title: Ziaur Rahman

text: In 1978, General Rahman ran for and an overwhelmingly won a five-year term as president. The next year elections were held for the National Assembly. Opponents questioned the integrity of the elections.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Zia allowed Sheikh Hasina, the exiled daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to return to Bangladesh in 1981.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: On taking power, Rahman was "hailed as the strict leader that the struggling nation needed". Bangladesh suffered from illiteracy, severe poverty, chronic unemployment, shortages and economic stagnation. Rahman reversed course from his predecessor Mujib's secular, democratic socialist, pro-Indian policies. Rahman announced a "19-point programme" of economic emancipation which emphasised self-reliance, rural development, decentralisation, free markets and population control. Rahman spent much of his time travelling throughout the country, preaching the "politics of hope" and urging Bangladeshis to work harder and to produce more. He held cabinet meetings all across Bangladesh. Rahman focused on boosting agricultural and industrial production, especially in food and grains, and to integrate rural development through a variety of programmes, of which population planning was the most important. He introduced and opened the Bangladesh Jute and Rice research institutes. He launched an ambitious rural development programme in 1977, which included a highly visible and popular food-for-work programme. He promoted private sector development, exports growth and the reversing of the collectivisation of farms. His government reduced quotas and restrictions on agriculture and industrial activities. Rahman launched major projects to construct irrigation canals, power stations, dams, roads and other public works. Directing his campaign to mobilise rural support and development, Rahman established "Gram Sarkar" ("Village Councils") system of self-government and the "Village Defence Party" system of security and crime prevention. Programmes to promote primary and adult education on a mass scale were initiated and focused mainly across rural Bangladesh. During this period, Bangladesh's economy achieved fast economic and industrial growth.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Rahman began reorienting Bangladesh's foreign policy, addressing the concerns of the mostly staunch rightists coupled with some renegade leftist who believed that Bangladesh was reliant on Indian economic and military aid. Rahman moved away from India and the Soviet bloc, his predecessors' had worked with, developing closer relations with the United States and Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Rahman also moved to harmonise ties with Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of China, Pakistan's ally who had opposed Bangladesh's creation and had not recognised it until 1975. Rahman moved to normalise relations with Pakistan. While distancing Bangladesh from India, Rahman sought to improve ties with other Islamic nations. Zia's move towards Islamic state policies improved the nation's standing in the Middle East. According to historian Tazeen M. Murshid, one aim of these policies was to open the Gulf states to manpower exports. In this Zia was successful, and remittances became an important part of the Bangladeshi economy.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Rahman also proposed an organisation of the nations of South Asia to bolster economic and political co-operation at a regional level. This proposal materialised in 1985 under the Presidency of Hussain Muhammad Ershad with the first meeting of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation in Dhaka. Zia's vision has earned him a posthumous award from the organisation.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Rahman believed that a massive section of the population was suffering from an identity crisis, both religious and as a people, with a very limited sense of sovereignty. To remedy this he began a re-Islamisation of Bangladesh. He issued a proclamation order amending the constitution, under whose basis laws would be set in an effort to increase the self-knowledge of religion and nation. In the preamble, he inserted the salutation ""Bismillahir-Rahmaanir-Rahim"" ("In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful"). In Article 8(1) and 8(1A) the statement "absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah"' was added, replacing the socialist commitment to secularism. Socialism was redefined as "economic and social justice" under his leadership. In Article 25(2), Rahman introduced the principle that '"the state shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity." Some intellectuals accuse Rahman of changing the nature of the republic from the secularism laid out by Sheikh Mujib and his supporters. However, critics of this accusation say the rationale is absurd and an oversimplification since secular leaders like Gamal Abdel Nasser and Ahmed Ben Bella adopted this policy, and that religious slogans and symbolism are also used by the Awami League.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Later Rahman introduced Islamic religious education as a compulsory subject for Muslim schoolchildren. At the birth of Bangladesh, many Islamists had supported the Pakistani Army's fight against independence and been barred from politics with the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order of 1972. Rahman undid this as well as the ban on communal parties and associations.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: In public speeches and policies that he formulated, Rahman began expounding "Bangladesh Nationalism," its "Sovereignty," as opposed to Mujib's assertion of a Bengali identity based under language-based nationalism. Rahman emphasised the national role of Islam as guide to life's principle. Claiming to promote an inclusive national identity, Rahman reached out to non-Bengali minorities such as the Santals, Garos, Manipuris and Chakmas, as well as the Urdu-speaking peoples of Bihari origin. He even amended the constitution to change the nationality of the citizens from Bengali, an ethnic identity, to Bangladeshi, a national identity, under sovereign allegiance not political belief or party affiliation. However, Bangladeshi nationalism excluded the country's non-Muslim minorities, particularly the Hindu community.