title: University of Central Florida

text: Several UCF alumni work as professional journalists, for both local and national outlets. Christal Hayes covers the US Congress for USA Today. Derek Lowe covers South Florida for WPTV NewsChannel5. Ryan Bass is the main anchor at WTSP in Tampa. The three journalists worked at the student media outlet KnightNews.com while they were UCF students.


title: University of Central Florida

text: The faculty at UCF includes many notable and prestigious members, including two former United States ambassadors, a former member United States congressman, and a former vice president of Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, to name a few. Other faculty include winners of the Pulitzer Prize and Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, the developer of the Flesch–Kincaid readability tests, and the authors of the "Mathematical Circles" and "Political Analysis" series. As a result of the work of professors and the Florida Space Institute, UCF will become the first Florida university to lead a NASA mission.


title: Demián Bichir

text: Demián Bichir Nájera (; born 1 August 1963) is a Mexican actor. After starring in telenovelas, he began to appear in Hollywood films. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "A Better Life".


title: Demián Bichir

text: Bichir was born in Torreón. His parents are Alejandro Bichir and Maricruz Nájera. His paternal family are Lebanese actors. His brothers are Odiseo and Bruno. He worked at the National Theater Company, performed Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky, and won several awards at the Mexican Association of Theater Critics. He attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and worked at Rosa Mexicano Restaurant. Bichir is an American Civil Liberties Union Ambassador of Immigration Rights. His second wife, Stefanie Sherk, committed suicide by drowning in a swimming pool on 12 April 2019. The couple met in 2010. He was married to Lisset for two years. He has a daughter.


title: Demián Bichir

text: Bichir played Fidel Castro in "Che" and an emigrant in "A Better Life". He starred in the crime series "The Bridge" and the western film "The Hateful Eight". His directorial debut film "Un Cuento de Circo & A Love Song" premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival. Other films including "", "The Nun" and "Chaos Walking". He starred in the remake series "Grand Hotel". Bichir joined the cast for Angelina Jolie’s film adaptation for Alessandro Baricco's novel, "Without Blood".


title: Smoke on the Water

text: "Smoke on the Water" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, first released from the band's sixth studio album "Machine Head" (1972), which chronicles the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: In a 2004 publication by "Rolling Stone" magazine "Smoke on the Water" was ranked number 434 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", "Total Guitar" magazine's ranked "Smoke on the Water" number 4 on its "Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever", and in March 2005, "Q" magazine placed "Smoke on the Water" at number 12 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar tracks.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: "Smoke on the Water" is easily identified by its central theme, developed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. It is a four-note blues scale melody in G minor, harmonised in parallel fourths. The riff, played on a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar by Blackmore, is later joined by hi-hat and distorted organ, then the rest of the drums, then electric bass parts before the start of Ian Gillan's vocal.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: Blackmore later claimed that the main riff is an interpretation of inversion of Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and that "I owe him a lot of money".


title: Smoke on the Water

text: Jon Lord doubles the guitar part on a Hammond C3 organ played through a distorted Marshall amp, creating a tone very similar to that of the guitar. Blackmore usually plays the main riff using a finger pluck.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: The lyrics tell a true story: on 4 December 1971, Deep Purple were in Montreux, Switzerland, to record an album ("Machine Head") using a mobile recording studio (rented from the Rolling Stones and known as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio—referred to as the "Rolling truck Stones thing" and "a mobile" in the lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as "the gambling house" in the song lyric).


title: Smoke on the Water

text: On the eve of the recording session, a concert with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention was held in the casino's theatre. This was the theatre's final concert before the casino complex closed down for its annual winter renovations, which would allow Deep Purple to record there. At the beginning of Don Preston's synthesiser solo on "King Kong", the place suddenly caught fire when somebody in the audience fired a flare gun towards the rattan-covered ceiling, as mentioned in the "some stupid with a flare gun" line. Although there were no major injuries, the resulting fire destroyed the entire casino complex, along with all the Mothers' equipment. The "smoke on the water" that became the title of the song (credited to bassist Roger Glover, who related how the title occurred to him when he woke from a dream a few days later) referred to the smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva from the burning casino as the members of Deep Purple watched from their hotel. Glover said that, "It was probably the biggest fire I'd ever seen up to that point and probably ever seen in my life. It was a huge building. I remember there was very little panic getting out, because it didn't seem like much of a fire at first. But, when it caught, it went up like a fireworks display." The "Funky Claude" running in and out is referring to Claude Nobs, the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival who helped some of the audience escape the fire. Swiss police named Zdeněk Špička, a Czechoslovak refugee living in Épalinges, as a suspect in the case, but he fled Switzerland shortly after.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: Left with an expensive mobile recording unit and no place to record, the band was forced to scout the town for another place to set up. One promising venue (found by Nobs) was a local theatre, the Pavilion, but soon after the band loaded in and started working/recording, neighbours took offence at the noise. The band was only able to lay down backing tracks for one song (based on Blackmore's riff and temporarily named "Title No.1"), before local police shut them down.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: After about a week of searching, the band rented the nearly-empty Grand Hôtel de Territet and converted its hallways and stairwells into a makeshift studio, where they laid down most of the tracks for what would become their most commercially successful album, "Machine Head" (which is dedicated to Claude Nobs).


title: Smoke on the Water

text: The only song from "Machine Head" not recorded entirely in the Grand Hotel was "Smoke on the Water" itself, which had been partly recorded during the abortive Pavilion session. Its lyrics were composed later, primarily by Gillan and based around Glover's title, and the vocals were recorded in the Grand Hotel.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: Because of the incident and the exposure Montreux received when "Smoke on the Water" became an international hit, Deep Purple formed a lasting bond with the town. The song was honoured in Montreux by a sculpture along the lake shore (right next to the statue of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury on the concrete wall right below the ) with the band's name, the song title, and the riff in musical notes. However, this monument has been removed and has not been there since at least 2017. The new casino in Montreux displays notes from the riff as decoration on its balustrade facing the gambling hall. The only other memorial in Montreux dedicated to the band's song is a small plaque placed outside the back entrance of the former Grand Hôtel de Territet, the building in whose hallways the album "Machine Head" was partially recorded.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: On the "Classic Albums" episode about "Machine Head", Blackmore claimed that friends of the band were not fans of the "Smoke on the Water" riff, which they thought too simplistic. Blackmore retorted by making comparisons to the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, which revolves around a similar four-note arrangement.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: "The amazing thing with that song, and Ritchie's riff in particular," observed Ian Paice, "is that somebody hadn't done it before, because it's so gloriously simple and wonderfully satisfying."


title: Smoke on the Water

text: "Smoke on the Water" was included on "Machine Head", which was released in early 1972, but was not released as a single until a year later, in May 1973. ("Never Before" and "Highway Star" were the first singles issued from the album.) The band members have said that they did not expect the song to be a hit, but the single reached number 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States during the summer of 1973, reached number 2 on the Canadian RPM charts, and propelled the album to the top 10 more than a year after its release. Live performances of the tune, featuring extended interplay between Blackmore's guitar and Jon Lord's Hammond organ, would become a centrepiece of Deep Purple's concerts, as in the live version found on the album "Made in Japan". Warner Brothers included the live version of "Smoke on the Water" from "Made in Japan" as the B-side of the "Smoke on the Water" studio single.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: The principal songwriters included the song within their subsequent solo ventures after Deep Purple had split up. Ian Gillan in particular performed a jazz-influenced version in early solo concerts. The band Gillan adopted a feedback-soaked approach, courtesy of Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme. The song was also featured live by Ritchie Blackmore's post-Deep Purple band Rainbow during their tours 1981–83, and again after Rainbow were resurrected briefly in the mid-1990s and for three European concerts in June 2016.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: During Ian Gillan's stint with Black Sabbath in 1983, they performed "Smoke on the Water" as a regular repertoire number on encores during their only tour together. It remains one of the few cover songs that Black Sabbath have ever played live.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: Rock Aid Armenia, a charity project to help victims of 1988 Armenian earthquake made a charity re-recording of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", with different vocalists singing various verses. The single made it to the UK Top 40 Singles Chart.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: The rock musicians involved in the recording included Bryan Adams, Ritchie Blackmore, Bruce Dickinson, Geoff Downes, Keith Emerson, Ian Gillan, David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Paul Rodgers, Chris Squire and Roger Taylor. The track's producers were Gary Langan and Geoff Downes.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: In 1994, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1,322 guitarists gathered to play the world-famous riff all at the same time for a place in the "Guinness Book of World Records". On Sunday 3 June 2007, in Kansas City this record was topped with 1,721 guitarists, and again just 20 days later, in the German city of Leinfelden-Echterdingen by the group 'Party Blues in Bb' with over 1,800 other people involved.


