife category – Chris Pimley
1st: Chris Pimley, Essex
2nd: Harcourt Davis, Old Lyme
Honorable Mention Thomas Nemeth, Salem
Honorable Mention Jeri Duefrene, Niantic
Honorable Mention Elizabeth Gentile, Old Lyme
The winning photos will be on display at the Lymes’ Senior Center for the month of March and Lyme Public Library in April  For more information go to lymelandtrust org 
Filed Under: Outdoors Old Lyme’s Open Space Commission Hosts Talk on Sea Level Rise, Salt Marsh Advance March 11, 2016 by admin 1 Comment The Town of Old Lyme’s Open Space Commission invites all interested parties to a workshop by Adam Whelchel, PhD, Director of Science at The Nature Conservancy’s Connecticut Chapter  The workshop will be held on Friday, March 11, at 9 a m  in the Old Lyme Town Hall 
Filed Under: Outdoors, Town Hall Inaugural Meeting of ‘Friends of Whalebone Cove’ Held, Group Plans to Protect Famous Tidal Wetland March 7, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment The newly formed ‘Friends of Whalebone Cove’ are working to preserve and protect the Cove’s fragile ecosystem 
A new community conservation group to protect Whalebone Cove, a freshwater tidal marsh along the Connecticut river in Hadlyme recognized internationally for its wildlife habitat, will hold its first organizational meeting this coming Sunday, March 6, at 4 p m 
Calling the group “Friends of Whalebone Cove” (FOWC), the organizers say their purpose is to “create a proactive, community-based constituency whose mission is to preserve and protect the habitat and fragile eco-systems of Whalebone Cove ”
Much of Whalebone Cove is a nature preserve that is part of the Silvio O  Conte National Wildlife Refuge (www fws gov/refuge/silvio_o_conte) under the jurisdiction of the U S  Fish & Wildlife Service (USFW)  The Refuge owns and manages 116 acres of marshland in Whalebone Cove and upland along its shores 
Prior to being taken over by USFW, the Whalebone Cove preserve was under the protection of The Nature Conservancy 
As part of the Connecticut River estuary, the Cove is listed in the Ramsar Convention on International Wetlands (www ramsar org) as tidal marshlands on the Connecticut River that constitute a “wetlands complex of international importance ”
The Ramsar citation specifically notes that Whalebone Cove has one of the largest stands of wild rice in the state  Except at high tide, most of the Cove is open marshland covered by wild rice stands with relatively narrow channels where Whalebone Creek winds its way through the Cove to the main stem of the Connecticut River 
Brian Slater, one of the group’s leaders who is filing the incorporation documents creating FOWC, said the creation of the organization was conceived by many of those living around the Cove and others in the Hadlyme area because of increased speeding motor boat and jet ski traffic in the Cove in recent years, damaging wetland plants and disrupting birds and other wildlife that make the Cove their home 
Slater said “Our goal is to develop a master plan for protection of the Cove through a collaborative effort involving all those who have a stake in Whalebone Cove – homeowners along its shores and those living nearby, the Silvio O  Conte Refuge, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), hunters, fishing enthusiasts, canoeing and kayaking groups, Audubon groups, the Towns of Lyme and East Haddam, The Nature Conservancy, the Connecticut River Watershed Council, the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, the Connecticut River Gateway Commission, and others who want to protect the Cove ”
“Such a plan”, said Slater, “should carefully evaluate the habitat, plants, wildlife and eco-systems of the Cove and the surrounding uplands and watershed and propose an environmental management plan that can be both implemented and enforced by those entrusted with stewarding the Cove and its fragile ecosystems for the public trust ”
FOWC has written a letter to Connecticut DEEP Commissioner Rob Klee asking that he appoint a blue ribbon commission to conduct the research and develop the management plan  FOWC also asked that Commissioner Klee either deny or defer approval on any applications for new docks in the Cove until the management plan can be developed and implemented  Currently there are no docks in the Cove 
“We are very concerned that the installation of docks permitted for motor boat use will greatly increase the amount of motorized watercraft in the Cove,” said Slater  “There’s already too much jet ski and speeding motorboat traffic in the Cove  Those living on the Cove have even seen boats towing water skiers crisscrossing the wild rice plants at high tide  Something has to be done to protect the birds and marine life that give birth and raise their young in the Cove ”
Slater urged all those “who treasure Whalebone Cove and the many species of birds, turtles, fish, reptiles, amphibians, beaver, and rare flora and fauna that make their home in it to attend the meeting, whether they live in the Hadlyme area or beyond ”
Expected to be at the meeting will be representatives from USFW, DEEP, the Connecticut River Watershed Council, and several other conservation organizations 
The meeting will be held at Hadlyme Public Hall, 1 Day Hill Rd , in Lyme, which is at the intersection of Ferry Rd  (Rte  148), Joshuatown Rd , and Day Hill Rd  Representatives from the Silvio O  Conte Refuge will make a short presentation on the history and mission of the Conte Refuge system, which includes nature preserves throughout the Connecticut River Valley in four states 
For more information, call 860-322-4021 or email fowchadlyme@gmail com
Filed Under: Lyme, News, Outdoors Next Page »
Context 2: Ghousul Waqt, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was born on Monday, 22nd of Zil Hijjah 1310 AH (18 July 1892) in the most beautiful city of Bareilly Shareef, India  It was in this very city that his illustrious father, the Mujaddid (Reviver) of Islam, Imam-e-Ahle Sunnat, A'la Hazrat, Ash Shah Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Al Qaderi (radi Allahu anhu) was born (1856 - 1921) 
At the time of the birth of Ghousul Waqt, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu), his distinguished father, was in Mahrerah Shareef, one of the great spiritual centers of the Sunni World  On that very night, Sayyiduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu) dreamt that he had been blessed with a son and in his dream he named his son "Aale Rahmaan"  Hazrat Makhdoom Shah Abul Hussain Ahmadi Noori (radi Allahu anhu), one of the great personalities of Mahrerah Shareef, named the child "Abul Barkaat Muhiy'yuddeen Jilani" 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was later named "Mustapha Raza Khan"  His Aqiqa was done on the name of "Muhammad", which was the tradition of the family 
Upon the birth of Ghousul Waqt, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) Sayyiduna Shah Abul Hussain Ahmadi Noori (radi Allahu anhu) told A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu), "Maulana! When I come to Bareilly Shareef, then I will definitely see this child  He is a very blessed child "
As promised, when Sayyiduna Abul Hussain Ahmadi Noori (radi Allahu anhu) went to Bareilly Shareef, he immediately summoned to see Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) who was only six (6) months old  Sayyiduna Noori Mia (radi Allahu anhu), as he was also famously known, congratulated A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu) and said, "This child will be of great assistance to the Deen and through him the servants of Almighty Allah will gain great benefit  This child is a Wali  From his blessed sight thousands of stray Muslims will become firm on the Deen  He is a sea of blessings "
On saying this, Sayyiduna Noori Mia (radi Allahu anhu) placed his blessed finger into the mouth of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and made him a Mureed  He also blessed him with I'jaazat and Khilafat at the same time  (Mufti Azam Hind Number, pg  341)  Not only did he receive Khilafat in the Qaderi Silsila (Order), but also in the Chishti, Nakshbandi, Suharwardi, and Madaari Orders  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) also received Khilafat from his blessed father, A'la Hazrat, Ash Shah Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Al Qaderi (radi Allahu anhu) 
Ghousul Waqt, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) attained most of his early education from his illustrious family - from his father, A'la Hazrat, Ash Shah Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Al Qaderi (radi Allahu anhu) the Mujaddid of Islam, whose status and position even at that time cannot be explained in these few lines  He also studied Kitaabs under the guidance of Hazrat Moulana Haamid Raza Khan (his elder brother), Maulana Shah Rahm Ilahi Maglori and Maulana Sayed Basheer Ahmad Aligarhi and Maulana Zahurul Hussain Rampuri (radi Allahu anhum)  He studied various branches of knowledge under the guidance of his most learned and blessed father, A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu)  He gained proficiency in the many branches of Islamic knowledge from among which are: Tafseer; Hadith; Fiqh; Laws of Jurisprudence; Sarf; Nahw; Tajweed; Conduct of Language; Philosophy; Logistics; Mathematics; History etc ; Arithmetic; Aqaid (Belief); Taasawwaf; Poetry; Debating; Sciences; etc 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu's) brilliance as an Islamic Scholar manifested itself when he was a still a youth, but overflowing with knowledge and wisdom  He wrote his first historical Fatawa (Islamic Ruling) when he was only 13 years old  It dealt with the topic of "Raza'at" - affinity between persons breast fed by the same woman  The following has been recorded with regards to this occasion 
Hazrat Maulana Zafrud'deen and Hazrat Maulana Sayed Abdur Rasheed (radi Allahu anhum) were at the Darul Ifta (Fatawa Department) at this stage  One day, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) walked into the Darul Ifta and noticed that Hazrat Maulana Zafrud'deen (radi Allahu anhu) was writing a certain Fatawa  He was taking "Fatawa Razvia" from the shelf as his reference  On seeing this, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) said, "Are you relying on Fatawa Razvia to write an answer?" Maulana Zafrud'deen (radi Allahu anhu) replied, "Alright then, why don't you write the answer without looking " Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) then wrote a powerful answer without any problem  This was the Fatawa concerning "Raza'at" - the very first Fatawa which he had written 
Sayyiduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu) then signed the Fatawa  He also commanded Hafiz Yaqeenudeen (radi Allahu anhu) to make a stamp for Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) as a gift and said that it should read as follows: "Abul Barkaat Muhiy'yuddeen Jilani Aale Rahmaan urf Mustapha Raza Khan "
This incident took place in 1328 AH  After this incident Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) spent another 12 years writing Fatawas at the feet of A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu)  He was given this immense responsibility of issuing Fatawas even while A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu) was in this physical world  He continued this trend until his last breath  The stamp which was given to him was mislaid during his second Hajj when his bags were lost 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) married the blessed daughter of his paternal uncle, Hazrat Muhammad Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu)  He had 6 daughters and one son, Hazrat Anwaar Raza (radi Allahu anhu), who passed away during childhood 
"Khuda Kheyr se Laaye Wo Din Bhi Noori, Madine ki Galiya Buhara Karoo me"
Tajedaare Ahle Sunnah, Taaje Wilayat Wa Karaamat, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) went twice for Hajj - in 1905 and 1945  He performed his third Hajj in 1971 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was the first person to go for Hajj without a photograph in his passport  He refused to take a photograph  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was allowed to go for Hajj without a photograph in his passport and without taking any vaccinations 
During his trip to Makkatul Mukarramah, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu), also had the opportunity of meeting those Ulema whom his father, Sayidduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu), met during his visit to Haramain Sharifain  These great Ulema were from amongst the students of Sayed Yahya Almaan (radi Allahu anhu)  A few of the Ulema that he met were Allamah Sayed Ameen Qutbi; Allamah Sayed Abbas Alawi and Allamah Sayed Noor Muhammad (radi Allahu anhum) - to mention just a few  They narrated many incidents which had taken place during Sayyiduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu's) visit to Haramain Sharifain  They then requested Khilafat from Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, (radi Allahu anhu) which he bestowed upon them 
Tajedaare Ahle Sunnah, Taaje Wilayat Wa Karaamat, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was aware of the actual time of his Wisaal 
On the 6th of Muharram (1981) he said, "All those who intended to become my Mureed but for some reason or the other could not come to me, I have made all of them Mureed and I have given their hands into the hand of Sayidduna Ghousul Azam (radi Allahu anhu) "
On the 12th of Muharram (1981) Hazrat said, "All those who asked me to make Dua for them, I have made Dua for their Jaiz (permissible) intentions to be fulfilled  May Allah accept this Dua " On this day he asked those that were present concerning date  They told him that it was the 12th of Muharram  On hearing this he became silent 