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: After the formation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978, Rahman took initiative for formation of political institutes and sponsored workshops for the youth to get active political lessons on Bangladesh nationalism. In such a workshop in September 1980, Rahman spoke to the learners.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Rahman enacted several controversial measures, some to discipline the army, some to solidify his power and some to win the support of right wing political groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami. Zia also facilitated the comeback of the Muslim League and other Islamic parties, appointed the highly controversial anti-independence figure Shah Azizur Rahman (who was earlier released from jail by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1973) prime minister.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Rahman gave foreign appointments to several men accused of assassinating Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Major Dalim, Major Rashid and Major Faruk were given jobs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in subsequent years they were appointed ambassadors of Bangladesh to African and Middle Eastern nations.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: The Indemnity Ordinance (which gave immunity from legal action to the persons involved in the assassination of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, coups and other political events between 1975 and 1979) was proclaimed by Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in 1975 president, ratified in the Parliament as the Indemnity Act, and incorporated as the 5th amendment to the constitution during the tenure of President Hussain Muhammad Ershad.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: During his term of power, Rahman was criticised for ruthless treatment of his army opposition. Although he enjoyed overall popularity and public confidence, Zia's rehabilitation of some of the most controversial men in Bangladesh aroused fierce opposition from the supporters of the Awami League and veterans of its Mukti Bahini. Amidst speculation and fears of unrest, Rahman went on tour to Chittagong on 29 May 1981 to help resolve an intra-party political dispute in the regional BNP. Rahman and his entourage stayed overnight at the Chittagong Circuit House. In the early hours of the morning of 30 May, he was assassinated by a group of army officers. Also killed were six of his bodyguards and two aides.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Many Bangladeshi politicians consider Rahman a war hero. However, his role after 15 August 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family remains controversial. The Indemnity Act, an ordinance ordered by Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in 1975 pardoning the subsequently convicted killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was legalised by Rahman during his tenure as president. Some killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were sent abroad during his time as president.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: The Dhaka High Court declared the seizures of power by military coups between 1975 and 1979, including Zia's military regime, as "unlawful and unconstitutional." Zia's martial law decrees, his ascendancy to the presidency in 1977 and the election held in 1978 were declared "unknown to the constitution." The court ruling over-ruled the Indemnity Act by which these very events were accorded a legal status and enshrined in the constitution.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Rahman is credited for ending the disorder of the final years of Sheikh Mujib's rule and establishing democracy by abolishing BAKSHAL (One party rule established by Mujib). On the other hand, Rahman is assailed by his critics for suppressing opposition. It is claimed that around 3,000 soldiers, military officials and civilians either disappeared or were killed during his reign. On one occasion, about 1,143 people were hanged in various Bangladeshi prisons, on charges of participating in a failed coup attempt on 2 October 1977.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: However, Zia's economic reforms are credited with rebuilding the economy and his move towards Islamisation brought him the support of ordinary Bangladeshi people. His nationalist vision also appealed to many who resented the other political parties alleged inclination towards India and the Soviet Union. Moving away from Mujib's secularism, Rahman asserted an Islamist political identity for Bangladesh and membership in the wider community of Muslim nations, which was applauded by the public.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: However, many historians have said these measures laid the foundations of future communal and ethnic conflicts by isolating and embittering many ethnic and religious minorities in Bangladesh. Critics of this view say this is an oversimplification, and that Rahman alone cannot be held responsible for these tensions. It is generally acknowledged that he lived a simple life, which included opting to have his food supplied from the army canteen.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: With Khaleda Zia, Rahman had two sons, Tareq Rahman and Arafat Rahman (d. 2015). Khaleda became the head of the BNP and organised a coalition of political parties opposed to Ershad's regime. In elections held in 1991, she led the BNP to victory and became the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. She lost the 1996 elections to the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina, but returned to power in 2001. Tareq served as the BNP senior joint secretary.