title: Smoke on the Water

text: The record was again topped on 1 May 2009, in Wrocław, Poland, when 6,346 guitar players, joined by current Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, performed the song during the Thanks Jimi Festival.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 is a German 88mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun, developed in the 1930s. It was widely used by Germany throughout World War II and is one of the most recognized German weapons of the conflict. Development of the original model led to a wide variety of guns.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The name applies to a series of related guns, the first one officially called the 8.8 cm Flak 18, the improved 8.8 cm Flak 36, and later the 8.8cm Flak 37. Flak is a contraction of German "Flugabwehrkanone" (also referred to as "Fliegerabwehrkanone") meaning "aircraft-defense cannon", the original purpose of the weapon. In English, "flak" became a generic term for ground anti-aircraft fire. In informal use, the guns were universally known as the "Acht-acht" ("eight-eight") by Germans and the "eighty-eight" by the Allies.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Air defense units were usually deployed with either a Kommandogerät ("command device") fire control computer or a portable Würzburg radar, which were responsible for its high level of accuracy against aircraft.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The versatile carriage allowed the 8.8 cm Flak to be fired in a limited anti-tank mode when still on its wheels; it could be completely emplaced in only two and a half minutes. Its successful use as an improvised anti-tank gun led to the development of a tank gun based upon it: the 8.8 cm KwK 36, with the "KwK" abbreviation standing for "Kampfwagen-Kanone" (literally "battle vehicle cannon", or "fighting vehicle cannon"), meant to be placed in a gun turret as the tank's primary armament. This gun served as the main armament of the Tiger I heavy tank.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In addition to these Krupp designs, Rheinmetall later created a more powerful anti-aircraft gun, the 8.8 cm Flak 41, which was produced in relatively small numbers. Krupp responded with another prototype of the long-barreled 8.8 cm gun, which was further developed into the anti-tank and tank destroyer 8.8 cm PaK 43 gun used for the Elefant and Jagdpanther, and turret-mounted 8.8 cm KwK 43 heavy tank gun of the Tiger II.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Initially, anti-aircraft artillery guns of World War I were adaptations of existing medium-caliber weapons, mounted to allow fire at higher angles. By 1915, the German command realized that these were useless for anything beyond deterrence, even against the vulnerable balloons and slow-moving aircraft of the period. With the increase of aircraft performance, many armies developed dedicated AA guns with a high muzzle velocity – allowing the projectiles to reach greater altitudes. It was this muzzle velocity, combined with a projectile of high weight, that made the 8.8 cm Flak one of the great World War II anti-tank guns. The first such German gun was introduced in 1917, using the 8.8 cm caliber common in the "Kaiserliche Marine" (navy).


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: After losing the war, Germany had been forbidden under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles from procuring new weapons of most types. Nevertheless, the Krupp company started the development of a new gun together with Bofors of Sweden. Krupp had the majority ownership in Bofors since 1921. The original design was a 75 mm model. During the prototype phase, the army asked for a gun with considerably greater capability. The designers started again, using 88 mm caliber.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Prototype 88s were first produced in 1928. This early model, the Flak 18, used a single-piece barrel with a length of 56 calibers, leading to the commonly seen designation L/56.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The Flak 18 was mounted on a cruciform gun carriage. A simple-to-operate "semi-automatic" loading system ejected fired shells, allowing it to be reloaded by simply inserting a new shell into a tray. The gun would then fire and recoil; during the return stroke, the empty case would be thrown backward by levers, after which a cam would engage and recock the gun. This resulted in firing rates of 15 to 20 rounds a minute, which was better than similar weapons of the era. High explosive ammunition was used against aircraft and personnel, and armour-piercing and high-explosive anti-tank against tanks and other armored vehicles.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Widespread production started with the Nazi rise to power in 1933, and the Flak 18 was available in small numbers when Germany intervened in the Spanish Civil War. It quickly proved to be the best anti-aircraft weapon then available. The flak detachment with 88s proved accurate and versatile in combat against mainly land targets, the high muzzle velocity and large caliber making it an excellent long-range anti-vehicle and anti-bunker weapon. This experience also demonstrated a number of minor problems and potential improvement opportunities.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The Flak 18's carriage allowed it to fire in an emergency when still on its wheels and without its outriggers, but with a very limited traverse and elevation. For normal emplacement, one single-axle bogie was detached from the front outrigger and one from the rear, side outriggers were then hinged from the vertical position to the ground; the total time to set up was estimated at two and a half minutes. Both modes of operation made the gun much more suitable for fast-moving operations, the basic concept of the "blitzkrieg". The weight of the gun meant that only large vehicles could move it, the Sd.Kfz. 7 half-track becoming a common prime mover.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Targeting indicators were attached to the central controller to each of the four guns of a battery, allowing for coordinated fire. Indeed, with the automatic loading system, the gun layers' job was to keep the gun barrel trained on the target area based on the signals from the controller. The loaders would keep the weapon fed with live ammunition which would fire immediately upon insertion—all while the gun layer aimed the weapon according to the data.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Many of these improvements were incorporated into the Flak 36, which had a two-piece barrel for easier replacement of worn liners. Flak 36s were often fitted with an armoured shield that provided limited protection for the gunners. These shields could be retro-fitted on older Flak 18s as well.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The later model was the Flak 37, which included updated instrumentation to allow the gun layers to follow directions from the single director more easily. In some sources it is mistakenly stated that the Flak 37 was not equipped for anti-armor operation. In fact all 8.8 cm Flak guns were capable of operation in the dual role.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The parts of the various versions of the guns were interchangeable, and it was not uncommon for various parts to be "mixed and matched" on a particular example.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Both Flak 18 and Flak 36 had the same permanently attached fuze setter with two "Zünderstellbecher". The Flak 37/41 had the simplified fuze setter of the 8.8-cm Flak 41.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: As early as 1939 the "Luftwaffe" asked for newer weapons with an even better performance, to address the problems of defending against attack by high-flying aircraft. Rheinmetall responded with a new 88 mm design with a longer cartridge and a longer barrel.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: A prototype was ready in early 1941 leading to the designation 8.8 cm Flak 41. The new gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,000 m/s (3,280 ft/s), giving it an effective ceiling of and a maximum of , which General der Flakartillerie Otto Wilhelm von Renz said to be "almost equal to the 128-mm." It featured a lower silhouette on its turntable mounting than did the 8.8-cm Flak 18/36/37 on its pedestal mounting. The barrel was at first a three-section one with a length of 74 calibers, and then redesigned to dual-section with a length of 72 calibers. Improvements in reloading raised the firing rate, with 20 to 25 rounds a minute being quoted.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Because of problems in service, the guns were almost exclusively used in Germany where they could be properly maintained and serviced. The Flak 41 had the disadvantage of complexity, and was prone to problems with ammunition, empty cases often jamming on extraction. Because of the high cost and complexity of this weapon, the Germans manufactured relatively few of them, 556 in all. The first deliveries were made in March 1943 and, as of August 1944, only 157 were fielded; with 318 in January 1945.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Given very low production numbers and ongoing problems with the Flak 41, attempts were made to install the Flak 41 barrel onto other guns' chassis. During 1942 tests were made using the Flak 41 barrel and Flak 37 chassis but these identified that the chassis could not take the strain even when strengthened. Work then continued using a Flak 37 barrel re-chambered for the Flak 41 round and with a muzzle brake. After other parts were strengthened this functioned as desired. The resulting piece was 74 calibers long (78 with the muzzle brake). Problems with the multi-part barrel construction of the Flak 37 were encountered and a new barrel based on the monoblock construction of the Flak 18 was designed. Production was cancelled after approximately only 13 units were built as the resources required to build these were similar to those needed to produce a true Flak 41 and those were simply no longer available at the time.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: A further attempt was made to use a Flak 41 barrel on an existing mount from the 10.5 cm FlaK 39. The resulting unit outperformed the 105 mm original and was called the 8.8 cm Flak 39/41. However, production did not take place as no Flak 41 barrels were available.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Compared to other artillery types, German industry built for example, 570 heavy (caliber 88–128 mm) flak guns, 1,020 field artillery pieces (caliber 75–210 mm), and 1,300 tank guns, anti-tank guns, plus self-propelled guns in December 1943.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The 88 mm was used in two main roles: as a mobile heavy anti-aircraft and as an anti-tank gun. Other uses included firing in support of the troops at the front and as a more static anti-aircraft gun for home defence.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: After 1935, the anti-aircraft defense of Germany was controlled by the "Luftwaffe". By the beginning of World War II the "Luftwaffe"s anti-aircraft artillery employed 6,700 light (2 cm and 3.7 cm) and 2,628 heavy flak guns. Of the latter, a small number were 10.5 cm Flak 38s or 39s, the majority were 8.8 cm Flak 18s, 36s or 37s. This was twice as many heavy AA guns as RAF Fighter Command had at the time, with France and the United States having even fewer.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Throughout the entire war, the majority of 88 mm guns were used in their original anti-aircraft role.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The guns were usually equipped with a "Kommandogerät" system, which was an analog gunnery computer. The "Kommandogerät" systems were introduced starting in 1925, and the "Kommandogerät" p40 was the standard system during the majority of the war. It allowed extremely precise fire, and would even take into account how far away the guns were from one another and the aiming crew, cancelling out the offset and aiming all weapons at the same point. This allowed multiple guns to be aimed precisely at the same target by a single command crew of five men, instead of requiring trained crews on each gun.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Radar aiming systems were also developed to complement these systems. The Würzburg radar series of radars was produced in the thousands and used widely. It allowed general area fire without line of sight, but had poor accuracy compared to the visual systems. This resulted in the Giant Würzburg, which had sufficient accuracy to precisely control guns without direct visual contact.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The financial costs associated with anti-aircraft cannon were substantial, especially when compared with fighter aircraft. For example, in January 1943 – at a time when Germany was desperately fighting to regain the strategic initiative in the East and was also facing a heavy bombing campaign in the West – expenditures on anti-aircraft defenses were , whereas all the remaining weapons and munitions production amounted to (including of the navy budget and only nine million of the aircraft-related budget).