On the 13th of Muharram, he again asked concerning the date and the Mureedeen present said that it was Wednesday, the 13th of Muharram  On hearing this Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) said, "Namaaz will be held at Nau Mahla Musjid"  Those present did not understand what he meant, but remained silent out of respect  After some time again Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) said, "Did anybody tell you about the Namaaz  I will read Jumma Namaaz in Nau Mahla Masjid " After some time Hazrat said, "Did anybody say anything about the Fatiha " Those present just gazed at each others faces and remained silent  Only later did they realise what Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was implying  Hazrat was spiritally present for Jummah at the Nau Mahla Masjid! Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was not only giving hope to the Mureedeen but also informing them of his Wisaal 
The shining star of A'la Hazrat, Ash Shah Imam Ahmed Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu), the glitter and the hope for the hearts of millions throughout the world, the Mujaddid of the 15th Century, the Imam of his time, Huzoor Sayyidi Sarkaar Mufti-e- Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) left the Aalame Duniya to Journey towards the Aalame Aakhira  It was 1 40 p m  on the eve of the 14th of Muharram 1402 AH (1981) 
"Chal diye tum Aankho me ashko ka darya chor kar, har jigar me dard apna meetha meetha chor kar"
Rawa Aankho se he Ashko ke Dhaare Mufti-e-Azam, Kaha Ho Be Saharo Ka Sahara Mufti-e-Azam"
On Friday, the 15th of Muharram, at 8  00 a m  the Ghusl of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) took place  His nephew, Hazrat Maulana Rehan Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) performed the Wudhu  Hazrat Allamah Mufti Mohammed Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari performed the Ghusl  Sultan Ashraf Sahib used the jug to pour water  The following persons were present during the Ghusl : Hazrat Maulana Rehan Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu), Hazrat Allamah Mufti Mohammed Akhtar Raza Khan, Sayed Mustaaq Ali, Maulana Sayed Muhammad Husain, Sayed Chaif Sahib, Maulana Naeemullah Khan Sahib Qibla, Maulana Abdul Hamid Palmer Razvi, Muhammad Esa of Mauritius, Ali Husain Sahib, Hajji Abdul Ghaffar, Qari Amaanat Rasool Sahib and a few other Mureeds and family members 
Hazrat Allamah Mufti Mohammed Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari and Hazrat Maulana Rehan Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) have stated that at the time of the Ghusl Shareef of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) the Chaadar mistakenly moved a little  Immediately, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) held the Chaadar between his two fingers and covered the area that the Chaadar exposed  Those present thought that the Chaadar had just got caught between Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) fingers  They tried to remove the Chaadar from between his fingers but it would not move  The first person to notice this Karaamat was Hazrat Allamah Mohammed Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari  He showed this to everyone  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) fingers did not move until the area was properly covered 
"Zinda hojate he jo marte he haq ke Naam par, Allah, Allah Maut ko kis ne Masiha Kardiya"
"Janaaze se utha kar haath Pakri Chaadare Aqdas, He too Zinda He ye Zinda Karaamat Mufti e Azam"
As he had wished, the Janaza Salaah of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was performed by Maulana Sayed Mukhtar Ashraf Jilani at the Islamia Inter College grounds in Bareilly Shareef  Two and a half million (2 500 000) Muslims attended his Janazah Salaah  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) is buried on the left-hand-side of Sayyiduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu)  Those who lowered Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) in his Qabr Shareef have stated that they were continously wiping out perspiration from the forehead of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) right up to the last minute 
"Maangne Waala sub kuch paaye rota aaye hasta Jaaye", "Ye He Unki Adna Karamat Mufti Azam Zinda Baad"
Wealth, presidency, minister ship, worldly satisfaction and happiness can be given to a person by anyone, but such people do not have the spiritual insight to give tranquility to a disturbed heart and they cannot put a smile onto the face of a depressed person  But Tajedaare Ahle Sunnah, Taaje Wilayat Wa Karaamat, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) gave both the treasures of the physical world and the spiritual worlds to those in need  To be his servant was not less than kingship  Every day hundreds and thousands of people in need of spiritual, physical and academic needs would come to him and each one of them returned with complete satisfaction 
"Jhuki Hai Gardane Dar Par Tumhare, Taaj Waalo Ki, Mere Aqa Mere Maula Wo Taajul Auliyah Tum Ho"
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) is that light of such an illustrious family whose radiance reflected itself in his character and manners that he displayed - such qualities that very few would be able to reach perfection  His character was the true embodiment of the Sunnah of Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  He shone like a star in the darkness of the night 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) possessed great heights of good character, moral standards, kindness, sincerity, love and humbleness  He never refused the invitation of any poor Muslim  He always stayed away from those who were very wealthy and lavish  He was the possessor of great moral and ethical values 
It is stated that once Akbar Ali Khan, a Governor of U P , came to visit Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) did not meet him but left to a place called Puraana Shahar (Old City) to visit a poor Sunni Muslim who was very ill and at the doorstep of death 
In another occasion, Fakhruddeen Ali Ahmad, the President of a Political Party, came to visit Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) but was refused this opportunity  Many other proud ministers had also come to meet Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) but met with the same fate  This was due to his extreme dislike for politics and involvement in worldly affairs 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) never fell short in entertaining those who came to visit him  When he was physically fit he used go into the Visitors Section and ask each person whether they had eaten or not  He used to ask them if they partook in tea or not  He used to continuously enquire as to whether they were experiencing any difficulties or not  It was often seen that he would personally carry the dishes into the house for the visitors! He was definitely blessed with the characters of the "Salfe Saliheen" or The Pious Servants of Allah 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was a pillar of hospitality and humbleness  If he reprimanded a certain person for doing something un-Islamic or if he became displeased with anyone for some reason or the other, he used to also explain to the person in a very nice way and also try to cheer that person  He would then make Dua in abundance for such a person  His Mureeds (Disciples), on many ocassions, used to recite Manqabats (Poetry) in his praise  On hearing such Manqabats he would say, "I am not worthy of such praise  May Allah make me worthy "
Many people came to him for his blessings  Others would come for Ta'weez  He never refused anyone  It is also not known how many homes were being supported through the kindness and hospitality of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu)  He always entertained those who came from far and near to the best of his means  He used to even give most of his visitors train and bus fares to travel  In winter, he would give warm clothes, warm sheets and blankets to the poor and the needy 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) gave Khilafat to many Ulema-e-Ikraam and personally tied the Amaama (Turban) on their heads  He gave cloaks, turbans and hats to many people  Once, during winter, a few of the Khaadims were present with Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  He was lying on his bed and covered with a shawl  A certain Maulana Abu Sufyaan touched Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) shawl and commented as to how beautiful it was  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) immediately removed the shawl and presented it to him  Although the Moulana refused to accept it Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) gave it to him forcefully 
All of his Mehfils were full of knowledge and Barkah  Many questions on Tassawuf were easily answered by him  It seemed as if the rains of mercy and rays of Noor were spread all over his Mehfils 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) always wanted to see a Muslim's inner and outer personality  He always advised them to mould their lives according to the principles and the commands of Islam  He always showed discomfort to those who did not have beards, those who wore hats and to those who wore ultra-western clothes  He used to warn such Muslims  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) used to show his displeasure towards those who wore ties  He used to tug at their ties and commanded them to abstain from wearing a tie  He also asked them to make Tauba from such acts 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) always commanded Muslims to give or take anything with their right hand  He stopped the Muslims from calling the governments as their "Sarkaar" or leaders  He never kept any ordinary Kitaab on the books of Tafseer or Hadith  Whenever he sat in a Meelad-un-Nabi (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) or Mehfil-e-Zikr, he always sat with utmost respect until the very end 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) never spat towards the Qibla  He never stretched his legs in the direction of the Qibla  Whenever he entered the cemetery, he never used his entire feet to walk on the ground  He always walked on his toes  At times, he would stand on his toes for about half an hour in the graveyard making Dua-e- Maghfirat!
He always stopped Muslims from doing any false fortune telling  If any death or loss took place in the house of a Muslim, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) would go to comfort the people of that house but he would never eat there  He always advised those in sorrow to make Sabr and remember Almighty Allah  He always respected Ulema-e-Ikraam  He respected the Sayeds in such a manner as a slave will respect his King  He prohibited Muslims from keeping un-Islamic names  He preferred such names as Abdullah, Abdur Rahmaan, Muhammad and Ahmad 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) always performed his Salaah in Jamaah whether he was on journey or not  The moment he put his foot out of his house to go towards the Masjid, he used to be surrounded by his Mureeds (disciples) and well-wishers who would follow him till the Masjid door which was just a few feet away from his house  While some would be kissing his blessed hands, others tried to talk with him  He would reply to all those who made Salaam to him  On entering the Masjid, he would immediately recite the dua prescribed 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) would then remove his Amaama and then sit down to perform Wudhu  He would wash all the parts thoroughly so that the Sunnahs were accomplished  He would perform his Salaah with great sincerity and used to be lost in the worship of his Creator  The person who looked at him from a distance would have instantly understood that Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) had left all the worldly desires and was intent upon pleasing his Creator 
Once, while Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was traveling from Nagpur, it was time for Maghrib Salaah  He immediately disembarked from the train  The people told Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) that the train was about to leave, but he was intent on performing his Salaah  His companions also disembarked with him  They had just performed their Wudhu and were making Niyyah for Salaah when the train left the station  All of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) and his companions luggages' were left on the train  A few un-Islamic people who were there said "the Mias train had left him"  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was still in Salaah 
When they all had completed their Salaah, they noticed that the station platform was empty  They became a little worried since all their luggage had gone with the train, but still Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) looked undisturbed  His companions were busy talking about the luggage when they noticed the station guard, followed by a group of travellers, running towards them  The guard came up to Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and said, "Huzoor! The train is stuck!" Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) said, "The engine is damaged " The train was brought back and Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and his companions sat in the train  After some repairs the train left with him and his companions seated in it!