title: Ziaur Rahman

text: Turkey has named a road in Ankara as "Ziaur Rahman Caddesi" after his death to honour him. In 2004, Ziaur Rahman was ranked number 20 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time. Zia was also honoured by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation for his statesmanship and vision. Other honours include:


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Mustafa Abdul Latif Mishatat (; born 5 July 1967), known as Mustafa al-Kadhimi, alternatively spelt Mustafa al-Kadhimy, is an Iraqi politician, lawyer and bureaucrat and former intelligence officer who served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from May 2020 to October 2022. He previously served as columnist for several news outlets and the Director of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, originally appointed in June 2016. He briefly served as Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs in an acting capacity in 2020. The latter part of his tenure closely followed the 2022 Iraqi political crisis.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Al-Kadhimi was born in Baghdad in 1967 to Abdul Latif, who was born in Al-Shatra, a town in southern Iraq, located northeast of Nasiriyah. He later migrated from Nasiriyah to Baghdad as a student.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Al-Kadhimi was a vocal opponent of the regime of Saddam Hussein. He escaped Iraq in 1985 for Iran then Germany, before settling in the United Kingdom, and lived in exile for several years, eventually becoming a citizen of the UK.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: After the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, al-Kadhimi returned to Iraq and cofounded the Iraqi Media Network.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: He was a columnist and an editor of the Iraqi version of "Al-Monitor" and contributed to various outlets. He has also published a number of books and studies. Al-Kadhimi was also the senior editor of Iraq's "Newsweek" magazine for three years.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Al-Khadhimi studied law at Al-Turath University, was responsible for reforming the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) to be more effective and to meet international standards. He oversaw ending the politicization of intelligence action, implementing advanced methods to intelligence gathering and analysis, and setting priorities to broaden the scope of the work of the National Intelligence Service. Under his leadership, the agency expanded its remit, particularly in counter-terrorism, both internally and abroad, playing a vital role in Iraq's fight against the ISIL, also known as Daesh. During his tenure, he established links with scores of countries and bureaus working within the US-led federation against ISIL.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Following months of protests that broke out across Iraq in October 2019 and the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and his cabinet, Mustafa Al Kadhimi became a leading contender for the premiership.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Al-Kadhimi and Haider al-Abadi went to Riyadh in 2017. Al-Kadhimi made headlines when he was seen in a long embrace with Mohammed bin Salman.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: On 9 April 2020, he was named by President Barham Salih as prime minister-designate, the third person tapped to lead the country in just 10 weeks as it struggled to replace a government that fell last year after months of protests. Kadhimi was nominated by President Barham Salih, state television reported, shortly after the previous designated prime minister, Adnan al-Zurfi, announced he was withdrawing having failed to secure enough support to pass a government. After nearly six months of political negotiations, Iraq's parliament confirmed al-Kadhimi as Prime Minister of Iraq on 6 May 2020. Before entering office, al-Kadhimi said his government would be a government that finds solutions to Iraq's many problems and not a crisis ridden government. He promised early elections and vowed Iraq would not be used as a battleground by other countries. He assumed office on the heels of major upheavals in Iraq – large protests, falling oil prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Upon assuming power, al-Kadhimi promised to guide Iraq through a serious financial crisis, saying the state treasury was “nearly empty” after years of waste and declining oil prices. Al-Kadhimi's cabinet vowed to reduce public spending and audit salaries granted to millions of Iraqis but retracted the plan after public criticism. In August 2020, he hired hundreds of unemployed Iraqis at the Ministry of Defense, but not enough to halt sit-ins outside other public sector offices demanding jobs. He has few allies in government and parliament is heavily dominated by pro-Iran MPs who have balked at his references to protester demands. He has also struggled to fulfill his promise to bring the security forces to justice who were allegedly responsible for the deaths of nearly 600 protesters and activists since October 2019. In addition, al-Kadhimi pledged to investigate the recent murders of journalists and political activists that have increased in the past year, but no one has been brought to justice yet.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: In July 2021, al-Kadhimi and U.S. President Joe Biden sealed an agreement to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021. Following his visit to the United States, Iraq reclaimed 17,000 artifacts, mostly looted by ISIS and sold to the Museum of the Bible that were recovered by US authorities.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: The prime minister has been criticized in failing to raise alarms when it was found that since September 2021, $2.5bn from the country's tax deposits were reported as missing, the allegations were made by the finance ministry under Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani. Investigators believed that the money were distributed to politicians and used for bribes and hush-money. Former Finance Minister Ali Allawi mentioned that "senior officials and corrupt businessmen siphon billion from the public purse". The large volumes traded caused the dinar to fall and property prices in posh areas in Baghdad to rise.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: Iran and its allied Fatah Alliance heavily opposed al-Kadhimi's appointment. In April 2020, Kata'ib Hezbollah, an shia-Iraqi militia with close links to Iran and ties to the Popular Mobilization Forces, published a statement that accused al-Kadhimi of being culpable for the deaths of its leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and charged him with working with the United States. In the meantime, al-Kadhimi directed the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) to investigate rocket attacks against the Green Zone in Baghdad, and promised to confront the disobedient Iranian supported paramilitaries.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: In the early hours of 7 November 2021, al-Kadhimi survived an assassination attempt via explosive drone, two drones were shot down by the army while the last one targeted his residence in the heavily fortified Green Zone district of Baghdad. The assassination attempt is suspected by many to be Iran’s response to Mustafa for his crackdown on Iranian supported militias and his strict policy of removing foreign influence in Iraq.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: On 8 November, a pair of anonymous regional officials and some (also anonymous) militia sources told Reuters that Iranian-backed militias were behind the attack, such as Kata'ib Hezbollah or Asaib Ahl al-Haq, also alleging that the weapons used by the perpetrators were made in Iran.