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: By August 1944, there were 10,704 Flak 18, 36 and 37 guns in service, now complemented also by the 10.5 cm Flak 38 and 39, and the formidable 12.8 cm Flak 40, owing to the increase in US and British bombing raids during 1943 and 1944. There were complaints that, due to the apparent ineffectiveness of anti-aircraft defenses as a whole, the guns should be transferred from air defense units to anti-tank duties, but this politically unpopular move was never made.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The 8.8 cm Flak performed well in its original role of an anti-aircraft gun and it proved to be a superb anti-tank gun as well. An American tanker who survived losing three tanks wrote to Chrysler after V-E Day that "an 88 sure makes quick work of them. They go through them just like they were a piece of paper". Its success was due to its versatility: the standard anti-aircraft platform allowed gunners to depress the muzzle below the horizontal, unlike most of its contemporaries. As WW2 progressed, it was becoming increasingly clear that existing anti-tank weapons were unable to pierce the armor of heavier enemy tanks and ground commanders began increasingly to use the 8.8 cm Flak against tanks.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Similarly to the anti-aircraft role, as an anti-tank weapon the 8.8 cm Flak was tactically arranged into batteries, usually four guns to each. The higher-level tactical unit was usually a mixed anti-aircraft battalion ("gemischte Flak-Abteilung"). It totaled 12 such guns on average, supplemented by light guns.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The German Condor Legion made extensive use of the 8.8 cm Flak 18 in the Spanish Civil War, where its usefulness as an anti-tank weapon and general artillery piece exceeded its role as an anti-aircraft gun. For the Battle of France in 1940, the army was supported by eighty-eights deployed in twenty-four mixed flak battalions. The 8.8 cm Flak was used against heavily armored tanks such as the Char B1 "bis" and Matilda II, whose frontal armour could not be penetrated by the standard light 3.7 cm anti-tank gun. The 8.8 cm Flak was powerful enough to penetrate over 84 mm of armor at a range of 2 km, making it an unparalleled anti-tank weapon during the early days of the war and still formidable against all but the heaviest tanks at the end. Erwin Rommel's use of the gun to blunt the British counterattack at Arras ended any hope of a breakout from the encirclement of May 1940. In the entire Battle of France, the weapon destroyed 152 tanks and 151 bunkers. The Battle of France also saw the introduction of vehicle-mounted 8.8 cm Flak 18s, the so-called "Bunkerknacker" on the Sd.Kfz. 8 heavy tractor.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: During the North African campaign, Rommel made the most effective use of the weapon, as he lured tanks of the British Eighth Army into traps by baiting them with apparently retreating German panzers. A mere two flak battalions destroyed 264 British tanks in 1941. Repeated high tank loss from well-placed 8.8 cm Flak guns in the battles of Halfaya Pass earned it the nickname "Hellfire Pass". Later in that theater, in the Battle of Faid in Tunisia, Rommel camouflaged many 8.8 cm Flaks (with additional 7.5 cm Pak 40s and 5 cm Pak 38s) in cactus-filled areas. Inexperienced U.S. tankers and commanders rushed into a valley at Faid only to be obliterated. When the U.S. Army's M4 Sherman tanks pursued, concealed German guns picked them off at ranges far beyond those of their 75 mm guns.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: For Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany deployed the 8.8 cm Flak in 51 mixed AA battalions. They were mostly "Luftwaffe"-subordinated units attached to the "Heer" at corps or army level, with approximately one battalion per corps. The weapon saw continuous use on the eastern front. The appearance of the outstanding T-34 and the later KV tanks shocked the German panzer crews and anti-tank teams, who could only penetrate the Soviet tanks' armor at extremely close range on the order of 200 yards when using the standard 37 mm and 50 mm guns, while the Russian 76 mm gun was effective out to 1000 yards.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The 8.8 cm Flak in the anti-tank role was arguably most effective in the flat and open terrain of Libya, Egypt and the eastern front. The less open terrain in Italy and Northern France was less suitable for long-range AT guns. The success of the German anti-tank weapons caused the Allies to take steps to defend against it in new tank designs. On July 18 and 19 1944 a Luftwaffe 8.8 cm anti-aircraft battery was re-purposed by then Major Hans von Luck to attack British tanks near Cagny taking part in Operation Goodwood. Twenty tanks were destroyed by these guns within the first few seconds and at least 40 tanks were knocked out by 8.8 cm Flaks during the engagement. Just as important, the success of the 8.8 cm Flaks spawned the development of dedicated 8.8 cm caliber PAKs (see below) which were even more adept at anti-tank mission due to their lower silhouette design. By February 1945, there were 327 heavy anti-aircraft batteries facing the Red Army, which was 21 percent of those used for anti-aircraft defense.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: On 14 September 1942, Flak-Abt. I./43 (Major Wegener) employed these guns against a commando landing raid called Operation Agreement by the British Royal Navy near Tobruk. Between them, Italian 155 mm (6-inch) shore batteries and aerial attack, the destroyer was so severely damaged that she sank while being towed by .


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In June 1939 Italy had credits of about Lit.300 million with Germany for the sale of processed materials, therefore the "Ministro della Guerra" (Ministry of War) proposed that these credits be paid with the sale of 50 batteries of 8.8 Flak (88/55 in the Italian nomenclature), equal to 300 guns with relative ammunition. While the proposal was accepted in principle, the German authorities stated that they did not have that quantity of pieces available, so they paid off the debt in part with 8.8 cm Flak and partly with the 7.5 cm "kanon" (75/50 in the Italian name). In the proposal presented by the German authorities, the Italian supply of mechanical parts for anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns was also envisaged, so the production of components for artillery was started in the workshops Ansaldo in (Genoa and Pozzuoli) and OTO. The batteries were supplied complete with a Zeiss firing station Mod. 36 and related auxiliary equipment.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The batteries began arriving in Italy a few days after Italy entered the war, and were initially assigned in part to the "Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale" (Voluntary Militia for National Security, MACA), for the protection of the Italian main cities and partly sent in Libya, for the protection of ports. Some groups were subsequently assigned to mobile motorcycle sections. However it was immediately evident that the "Regio Esercito" (Italian Royal Army) did not have at its disposal a tractor with characteristics suitable for towing this piece, given that the task was entrusted to Lancia 3Ro, without all-wheel drive. At the end of 1940, 44 pieces and relative firing stations were available. Starting from October 1942, several batteries, while remaining in German possession, were used by Italian personnel (officers and troops) for the protection of military infrastructures and cities, this practice was further intensified in 1943, reaching more than 100 batteries. In addition to the cannons that arrived for the canals established in 1940, in 1943, 24 pieces and their tractors were transferred to Italy intended for equipping the "1ª Divisione corazzata "M"" (1st Armored Division "M"). The 88/55 in the "Regio Esercito" was used in its natural role, that is, as an anti-aircraft weapon, its use as an anti-tank cannon was limited to the theaters of Northern Africa (Libya and Tunisia) and only for a few "gruppi autocampali" (self-transported field artillery groups).


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In 1937, the Chinese Nationalist Government imported 20 Flak 18 guns and used them to defend the fortifications along the Yangtze River. The Flak 18s were extensively deployed during the all-aerial combat of the Battle of Chongqing and Chengdu.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In 1943–1944 Finland bought 90 8.8 cm FlaK 37 cannons from Germany and they were used for air defence of largest cities in Finland. These cannons played an important role against Soviet air raids in Helsinki in February 1944. After the war these cannons remained in Finnish use as AA-guns until 1977 and after that as coastal guns until the early 2000s. The gun had nickname "Rämäpää" ("Reckless") after the manufacturer's initials RMB. Several of the Finnish guns survive in museums and as memorials.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Four batteries (16 guns) of 88 mm guns (Flak 18) initially reached Spain as AA with the Condor Legion in 1936, but it was soon used as anti-tank, anti-bunker and even for counterbattery fire. More guns were sent later, and some 88 mm guns were also supplied to Spanish army units. At the end of the war the Spanish Army was using all of the Flak 18 guns sent, some 52 units.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Initially, the Flak 18 batteries were deployed to protect the airfields and logistics bases of the German Condor legion. The scarcity of artillery among the Nationalist forces and the general low proficiency of the Spanish gun crews forced the usage of the Flak 18 gun in a variety of roles, including as an artillery piece and as an anti-tank gun. Given appropriate ammunition it proved quite capable in both roles. The war in Spain, with its wildly fluctuating front lines and the presence of Russian tanks, forced the Germans to employ the Flak 18 guns in a direct fire mode against ground targets. By the end of the war the 88 mm guns had performed far more missions as an anti-tank and direct-fire Field Artillery gun than as an anti-aircraft gun. During the war German 88 mm guns were involved in 377 combat engagements, only 31 were against enemy aircraft. The use of the 88 mm in direct support of the infantry brought the gun crews in close proximity to the enemy and made the crews susceptible to infantry fire. Casualties among the legion's 88 mm gun batteries in the Spanish Civil War were second only to those among the bomber pilots.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In early 1937 in the fighting around Malaga, a battery of 88 mm guns was assigned to support an infantry brigade. Bad weather grounded the main bomber force, but the assault succeeded, mainly because of the concentrated and accurate fire of the supporting 88 mm guns. Flak 18 batteries were used by the nationalist army at the Battle of Ebro, both for direct fire against pillboxes and also for indirect fire in the advance towards Barcelona.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Following the Spanish Civil War, more Flak 36 models arrived in 1943 (88 guns 88/56 mm Flak-36) and since 1943 they were manufactured under license in Trubia under the denomination FT 44 (about 200 guns).