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was drowned in the love for the Holy Prophet, Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  Everything he did was for the pleasure of Almighty Allah and Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  All that he had gained was due to the intense love which he possessed for the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) 
His extreme and intense love for the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) can be understood by the fact that during the latter stages of his life, even though he was very ill, he would sit for hours with great respect in the Naath Mehfils and would shed tears in his love for Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  He used to celebrate the Meelad-un-Nabi (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) each year with great splendour  The programme used to begin on the eve of the 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal and used to continue till the next day just before lunch  The invitation was open to all Muslims and they all used to be fed 
Even after examining the Naath Shareefs written by Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) one would see that every word written dislayed his measureless love for the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) 
In the world of poetry, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was a Giant of his time  Most of his poems were in the form of Humd (Praise of Allah), Naath Shareef, Qasidas and Manqabats compiled in the Arabic, Urdu, Persian and Hindi languages  All these poems were compiled into a book which is famously known as "Samaane Bakhshish" which is still available toady  Samaane Bakhshsish is a treasure chest which flows with pearls of love for Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  The compilation of Samaane Bakhshish is through the blessings of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) 
"Ye Dil Ye Jigr Hai Ye Aankhe Ye Sar Hai, Jaha Chaaho Rakho Qadam Ghause Azam"
"Once a very young descendant of Sayyiduna Sheikh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (radi Allahu anhu), Hazrat Peer Taahir Ala'uddeen (radi Allahu anhu), visited Bareilly Shareef  The respect and honour that Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) showed towards him was out of this world  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) used to walk bare feet behind him with great respect "
The great Ulema of the time have stated that Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was lost to such an extent in the love for Sayyiduna Ghousul Azam, Sheikh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (radi Allahu anhu) that even physically he began to resemble Sheikh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (radi Allahu anhu) 
"Dekh Kar Shakle Mufti Azam, Ghause Azam ki Yaad Aayi he"
Ghousul Waqt, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) had great respect and love for the Ulema and for Sayeds (Descendants of Sayyiduna Rasulullah sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  The respect which he showed towards them is beyond explanation 
One day, in 1979, a lady came with her little child to ask for Ta'weez  It was a very hot day and she was informed that Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was resting  The lady, however, was in great need for the particular Ta'weez  She asked someone to see if Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was awake but nobody had the nerve of going near him while he was resting as they considered this to be disrespectful  Taking her child she commented, "What did we know that the words of Sayeds will not be heard in this place" 
It is not known how Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) heard this, but he immediately summoned one of the Mureeds  He instructed him to call the lady and not give her grief  The woman then sent her child to Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  He asked the child's name and showed great love and respect towards this young child  With great affection, he placed his hand on the child's head  He even asked someone to bring an apple for the child  From behind the curtain, he spoke to the lady concerning her problem and immediately wrote a Ta'weez for her 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) then sent a message to his family requesting that the mother and child should only be allowed to leave after the heat became less intense; that they should be well entertained and that no shortage should be spared in entertaining these Sayeds 
When Allamah Sadru Shariah Maulana Amjad Ali Al Qadri (radi Allahu anhu), the author of the famous "Bahare Shariah," used to come to Bareilly Shareef for the Urs Shareef of Sayyiduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu), Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) used to go to the railway station to welcome him and showed great respect towards this Scholar of Islam  He also showed great respect towards Sayyidi Hafiz-e-Millat and Hazrat Maulana Hasmat Ali Khan Sahib (radi Allahu anhum)  He also showed respect towards his own Mureeds and Khalifas who were Alims 
"Hawa he Gotand wa Tez lekin Chiraagh Apna Jala Raha he, Wo Marde Durwesh jis ko Haq ne diye the Andaze Khusrawana"
The sign of a true Mo'min is that he never submits himself before an enemy  In the worst of circumstances a Mo'min announces that which is the truth  Sayyiduna Rasulullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) said, "To speak the truth before a tyrant King is a great Jihad " So imagine the excellence of a person who always spoke the truth at all times, a person who always raised the flag of truth and honesty, and a person who never left the path of truth in his entire life!
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was one such person  He is one of the greatest leaders of the Sunnis  His boldness and fearlessness is difficult to explain  His entire life was spent speaking against Deobandis, Wahabis and all the other misleading sects, whether is was against the West, Qadianism, or Najdism he always challenged them right till the very end  He always propagated the true Deen and the Path of the Ahle Sunnah Wa Jamaah  With his Fatawas, he helped protect the Imaan of not only the Muslims in India and Pakistan, but of Muslims throughout the world 
He attacked the enemies of Islam through his writings, sayings, actions, etc  He did everything in his capacity to challenge the enemies of Islam  No person in his presence could say or do anything against Shariah  No person could speak against that which was the truth  It is stated by one of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) Khaadim's, who accompanied him on a journey by train, that there were some people in the train who were consuming alcohol  When Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) saw them, he reprimanded them and told them to desist from such a Haraam act  They did not listen to his advise so he scolded the leader of the group who was a young and well-built person  He gave the young person a hard slap which caused the bottle of alcohol to fall far from his hand  The Khaadim expected the person to retaliate but, who had the nerve to retaliate against this Lion of Islam! They became afraid and sat down quietly  Later some of them came up to Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and begged for forgiveness for their shameful behavior 
"Tassawuf, Philsafa, Tafseer ki fiqhi Masa'il, Subhi kahte hai ke Aqida Kusha he Mufti Azam"
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu), who after writing his first Fatawa while still a student at "Darul Uloom Manzare Islam", was given the status of Mufti due to his immense knowledge  When the Muslim World began to see his knowledge and Fatawas brightenening the world, they began calling him "Mufti-e-Azam" or The Most Exalted Mufti of the Time  This title alone became the name he was recognised by  Whenever the name "Mufti Azam Hind" was mentioned, it referred to none other than his exalted personality 
Remember that he or she only is exalted who has been blessed with this excellence by Almighty Allah and His Beloved Rasool (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) was a personality free from pride, lavishness and self- fame  His status was bestowed upon him by Almighty Allah and His Beloved Rasool (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  That person to whom Almighty Allah and His Rasool (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) grants such excellence, then such excellence cannot be understood by ordinary mortals  This is one of the reasons why the entire world was brightened and received the benefits of his knowledge of Fiqh 
There came a stage when Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was not only known as "Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind" but he was also known as "Mufti-e-Azam-e-Alam" or The Grand Mufti of the World 
It is recorded that on his trip to the Haramain Sharifain the Ulema of the Hejaz (Arabia), Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and from many other countries came to him to solve Fiqh Mas'alas  Many became his Mureeds  This is how his Faiz of Shariah and Tariqah spread its rays throughout the world  While in the Hejaz Shareef, he also had to deal with many Fatawas that poured in from various countries, such as, Africa, Mauritius, United Kingdom, America, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and many other places  He answered every single one of them in a very dedicated and professional manner 
During the reign of General Ayub Khan a "Rooyat Hilal Committee" was formed in Pakistan for the purpose of sighting the moon for every Islamic Month, and more importantly, for Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha  An aeroplane was flown up to a certain height and the moon would be sighted from there  This form of Shahaadah (Confirmation) of the sighting of the moon via an aeroplane was readily accepted by the Pakistani Government  In this manner, Eid was celebrated 
On a specific occasion, on the 29th of Ramadaan, an aero plane was flown from the East to the West of Pakistan and the moon was reported to be sighted  This sighting was announced by the Hilaal Committee, but the Sunni Ulema of Pakistan did not accept this confirmation  The Ulema of Pakistan sent questionnaires to the Ulema throughout the world for clarification and one such questionnaire was sent to Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  Many Ulema replied that the confirmation had to be accepted and that it was permissible, but Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) clearly replied that this was not permissible  His Fatawa read as follows:" The Command of Shariah is to sight the Moon and fast or celebrate Eid  Where the Moon is not sighted the Qazi should give an Islamic decision in connection with a confirmation  The moon must be sighted from the ground level or any place attached to the ground  With regards to the matter of using the plane - to sight the moon via a plane is wrong because the moon sets and does not perish  This is why it is sometimes sighted on the 29th and sometimes on the 30th  If to fly in a plane to sight the moon is a condition, then by increasing altitude the moon will be sighted even on the 27th and 28th  In this case, will the sighting be confirmed for the 27th or 28th? No person in his right sense will accept this  Thus under these circumstances, how would it be proper to sight the moon on the 29th?"
This Fatawa of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) appeared in every newspaper in Pakistan as "Headline News" 
The following month, on the 27th and the 28th, the Pakistan Government sent an aeroplane at a higher altitude and found that the moon was visible on these days  The Government of Pakistan then accepted the Fatawa of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and the Hilaal Committee of Pakistan was disbanded 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) wrote more or less 50 000 Fatawas in his lifetime  His word was accepted by great Ulema  Shamsul Ulema, Hazrat Maulana Shamsud'deen Ja'fari (radi Allahu anhu) stated: "In this era, there is no greater expert in Fiqha than Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  Whenever I present myself in his high court I always sit with my head bowed and I listen to his words in silence  I do not have the audacity to talk in abundance to him "
"Amaanat Hind-o-Paak he is baat ke Shaahid, Ke badal deti he minto me Huqumat Mufti-e-Azam"
The year 1976 was a very difficult period for the Muslims in India  Certain Ulema, bought of by the Saudi Riyals and American Dollars, passed the Fatawa making Vasectomy (male sterilization to prevent birth of children) permissible  The Indian Government made Vasectomy necessary for every male in India at that time 
Muslims of India were in search of a Saviour to prevent such a law from being passed as this would mean them not having any more children  They were looking for someone who would stand and fight for their religious rights  All the Muslims looked towards the city of Bareilly Shareef, the city of light and truth, for an answer to this controversy  All of a sudden that Mujahhid of Islam rose with the torch of knowledge and light against the winds of enmity and destruction - Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  He immediately issued the true Fatawa on vasectomy and said, "Vasectomy is Haraam, Haraam, Haraam " This news spread throughout India  Through the Dua and firmness of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) on this issue, the Government that wished to pass this law had lost power, and a new government came into power  The law on Vasectomy was abolished!
Once, Maulana Abdul Hadi Al Qaderi and Soofi Iqbal Sahib asked Ghousul Waqt, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) the following question: "Huzoor! Can one remember his Sheikh in Namaaz?" Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) answered by saying, "If you need to remember anyone in Namaaz then you should remember Tajedare Do Aalam, Habbibe Khuda (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  Yes, just as people tend to gaze here and there in Namaaz - if, in this way, the thought of one's Peer comes into the mind, then there is no hindrance"  Subhan-Allah! Such caution is in this answer! This answer has also contradicted the Deobandi belief  By looking at the life of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and reading his Fatawas, one would see his status and excellence in the spiritual domain  His spiritual life was according to that of his renowned and distinguished father, Sayyiduna A'la Hazrat (radi Allahu anhu) 
When the Americans were announcing there journey to the moon, a few Ulema were present with Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu)  Amongst these Ulema were Shamsul Ulema Hazrat Maulana Shamsud'deen and Allamah Ghulam Jilani Mirati (radi Allahu anhum)  They were discussing the concepts concerning the sun and the moon  Mufti-e-Azam-e- Hind (radi Allahu anhu) said that the sky and the earth are both stationary and that the moon and the sun are in motion  On hearing this Allama Ghulam Jilani Mirati (radi Allahu anhu) said, "In the Holy Quran it is said, 'Wash Shamsu Tajri Li Mustaqaril'laha'  In other words, the sun is in motion in its fixed abode  From the word 'Tajri', it is obvious that the sun is in motion and from the word 'Mustaqaril'laha' it is obvious that it is stationary in one place  How can both these concepts be right?"