title: Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

text: According to experts, the assassination attempt came as a response to pro-Iranian parties losing seats in the 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, aggression, and sadism. Grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines families and organizations in which they are involved, and dehumanizes the people with whom they associate.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Malignant narcissism is not a diagnostic category, but a subcategory of narcissism. Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is found in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-IV-TR), while malignant narcissism is not. Malignant narcissism could include aspects of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) alongside a mix of antisocial, paranoid and sadistic personality disorder traits. The importance of malignant narcissism and of projection as a defense mechanism has been confirmed in paranoia, as well as "the patient's vulnerability to malignant narcissistic regression". A person with malignant narcissism exhibits paranoia in addition to the symptoms of a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Because a malignant narcissist's personality cannot tolerate any criticism, being mocked typically causes paranoia.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: The social psychologist Erich Fromm first coined the term "malignant narcissism" in 1964, describing it as a "severe mental sickness" representing "the quintessence of evil". He characterized the condition as "the most severe pathology and the root of the most vicious destructiveness and inhumanity". Edith Weigert (1967) saw malignant narcissism as a "regressive escape from frustration by distortion and denial of reality", while Herbert Rosenfeld (1971) described it as "a disturbing form of narcissistic personality where grandiosity is built around aggression and the destructive aspects of the self become idealized."


title: Malignant narcissism

text: On 11 May 1968, psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg presented his paper "Factors in the psychoanalytic treatment of narcissistic personalities", from the work of the Psychotherapy Research Project of The Menninger Foundation, at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association in Boston. Kernberg's paper was first published in hard copy on 1 January 1970. In Kernberg's 1968 paper, first published in 1970 in the "Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association" (JAPA), the word 'malignant' does not appear once, while 'pathological' or 'pathologically' appears 25 times.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Developing these ideas further, Kernberg pointed out that the antisocial personality was fundamentally narcissistic and without morality. Malignant narcissism includes a sadistic element creating, in essence, a sadistic psychopath. In his article, "malignant narcissism" and psychopathy are employed interchangeably. Kernberg first proposed malignant narcissism as a psychiatric diagnosis in 1984. So far it has not been accepted in any of the medical manuals, such as the ICD-10 or the DSM-5.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Kernberg described malignant narcissism as a syndrome characterized by a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), antisocial features, paranoid traits, and egosyntonic aggression. Other symptoms may include an absence of conscience, a psychological need for power, and a sense of importance (grandiosity). Psychoanalyst George H. Pollock wrote in 1978: "The malignant narcissist is presented as pathologically grandiose, lacking in conscience and behavioral regulation with characteristic demonstrations of joyful cruelty and sadism". Of note, M. Scott Peck uses malignant narcissism as a way to explain evil.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Kernberg believed that malignant narcissism should be considered part of a spectrum of pathological narcissism, which he saw as ranging from Hervey M. Cleckley's antisocial character (what is now referred to as psychopathy or antisocial personality) at the high end of severity, through malignant narcissism, and then to narcissistic personality disorder at the low end. So according to Kernberg's hierarchy, psychopathy trumps malignant narcissism as a more extreme form of pathological narcissism. Malignant narcissism can be distinguished from psychopathy, according to Kernberg, because of the malignant narcissist's capacity to internalize "both aggressive and idealized superego precursors, leading to the idealization of the aggressive, sadistic features of the pathological grandiose self of these patients".


title: Malignant narcissism

text: According to Kernberg, the psychopath's paranoid stance against external influences makes him or her unwilling to internalize even the values of the "aggressor", while malignant narcissists "have the capacity to admire powerful people, and can depend on sadistic and powerful but reliable parental images". Malignant narcissists, in contrast to psychopaths, are also said to be capable of developing "some identification with other powerful idealized figures as part of a cohesive 'gang'...which permits at least some loyalty and good object relations to be internalized... Some of them may present rationalized antisocial behavior – for example, as leaders of sadistic gangs or terrorist groups...with the capacity for loyalty to their own comrades."


title: Malignant narcissism

text: The terms "malignant narcissist" and "psychopath" are sometimes used interchangeably because there is little to clinically separate the two. Individuals who have narcissistic personality disorder, malignant narcissism, and psychopathy all exhibit similar symptoms, as detailed in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. The test consists of 20 items that are scored on a three-point scale, with a score of 0 indicating that it does not apply at all, 1 indicating a partial match or mixed information, and 2 indicating a reasonably good match. The cut-off for the label of psychopathy in the United States is 30 and in the United Kingdom is 25 out of a possible score of 40. High scores are associated with impulsivity and aggression, Machiavellianism, and persistent criminal behavior, but not with empathy and affiliation.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Malignant narcissism overlaps with the personality construct of the dark triad, first published by Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams in 2002, that describes three correlated non-pathological personality types: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Some researchers have added sadism to the triad to create the dark tetrad. Psychologist Keith Campbell has defined malignant narcissism specifically as the dangerous combination of narcissism and sadism, which fortunately is rare. Malignant narcissism is highlighted as a key area in the study of mass murder, sexual sadism, and serial murder.