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The Flak 36 guns were briefly issued in late 1944 to the American Seventh Army as captured weapons. The 79th Field Artillery Battalion (Provisional) was formed from personnel of the 79th and 179th Field Artillery Groups to fire captured German artillery pieces at the height of an ammunition shortage. Similarly, the 244th Field Artillery Battalion was temporarily equipped with a miscellany of captured German 88 mm guns and 105 mm and 150 mm howitzers. By December 31, 1944, the 244th Field Artillery Battalion had fired a total of 10,706 rounds through captured German weapons.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In March 1945, France equipped its 401st, 403rd and 407 Anti-Aircraft artillery regiment with captured German 8.8 guns, associated with British GL Mk. II and GL Mk. III radars. The guns remained in service with second-line units until 1953 and then were used for training for a few years.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: During the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, various Flak guns were used, mainly by the naval artillery of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). The Yugoslav Army (VJ) also used Flak carriages mounted with double 262 mm rocket launch tubes from the M-87 Orkan MLRS, instead of the 88 mm gun. It was capable of deploying cluster bombs, as well as anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, at up to 50 km. Only a few were built in mid-1993, the entire project was generally regarded as unsuccessful.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Greece had at least 24 guns (8.8) that were used against the Regia Aeronautica during the Italian invasion of Greece in 1940. Later these guns were used against the invading German forces in April 1941.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: Beginning in 1954 the Democratic Republic of Vietnam received a number of Flak 88s from the Soviet Union. These cannons were used against US fighter jets in the early 60s.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The Flak 18/36/37 was roughly comparable to its Italian and Allied counterparts. As an anti-aircraft gun it fired a 9.2 kilogram (20 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 840 m/s to an effective ceiling of 8,000 meters, with a maximum ceiling of 9900 meters. While this was potent against US daylight raids, which generally flew at altitudes of , some aircraft were able to fly higher than the gun's effective ceiling. Some flak batteries used guns worn out from firing beyond their operational lives, which typically limited their effective ceiling to .


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: In comparison, the British QF 3.7-inch (94 mm) Mark III fired a projectile at 790 m/s (2,600 ft/s) to an effective ceiling of , and the American 90 mm M1 fired a shell at 820 m/s (2,700 ft/s) to the same height, while the Italian Cannone da 90/53 fired a 10.33 kg projectile at 830 m/s to an effective ceiling of . The Allied weapons' capabilities were augmented by the introduction of proximity fuzes. The Allies' and Italian weapons were heavier and less mobile, with the Allied weapons being almost useless for ground fire until numerous modifications were carried out. While the US and Italian 90 mm were also used as anti-tank guns—the American gun being in use on their M36 tank destroyer and M26 Pershing heavy tank—their use was considerably more limited than the German 88 due to German tanks being primarily used defensively by 1944 and Allied tanks being used "en masse" for the attack.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The KwK 36 (abbreviation of "Kampfwagenkanone 36") was a tank gun developed and built by Krupp in parallel to the Flak 36, with which it shared ammunition and ballistics. It was the main armament of the Tiger I heavy tank.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: At the time that Rheinmetall developed the Flak 41, Krupp tried to compete with their 8.8 cm Gerät 42 proposal, which was not accepted for production as an anti-aircraft gun. Krupp continued development, resulting in the dreaded 8.8 cm PaK 43 anti-tank gun and the related 8.8 cm KwK 43 tank gun.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The PaK 43 (an abbreviation of "Panzerjägerkanone 43") used a new cruciform mount with the gun much closer to the ground, making it far easier to hide and harder to hit. It was also provided with a much stronger and more angled armour shield to provide better protection to the crew. In addition to the towed version, there were also self-propelled versions of the PaK 43 gun, including the lightly armored "Nashorn", and the strongly armored, fully casemate-enclosed "Elefant" and "Jagdpanther" tank destroyers.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: All versions were able to penetrate about 200 mm (7.9 inches) of armour at 1,000 m (3280 feet), allowing it to defeat the armor of any contemporary tank.


title: 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41

text: The main armament of the Tiger II heavy tank, the KwK 43 tank gun, was the PaK 43 adapted for tank use, and it was considered for the Panther II tank.


The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 countries and the European Union are parties.


title: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

text: The Convention resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place between 1973 and 1982. UNCLOS replaced the four treaties of the 1958 Convention on the High Seas. UNCLOS came into force in 1994, a year after Guyana became the 60th nation to ratify the treaty. It is uncertain as to what extent the Convention codifies customary international law.


text: While the Secretary-General of the United Nations receives instruments of ratification and accession and the UN provides support for meetings of states party to the Convention, the United Nations Secretariat has no direct operational role in the implementation of the Convention. A UN specialized agency, the International Maritime Organization, does play a role, however, as well as other bodies such as the International Whaling Commission and the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which was established by the Convention itself.


text: UNCLOS replaces the older 'freedom of the seas' concept, dating from the 17th century. According to this concept, national rights were limited to a specified belt of water extending from a nation's coastlines, usually (three-mile limit), according to the 'cannon shot' rule developed by the Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek. All waters beyond national boundaries were considered international waters: free to all nations, but belonging to none of them (the "mare liberum" principle promulgated by Hugo Grotius).


text: In the early 20th century, some nations expressed their desire to extend national claims: to include mineral resources, to protect fish stocks, and to provide the means to enforce pollution controls. (The League of Nations called a 1930 conference at The Hague, but no agreements resulted.) Using the customary international law principle of a nation's right to protect its natural resources, President Harry S. Truman in 1945 extended United States control to all the natural resources of its continental shelf. Other nations were quick to follow suit. Between 1946 and 1950, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador extended their rights to a distance of to cover their Humboldt Current fishing grounds. Other nations extended their territorial seas to .


text: By 1967, only 25 nations still used the old three nautical mile limit, while 66 nations had set a territorial limit and eight had set a limit. , only Jordan still uses the limit. That limit is also used in certain Australian islands, an area of Belize, some Japanese straits, certain areas of Papua New Guinea, and a few British Overseas Territories, such as Gibraltar.


text: UNCLOS does not deal with matters of territorial disputes or to resolve issues of sovereignty, as that field is governed by rules of customary international law on the acquisition and loss of territory.


text: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 has a target regarding conservative and sustainable use of oceans and their resources in line with UNCLOS legal framework.


text: In 1956, the United Nations held its first Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I) at Geneva, Switzerland. UNCLOS I resulted in four treaties concluded in 1958:


text: Although UNCLOS I was considered a success, it left open the important issue of breadth of territorial waters.


text: In 1960, the United Nations held the second Conference on the Law of the Sea ("UNCLOS II"); however, the six-week Geneva conference did not result in any new agreements. Generally speaking, developing nations and third world countries participated only as clients, allies, or dependents of the United States or the Soviet Union, with no significant voice of their own.


text: The issue of varying claims of territorial waters was raised in the UN in 1967 by Arvid Pardo of Malta, and in 1973 the "Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea" convened in New York. In an attempt to reduce the possibility of groups of nation-states dominating the negotiations, the conference used a consensus process rather than majority vote. With more than 160 nations participating, the conference lasted until 1982. The resulting convention came into force on 16 November 1994, one year after the 60th state, Guyana, ratified the treaty.


text: The convention introduced a number of provisions. The most significant issues covered were setting limits, navigation, archipelagic status and transit regimes, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelf jurisdiction, deep seabed mining, the exploitation regime, protection of the marine environment, scientific research, and settlement of disputes.


text: The convention set the limit of various areas, measured from a carefully defined baseline. (Normally, a sea baseline follows the low-water line, but when the coastline is deeply indented, has fringing islands or is highly unstable, straight baselines may be used.) The areas are as follows:


text: Aside from its provisions defining ocean boundaries, the convention establishes general obligations for safeguarding the marine environment and protecting freedom of scientific research on the high seas, and also creates an innovative legal regime for controlling mineral resource exploitation in deep seabed areas beyond national jurisdiction, through an International Seabed Authority and the common heritage of mankind principle.


text: Landlocked states are given a right of access to and from the sea, without taxation of traffic through transit states.


text: Part XI of the Convention provides for a regime relating to minerals on the seabed outside any state's territorial waters or EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zones). It establishes an International Seabed Authority (ISA) to authorize seabed exploration and mining and collect and distribute the seabed mining royalty.


text: The United States objected to the provisions of Part XI of the Convention on several grounds, arguing that the treaty was unfavorable to American economic and security interests. Due to Part XI, the United States refused to ratify the UNCLOS, although it expressed agreement with the remaining provisions of the Convention.


text: From 1982 to 1990, the United States accepted all but Part XI as customary international law, while attempting to establish an alternative regime for exploitation of the minerals of the deep seabed. An agreement was made with other seabed mining nations and licenses were granted to four international consortia. Concurrently, the Preparatory Commission was established to prepare for the eventual coming into force of the Convention-recognized claims by applicants, sponsored by signatories of the Convention. Overlaps between the two groups were resolved, but a decline in the demand for minerals from the seabed made the seabed regime significantly less relevant. In addition, the decline of Communism in the late 1980s removed much of the support for some of the more contentious Part XI provisions.