In answer to this, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind, Moulana Mustapha Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu) immediately said, "It was commanded to Hazrat Adam (alaihis salaam) and Hazrat Hawa (radi Allahu anha) (as follows): 'Walakum fil Ardi Mustaqar'  Does this mean that they were stationary in only one portion of the earth? Did they not walk around (on the earth)? To be Mustaqar means to be stationary in your surrounding, not to come out of your boundaries  To move but to move within your boundaries of movement " On hearing this Allama Mirati Sahib (radi Allahu anhu) became silent 
Hazrat Muhaddith-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) said: "IN THIS TIME, THAT PERSONALITY WHOSE TAQWA (PIETY) IS MORE THAN HIS FATAWA, IS NONE OTHER THAN THE SON OF SAYYIDI A'LA HAZRAT (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) WHOSE BEAUTIFUL NAME IS MUSTAPHA RAZA AND THIS NAME COMES ON MY TONGUE WITHOUT PROBLEM AND IT ALLOWS ME TO GAIN GREAT BLESSINGS " Once Hazrat Muhaddith-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) wrote the following words on the Fatawa of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu): "THIS IS THE SAYING OF SUCH AN AALIM WHOM TO FOLLOW IS COMPULSORY "
Huzoor Sayyidi Hafiz-e-Millat (radi Allahu anhu) stated, "A PERSON DOES NOT GET PROPER RESPECT AND ACCEPTANCE IN HIS OWN TOWN, BUT THE ACCEPTANCE AND RESPECT THAT HUZOOR MUFTI AZAM HAS GAINED IN HIS TOWN CANNOT BE FOUND ANYWHERE ELSE  THIS IS OPEN PROOF OF HIS KARAMAAT AND WILAYAT"  He then said, "MUFTI AZAM IS A KING, HE IS A KING"  (Which means that he should be respected and treated as a King) 
Huzoor Mujjahid-e-Millat (radi Allahu anhu) said, "IN THIS TIME, THE PERSONALITY OF HUZOOR MUFTI AZM HIND (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) IS A UNIQUE ONE, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIELD OF IFTA, BUT ALSO IN HIS DAILY CONVERSATIONS - THE MANNER IN WHICH HE SPOKE AND EXPLAINED CAN BE UNDERSTOOD BY ONLY THE PEOPLE OF KNOWLEDGE "
The "Imam Ghazzali" of his time, Allama Saeed Ahmad Kazmi Shah Sahib (radi Allahu anhu) says, "THE STATUS OF SAYYIDI MUFTI AZAM HIND (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) CAN BE UNDERSTOOD FROM THIS THAT HE IS THE SON AND THE BELOVED OF MUJJADIDE DEEN-O-MILLAT, IMAM AHLE SUNNAT, ASH SHAH IMAM AHMAD RAZA KHAN (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) "
Hazrat Qari Maslihud'deen (radi Allahu anhu) says, "AFTER THE WISAAL OF MY MURSHAD, THE CENTRAL POINT OF MY FOCUS WAS THE PERSONALITY OF HUZOOR MUFTI AZAM HIND (RADI ALLAHU ANHU) AND NOT ONLYWAS HE THE POINT OF MY FOCUS, BUT ALSO THAT OF THE ENTIRE SUNNI POPULATION "
One of the greatest Karamats of a Mo'min is for him to be always steadfast on Shariat-e-Mustapha and Sunnat-e-Mustapha (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  A Mo'min must be prepared to accept all the difficulties and calamities of life  When faced by any calamity he should always make Shukr to Allah Almighty 
These outstanding qualities can be found in the life of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  He was always steadfast and firm on Shariat-e-Mustapha (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  It is said that it is impossible to move a mountain from its place but it was not possible to move Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) from the Shariat-e-Mustapha (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  Every second in the life of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) was a Karaamat  Volumes can be written about the Karaamats of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu)  He himself is a living Karaamat!
"Kaha tak Raaz likhoge karaamat Mufti-e-Azam, Sarapa hi Sarapa he karaamat Mufti-e-Azam"
For the purpose of Fuyooz-o-barkaat we will quote one such Karaamat 
Once Hazrat went for the Urs of Hazrat Mahboob-e-Ilahi, Kwaja Nizaamud'deen Awliyah (radi Allahu anhu) to Delhi  He stayed at a place called 'Koocha Jilan' with Ashfaaq Ahmad Sahib  At this place, a certain Wahabi Maulvi began arguing with Hazrat concerning the Ilme Ghaib (Knowledge of the Unseen) of Huzoor Anwar (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)  Ashfaaq Ahmad Sahib asked Hazrat not to argue with this person as it would not make any difference to him  Hazrat said, "Let him speak  I will listen to him and all those who are present should also listen attentively  The reason why nothing makes a difference to Maulvi Sahib is because nobody listens to him properly  So let him say that which he wishes " Maulvi Saeedud'deen then spoke for approximately 15 minutes explaining how Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) did not possess Ilme Ghaib  He spoke for some time and then became silent 
Hazrat then said, "If you have forgotten anything concerning your argument then please try to remember " The Maulvi Sahib spent another half an hour trying to prove that Huzoor (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) did not possess Ilme Ghaib 
After listening to his arguments Hazrat said, "You should immediately repent from your false belief  Allah has definitely blessed Huzoor (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) with Ilme Ghaib and you have tried to contradict it in every way you could  If you do not mind, then also listen to my argument" 
Then very sarcastically Hazrat said, "What is the responsibility of a son towards his widowed mother?" Maulvi Sahib in answer said, "I will not answer this as it is not relevant to the topic of discussion" 
Hazrat then said, "I did not mind when you questioned me, but in any case just listen to my questions  There is no need to answer them" 
The second question Hazrat asked was, "How is it to take a loan from someone and then hide from him? Can you become weary of your crippled son and leave him to beg? To make Hajj Badal from    "
This question was not yet completed when the Wahabi Maulvi fell at the feet of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and said, "Hazrat! It is enough  The problem has been solved  Today I have realised that Huzoor (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) has Ilme Ghaib  If not by now the Munaafiqeen would have destroyed the Islamic Missions  If Almighty Allah has shown you those things about me which nobody else here knows about, then I cannot imagine all that which He has informed Rasoolullah (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) of" 
The Wahabi Maulvi immediately repented and became Mureed of Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) 
Each year, Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) used to go to Calcutta for missionary work  The Pope used to also visit Calcutta and although he received good coverage in the media, very few Christians turned up to meet the Pope  The Christians of Calcutta became very jealous whenever Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) visited that city as, without any news coverage, he attracted thousands of people who came to see him 
The Christians decided to insult Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and lower his personality in the eyes of the people  They trained three Christians to approach Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) with the pretence that they were going to become his Mureeds  This was their plan: Whenever Hazrat was going to make any person his Mureed, he would ask the person to say, "Say that you have given your hand into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) " The Christians where then going to say that Hazrat is a liar (Allah forbid) since that was not the hand of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu)!
The three Christians, now disguised as Muslims went to Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) with the pretence of becoming his Mureed  When two of the Christians saw Hazrat's noorani face they became afraid of carrying out their plans, but the third Christian, who was very stubborn, decided to carry out the plan 
He sat in front of Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) and Hazrat proceeded with making him a Mureed  When Hazrat said, "Say that you have given your hand into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu)," he said, "I am giving my hand in the hand of Mufti-e-Azam " He was implying that Hazrat was asking him to lie when he was made to say a moment ago that he is not going to lie 
Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) again commanded him to say, "Say that you have given your hand into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) " He again said, "I am giving my hand in the hand of Mufti-e-Azam "
Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) came into a Jalaal (Spiritual Anger) state and said, "Say that you are giving your hands into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) " To the surprise of many, the Christian began continuously saying, "I have given my hands into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam, I have my given hands into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu)       "
When asked about his behavior, the Christian said that as Huzoor Mufti-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) commanded him for the final time to say that he has given his hands into the hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu), he actually saw two bright hands emerging from Hazrat's hands and the Christian says that he is sure that these hands were none other the mubarak hands of Ghous-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) 
That Christian then asked Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) for forgiveness and explained to him what his true intentions were  He immediately accepted Islam and became a Mureed  The news of this Karaamat spread far and wide and thousands of Christians accepted Islam at Hazrat's hands  Subhan-Allah! This incident was narrated by Hazrat Moulana Abdul Hamid Palmer Noori Razvi, a close Khalifa of Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) 
Huzoor Sayyidi Sarkaar Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) Mazaar Shareef is situated in Mohalla Saudagran, Bareilly Shareef  Every year thousands of Mureeds and lovers of Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu) present themselves at Bareilly Shareef for his Urs Mubaarak 
Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind (radi Allahu anhu's) Mureedeen were not only ordinary people but his Mureeds also consisted of great Ulema, Muftis, Mufassirs, Poets, Philosophers, Professors, Doctors, etc  It is said that he has millions of Mureedeen 
In India - Mufas'sire Azam Hind Hazrat Ibrahim Raza (radi Allahu anhu); Hazrat Maulana Tahseen Raza Khan; Hazrat Maulana Rehan Raza Khan (radi Allahu anhu); Hazrat Allamah Mufti Mohammed Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari; Muhadithe Kabeer Hazrat Maulana Mufti Zia Ul Mustapaha Sahib; Hazrat Maulana Arshadul Qaadri Sahib 
His Eminence, Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari Al-Qaderi, was born on the 25th of Safar in the year 1942 in Bareilly, the citadel of spirituality and learning  He is the great grandson of A'la Hazrat, Shaikh Imam Ahmed Raza Fazil-e Barelvi (rahmatullahi alaih), the Mujaddid (Reviver) of Islam in the 14th Century Hijri 
Under the tutorship of renowned Ulama, he attained the degree of Fazile Deeniyat (Graduation in Islamic Theology) from Darul Uloom Manzare Islam, Bareilly  After spending three years (1963 - 1966) at the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, his Eminence post-graduated in Arabic Literature and Deeniyat with specialization in Ahadith (Prophetic Tradition) and Tafseer (Quranic Exegesis) with high distinctions 
On his return home, he joined Darul Uloom Manzare Islam, Bareilly Shareef  Thereafter, he left the Darul Uloom and established his own Darul-Ifta with the permission of his maternal grandfather, Huzoor Mufti-e-Azam Hind, Shaikh Mufti Muhammad Mustapha Raza Khan (rahmatullahi alaih)  His Eminence, Mufti-e-Azam Hind (rahmatullahi alaih) declared him his Ja'Nashin (Successor) while the great Shaikh was present in this world 
His Eminence inherited the skill in the issuing of Fatawa (Legal Islamic Rulings) and in tackling the complex issues relating to Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) directly from Mufti-e-Azam (radi Allahu anhu) who inherited it directly from Mujaddid-e-Deen-o-Millat, Ash Shah Imam Ahmed Raza Bareilvi (rahmatullahi alaih) 
He is not only the Successor and a trustworthy custodian of Fatawa writing of Shaikh Mufti-e-Azam Hind (rahmatullahi alaih), but also the custodian of learning, knowledge, sanctity and saintliness, of his grandfather, Hujjatul Islam, Moulana Muhammad Haamid Raza Khan (rahmatullahi alaihi) 
His father, Moulana Muhammad Ibrahim Raza Khan Jilaani Mia (rahmatullahi alaih), was a great Aalim and Saint  He was well-versed in the commentary of the Holy Quran and so was given the title of Mufassir-e-Azam-e-Hind or Great Commentator of the Holy Quran in India 
His Eminence, Mufti Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari, travels extensively propagating the Deen and is a world-renowned preacher and a spiritual guide  Thousands of Muslims in India and abroad are attached with his Silsila  His Eminence has many Khulafa  He was also given the title of Taajush Shari'ah 
Besides being a great Mufti and Aalim, he is also a poet and an academic writer  His Diwan (Collection of Poems) was published for the first time entitled Naghmat-e-Akhtar  Later, it was published entitled Safina-e-Bakhshish in 1986, a chrono-grammical name, derived by Dr  Abdun Naim Azizi  Safina-e-Bakhshish includes Mufti Akhtar Raza Khan's Urdu and Arabic poems and was compiled and published by Dr  Abdun Naim Azizi  Many of Allama Mohammad Akhtar Raza's Naaths and Manqabats have not been published as yet 
Amongst his academic works, a few are as follows: (1) Taswiron Ka Hukm, (2) T V  aur Video ka Operation, (3) Difae Kanzul Imaan, (4) Sharhe-Hadise Niyat, (5) Al-Haqqul Mobeen (Arabic), (6) Difa Kanzul Imaan Part I & II (7) Mer-atun-Najdi'ah (Arabic) (8) Hazrat Ibrahim ke Waalid Tariq ya Azar, etc 
His Darul-Ifta is now the central Darul Ifta of not only Bareilly Shareef, but of the Sunni world and he has continued the prestige of Fatawa writing of his grand-father and great grand-father  To date, he has written more than 5 000 Fatawa Besides being well-versed in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu he has also a good knowledge of English  He has written many Fatawa in the English Language  The original book, Few English Fatawa, was first published by Edara Sunni Duniya, 82 Saudagran, Bareilly Shareef by his Eminence  Allama Mufti Naseem Ashraf Habibi, who is the Head Advisor and Mufti of the Imam Ahmed Raza Academy and of Sunni Ulama Council included a few more unpublished Fatawas, which was also written or orally dictated in English by Hazrat Azhari Sahib 
May Almighty Allah keep Hazrat Allama Mufti Mohammad Akhtar Raza Khan Azhari firm on Maslak-e-A'la Hazrat and serve as a beacon of guidance  May He grant his Eminence good health and long life  Aameen 
Context 3: Paper Info

Title: Environmental variability and network structure determine the optimal plasticity mechanisms in embodied agents
Publish Date: Unkown
Author List: Sina Khajehabdollahi (from Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen)

Figure

Figure2: An outline of the network controlling the foraging agent The sensor layer receives inputs at each time step (the ingredients of the nearest food), which are processed by the plastic layer in the same way as the static sensory network, Fig 1 The output of that network is given as input to the motor network, along with the distance d and angle α to the nearest food, the current velocity v, and energy E of the agent These signals are processed through two hidden layers to the final output of motor commands as the linear and angular acceleration of the agent