title: Malignant narcissism

text: The primary difference between narcissism and malignant narcissism is that malignant narcissism includes comorbid features of other personality disorders and thus consists of a broader range of symptoms than pathological narcissism (NPD). In the term "malignant narcissism", the word "malignant" is used in the sense of the word described by the "Merriam-Webster Dictionary" as "passionately and relentlessly malevolent: aggressively malicious". In malignant narcissism, NPD is accompanied by additional symptoms of antisocial, paranoid and sadistic personality disorders. While a person with NPD will deliberately damage other people in pursuit of their own selfish desires, they may regret and will in some circumstances show remorse for doing so. Because traits of antisocial personality disorder are present in malignant narcissism, the "malignant narcissist" has a more pervasive lack of empathy than someone with NPD alone and will lack feelings of guilt or remorse for the damage they cause. Since sadism is often considered a feature of malignant narcissism, an individual with the syndrome may not only lack feelings of guilt or remorse for hurting others but may even derive pleasure from the gratuitous infliction of mental or physical pain on others. These traits were formerly codified in the DSM-III under sadistic personality disorder (SPD).


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Typically in the analysis of the malignant narcissist, "the patient attempts to triumph over the analyst by destroying the analysis and himself or herself"—an extreme version of what Jacques Lacan described as "that resistance of the "amour-propre"... which is often expressed thus: 'I can't bear the thought of being freed by anyone other than myself'".


title: Malignant narcissism

text: Since Malignant Narcissism is a severe personality disorder that has far-reaching societal and familial effects, it requires attention from both the psychiatric community and the social science community. Treatment is recommended in a therapeutic community, as well as a psychoeducational preventative program aimed at both mental health professionals and the general public.


title: Messerschmitt

text: Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in particular the Bf 109 and Me 262. The company survived in the post-war era, undergoing a number of mergers and changing its name from Messerschmitt to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm before being bought by Deutsche Aerospace (DASA, now part of Airbus) in 1989.


title: Messerschmitt

text: In February 1916, the south German engineering company MAN AG and several banks purchased the unprofitable aircraft builder Otto-Flugzeugwerke, starting a new company, "Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG" (abbreviated "B.F.W."). The articles of association were drawn up on 19 and 20 February, and completed on 2 March 1916. Details of the company were recorded in the Commercial Register with an equity capital of RM 1,000,000 on 7 March 1916. 36% of the capital was provided by the Bank für Handel und Industrie, Berlin, 30% by MAN AG and 34% by Hermann Bachstein, Berlin. The first Chairman of the Board of Management was Peter Eberwein, who had previously been employed at Albatros Flugzeugwerke.


title: Messerschmitt

text: Due to the need for immediate aircraft production for the ongoing war, there was no time for development work and BFW manufactured aircraft under licence from Albatros Flugzeugwerke. Within a month of being set up, the company was able to supply aircraft to the war ministries of Prussia and Bavaria. However, major quality problems were encountered at the start. The German air crews frequently complained about the serious defects that appeared in the first machines from BFW. The same thing had happened with the aircraft from the predecessor company run by Gustav Otto. It was only organizational changes and more intensive supervision of the assembly line that succeeded in resolving these problems by the end of 1916. BFW then started turning out over 200 aircraft a month, with their workforce growing to 3,000 and becoming one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Bavaria.


title: Messerschmitt

text: The end of the war hit BFW hard, since military demand for aircraft collapsed. The company's management were forced to look for new products with which to maintain their position in the market. Since World War I aircraft were largely built from wood to keep their weight down, BFW was equipped with the very latest joinery plant. The company still held stocks of materials sufficient for about 200 aircraft, and worth 4.7 million reichsmarks. The machinery and the materials were then used for the production of furniture and fitted kitchens. In addition, from 1921 onwards, the company manufactured motorcycles of its own design under the names of Flink and Helios.


title: Messerschmitt

text: In the autumn of 1921, Austrian financier Camillo Castiglioni first announced his interest in purchasing BFW. While most of the shareholders accepted his offer, MAN AG initially held on to its shareholding in BFW, but Castiglioni wanted to acquire all the shares. He was supported in this by BMW's Managing Director Franz Josef Popp who, in a letter to the chairman of MAN, described BFW as a "dead factory, which possesses no plant worth mentioning, and consists very largely of dilapidated and unsuitable wooden sheds situated in a town that is extremely unfavorable for industrial activities and whose status continues to give little cause for enthusiasm". Apparently Popp was still in close contact with Castiglioni and was perhaps even privy to the latter's plans for merging BMW with BFW. It was probably in the spring of 1922 that Castiglioni and Popp persuaded MAN to give up its shares in BFW, so that now the company belonged exclusively to Castiglioni. Then, in May of the same year, when the Italian-born investor was able to acquire BMW's engine business from Knorr-Bremse AG, nothing more stood in the way of a merger between the aircraft company BFW and the engine builders BMW.


title: Messerschmitt

text: Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) (Bavarian Aircraft Works) was reformed in 1926, in Augsburg, Bavaria, when Udet Flugzeugbau GmbH was changed into a joint-stock company. In the early stages, BMW AG held a stake in this company and was represented by Josef Popp, who held a place on the Supervisory Board.


title: Messerschmitt

text: Willy Messerschmitt joined the company in 1927 as chief designer and engineer and formed a design team.