text: In 1990, consultations began between signatories and non-signatories (including the United States) over the possibility of modifying the Convention to allow the industrialized countries to join the Convention. The resulting 1994 Agreement on Implementation was adopted as a binding international Convention. It mandated that key articles, including those on limitation of seabed production and mandatory technology transfer, would not be applied, that the United States, if it became a member, would be guaranteed a seat on the Council of the International Seabed Authority, and finally, that voting would be done in groups, with each group able to block decisions on substantive matters. The 1994 Agreement also established a Finance Committee that would originate the financial decisions of the Authority, to which the largest donors would automatically be members and in which decisions would be made by consensus.


text: On 1 February 2011, the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued an advisory opinion concerning the legal responsibilities and obligations of States Parties to the Convention with respect to the sponsorship of activities in the Area in accordance with Part XI of the Convention and the 1994 Agreement. The advisory opinion was issued in response to a formal request made by the International Seabed Authority following two prior applications the Authority's Legal and Technical Commission had received from the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga regarding proposed activities (a plan of work to explore for polymetallic nodules) to be undertaken in the Area by two State-sponsored contractors – Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (sponsored by the Republic of Nauru) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. (sponsored by the Kingdom of Tonga). The advisory opinion set forth the international legal responsibilities and obligations of Sponsoring States and the Authority to ensure that sponsored activities do not harm the marine environment, consistent with the applicable provisions of UNCLOS Part XI, Authority regulations, ITLOS case law, other international environmental treaties, and Principle 15 of the UN Rio Declaration.


text: Part XII of UNCLOS contains special provisions for the protection of the marine environment, obligating all States to collaborate in this matter, as well as placing special obligations on flag States to ensure that ships under their flags adhere to international environmental regulations, often adopted by the IMO. The MARPOL Convention is an example of such regulation. Part XII also bestows coastal and port states with broadened jurisdictional rights for enforcing international environmental regulation within their territory and on the high seas.


text: In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to convene an intergovernmental conference (IGC) to consider establishing an international legally-binding instrument (ILBI) on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). This is considered necessary because UNCLOS does not currently provide a framework for areas beyond national jurisdiction. There is a particular concern for marine biodiversity and the impact of overfishing on global fish stocks and ecosystem stability. The IGC convened a total of four sessions in 2018, 2019, and 2022 to negotiate the text for the BBNJ legal instrument. Progress was made in the four main elements: marine genetic resources (MGRs), benefit sharing using area-based management tools (ABMTs) including marine protected areas (MPAs), environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and capacity building and the transfer of marine technology (CB&TT). A fifth round of talks in August 2022 failed to produce an agreement, due in part to significant disagreements over how to share benefits derived from marine genetic resources and digital sequence information.


text: The convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994 upon deposition of the 60th instrument of ratification. The convention has been ratified by 168 parties, which includes 164 UN member states, 1 UN Observer state (Palestine) and two associated countries (the Cook Islands and Niue) plus the European Union.


text: The significance of UNCLOS stems from the fact that it systemizes and codifies the standards and principles of international maritime law, which are based on centuries of maritime experience and are expressed to a great extent in the United Nations Charter and current international maritime law norms, such as the Geneva Conventions of 1958. A large portion of these requirements were further strengthened and expanded.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the first to be played in Africa.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The tournament featured 14 teams, the largest number in the World Cup's history at the time, playing a total of 54 matches. It followed the format introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, with the teams divided into two groups, and the top three in each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The tournament saw numerous upsets, with South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and England all being eliminated at the group stage (South Africa missed by 1 run after misreading the Duckworth-Lewis method rules). England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, due to the political unrest in the country, which ultimately enabled that team to reach the Super Sixes. Similarly, New Zealand forfeited their match with Kenya, due to security reasons which enabled the latter to reach the semi-finals, the only non-Test playing nation to do so. Another shock wave came two days after the tournament had started, when Shane Warne, at the time one of the game's leading spinners, was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for a banned substance.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The tournament was eventually won by Australia who won all 11 of their matches, beating India in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This was Australia's third World Cup win, the only team to do so. Pakistani player Shoaib Akhtar also set a world record, becoming the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a record top speed of 161.3km/h (100.23 mph) in a pool match against England.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: Fourteen teams played in the 2003 World Cup, the largest number of teams to play in a Cricket World Cup at the time. The 10 Test playing nations automatically qualified for the tournament including the recently appointed member Bangladesh, while Kenya also qualified automatically due to their full One Day International status. The other three spots were filled by the top three teams in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada, which served as a qualifying tournament. These teams were, respectively, the Netherlands who won the ICC Trophy, Canada and Namibia. This was Namibia's World Cup debut, while the Netherlands and Canada were both appearing in the tournament for the second time, having previously appeared in 1996 and 1979 respectively.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The format used in the 1999 World Cup was retained, with the 14 teams divided into two groups of seven, and the top three from each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage, carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group. The top four teams in the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches contested the final.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: Teams who qualified for the Super Six stage only played against the teams from the other group; results against the other teams from the same group were carried forward to this stage.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: On a difficult, slow pitch at Port Elizabeth, Australia struggled their way to 212 (7 wickets, 50 overs) against tight Sri Lankan bowling, thanks mainly to a great innings from Andrew Symonds (91* from 118 balls, 7 fours, 1 six), demonstrating again captain Ricky Ponting's faith in him. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took three wickets. Australia's pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan top order, with Brett Lee (3/35 in 8 overs) taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath (1/20 in 7 overs) taking one. By the time rain arrived in the 39th over, continued tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 123 (7 wickets, 38.1 overs), well behind the target given by the Duckworth–Lewis method. This is the match in which Adam Gilchrist famously "walked" despite being given not out.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The fairytale ended for the Kenyan team, the only non-Test-playing nation to ever make a World Cup semi-final. Sachin Tendulkar (83 from 101 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Sourav Ganguly (111 from 114 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes), batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to a total of 270 (4 wickets, 50 overs). Under the Durban lights, the potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan (3/14 in 9.2 overs), the experienced Javagal Srinath (1/11 in 7 overs) and Ashish Nehra (2/11 in 5 overs) careered through the Kenyan top order. Kenya were bowled out for 179 (all out, 46.2 overs), with only Steve Tikolo (56 from 83 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) putting up any significant resistance.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: India won the toss, and Ganguly, elected to field, hoping to take advantage of a pitch left damp by dew and rain. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch, the Australian openers took advantage of very wayward Indian opening bowlers to get off to a flying start. Adam Gilchrist (57 from 48 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Matthew Hayden (37 from 54 balls, 5 fours) shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring on the spinners unusually early. The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, who had been swinging at everything, holing out off a sweep shot from the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, looking somewhat better than he had throughout the tournament, soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125 Captain Ricky Ponting (140 from 121 balls, 4 fours, 8 sixes) and Damien Martyn (88 from 84 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) (playing with a broken thumb) completing a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket. Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but mostly keeping the scoring going with good running, then letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in particular dispatched the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity in scoring 8 sixes, the most from one batsman in any World Cup match at the time. The final Australian total of 359 (2 wickets, 50 overs), at a run rate of 7.18 runs an over, was their then highest ever in ODI history.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: India's run chase was made even more difficult after their trump card, Sachin Tendulkar, was out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn McGrath completing the caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Virender Sehwag's (82 from 81 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) run-a-ball half century gave India respectability as they maintained a high scoring rate. Their only realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted by rain with India at 3/103 after 17 overs. However, this rain passed by, and India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann, and again when Rahul Dravid (47 from 57 balls, 2 fours) was bowled by Andy Bichel, ending their partnership of 88 runs in 13.2 overs. India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase as the run rate crept up past 7 an over, and they were finally bowled out for 234 (all out, 39.2 overs) at a run rate of 5.97 runs an over giving Australia an emphatic victory by a record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs, underlining their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man of the Match", and Sachin Tendulkar was named "Player of the Series."


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: The security and political situation in Zimbabwe, and the appropriateness of playing there given the misdeeds of the regime of Robert Mugabe was a point of concern before the tournament. Two Zimbabwean players, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands in their opening game protesting against the nondemocratic rule in Zimbabwe. Both men subsequently retired from Zimbabwean cricket, and began playing overseas. England faced a great deal of domestic pressure to boycott their match in Zimbabwe on political grounds and did not play, citing fears for the players' safety. The boycott proved costly, as Zimbabwe advanced to the Super Sixes, just 2 points ahead of England, from the 4 points they achieved from the walkover. Similarly, New Zealand decided against playing in Kenya because of security fears which would ultimately cost New Zealand a semifinal spot.


title: 2003 Cricket World Cup

text: Australian star player Shane Warne was sent home from the cup in embarrassing circumstances, only the day before their opening game, after a positive drug test in a lead-up competition in Australia revealed that he had taken a banned diuretic. The leg spinner claimed that he had taken a 'fluid pill' on the advice of his mother.


title: Ugramm

text: Ugramm "(Furious)" is a 2014 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by Prashanth Neel and produced under the banner Inkfinite Pictures with his brother Pradeep Neel as the executive producer. It stars Srimurali and Haripriya as the lead pair, supported by Thilak Shekar, Atul Kulkarni, Avinash, Jai Jagadish and others. Bhuvan Gowda was the main cinematographer, while Ravi Varman was a guest cinematographer, marking his debut in Kannada cinema. It completed a run of 150 days in some theatres across Karnataka.