Figure4: The evolved parameters θ = (θ 1 ,      , θ 8 ) of the plasticity rule for the reward prediction (a ) and the decision (b ) tasks, for a variety of parameters (p tr = 0 01, d e ∈ 0, 0 1,      , 1, and σ ∈ 0, 0 1,      , 1 in all 100 combinations) Despite the relatively small difference between the tasks, the evolved learning rules differ considerably For visual guidance, the lines connect θs from the same run 
Figure5: a The trajectory of an agent (blue line) in the 2D environment A well-trained agent will approach and consume food with positive values (green dots) and avoid negative food (red dots) b The learning rate of the plastic sensory network eta p grows with the distance between environments d e c  and decreases with the frequency of environmental change d The fitness of an agent (measured as the total food consumed over its lifetime) increases over generations of the EA for both the scalar and binary readouts in the sensory network e The Pearson correlation coefficient of an evolved agent's weights with the ingredient value vector of the current environment (E 1 -blue, E 2 -red) In this example, the agent's weights are anti-correlated with its environment, which is not an issue for performance since the motor network can interpret the inverted signs of food 

abstract

The evolutionary balance between innate and learned behaviors is highly intricate, and different organisms have found different solutions to this problem  We hypothesize that the emergence and exact form of learning behaviors is naturally connected with the statistics of environmental fluctuations and tasks an organism needs to solve 
Here, we study how different aspects of simulated environments shape an evolved synaptic plasticity rule in static and moving artificial agents  We demonstrate that environmental fluctuation and uncertainty control the reliance of artificial organisms on plasticity  Interestingly, the form of the emerging plasticity rule is additionally determined by the details of the task the artificial organisms are aiming to solve 
Moreover, we show that coevolution between static connectivity and interacting plasticity mechanisms in distinct sub-networks changes the function and form of the emerging plasticity rules in embodied agents performing a foraging task  One of the defining features of living organisms is their ability to adapt to their environment and incorporate new information to modify their behavior 
It is unclear how the ability to learn first evolved , but its utility appears evident  Natural environments are too complex for all the necessary information to be hardcoded genetically and more importantly, they keep changing during an organism's lifetime in ways that cannot be anticipated ;   The link between learning and environmental uncertainty and fluctuation has been extensively demonstrated in both natural ; , and artificial environments  
Nevertheless, the ability to learn does not come without costs  For the capacity to learn to be beneficial in evolutionary terms, a costly nurturing period is often required, a phenomenon observed in both biological , and artificial organisms   Additionally, it has been shown that in some complex environments, hardcoded behaviors may be superior to learned ones given limits in the agent's lifetime and envi-ronmental uncertainty ; ;  
The theoretical investigation of the optimal balance between learned and innate behaviors in natural and artificial systems goes back several decades  However, it has recently found also a wide range of applications in applied AI systems ;   Most AI systems are trained for specific tasks, and have no need for modification after their training has been completed 
Still, technological advances and the necessity to solve broad families of tasks make discussions about life-like AI systems relevant to a wide range of potential application areas  Thus the idea of open-ended AI agents that can continually interact with and adapt to changing environments has become particularly appealing 
Many different approaches for introducing lifelong learning in artificial agents have been proposed  Some of them draw direct inspiration from actual biological systems ;   Among them, the most biologically plausible solution is to equip artificial neural networks with some local neural plasticity , similar to the large variety of synaptic plasticity mechanisms ; ; that performs the bulk of the learning in the brains of living organisms  
The artificial plasticity mechanisms can be optimized to modify the connectivity of the artificial neural networks toward solving a particular task  The optimization can use a variety of approaches, most commonly evolutionary computation  The idea of meta-learning or optimizing synaptic plasticity rules to perform specific functions has been recently established as an engineering tool that can compete with stateof-the-art machine learning algorithms on various complex tasks ; ; Pedersen and Risi (2021);  
Additionally, it can be used to reverse engineer actual plasticity mechanisms found in biological neural networks and uncover their functions ;   Here, we study the effect that different factors (environ-arXiv:2303 06734v1 [q-bio NC] 12 Mar 2023 mental fluctuation and reliability, task complexity) have on the form of evolved functional reward-modulated plasticity rules 
We investigate the evolution of plasticity rules in static, single-layer simple networks  Then we increase the complexity by switching to moving agents performing a complex foraging task  In both cases, we study the impact of different environmental parameters on the form of the evolved plasticity mechanisms and the interaction of learned and static network connectivity 
Interestingly, we find that different environmental conditions and different combinations of static and plastic connectivity have a very large impact on the resulting plasticity rules  We imagine an agent who must forage to survive in an environment presenting various types of complex food particles  Each food particle is composed of various amounts and combinations of N ingredients that can have positive (food) or negative (poison) values 
The value of a food particle is a weighted sum of its ingredients  To predict the reward value of a given resource, the agent must learn the values of these ingredients by interacting with the environment  The priors could be generated by genetic memory, but the exact values are subject to change  To introduce environmental variability, we stochastically change the values of the ingredients 
More precisely, we define two ingredient-value distributions E 1 and E 2 and switch between them, with probability p tr for every time step  We control how (dis)similar the environments are by parametrically setting E 2 = (1 − 2d e )E 1 , with d e ∈ [0, 1] serving as a distance proxy for the environments; when d e = 0, the environment remains unchanged, and when d e = 1 the value of each ingredient fully reverses when the environmental transition happens 
For simplicity, we take values of the ingredients in E 1 equally spaced between -1 and 1 (for the visualization, see Fig  )  The static agent receives passively presented food as a vector of ingredients and can assess its compound value using the linear summation of its sensors with the (learned or evolved) weights, see Fig   
The network consists of N sensory neurons that are projecting to a single post-synaptic neuron  At each time step, an input X t = (x 1 ,       , x N ) is presented, were the value x i , i ∈ {1,       , N } represents the quantity of the ingredient i  We draw x i independently form a uniform distribution on the [0, 1] interval (x i ∼ U (0, 1)) 
The value of each ingredient w c i is determined by the environment (E 1 or E 2 )  The postsynaptic neuron outputs a prediction of the food X t value as y t = g(W X T t )  Throughout the paper, g will be either the identity function, in which case the prediction neuron is linear, or a step-function; however, it could be any other nonlinearity, such as a sigmoid or ReLU 
After outputting the prediction, the neuron receives feedback in the form of the real value of the input R t   The real value is computed as R t = W c X T t + ξ, where W c = (w c 1 ,       , w c N ) is the actual value of the ingredients, and ξ is a term summarizing the noise of reward and sensing system ξ ∼ N (0, σ) 
Figure : An outline of the static agent's network  The sensor layer receives inputs representing the quantity of each ingredient of a given food at each time step  The agent computes the prediction of the food's value y t and is then given the true value R t ; it finally uses this information in the plasticity rule to update the weight matrix 
For the evolutionary adjustment of the agent's parameters, the loss of the static agent is the sum of the mean squared errors (MSE) between its prediction y t and the reward R t over the lifetime of the agent  The agent's initial weights are set to the average of the two ingredient value distributions, which is the optimal initial value for the case of symmetric switching of environments that we consider here 
As a next step, we incorporate the sensory network of static agents into embodied agents that can move around in an environment scattered with food  To this end, we merge the static agent's network with a second, non-plastic motor network that is responsible for controlling the motion of the agent in the environment 
Specifically, the original plastic network now provides the agent with information about the value of the nearest food  The embodied agent has additional sensors for the distance from the nearest food, the angle between the current velocity and the nearest food direction, its own velocity, and its own energy level (sum of consumed food values) 
These inputs are processed by two hidden layers (of 30 and 15 neurons) with tanh activation  The network's outputs are angular and linear acceleration, Fig    The embodied agents spawn in a 2D space with periodic boundary conditions along with a number of food particles that are selected such that the mean of the food value distribution is ∼ 0  An agent can eat food by approaching it sufficiently closely, and each time a food particle is eaten, it is The sensor layer receives inputs at each time step (the ingredients of the nearest food), which are processed by the plastic layer in the same way as the static sensory network, Fig   
The output of that network is given as input to the motor network, along with the distance d and angle α to the nearest food, the current velocity v, and energy E of the agent  These signals are processed through two hidden layers to the final output of motor commands as the linear and angular acceleration of the agent re-spawned with the same value somewhere randomly on the grid (following the setup of ) 
After 5000 time steps, the cumulative reward of the agent (the sum of the values of all the food it consumed) is taken as its fitness  During the evolutionary optimization, the parameters for both the motor network (connections) and plastic network (learning rule parameters) are co-evolved, and so agents must simultaneously learn to move and discriminate good/bad food 
Reward-modulated plasticity is one of the most promising explanations for biological credit assignment   In our network, the plasticity rule that updates the weights of the linear sensor network is a rewardmodulated rule which is parameterized as a linear combination of the input, the output, and the reward at each time step:
Additionally, after each plasticity step, the weights are normalized by mean subtraction, an important step for the stabilization of Hebbian-like plasticity rules   We use a genetic algorithm to optimize the learning rate η p and amplitudes of different terms θ = (θ 1 ,       , θ 8 )  The successful plasticity rule after many food presentations must converge to a weight vector that predicts the correct food values (or allows the agent to correctly decide whether to eat a food or avoid it) 
To have comparable results, we divide θ = (θ 1 ,       , θ 8 ) by We then multiply the learning rate η p with θ max to maintain the rule's evolved form unchanged, η norm p = η p • θ max   In the following, we always use normalized η p and θ, omitting norm   To evolve the plasticity rule and the moving agents' motor networks, we use a simple genetic algorithm with elitism  
The agents' parameters are initialized at random (drawn from a Gaussian distribution), then the sensory network is trained by the plasticity rule and finally, the agents are evaluated  After each generation, the bestperforming agents (top 10 % of the population size) are selected and copied into the next generation 
The remaining 90 % of the generation is repopulated with mutated copies of the best-performing agents  We mutate agents by adding independent Gaussian noise (σ = 0 1) to its parameters  To start with, we consider a static agent whose goal is to identify the value of presented food correctly  The static reward-prediction network quickly evolves the parameters of the learning rule, successfully solving the prediction task 
We first look at the evolved learning rate η p , which determines how fast (if at all) the network's weight vector is updated during the lifetime of the agents  We identify three factors that control the learning rate parameter the EA converges to: the distance between the environments, the noisiness of the reward, and the rate of environmental transition 
The first natural factor is the distance d e between the two environments, with a larger distance requiring a higher learning rate, Fig    This is an expected result since the convergence time to the "correct" weights is highly dependent on the initial conditions  If an agent is born at a point very close to optimality, which naturally happens if the environments are similar, the distance it needs to traverse on the fitness landscape is small 
Therefore it can afford to have a small learning rate, which leads to a more stable convergence and is not affected by noise  A second parameter that impacts the learning rate is the variance of the rewards  The reward an agent receives for the plasticity step contains a noise term ξ that is drawn from a zero mean Gaussian distribution with standard deviation σ 
This parameter controls the unreliability of the agent's sensory system, i e , higher σ means that the information the agent gets about the value of the foods it consumes cannot be fully trusted to reflect the actual value of the foods  As σ increases, the learning rate η p decreases, which means that the more unreliable an environment becomes, the less an agent relies on plasticity to update its weights, Fig   
Indeed for some combinations of relatively small distance d e and high reward variance σ, the EA converges to a learning rate of η p ≈ 0  This means that the agent opts to have no adaptation during its lifetime and remain at the mean of the two environments  It is an optimal solution when the expected loss due to ignoring the environmental transitions is, on average, lower than the loss the plastic network will incur by learning via the (often misleading because of the high σ) environmental cues 
A final factor that affects the learning rate the EA will converge to is the frequency of environmental change during an agent's lifetime  Since the environmental change is modeled as a simple, two-state Markov process (Fig  ), the control parameter is the transition probability p tr   When keeping everything else the same, the learning rate rapidly rises as we increase the transition probability from 0, and after reaching a peak, it begins to decline slowly, eventually reaching zero (Fig  ) 