title: Messerschmitt

text: One of the first designs, the Messerschmitt M20, was a near-catastrophe for the designer and the company. Many of the prototypes crashed, one of them killing Hans Hackmack, a close friend of Erhard Milch, the head of Deutsche Luft Hansa and the German civil aviation authorities. Milch was upset by the lack of response from Messerschmitt and this led to a lifelong hatred towards him. Milch eventually cancelled all contracts with Messerschmitt and forced BFW into bankruptcy in 1931. However, Messerschmitt's friendship with Hugo Junkers prevented a stagnation of the careers of him and BFW, which was started again in 1933. Milch still prevented Messerschmitt's takeover of the BFW until 1938, hence the designation "Bf" of early Messerschmitt designs.


title: Messerschmitt

text: Messerschmitt promoted a concept he called "light weight construction" in which many typically separate load-bearing parts were merged into a single reinforced firewall, thereby saving weight and improving performance. The first true test of the concept was in the Bf 108 "Taifun" sports aircraft, which would soon be setting all sorts of records. Based on this performance the company was invited to submit a design for the Luftwaffe's 1935 fighter contest, winning it with the Bf 109, based on the same construction methods.


title: Messerschmitt

text: From this point on Messerschmitt became a favorite of the Nazi party, as much for his designs as his political abilities and the factory location in southern Germany away from the "clumping" of aviation firms on the northern coast. BFW was reconstituted as "Messerschmitt AG" on 11 July 1938, with Willy Messerschmitt as chairman and managing director. The renaming of BFW resulted in the company's RLM designation prefix changing from "Bf" to "Me" for all newer designs that were accepted by the RLM after the acquisition date. Existing types, such as the Bf 109 and 110, retained their earlier designation in official documents, although sometimes the newer designations were used as well, most often by subcontractors, such as Erla Maschinenwerk of Leipzig. In practice, all BFW/Messerschmitt aircraft from the Bf 108 four-seat touring monoplane, to the Bf 163 light observation aircraft (which competed unsuccessfully for the government contract won by the rival Fieseler Fi 156 design) were prefixed "Bf", all later types with "Me".


title: Messerschmitt

text: During the war Messerschmitt became a major design supplier, their Bf 109 and Bf 110 forming the vast majority of fighter strength for the first half of the war. Several other designs were also ordered, including the enormous Me 321 "Gigant" transport glider, and its six-engined follow on, the Me 323. However, for the second half of the war, Messerschmitt turned almost entirely to jet-powered designs, producing the world's first operational jet fighter, the Me 262 "Schwalbe" ("Swallow"). They also produced the DFS-designed Me 163 "Komet", the first rocket-powered design to enter service. Messerschmitt relied heavily on slave labour to produce much of the parts needed for these aircraft during the second half of World War II; these parts were assembled in an enormous tunnel system in Sankt Georgen an der Gusen, Austria. Slave labour was provided by inmates of the brutal KZ Gusen I and Gusen II camps, and by inmates from nearby Mauthausen concentration camp, all located near the St. Gorgen quarries. 40,000 inmates from Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, France, Russia, Hungarian Jews and twenty other nationalities were murdered during the production of these aircraft at KZ Gusen. Messerschmitt officials maintained barracks at the concentration camp to oversee the work being done by the inmates. Messerschmitt, and its executive Willy Messerschmitt also occupied the famed Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich in the 1920s; the Messerschmitt aircraft factory office and the Gestapo occupied the property during the war.


title: Messerschmitt

text: Messerschmitt had its share of poor designs as well; the Me 210, designed as a follow-on to the 110, was an aerodynamic disaster that almost led to the forced dissolution of the company. The design problems were eventually addressed in the Me 410 "Hornisse", but only small numbers were built before all attention turned to the 262. Later in the war, in competition with the Junkers Ju 390 and the unbuilt, February 1943-initiated Heinkel He 277, Messerschmitt also worked on a heavy "Amerika Bomber" design, the Me 264, which flew in prototype form — with three prototype airframes built, the first of which flew in December 1942 — but was too late to see combat.


title: Messerschmitt

text: For ten years after World War II, the company was not allowed to produce aircraft. One alternative the company came up with was the three-wheeled motorcycle/bubble car or Kabinenroller (cabinscooter) KR175 / KR200, designed by an aircraft engineer, Fritz Fend.


title: Messerschmitt

text: The cars were actually made by Fend's own company in the Messerschmitt works at Regensburg, and Willy Messerschmitt had very little to do with the vehicles other than ruling that they carried his name. Production of the KR200 ceased in 1964.


title: Messerschmitt

text: The Messerschmitt factory also produced prefabricated houses, which were designed as "self-building-kits" mainly based on an alloy framework.


title: Messerschmitt

text: On 6 June 1968, Messerschmitt AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm Bölkow, becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May, the firm acquired Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB). The company then changed its name to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). In 1989 MBB was taken over by DASA. DASA later operated as "EADS Germany", which is now Airbus.