title: Ugramm

text: A sequel to the film titled "Ugramm Veeram" to be made in 2015, was announced by Srimurali in July 2014. It was remade in Odia as "Agastya" starring Anubhav Mohanty. The Marathi remake titled "Raanti" starring Sharad Kelkar and Shanvi Srivastava was announced in August 2022.


title: Ugramm

text: 1994: Shivarudra Lingaiah was a ruthless gangster in the Bangalore crime syndicate, who agreed to take up a big smuggling deal, for which he approached Prabhakar, an owner of a shipping company, to smuggle the goods through his ships. However, Prabhakar rejects the offer. Enraged by the rejection, Shivarudra Lingaiah killed Prabhakar's wife and also threatened to kill his infant daughter Nithya, for which Prabhakar accepted Shivarudra Lingaiah's offer.


title: Ugramm

text: While working with Shivarudra Lingaiah, Prabhakar stopped a ship coming from Dubai, which contained the smuggled goods belonging to Shivarudra Lingaiah and loaded 90% of the smuggled goods into another ship. He sold it to a third party and escaped to Australia, along with Nithya, to start a new life. Shivarudra Lingaiah was arrested from a tip-off by Prabhakar. However, he continued his activities from the prison through his son, Dheeraj.


title: Ugramm

text: 2014: Shivarudra Lingaiah is now an MLA candidate, who along with Dheeraj, is awaiting to extract vengeance upon Prabhakar. A grown-up Nithya arrives at Bangalore to Talagavara to visit her late mother's grave and is kidnapped by Dheeraj's gang on the way. Agastya is an automobile mechanic, who saves her from Dheeraj's gang. He takes her to his house for safeguarding as advised by Prabhakar's family-friend, Vishwa. Meanwhile, a cat-and-mouse game ensues between Shivarudra Lingaiah and Agastya, where Agastya manages to save Nithya again. Nithya, who has fallen for Agastya learns from Vishwa about his dark past in Mughor, a region ruled by a blood-ridden syndicate.


title: Ugramm

text: Agastya's old promise to his friend, Baala, had pushed Agastya to enter the crime syndicate. Within just a few years, Agastya managed to capture the entire region for Baala, against all odds. This earned him fearful respect and fame. However, Agastya's skirmish with Baala's younger brother Maara, led to Maara's death. Agastya had forced an exile upon himself, respecting his mother's vow to live a life free of violence.


title: Ugramm

text: Dheeraj kills Shivarudra Lingaiah, deeming him weak and captures Nithya and relocates to Mughor, under the orders from Mughor's crime syndicate to seek vengeance on Agastya. Agastya returns to Mughor, where he faces the entire Mughor's criminal fraternity. He kills Dheeraj and saves Nithya again. Though still holding a deep grudge against Agastya for Maara's death, Baala allows them to leave, as a show of friendship towards Agastya. Agastya leaves Mughor to start a new life with Nithya.


title: Ugramm

text: "Ugramm" was the first film ever to be shot outside the Bharat Gold Mines Limited cyanide dumps at Kolar Gold Fields. The other locations where the film was shot at include Kalaburagi as showcased as Mughor in filmand Bijapur District Chintamani, Kolar, Mysore, Gargeshwari, Nandigrama and Bangalore. Eight different cameras were used to suit different situations and locations.


title: Ugramm

text: The songs and background score were composed by Ravi Basrur with lyrics written by Ram Narayan, S. Sarvesh and Basrur. The soundtrack has six songs.


title: Ugramm

text: Reviewing the soundtrack album, Kavya Christopher of "The Times of India" wrote, "Apart from the title track – Ugramm Veeram – which rightfully captures the essence of the title, translating to aggression, the rest of the numbers take you into a romantic journey of dream sequences that many stories try to rely on to bring in some breathing space in an otherwise adrenaline-packed plot."


title: Ugramm

text: B. S. Srivani of "Deccan Herald" wrote of the film, "The screenplay is a beauty .. and dialogues .. do their job very well." and concluded by writing, "An overdose of violence to simple-minded families, Ugramm, however, is a treat for those looking for instant kicks." A. Sharadhaa of "The New Indian Express" wrote, "This is a landmark gangster film that balances commercial elements with a stirring screenplay." and concluded writing, " A very well-made film, Ugramm is full of action, drama and fleshed out characters." Shyam Prasad S. of "Bangalore Mirror" gave the film a rating out 3/5 and wrote, "The film is technically brilliant, but what it lacks is a style to the excessive energy that is drummed up." "The Times of India" gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote "Set in the North Karnataka region of Mughor, Ugramm keeps viewers hooked from the beginning with its lively script and brilliant narration. Though the loud background music drowns the dialogues at times, the action-packed sequences make up for all shortcomings."


title: Common krait

text: The common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), also known as Bengal krait, is a species of highly venomous elapid snake of the genus "Bungarus" native to the Indian subcontinent. It is a member of the "Big Four" species that inflict the most snakebites on humans in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.


title: Common krait

text: The average length of the common krait is , but it can grow to . Males are longer than females, with proportionately longer tails. The head is flat and the neck hardly evident. The body is cylindrical, tapering towards the tail. The tail is short and rounded. The eyes are rather small, with rounded pupils, indistinguishable in life. The head shields are normal, with no loreals; four shields occur along the margin of the lower lip; the third and fourth supraoculars touch the eye. The scales are highly polished, in 15-17 rows; the vertebral row is distinctly enlarged and hexagonal. Ventrals number 185-225 and caudals 37-50, and are entire (intact).


title: Common krait

text: Their colouration is generally black or bluish black, with about 40 thin, white crossbars, which may be indistinct or absent anteriorly. Albino specimens can be found, although such cases are extremely rare. The pattern, however, is complete and well defined in the young, which are marked with conspicuous crossbars even anteriorly; in old individuals, the narrow white lines may be found as a series of connected spots, with a prominent spot on the vertebral region. A white preocular spot may be present; the upper lips and belly are white.


title: Common krait

text: This common krait is distributed from Sindh to West Bengal, throughout South India, and Sri Lanka, at elevations up to about . It has also been recorded in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.


title: Common krait

text: It lives in a wide variety of habitats, from fields and low scrub jungle to settled areas. It rests in termite mounds, brick piles, rat holes, and even inside houses. It is frequently encountered in water or in proximity to a water source.


title: Common krait

text: Behavioral differences during day and night have been reported in "B. caeruleus". During the day, it is sluggish and generally docile. It often hides in rodent holes, loose soil, or beneath debris, so is rarely seen. It often rolls its body into a loose, coiled ball, keeping its head well concealed. When in this "balled" condition, the snake allows considerable handling, but overhandling often instigates bites. At night, though, the snake is very active and escapes by hissing loudly, or keeping still, occasionally biting the source of the annoyance.


title: Common krait

text: When agitated, it coils up with its head concealed and body flattened, and makes jerky movements. It may also lift its tail. It is reluctant to bite, but when it does, it typically holds on for a while, which enables it to inject considerable amounts of venom. It may become aggressive at night if threatened, since this is its active time. It is responsible for the second-highest number of snake bites in India for a single species. In Bangladesh, it is responsible for 28% of total krait bites.


title: Common krait

text: The common krait feeds primarily on other snakes, and cannibalizes on other kraits, including the young. It also feeds on small mammals (such as rats, and mice), lizards, and frogs. The young are known to eat arthropods and the "blind snakes" (snakes of the family typhlopidae).


title: Common krait

text: The common krait's venom consists mostly of powerful neurotoxins, which induce muscle paralysis. Clinically, its venom contains presynaptic and postsynaptic neurotoxins, which generally affect the synaptic cleft (the points of information transfer between neurons).


title: Common krait

text: In mice, the values of its venom are 0.325 mg/kg subcutaneously, 0.169 mg/kg intravenously, and 0.089 mg/kg intraperitoneally. and the average venom yield is 10 mg (dry weight). The estimated lethal dose for humans is 2-3 mg.


title: Common krait

text: Kraits are nocturnal, so seldom encounter humans during daylight; incidents occur mainly at night. Frequently, little or no pain occurs from its bite, which can provide false reassurance to the victim. Typically, victims complain of severe abdominal cramps, accompanied by progressive paralysis. If death occurs, it takes place about 4-8 hours after the krait bite. Cause of death is general respiratory failure, i.e. suffocation.


title: Common krait

text: Often during the rainy season, the snakes come out of their hiding places and find refuge inside dry houses. If bitten by a krait while sleeping, a victim may not realize as having been bitten, as the bite feels like that of an ant or mosquito. The victim may die without waking up. Krait bites are significant for eliciting minimal amounts of local inflammation/swelling. This may help in species identification if the snake has not been seen.


title: Common krait

text: The few symptoms of the bite include tightening of the facial muscles in 1-2 hours of the bite and inability of the bite victim to see or talk, and if left untreated, the patient may die from respiratory paralysis within 4-5 hours. A clinical toxicology study reports an untreated mortality rate of 70-80%. In Bangladesh, more than 50% of total snake bite deaths are caused by the common krait.


title: Biometric passport

text: A biometric passport (also known as an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the passport holder. It uses contactless smart card technology, including a microprocessor chip (computer chip) and antenna (for both power to the chip and communication) embedded in the front or back cover, or centre page, of the passport. The passport's critical information is printed on the data page of the passport, repeated on the machine readable lines and stored in the chip. Public key infrastructure (PKI) is used to authenticate the data stored electronically in the passport chip, making it expensive and difficult to forge when all security mechanisms are fully and correctly implemented.