This means that when environmental transition is very rare, agents opt for a very low learning rate, allowing a slow and stable convergence to an environment-appropriate weight vector that leads to very low losses while the agent remains in that environment  As the rate of environmental transition increases, faster learning is required to speed up convergence in order to exploit the (comparatively shorter) stays in each environment 
Finally, as the environmental transition becomes too fast, the agents opt for slower or even no learning, which keeps them ) and the decision (b ) tasks, for a variety of parameters (p tr = 0 01, d e ∈ 0, 0 1,       , 1, and σ ∈ 0, 0 1,       , 1 in all 100 combinations)  Despite the relatively small difference between the tasks, the evolved learning rules differ considerably 
For visual guidance, the lines connect θs from the same run  near the middle of the two environments, ensuring that the average loss of the two environments is minimal (Fig  )  The form of the evolved learning rule depends on the task: Decision vs  Prediction The plasticity parameters θ = (θ 1 ,       , θ 8 ) for the rewardprediction task converge on approximately the same point, regardless of the environmental parameters (Fig  ) 
In particular, θ 3 → 1, θ 5 → −1, θ i → 0 for all other i, and thus the learning rule converges to: Since by definition y t = g(W t X T t ) = W t X T t (g(x) = x in this experiment) and R t = W c X T t + ξ we get: Thus the distribution of ∆W t converges to a distribution with mean 0 and variance depending on η p and σ and W converges to W c  
So this learning rule will match the agent's weight vector with the vector of ingredient values in the environment  We examine the robustness of the learning rule the EA discovers by considering a slight modification of our task  Instead of predicting the expected food value, the agent now needs to decide whether to eat the presented food or not 
This is done by introducing a step-function nonlinearity (g(x) = 1 if x ≥ 1 and 0 otherwise)  Then the output y(t) is computed as: Instead of the MSE loss between prediction and actual value, the fitness of the agent is now defined as the sum of the food values it chose to consume (by giving y t = 1)  Besides these two changes, the setup of the experiments remains exactly the same 
The qualitative relation between η p and parameters of environment d e , σ and p tr is preserved in the changed experiment  However, the resulting learning rule is significantly different (Fig  )  The evolution converges to the following learning rule: In both cases, the rule has the form ∆W t = η p X t [α y R t + β y ] 
Thus, the ∆W t is positive or negative depending on whether the reward R t is above or below a threshold (γ = −β y /α y ) that depends on the output decision of the network (y t = 0 or 1)  Both learning rules (for the reward-prediction and decision tasks) have a clear Hebbian form (coordination of preand post-synaptic activity) and use the incoming reward signal as a threshold 
These similarities indicate some common organizing principles of reward-modulated learning rules, but their significant differences highlight the sensitivity of the optimization process to task details  We now turn to the moving embodied agents in the 2D environment  To optimize these agents, both the motor network's connections and the sensory network's plasticity parameters evolve simultaneously 
Since the motor network is initially random and the agent has to move to find food, the number of interactions an agent experiences in its lifetime can be small, slowing down the learning  However, having the larger motor network also has benefits for evolution because it allows the output of the plastic network to be read out and transformed in different ways, resulting in a broad set of solutions 
The fitness of an agent (measured as the total food consumed over its lifetime) increases over generations of the EA for both the scalar and binary readouts in the sensory network  e  The Pearson correlation coefficient of an evolved agent's weights with the ingredient value vector of the current environment (E 1 -blue, E 2 -red) 
In this example, the agent's weights are anti-correlated with its environment, which is not an issue for performance since the motor network can interpret the inverted signs of food  The agents can solve the task effectively by evolving a functional motor network and a plasticity rule that converges to interpretable weights (Fig  ) 
After ∼ 100 evolutionary steps (Fig  ), the agents can learn the ingredient value distribution using the plastic network and reliably move towards foods with positive values while avoiding the ones with negative values  We compare the dependence of the moving and the static agents on the parameters of the environment: d e and the state transition probability p tr  
At first, in order to simplify the experiment, we set the transition probability to 0, but fixed the initial weights to be the average of E 1 and E 2 , while the real state is E 2   In this experiment, the distance between states d e indicates twice the distance between the agent's initial weights and the optimal weights (the environment's ingredient values) since the agent is initialized at the mean of the two environment distributions 
Same as for the static agent, the learning rate increases with the distance d e (Fig  )  Then, we examine the effect of the environmental transition probability p tr on the evolved learning rate η p   In order for an agent to get sufficient exposure to each environment, we scale down the probability p tr from the equivalent experiment for the static agents 
We find that as the probability of transition increases, the evolved learning rate η p decreases (Fig  )  This fits with the larger trend for the static agent, although there is a clear difference when it comes to the increase for very small transition probabil-ities that were clearly identifiable in the static but not the moving agents 
This could be due to much sparser data and possibly the insufficiently long lifetime of the moving agent (the necessity of scaling makes direct comparisons difficult)  Nevertheless, overall we see that the associations observed in the static agents between environmental distance d e and transition probability p tr and the evolved learning rate η p are largely maintained in the moving agents 
Still, more data would be needed to make any conclusive assertions about the exact effect of these environmental parameters on the emerging plasticity mechanisms  A crucial difference between the static and the moving agents is the function the plasticity has to perform  While in the static agents, the plasticity has to effectively identify the exact value distribution of the environment in order to produce accurate predictions, in the embodied agents, the plasticity has to merely produce a representation of the environment that the motor network can evolve to interpret adequately enough to make decisions about which food to consume 
To illustrate the difference, we plot the Pearson correlation coefficient between an agent's weights and the ingredient values of the environment it is moving in (Fig  )  We use the correlation instead of the MSE loss (which we used for the static agents in Fig  ) because the amplitude of the vector varies a lot for different agents and meaningful The evolved parameters of moving agents' plasticity rule for the g(s) = x, identity (a ) and the step function (Eq 
4) (b ) sensory networks (the environmental parameters here are d e ∈ [0, 1], σ = 0 and p tr = 0 001)  The step function (binary output) network evolved a more structured plasticity rule (e g , θ 3 > 0 for all realizations) than the linear network  Moreover, the learned weights for the identity network (c ) have higher variance and correlate significantly less with the environment's ingredient distribution compared to the learned weights for the thresholded network (d )
conclusions cannot be drawn from the MSE loss  For many agents, the learned weights are consistently anti-correlated with the actual ingredient values (an example of such an agent is shown in Fig  )  This means that the output of the sensory network will have the opposite sign from the actual food value 
While in the static network, this would lead to very bad predictions and high loss, in the foraging task, these agents perform exactly as well as the ones where the weights and ingredients values are positively correlated, since the motor network can simply learn to move towards food for which it gets a negative instead of a positive sensory input 
This additional step of the output of the plastic network going through the motor network before producing any behavior has a strong effect on the plasticity rules that the embodied agents evolve  Specifically, if we look at the emerging rules the top performing agents have evolved (Fig  ), it becomes clear that, unlike the very well-structured rules of the static agents (Fig  ), there is now virtually no discernible pattern or structure 
The difference becomes even clearer if we look at the learned weights (at the end of a simulation) of the best-performing agents (Fig  )  While there is some correlation with the environment's ingredient value distribution, the variance is very large, and they do not seem to converge on the "correct" values in any way 
This is to some extent expected since, unlike the static agents where the network's output has to be exactly correct, driving the evolution of rules that converge to the precise environmental distribution, in the embodied networks, the bulk of the processing is done by the motor network which can evolve to interpret the scalar value of the sensory network's output in a variety of ways 
Thus, as long as the sensory network's plasticity rule co-evolves with the motor network, any plasticity rule that learns to produce consistent information about the value of encountered food can potentially be selected  To further test this assumption, we introduce a bottleneck of information propagation between the sensory and motor networks by using a step-function nonlinearity on the output of the sensory network (Eq 
4)  Similarly to the decision task of the static network, the output of the sensory network now becomes binary  This effectively reduces the flow of information from the sensory to the motor network, forcing the sensory network to consistently decide whether food should be consumed (with the caveat that the motor network can still interpret the binary sign in either of two ways, either consuming food marked with 1 or the ones marked with 0 by the sensory network) 
The agents perform equally well in this variation of the task as before (Fig  ), but now, the evolved plasticity rules seem to be more structured (Fig  )  Moreover, the variance of the learned weights in the bestperforming agents is significantly reduced (Fig  ), which indicates that the bottleneck in the sensory network is in-creasing selection pressure for rules that learn the environment's food distribution accurately 
We find that different sources of variability have a strong impact on the extent to which evolving agents will develop neuronal plasticity mechanisms for adapting to their environment  A diverse environment, a reliable sensory system, and a rate of environmental change that is neither too large nor too small are necessary conditions for an agent to be able to effectively adapt via synaptic plasticity 
Additionally, we find that minor variations of the task an agent has to solve or the parametrization of the network can give rise to significantly different plasticity rules  Our results partially extend to embodied artificial agents performing a foraging task  We show that environmental variability also pushes the development of plasticity in such agents 
Still, in contrast to the static agents, we find that the interaction of a static motor network with a plastic sensory network gives rise to a much greater variety of wellfunctioning learning rules  We propose a potential cause of this degeneracy; as the relatively complex motor network is allowed to read out and process the outputs from the plastic network, any consistent information coming out of these outputs can be potentially interpreted in a behaviorally useful way 
Reducing the information the motor network can extract from the sensory system significantly limits learning rule variability  Our findings on the effect of environmental variability concur with the findings of previous studies that have identified the constraints that environmental variability places on the evolutionary viability of learning behaviors 
We extend these findings in a mechanistic model which uses a biologically plausible learning mechanism (synaptic plasticity)  We show how a simple evolutionary algorithm can optimize the different parameters of a simple reward-modulated plasticity rule for solving simple prediction and decision tasks 
Reward-modulated plasticity has been extensively studied as a plausible mechanism for credit assignment in the brain ; ; and has found several applications in artificial intelligence and robotics tasks ;   Here, we demonstrate how such rules can be very well-tuned to take into account different environmental parameters and produce optimal behavior in simple systems 
Additionally, we demonstrate how the co-evolution of plasticity and static functional connectivity in different subnetworks fundamentally changes the evolutionary pressures on the resulting plasticity rules, allowing for greater diversity in the form of the learning rule and the resulting learned connectivity 
Several studies have demonstrated how, in biological networks, synaptic plasticity heavily interacts with and is driven by network topology   Moreover, it has been recently demonstrated that biological plasticity mechanisms are highly redundant in the sense that any observed neural connectivity or recorded activity can be achieved with a variety of distinct, unrelated learning rules  
This observed redundancy of learning rules in biological settings complements our results and suggests that the function of plasticity rules cannot be studied independently of the connectivity and topology of the networks they are acting on  The optimization of functional plasticity in neural networks is a promising research direction both as a means to understand biological learning processes and as a tool for building more autonomous artificial systems 
Our results suggest that reward-modulated plasticity is highly adaptable to different environments and can be incorporated into larger systems that solve complex tasks  This work studies a simplified toy model of neural network learning in stochastic environments  Future work could be built on this basic framework to examine more complex reward distributions and sources of environmental variability 
Moreover, a greater degree of biological realism could be added by studying more plausible network architectures (multiple plastic layers, recurrent and feedback connections) and more sophisticated plasticity rule parametrizations  Additionally, our foraging simulations were constrained by limited computational resources and were far from exhaustive 
Further experiments can investigate environments with different constraints, food distributions, multiple seasons, more complex motor control systems and interactions of those systems with different sensory networks as well as the inclusion of plasticity on the motor parts of the artificial organisms 



ground_truth: Appointing a blue ribbon commission to conduct the research and develop the management plan and denying or defering approval on any applications for new docks in the Cove until the management plan can be developed and implemented.

prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Which orders did Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind receive Khilafat from?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 4: 2015-05-14 Assigned to ROVI GUIDES, INC  reassignment ROVI GUIDES, INC  MERGER (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)  Assignors: TV GUIDE, INC 
2015-05-14 Assigned to UV CORP  reassignment UV CORP  MERGER (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)  Assignors: UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES, INC 
2015-05-14 Assigned to TV GUIDE, INC  reassignment TV GUIDE, INC  MERGER (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)  Assignors: UV CORP 
Methods and systems are described herein for quickly and easily displaying supplemental information about an event occurring in a media asset  In some embodiments, a media application may use a content-recognition module to determine the context of an event and distribute itemized tasks to multiple entities in order to generate the supplemental information about the event 
While viewing media assets (e g , a television program), users may wish to learn more information about an event (e g , a statement made by a person appearing in the media asset, the validity of a claim in an advertisement, etc ) occurring in the media asset  While some media assets allow a user to select additional options or added features (e g , pop-up biographies about the cast and crew), when the added features appear and what topic the added features concern are determined by the content producer and not the user  Furthermore, as the added feature is derived from the content producer, the added feature may be biased or may present limited viewpoints about an event  Therefore, added features provided by a content producer may not provide the added information about an event that a user desires 
In order to gain the added information that a user desires, the user may use additional devices (e g , a laptop computer) to search (e g , using an Internet search engine) for more information about the event  However, without knowing the proper context (e g , who said the statement, what was the tone of the statement, when was the statement said, etc ) of the event or what search terms to use to describe the context of the event (e g , how to describe the tone of the statement), a user may not be able to determine (even using a search engine) more information about the event  Moreover, the use of general search terms may not provide the accuracy or precision needed by the user  Furthermore, even if a user may eventually determine the information, the effort and time required may distract the user from the media asset 
Accordingly, methods and systems are described herein for quickly and easily displaying supplemental information about an event occurring in a media asset  In some embodiments, a media application may use a content-recognition module to determine the context of an event in a media asset and distribute itemized tasks to multiple users in order to generate the supplemental information about the event  The context-recognition module prevents the user from being distracted from the media asset (e g , while the user attempts to describe the context of the event or search for information about the event)  In addition, by distributing tasks to multiple entities (e g , crowd-sourcing), the media application may collect large amounts of information in relatively short periods of time (or in real-time) and aggregate and/or filter the information to generate the supplemental information about the event based on multiple viewpoints and/or sources  By using multiple viewpoints and/or sources, the media application enhances the completeness (e g , by providing unbiased information) and accuracy of the supplemental information 
For example, when a statement or action is made by a character or person appearing on a media asset (e g , a television program), a user may request supplemental information about the statement or action  In response, the media application may determine the context of the statement (e g , who said the statement and to what the statement was referring) or action (e g , what was the reason for the action)  After determining the context of the statement or action, the media application may itemize into tasks the additional information it requires in order to generate the supplemental information  The media application may then transmit requests including the tasks to a plurality of other users  Based on the responses from the plurality of other users, the media application may generate the supplemental information for display to the user 
In some embodiments, a media application may use multiple types of content-recognition modules and/or algorithms to determine the context of an event  For example, the media application may process data associated with the event in order to determine the context of an event  In some embodiments, processing the various types of data may include cross-referencing the data in a database indicating the different contexts the event may have 
In some embodiments, a media application may generate supplemental information about an event in a media asset in response to a user request  In order to generate the supplemental information, the media application may transmit, to multiple users, a request for additional information regarding a context of an event shown in a media asset  Upon receiving messages from the plurality of users that include the requested additional information, the media application may generate the supplemental information associated with the context of the event based on the messages 
It should be noted, the systems and/or methods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods and/or apparatuses 
FIG  9 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for generating supplemental information based on additional information provided by a plurality of users in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure 
Accordingly, methods and systems are described herein for quickly and easily displaying supplemental information about an event occurring in a media asset  The methods and systems described herein alleviate the need for a user to determine the proper context (e g , who said a statement, what was the tone of the statement, when was the statement said, etc ) of an event in a media asset, or the search terms to use to describe the event (e g , the proper search terms to describe the tone of the statement), in order to determine more information about the event  In addition, the methods and systems increase the completeness and accuracy of the information compared to information gathered using traditional searching methods (e g , an Internet search engine), without distracting the user from the media asset 
In some embodiments, a media application may receive a user input from a user device for supplemental information about the context of an event shown in a media asset  The media application may determine additional information required to generate the supplemental information about the context of the event shown in a media asset, and transmit requests for the additional information to one or more users  The media application may receive one or more messages, which include the requested additional information, from the one or more users and generate the supplemental information based on the one or more message  The media application may then instruct the user device to display the supplemental information 
As used herein, “supplemental information” refers to any information related to or associated with an event in a media asset  For example, supplemental information may include, but is not limited to, the verification of a statement or claim in a media asset, further descriptions and/or information about objects or entities shown and/or described in a media asset, and/or any other information, including, but not limited to, a video or audio segment, that may interest a user about an event in a media asset  In some embodiments, the media application may generate supplemental information based on one or more pieces of additional information 
As used herein, “additional information” refers to any information used to generate supplemental information  For example, in an embodiment in which supplement information is the verification of a statement made by a person displayed in a media asset, and a request for the additional information from the media application includes a request for a fact needed to verify the factual basis of the statement, the additional information may be the fact used to verify the statement  For example, if an advertisement claims to have the best product on the market, the media application may use additional information such as the name of the product in question, a list of all other products in the market, and the results of a comparison study of the product in question to all other products to determine whether or not the product is actually the “best” product on the market  Additionally or alternatively, the media application may request industry and/or user reviews related to the event (e g , reviews indicating the quality of the product)  The media application may then use the information in the reviews to generate the supplemental information 
As used herein, an “event” is any action (e g , a verbal statement, opinion and/or physical movement), segment (e g , a portion of a news broadcast featuring a particular topic), or other occurrence during a media asset that may be of particular interest to a user  For example, in some embodiments an event may be a statement or gesture made by a character or person in a media asset affirming or denying a claim 
As referred to herein, the terms “media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean an electronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e g , streaming content, downloadable content, Webcasts, etc ), video clips, audio, content information, pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles, books, electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, social media, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/or combination of the same  Media applications also allow users to navigate among and locate content  As referred to herein, the term “multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at least two different content forms described above, for example, text, audio, images, video, or interactivity content forms  Content may be recorded, played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also be part of a live performance 
As referred to herein, the phrase “user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronic device,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “media device” should be understood to mean any device for accessing the content described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), a digital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, a DVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, a BLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationary telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a portable video player, a portable music player, a portable gaming machine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computing equipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same 
In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screen and a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angled screens  In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera  On these user equipment devices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same content available through a television  Consequently, media may be available on these devices, as well  The media provided may be for content available only through a television, for content available only through one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or for content available both through a television and one or more of the other types of user equipment devices  The media applications may be provided as on-line applications (i e , provided on a website), or as stand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices  Various devices and platforms that may implement media applications are described in more detail below 
In some embodiments, a media application may transmit, to a plurality of users, a request for additional information regarding a context of an event shown in a media asset  As used herein, a “plurality of users” may include, but is not limited to any device, entity, or source of information that may process a request for additional information  For example, the plurality of users may include a person operating a user equipment device  In some embodiments, the person may receive (e g , via e-mail, Internet posting, advertisement, or any other applicable information delivery method) the request from the media application for additional information, and in response generate a message (e g , via a return e-mail, an answer to the Internet posting, a user input in the advertisement, or any other applicable method of transmitting information) that includes the additional information  It should be noted that in some embodiments, transmitting a request to a plurality of users may also include querying one or more databases (e g , an Internet search engine or any other storage device, including, but not limited to, databases containing previously generated supplemental information and/or additional information) or consulting one or more data gathering services (e g , a intelligent personal assistant application) for the additional information 
In some embodiments, a media application may use a content-recognition module or algorithm to determine the context of an event and distribute itemized tasks to multiple users in order to generate the supplemental information about the event  The content-recognition module may use object recognition techniques such as edge detection, pattern recognition, including, but not limited to, self-learning systems (e g , neural networks), optical character recognition, on-line character recognition (including but not limited to, dynamic character recognition, real-time character recognition, intelligent character recognition), and/or any other suitable technique or method to determine the objects and/or characteristics in media assets  For example, the media application may receive media assets in the form of a video  The video may include a series of frames  For each frame of the video, the media application may use a content-recognition module or algorithm to determine the context (e g , the person that is speaking or a facial gesture affirming or denying a statement) of an event occurring during the frame or series of frames 
In some embodiments, the content-recognition module or algorithm may also include speech recognition techniques, including but not limited to Hidden Markov Models, dynamic time warping, and/or neural networks (as described above) to translate spoken words into text  The content-recognition module may also use other techniques for processing audio and/or visual data  For example, the media application may monitor the volume of a statement in a media asset to determine the tone of the statement (e g , a high volume may indicate an angry tone) 
In addition, the media application may use multiple types of optical character recognition and/or fuzzy logic, for example, when determining the context of a keyword(s) retrieved from data (e g , media data, translated audio data, subtitle data, user-generated data, etc ) associated with the media asset (or when cross-referencing various types of data with databases indicating the different contexts of events as described below)  For example, the particular data field may be a textual data field  Using fuzzy logic, the system may determine two fields and/or values to be identical even though the substance of the data field or value (e g , two different spellings) is not identical  In some embodiments, the system may analyze particular data fields of a data structure or media asset frame for particular values or text  The data fields could be associated with characteristics, additional information, and/or any other data required for the function of the embodiments described herein  Furthermore, the data fields could contain values (e g , the data fields could be expressed in binary or any other suitable code or programming language) 
As used herein, the “context” of an event refers to the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event that influence or affect the meaning of the event  For example, when determining the context of a written and/or spoken statement, the media application may determine who or what authored/stated the statement, the written and/or spoken words and/or other statements that preceded and/or followed the statement, the tone of the statement, and/or any other conditions that may alter the connotation of the statement 
FIG  1 shows an illustrative example of a media application that may be used to display supplemental information in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure  Display 100 illustrates a display on a user device displaying a media asset  Display 108 illustrates a display featuring supplemental information as described and/or generated in FIGS  6-9  It should be noted that display 100 and display 108 may be presented on any of the devices shown in FIGS  3-4  For example, in some embodiments, display 100 and display 108 may be displayed on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG  4) 
In FIG  1, display 100 represents a display of a media asset (e g , a streaming television program) on a user device (e g , user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG  4))  Display 100 includes entity 102 and entity 104  In display 100, entity 104 is currently speaking as indicated by event 106  As shown in FIG  1, event 106 is a statement (e g , “We export a lot of coal”) by a person in the media asset 
In some embodiments, display 108 represents the continued display of the media asset on a user device, after a user has requested supplemental information about event 106  For example, a media application may have received a user input (e g , via user input interface 310 (FIG  3)) while entity 104 was speaking  Using the systems and methods described herein (e g , FIGS  6-9), the media application generated supplemental information 110  Supplemental information 110 represents more information about event 106 
For example, the media application (e g , media application 206 (FIG  2)) may have determined the context of event 106  Specifically, the media application may determine via a content-recognition module or algorithm the words spoken and/or actions by the person during the event  Additionally or alternatively, the media application may analyze the words and/or action during a predetermined amount of time (e g , ten seconds) before and/or after the event (e g , in order to better understand the context of the event)  Furthermore, by cross-referencing the words and/or other information obtained by the content-recognition module (e g , as discussed below in relation to FIG  5) with a database, the content-recognition module determines that the term “we,” the person in the media asset refers to an organization or body



ground_truth: Mufti-e-Azam-e-Hind received Khilafat in the Qaderi, Chishti, Nakshbandi, Suharwardi, and Madaari Orders.