title: PIT maneuver

text: The PIT maneuver (precision immobilization technique) or TVI (tactical vehicle intervention) is a pursuit tactic by which a pursuing car can force a fleeing car to turn sideways abruptly, causing the driver to lose control and stop. It was developed by BSR Inc. and first used by the Fairfax County Police Department of Virginia, United States. Other interpretations of the acronym "PIT" include pursuit immobilization technique, pursuit intervention technique, parallel immobilization technique, and precision intervention tactic. The technique is also known as tactical car intervention, tactical ramming, legal intervention, and fishtailing.


title: PIT maneuver

text: Other methods of stopping a fugitive vehicle include the use of spike strips, or the use of tactical pursuit and containment (see below).


title: PIT maneuver

text: The PIT maneuver was adapted from the bump and run technique used in stock car racing, where a driver would bump a competitor in the rear bumper to cause the other car to lose traction and swerve away from the racing line. The PIT maneuver differs from the bump and run in that the car is bumped from the side near the rear wheel, causing the vehicle in front to spin out. It is illegal to perform this maneuver intentionally in stock car racing because it is very dangerous. The high speed involved in auto racing makes it much easier for drivers to take out another car with a less substantial bump than at lower speeds. When employing the PIT maneuver, the speed of the two cars involved will determine how far the car will travel once it is bumped. Partially for this reason, the higher the speed, the more unpredictable and dangerous the PIT maneuver becomes. This is just one of the very important factors a police officer must consider before implementing the PIT maneuver.


title: PIT maneuver

text: The PIT technique originated in West Virginia during the late 1980s to halt fleeing vehicles as "tactical vehicle interception (T.V.I.)." The first U.S. law enforcement agency to teach PIT was the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia, which modified the technique's parameters for initiation and execution in police tactics. Terry Pearson and Joseph McDowell were the first law enforcement officers to incorporate the technique into officer training. Terry Pearson named it the "Precision Immobilization Technique" or P.I.T.


title: PIT maneuver

text: "Known initially as "tactical ramming" or "legal intervention", this maneuver was more fully developed and popularized more than a decade ago by BSR Inc., the Summit Point, West Virginia, advanced driver training center, as tactical vehicle interception (TVI), a formal training technique for law enforcement. The first large law enforcement agency to teach TVI as a technique to halt fleeing vehicles was the Fairfax County (Virginia) Police Department, which modified the program for police use and named it "Precision Immobilization Technique" or P.I.T."


title: PIT maneuver

text: Police departments throughout the United States consider the PIT maneuver as an intermediate force option that can safely end a pursuit. Police vehicles often have reinforced front bumpers to support this technique.


title: PIT maneuver

text: The PIT begins when the pursuing vehicle pulls alongside the fleeing vehicle so that the portion of the pursuer's vehicle forward of the front wheels is aligned with the portion of the target vehicle behind the back wheels. The pursuer gently makes contact with the target's side, then steers sharply into the target. The pursuer must also accelerate or its bumper will slide off the target vehicle. As soon as the fleeing vehicle's rear tires lose traction and start to skid, the pursuer continues to turn in the same direction until clear of the target. This is more of a committed lane change than an actual turn. The target will turn in the opposite direction, in front of the pursuer, and will spin out. The PIT may be done from either side, but consideration must be given to where both cars will end up.


title: PIT maneuver

text: Typically, another police car will tail the PIT unit to proceed with the arrest, while the PIT unit recovers its own control and completely stops the car. The PIT does not immobilize the suspect vehicle and to prevent further flight, two police cars need to pin the suspect between them, front and rear.


title: PIT maneuver

text: While steering into the skid (away from the pursuing vehicle) will reduce its effect, the fact that the pursuing car is continuing to push the rear of the target sideways virtually ensures loss of control of the targeted vehicle. By moving forward out of position, or by staying squarely in front of the PIT unit, the lead vehicle can disallow the PIT unit from gaining proper positioning to conduct the maneuver. Alternatively, rapid deceleration will, of course, force the PIT unit to overshoot the required positioning.


title: PIT maneuver

text: The PIT is not applicable in every situation, and many factors affect the usefulness of the technique. Many of these factors relate to safety concerns: typical police regulation recommends that an officer not attempt the PIT at speeds greater than , and requires careful choice of location, considering all possible effects on other traffic vehicles and pedestrians. Because of the police department's potential liability for the injury or death of not only of the occupants of the target vehicle, but also bystanders, most departments limit its use to only the most high-risk scenarios. Most departments specify that the PIT should only be used to stop pursuits that are immediately dangerous and ongoing. When possible, a minimum of three pursuers should be present when a PIT is executed: one as the PIT vehicle and two following at a greater distance to react to the results.


title: PIT maneuver

text: The PIT is especially hazardous when the vehicles' bumpers are of significantly different heights, or against target vehicles with a high center of gravity such as vans or SUVs. High center of gravity vehicles frequently roll over. It cannot be safely used on motorcycles at any speed.