title: Biometric passport

text: Many countries are moving towards issuing biometric passports to their citizens. Malaysia was the first country to issue biometric passports in 1998. In December 2008, 60 countries were issuing such passports, which increased to over 150 by mid-2019.


title: Biometric passport

text: The currently standardised biometrics used for this type of identification system are facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, and iris recognition. These were adopted after assessment of several different kinds of biometrics including retinal scan. Document and chip characteristics are documented in the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Doc 9303 (ICAO 9303). The ICAO defines the biometric file formats and communication protocols to be used in passports. Only the digital image (usually in JPEG or JPEG 2000 format) of each biometric feature is actually stored in the chip. The comparison of biometric features is performed outside the passport chip by electronic border control systems (e-borders). To store biometric data on the contactless chip, it includes a minimum of 32 kilobytes of EEPROM storage memory, and runs on an interface in accordance with the ISO/IEC 14443 international standard, amongst others. These standards intend interoperability between different countries and different manufacturers of passport books.


title: Biometric passport

text: Some national identity cards, such as those from the Netherlands, Albania and Brazil, are fully ICAO 9303 compliant biometric travel documents. However others, such as the United States Passport Card, are not.


title: Biometric passport

text: To assure interoperability and functionality of the security mechanisms listed above, ICAO and German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) have specified several test cases. These test specifications are updated with every new protocol and are covering details starting from the paper used and ending in the chip that is included.


title: Biometric passport

text: Privacy proponents in many countries question and protest the lack of information about exactly what the passports' chip will contain, and whether they affect civil liberties. The main problem they point out is that data on the passports can be transferred with wireless RFID technology, which can become a major vulnerability. Although this could allow ID-check computers to obtain a person's information without a physical connection, it may also allow anyone with the necessary equipment to perform the same task. If the personal information and passport numbers on the chip are not encrypted, the information might wind up in the wrong hands.


title: Biometric passport

text: On 15 December 2006, the BBC published an article on the British ePassport, citing the above stories and adding that:


title: Biometric passport

text: and adding that the Future of Identity in the Information Society (FIDIS) network's research team (a body of IT security experts funded by the European Union) has "also come out against the ePassport scheme... [stating that] European governments have forced a document on its people that dramatically decreases security and increases the risk of identity theft."


title: Biometric passport

text: Most security measures are designed against untrusted citizens (the "provers"), but the scientific security community recently also addressed the threats from untrustworthy verifiers, such as corrupt governmental organizations, or nations using poorly implemented, unsecure electronic systems.


title: Biometric passport

text: New cryptographic solutions such as private biometrics are being proposed to mitigate threats of mass theft of identity. These are under scientific study, but not yet implemented in biometric passports.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 26 January 2016, costing €50. It is noted that the scheme will gradually expand to Cape Verdean diplomatic missions in Boston and Lisbon in the future.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 1 March 2010 and costing GH¢ 50–100 for adults and children. The passports contain several other technological characteristics other than biometric technology. However the Ghanaian biometric passports do not carry the "chip inside" symbol (), which is mandatory for ICAO-standard electronic passports.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 1 September 2017. Contain fingerprints, facials and signature including other vital information, which is all ICAO compliant.


title: Biometric passport

text: In mid July 2019, a few foreign embassies such as Berlin, Paris, London, and Washington, DC started processing applications for Kenyans in the diaspora. Kenya plans to invalidate old style passports on 31 December 2021.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 2014 and costs 110,000 Ariary. Since September 2014, it is mandatory for Malagasy citizens to depart the country with a biometric passport.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 2008 for trial, and in general since 25 September 2009, costs MAD 500 (approximately €47).


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since September 2014. The issuance of such passports was suspended 40 days later but was resumed in February 2015.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 2007. The harmonized ECOWAS Smart electronic passport issued by the Nigerian Immigrations Service is powered by biometric technology in tandem with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) specifications for international travels.


title: Biometric passport

text: Travellers' data captured in the biometric passport can be accessed instantly and read by any security agent from any spot of the globe through an integrated network of systems configured and linked to a centrally-coordinated passport data bank managed by the Nigerian Immigrations Service.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 27 June 2019, and is in compliance with the new East African Community technical specifications as well as International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Among the new features include a microchip making it tamper-proof. The Rwandan passport is issued Rwandan citizens for international travel. Rwanda started issuing East African Community Biometric Passport also known as E-Passport in June 2019 replacing the old ones that will only stay valid until June 2021, The new passports are valid for five years and ten years. Ordinary, service, and diplomatic passports are issued.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since August 2009, cost then was 30,000 CFA francs. For Togolese residing abroad, the price varies.


title: Biometric passport

text: The Tunisia ministry of interior stated that it will start issuing biometric passports at the end of year 2016 which did not happen.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since May 2009, costs SDG 250 (approximately US$100), SDG 200 for students and SDG 100 for children. Valid for 5 years, or 7 years for a commercial passport.


title: Biometric passport

text: The new electronic passport are issued in three categories. The citizen's passport (ordinary passport) will be issued to ordinary citizens and will contain 48 pages. Business men/women who need to travel often will have a commercial passport that will contain 64 pages. Smaller passports that contain 32 pages only will be issued to children. The microprocessor chip will contain the holder's information.


title: Biometric passport

text: The Zimbabwean government launched the new e-passports on the 15th of December 2021 at Chiwashira Building in Harare.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since September 2011. Contains digital images of fingerprints, photo and electronic signature of the passport holder. Valid for up to 10 years.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since July 2012. Contains digital images of fingerprints, photo and electronic signature of the passport holder. Valid for 10 years.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since September 2013. Contains information about the passport holder's facial features, as well as finger and palm prints.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since April 2010, biometric machine-readable passports cost for regular delivery, including all taxes, and for express delivery including all taxes. E-passports cost to with all taxes included. The cost varies depending on the number of pages and the validity of the e-passport. The e-passport is valid for either five years or ten years depending on the age of the applicant. Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia to issue e-passports for all eligible citizens. The electronic microprocessor chip embedded e-passport has forty-one different security features, including holographic images embossed in thin film laminate, which change colour under light and appear to move. Demographic and biometric information of the bearer including the fingerprints of all ten fingers, iris scan, color photograph of the face and digital signature are stored on the chip in the e-passport. The Government of Bangladesh issues three different types of e-passports. These are diplomatic passports with a red cover; official passports with a blue cover; and regular or ordinary passports with a green cover.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 17 February 2007. The Bruneian ePassport has the same functions as the other biometric passports.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 17 July 2014. The cost for a 5-year passport, issued only to children aged five and under, is US$80; while the 10-year passport, issued to all people older than five, costs US$100.


title: Biometric passport

text: On 30 January 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China launched a trial issuance of e-passports for public affairs. The face, fingerprint and other biometric features of the passport holder will be digitalized and stored in pre-installed contactless smart chip in the passport. On 1 July 2011, the Ministry began issuing biometric passports to all individuals conducting public affairs work overseas on behalf of the Chinese government.


title: Biometric passport

text: Ordinary biometric passports have been introduced by the Ministry of Public Security starting from 15 May 2012. The cost of a passport is 200 CNY (approximately US$31) for first time applicants in China and CNY 220 (or US$35) for renewals and passports issued abroad.


title: Biometric passport

text: Effective from 1 July 2017, cost of a biometric ordinary passport is reduced to CNY 160 (approximately US$24) for both first time applicants and renewal applicants. As of April 2017, China had issued over 100 million biometric ordinary passports.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 2010. Valid for 10 years to adults, costing 100 Lari if issued at tenth business day. The same day issuance will cost 205 Lari. Price of the photo (3 Lari) needs to be paid additionally. There are discounts, e.g. 50% discount for persons under age of 18.


title: Biometric passport

text: In 2006, the Immigration Department announced that Unihub Limited (a PCCW subsidiary company heading a consortium of suppliers, including Keycorp) had won the tender to provide the technology to produce biometric passports. In February 2007, the first biometric passport was introduced. The cover of the new biometric passport remains essentially the same as that of previous versions, with the addition of the "electronic passport" logo at the bottom. However, the design of the inner pages has changed substantially. The design conforms with the document design recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The new ePassport featured in the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Event and was a finalist for the Stockholm Challenge Award in the Public Administration category. The Hong Kong SAR ePassport design was praised on account of the "multiple state-of-the-art technologies [which] are seamlessly integrated in the sophisticated Electronic Passport System (e-Passport System)". The cost for a HKSAR passport is HK$370 (or US$48) for a 32-page passport and HK$460 (or US$59) for a 48-page passport.


title: Biometric passport

text: The Government of India issues three different types of passports – Diplomatic passports; Official passports; and regular or ordinary passports. India initiated the first phase deployment of Biometric e-Passport only for diplomatic passport holders in India and abroad in 2008. Unlike diplomatic passport holders, ordinary Indian citizens are not eligible and are thus not issued e-passports. The new passports have been designed indigenously by the Central Passport Organization, the India Security Press, Nashik and IIT Kanpur. The passport contains a security chip with personal data and digital images. Initially, the new passports will have a 64 KiB chip with a photograph of passport holder and subsequently include the holder's fingerprint(s). The biometric passport has been tested with passport readers abroad and is noted to have a 4-second response time – less than half that of a US Passport (10 seconds). The passport need not be carried in a metal jacket for security reasons as it first needs to be passed through a reader, after which it generates access keys to unlock the chip data for reader access. On 25 June 2008 Indian Passport Authority issued the first e-passport to Pratibha Patil, the then President of India. The e-passport project is under the first phase of deployment and will be initially restricted to diplomatic passport holders only. In mid 2019, the Government of India floated a three-stage international tender for the manufacture of e-passports for ordinary Indian citizens. Once the tendering and procurement process is complete, the Indian government hopes to start issuing e-passports for ordinary Indian citizens sometime in the coming years. Reportedly, the Government of India has granted the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) the tender for the second phase roll out of the programme and hopes to start issuing e-Passports to its citizens by the end of 2022. The current passport booklets remain valid and will be replaced by e-Passports as and when they are renewed.