prompt_front: Now, answer the following question based on the text below, only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: How does the transition probability of the environment affect the learning rate in the static agent?

Read the following text and answer briefly.

Context 4:  The content-recognition module or algorithm may also determine that the term “export” refers to shipping goods out of a country  The content-recognition module or algorithm may also determine that the term “a lot” refers to a particular numerical amount  Finally, the content-recognition module or algorithm may also determine that the term “coal” refers to a mineral of fossilized carbon 
The content-recognition module or algorithm may also determine the relationships between words and/or other information obtained by the content-recognition module  For example, by processing the relationship between the words, the media application determines that event 106 is a statement regarding a particular amount of a particular substance shipped out of a particular country  Therefore, the media application determines that the request for supplemental information is likely a request to determine the validity of the statement  The media application then generates the supplemental information 
The media application may also have stored supplemental information generated by previous requests (e g , supplemental information generated in response to the same or different user viewing the media asset at an earlier date), and display the supplemental information again during the event (either in response to a user input requesting supplemental information or automatically without a user requesting supplemental information) 
FIG  2 shows an illustrative example of a system that may be used to generate supplemental information (e g , supplemental information 110 (FIG  1)) based on additional information provided by a plurality of users in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure  For example, in some embodiments, system 200 may be used to generate supplemental information (e g , supplemental information 110 (FIG  1)) on a display (e g , display 108 (FIG  1)) of a user device (e g , user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG  4))  It should be noted that in some embodiments, the devices shown in FIG  2 may correspond to one or more devices in FIGS  3-4 
FIG  2 shows system 200  In system 200, a user is currently accessing a media asset on display 202  In some embodiments, display 202 may correspond to display 100 (FIG  1))  During an event (e g , event 106 (FIG  1)) a user may have requested supplemental information about an event (e g , event 106 (FIG  1)) in display 202 using user device 204  Media application 206, which in some embodiments, may be implemented on user device 204 or at a remote location (e g , supplemental information source 418 (FIG  4)), receives the request for supplemental information 
Media application 206 determines the context of the event (e g , who said the statement making up the event and to what the statement was referring)  After determining the context of the statement, the media application may itemize into one or more tasks, additional information (e g , facts) it requires in order to generate the supplemental information (e g , a verification or correction of the factual basis of the statement)  For example, if the event is a statement about the amount of coal that is exported from the United States (e g , as described in relation to FIG  1 above), media application 206 may determine the fact required to generate the supplemental information is the exact numerical amount of coal that is exported from the United States  The media application may then transmit requests for the additional information (e g , a request for the exact numerical amount of coal that is exported from the United States) to a plurality of other users 
In FIG  2, users operating user device 208, user device 210, and user device 212 represent a plurality of users  Having determined the additional information it requires in order to generate the supplemental information, media application 206 requests the additional information from the plurality of users  In system 200, media application 206 has transmitted the same task (e g , the same question) to each of the plurality of users  In some embodiments, one or more of the users may receive different tasks  For example, by breaking the additional information into small, independent tasks, media application 206 may increase the speed (e g , multiple users may work concurrently to solve different parts of a problem) and accuracy (e g , reducing the tasks to smaller, less complex problems reduces the chance of human error) of the additional information returned by the plurality of users 
In addition, by breaking the additional information into small, independent tasks, the plurality of users may not know to what they are contributing (enhancing the privacy of the user that requested the supplemental information), however, the plurality of users can still be effective in their individual tasks  In addition, by breaking the additional information into small, independent tasks, the media application may more easily outsource the requests for additional information  For example, one or more of the tasks used to generate the additional information may be the same as one or more of the tasks used to generate other additional information (e g , additional information used to generate different supplemental information in response to a request for supplemental information about the same or a different event issued by the same or a different user)  The response to each of the request and/or the additional information may be stored (e g , on any of the devices accessible by communications network 414 (FIG  4)) for subsequent retrieval 
Based on the responses, transmitted as messages including the additional information, from the plurality of other users, media application 206 may generate the supplemental information (e g , supplemental information 110 (FIG  1)) for display to the user on the user device 204  For example, media application may aggregate, append, and/or compare the additional information in each of the messages received from the plurality of users  The supplemental information may then be generated based on the aggregated, appended, and/or compared additional information (e g , as described in FIG  9 below) 
In some embodiments, the plurality of users may receive summary information about the event with the request for additional information  (e g , a video clip of a portion or segment of the media asset, a textual description, etc ), which may help the plurality of users provide additional information  For example, in some embodiments, the media application may instead of (or in addition to) determining the context of an event, determine a particular portion of the event that would be needed for the plurality of users to provide additional information about the event 
For example, the media application may use progress information associated with the progress of the media asset (e g , line 506 (FIG  5)) to determine at what point during the progression of the media asset the event occurred, and in response, transmit a portion of the media asset beginning ten second before that point and ending ten seconds after that point  For example, if the event is a statement made by a character or person in a media asset, the media application may determine when the statement began (e g , the point of progress of the media asset in which the statement began) and ended  The media application may then include the portion containing the entire statement (and the event) in the request for additional information sent to the plurality of users 
The selected portion may include any amount of summary information that the media application determines is necessary for the user or any one of the plurality of users to understand the main action sequence  This summary information (e g , a portion of the media asset) may be included with the request for additional information (e g , in a file transmitted with the request), or may be included with the generated supplemental information as a reference for the user  For example, the media application may select a segment of the play length of the media asset or a particular scene of the media asset, which includes the event, for to display to the plurality of users along with the request for additional information 
For example, if an event (e g , a statement) was in response to a question, the media application may also determine when the question began and ended, and send the entire question (or the play length of the media asset corresponding to the question) to the plurality of users as well  After determining the portion to provide to the plurality of users (e g , a segment including the ten seconds before and the ten seconds after the event), the media application may provide the summary information of the event and any other material needed by the plurality of users to understand the event and/or request for supplemental information from the user 
In some embodiments, a portion of the media asset containing the event, as selected by the media application, may also include any amount of the play length of the media asset, or any amount of scenes or segments from the media asset  In some embodiments, the portion may include segments of the play length of the media asset or scenes from the media asset that are not adjacent during the normal playback of the media asset  For example, in some embodiments, a portion of the media asset may include one or more sequences or scenes of interest to the plurality of users, even though the particular sequences or scenes are featured at different points in the play length of the media asset  The media application may determine the segments or scenes to include based on a content recognition file (e g , data structure 500 (FIG  5)) describing the media asset  For example, if a plot point or other information, which may be relevant to an event is displayed earlier in the media asset, the summary information may include a portion of the media asset displaying the plot point 
In some embodiments, the length of a portion may be determined based on the genre of the media asset  In some embodiments, the length of the portion may depend on a user profile for the user or for anyone of the plurality of users  For example, a user profile and/or a content recognition file (e g , data structure 500 (FIG  5)) may indicate that a particular user may require more or less additional content  For example, the user may be aware of particular characters or plot points in the media asset and, therefore, may not require the additional content to introduce those aspects 
In some embodiments, the plurality of users may receive a particular user interface, which organizes the data about the event (e g , a clip of the actual event, summary information about the event, information about the request for supplemental information issued by the user, etc )  The interface may also include an automatic submission form, which may be used to generate a message, which is sent to the media application 
In some embodiments, the media application may also receive user input from the user requesting the supplemental information that further affects the generation of supplemental information by the media application  For example, the user may request the supplemental information includes particular information (e g , the factual basis of a statement), may request a multimedia format of the supplemental information (e g , textual description, a video clip, etc ), may request a form of the supplemental information (e g , a short description about the event, an Internet link to other sources of information on the event, or a true or false designation about the event) by entering user inputs (e g , via user input interface 310 (FIG  3)) 
It should be noted that any information or process referred to in this disclosure that is referred to as being in response to a user input may alternatively and/or additionally be performed automatically by the media application (e g , via control circuitry 304 (FIG  3))  For example, in some embodiments, a user may request a true or false designation (e g , an on-screen pop-up box indicating whether an event was true or false)  Additionally and/or alternatively, in some embodiments, the true or false designation may appear automatically based on predetermined settings indicating to the media application to display a true or false designation in response to detecting an event 
In some embodiments, an indicator that supplemental information has previously been generated or is currently ready to generate (e g , a plurality of users are available) may be displayed to a user (e g , on display 100 (FIG  1) during the event)  The indicator may also indicate the particular information, the multimedia format, and/or the form of supplemental information that is available  An indicator may also appear with the supplemental information (e g , supplemental information 110 (FIG  1)), which allows the user to request additional supplemental information or provide feedback/responses (e g , rating the quality of the supplemental information) to the media application and/or plurality of users 
In some embodiments, a user may also access (e g , via selection of an indicator and/or automatically upon the supplemental information being generated) summary information about the event  For example, in some embodiments (e g , when the supplemental information is not generated in real-time), the media asset may have progressed to a different point by the time the supplemental information is ready for display  Therefore, the media application may need to provide a video clip of the event or other summary information, so that the user remembers about what or why the supplemental information was requested 
FIG  3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure  It should be noted that the components shown in FIG  3 may be used to store, receive, transmit, and/or display the media assets, additional information, and/or supplemental information as described herein  For example, media application 206 (FIG  2) may be implemented on user equipment device 300, and may issue instructions (e g , displaying supplemental information 110 (FIG  1)) via control circuitry 304 
Users may access media assets and the media application (and its display screens described above and below) from one or more of their user equipment devices  FIG  3 shows a generalized embodiment of illustrative user equipment device 300  More specific implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG  4  User equipment device 300 may receive content and data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 302  I/O path 302 may provide content (e g , broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, content available over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includes processing circuitry 306 and storage 308  Control circuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 302  I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (and specifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more communications paths (described below)  I/O functions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG  3 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing 
Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry such as processing circuitry 306  As referred to herein, processing circuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc , and may include a multi-core processor (e g , dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or any suitable number of cores) or supercomputer  



ground_truth: As the transition probability increases, the learning rate initially rises and then declines.