title: Biometric passport

text: Changes since 12 October 2022. The biometric passport costs Rp655,000 () for the 48-page valid for 10 years.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since July 2007 for diplomatic and service passports, 20 February 2011 for ordinary biometric passports. The cost of a new passport was approximately IRR 1,500,000 (less than USD 8) if issued inside Iran, 100 euros if issued overseas.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since July 2013 for a 2-year pilot project under the Biometric Database Law. This was optional. In August 2013, any passport expiring in more than 2 years could be replaced free of charge with a biometric one upon request. Passports expiring within 2 years were charged the full fee.


title: Biometric passport

text: The review of the pilot project (that was supposed to be concluded in 2015) was postponed by order of the Minister of the Interior to a later date, due to the controversy regarding the creation of the Biometric Database rather than storing the biometric data only in the passport's chip, as is the practice in many other countries. In 2015, the duration of the pilot project was extended until 2017. In May 2017, the pilot project ended. Newly issued passports were then required to be biometric.


title: Biometric passport

text: To obtain a biometric passport, an applicant must appear in an Interior Ministry office "to be photographed by the special camera which records information such as facial bone structure, distance between one's eyes, ears to eyes and ratio of facial features one from another. The applicant will also be fingerprinted and all this information will be stored in the new high-tech electronic passport."


title: Biometric passport

text: As of January 2022, Israeli passports issued in the airport or outside of Israel are not biometric, and are generally valid for 5–10 years (1 year if issued as an emergency passport in the airport).


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since March 2006. The passports meet requirements of the US Visa Waiver Program which calls for countries to roll out their biometric passports before 26 October 2006.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 1998. Malaysia is however not a member of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and its first biometric passport did not conform to the same standards as the VWP biometric document because the Malaysian biometric passport was issued several years ahead of the VWP requirement. The difference lies in the storage of fingerprint template instead of fingerprint image in the chip, the rest of the technologies are the same. Also the biometric passport was designed to be read only if the receiving country has the authorisation from the Malaysian Immigration Department. Malaysia started issuing ICAO compliant passports from February 2010.


title: Biometric passport

text: Malaysia used to issue passports with validity for 2 years and 5 years, but the passport with 2 years validity was withdrawn since January 2015.


title: Biometric passport

text: The pricing for a Malaysian passport are RM 200 (approximately USD 50) with 5 years validity, MYR 100 (approximately USD 25) for senior citizens, children below 12, Hajj pilgrims, and students below 21 and studying abroad is MYR 100 and is free for disabled citizens.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 26 July 2006. The new passport follows a completely new design, and features the passport holder's facial and fingerprint information as biometric identifiers. A 32-page Ordinary passport will cost Rf350, while a 64-page Ordinary passport will cost Rf600. Children under the age of 10 years and people applying for passports through diplomatic missions abroad will be issued with a 32-page non-electronic Ordinary passport, which will cost Rf250.


title: Biometric passport

text: The Government of Pakistan issues three different types of passports. These are Diplomatic passports; Official passports; and Ordinary passports. On March 30, 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the e-passport service, which has twenty-nine new security features added. At this initial stage, the e-passport facility is only available for diplomatic officials and government officials who are issued diplomatic passports and official passports respectively. The rest of the population of Pakistan (regular citizens) are not eligible for the e-passport as yet and are thus not issued e-passports.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since September 1st 2022. Choice is given for the time being between Biometric and normal passports.


title: Biometric passport

text: On February 10, 2022; the Saudi Arabian ministry of interior has announced that they began issuing the new electronic Saudi Passport, with the same issuing fees as the past (300SAR for 5 years and 600SAR for 10 years).


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 15 August 2006, costs SGD 70 if applied for online, by mail or ICA deposit box and SGD 80 if applied for via a Singapore Overseas Mission. Valid for 10 years. The passport now complies with the US Visa Waiver Program.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 29 December 2008, costs NT$1,600 for an ordinary passport with either 3, 5 or 10 years validity.


title: Biometric passport

text: Diplomats and government officials passports issued from 26 May 2005. From 1 June 2005, a limited quantity of 100 passports a day was issued for Thai citizens, however, on 1 August 2005 a full operational service was installed and Thailand became the first country in Asia to issue an ICAO compliant biometric passport.


title: Biometric passport

text: Turkish passports which are compatible with European Union standards have been available since 1 June 2010. Colours of the new biometric passports have also been changed. Accordingly, regular passports; claret red, special passports; bottle green and diplomatic passports wrap black colours.


title: Biometric passport

text: Turkish Minister of the State announced that the government is printing the new passports at government minting office since the private contractor failed to deliver in March 2016.


title: Biometric passport

text: Turkmenistan became the first country in ex-USSR, in mid-Asia region to issue an ICAO-compliant biometric passport. The passport is available since 10 July 2008.


title: Biometric passport

text: The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior began to issue biometric passports on 11 December 2011, making it the second GCC state to launch biometric passports after Qatar.


title: Biometric passport

text: In Uzbekistan on 23 June 2009 Islam Karimov issued a Presidential Decree "On measures to further improve the passport system in the Republic of Uzbekistan." On 29 December 2009 the President of Uzbekistan signed a decree to change the dates for a phased exchange of populations existing passport to the biometric passport. In accordance with this decree, biometric passports will be phased in, beginning with 1 January 2011. In the first phase, the biometric passport will be issued to employees of ministries, departments and agencies of the republic, individuals who travel abroad or outside the country, as well as citizens who receive a passport in connection with the achievement of a certain age or for other grounds provided by law. The second phase will be for the rest of the population who will be able to get new passports for the period from 2012 to 2015.


title: Biometric passport

text: It was planned that, except for Denmark and Ireland, EU passports would have digital imaging and fingerprint scan biometrics placed on their RFID chips. This combination of biometrics aims to create an unrivaled level of security and protection against fraudulent identification papers . Technical specifications for the new passports have been established by the European Commission. The specifications are binding for the Schengen agreement parties, i.e. the EU countries, except Ireland, and the four European Free Trade Association countries—Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. These countries are obliged to implement machine readable facial images in the passports by 28 August 2006, and fingerprints by 26 June 2009. The European Data Protection Supervisor has stated that the current legal framework fails to "address all the possible and relevant issues triggered by the inherent imperfections of biometric systems".


title: Biometric passport

text: Irish biometric passports only used a digital image and not fingerprinting. German passports printed after 1 November 2007 contain two fingerprints, one from each hand, in addition to a digital photograph. Romanian passports will also contain two fingerprints, one from each hand. The Netherlands also takes fingerprints and was the only EU member that had plans to store these fingerprints centrally. According to EU requirements, only nations that are signatories to the Schengen acquis are required to add fingerprint biometrics.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since May 2009, costs 7500 Lekë (€60). Valid for 10 years. Contains fingerprints, the bearer's photo and all the data written on the passport.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 15 October 2009 and costing 50 KM (€25.65). Valid 10 years for adults and 5 years for younger than 18. On 1 June 2010 Bosnia and Herzegovina issued its first EAC passport.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 2005 the SMOM diplomatic and service passports include biometric features and are compliant with ICAO standards.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 1 January 2008, costing approximately 760 MDL (€45) and is obligatory from 1 January 2011. The passport of the Republic of Moldova with biometric data contains a chip which holds digital information, including the holder's signature, as well as the traditional information. It is valid for 7 years (for persons over 7) and 4 years (for persons less than 7) respectively.


title: Biometric passport

text: It was introduced as a request of European Union to safeguard the borders between the E.U. and Republic of Moldova.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 2006. Since 3 August 2018, they cost 5,000 rubles (approximately US$80) and use printed data, photo and fingerprints and are BAC-encrypted. Biometric passports issued after 1 March 2010 are valid for 10 years. Russian biometric passports are currently issued within Russia and in all of its consulates. From 1 January 2015, the passports contain fingerprints.


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 7 July 2008, costs RSD 3,600 or approximately €32. Valid for 10 years, 5 years for children aged 3 to 14, and for 3 years for children aged 3 or less.


title: Biometric passport

text: It was first planned to issue biometric passports and identity cards on 1 January 2013. They started being issued since January 2015.


title: Biometric passport

text: Starting August 2021, Ukrainian citizens can use digital passports and identity cards in the Diia app for all legal purposes within Ukraine.


title: Biometric passport

text: In Ukraine, the term "digital passport" is used to denote only the fully digital version of the biometric passport accessible via the Diia mobile app.


title: Biometric passport

text: United Kingdom introduced it in March 2006, initially costing £72.50 for adults (valid for 10 years) and £46 for children under the age of 16 (valid for 5 years).


title: Biometric passport

text: Issued since 1 July 2013. Contains bearer's name, gender, and date and place of birth and a digital portrait of their face.