title: PIT maneuver

text: At speeds below 35 MPH, the PIT maneuver can be used on a fleeing vehicle, if the legal parameters would justify "less than lethal force" against the driver. At speeds greater than 35 MPH, the technique still works, but given that kinetic energy (the key injury-severity determinant) increases with speed squared, the PIT maneuver is considered potentially lethal and normally would only be used if lethal force is justified against all occupants (and when no risk to bystanders nor other vehicles is foreseeable). The tactic is best used when the driver is on surface streets and cornering. The aforementioned reality that kinetic energy quadruples with every doubling in speed (and increases nine-fold when speed is tripled) also means that a high-speed motorist who is allowed to escape could kill innocent people. With this in mind, the PIT maneuver can sometimes be justified for a traffic offense. However, because unwilling or innocent passengers may be present in the car, there is an inherent difficulty in justifying the use of PITs.


title: PIT maneuver

text: Some people suggest that due to the electronic control systems on many modern vehicles, the policies of using PIT maneuvers might need to be reconsidered.


title: PIT maneuver

text: Tactical Pursuit And Containment (TPAC) is a term used by police in the United Kingdom, and describes training for managing and terminating police pursuits. TPAC embodies several methods of stopping fleeing vehicles, including rolling roadblocks, use of spike strips, and the "box and stop" containment method. TPAC is most effective on separated carriageways (such as motorways) where the path of the suspect is limited. It is not suited to roads with frequent cross-roads, those with two-way traffic on a single carriageway, or highways where the suspect may escape by means of a U-turn across the median strip.


title: PIT maneuver

text: Once a fleeing driver is contained on a motorway, a rolling block is initiated ahead of the pursuit. When the pursuit reaches the slowed traffic, the suspect can either attempt to pass the traffic or stay behind it. If the suspect chooses to stay behind the traffic, communication between the pursuing vehicles and the blocking vehicle(s) will lead to the block coming to a standstill, and the vehicle is surrounded and occupants detained. If the fleeing driver chooses to pass the traffic, usually on the hard shoulder, the pursuing vehicles follow it. Once past the traffic, the police vehicles can box in the suspect's vehicle and bring it to a controlled stop through coordinated braking, utilizing the sterile area in front of the blocking vehicle(s) to do so without endangering other road users.


title: PIT maneuver

text: In the UK, TPAC is specialist training given to advanced police drivers. As with the PIT technique, consideration has to be given to the size, weight and center of gravity of the fleeing vehicle.


title: PIT maneuver

text: British police are comfortable with the TPAC, as fleeing drivers are usually considered to be unarmed, and driving beside or in front of them is not a hazard. Police in the US assume the driver is armed and prefer the PIT maneuver, as it is done from behind the suspect vehicle.


title: PIT maneuver

text: The typical PIT, seen in North America, can be utilized by trained police officers in the UK, typically on roads policing or armed response units. Rather than being referred to as a PIT, it simply forms part of 'tactical contact'.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, office, military decoration, or honour, or is a member of a religious institute or fraternity. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters, but in some contexts it may be customary to limit the number of sets to one or just a few. The order in which post-nominals are listed after a name is based on rules of precedence and what is appropriate for a given situation. Post-nominal letters are one of the main types of name suffix. In contrast, pre-nominal letters precede the name rather than following it, such as addressing a physician or professor as "Dr. Smith".


title: Post-nominal letters

text: The order in which post-nominal letters are listed after a person's name is dictated by standard practice, which may vary by region and context.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Various University Style Guides, such as: the University of Sydney Style Guide and the Australian Government Style Manual and that of the various State Governments.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Outside of any specific academic or State or Federal Government requirement, then in the following order:


title: Post-nominal letters

text: The Canadian government's "The Canadian Style" specifies that no more than two sets of post-nominal letters should normally be given, unless all are to be given either for information or for reasons of protocol, and that these should be the two highest of different types. The types and the order in which they are given are:


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Going back to the mid 17th century, today's classical European fraternities such as the German Student Corps have used post-nominal symbols and letters to allow their members to indicate their fraternity membership and honorary positions held in their signature.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In the United Kingdom various sources have issued guidance on the ordering of styles and titles for British citizens, including the Ministry of Justice, Debrett's and A & C Black's "Titles and Forms of Address"; these are generally in close agreement, with the exception of the position of MP, etc., in the listing:


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In addition, British citizens who have received honours from Commonwealth countries are usually given permission from the King to use the postnominals for that honour.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: The Oxford University Style Guide and the University of Nottingham Style Guide give the alternative ordering:


title: Post-nominal letters

text: This differs from the civil ordering in that it omits appointments except for KC, includes diplomas and certificates in addition to degrees, merges medical qualifications, fellowships of learned societies, royal academicians, and membership of professional bodies into a single item, and omits membership of the armed forces.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Loughborough University gives a very similar ordering, but with "Appointments (e.g MP, KC)" replacing item 3 (KC) and "Higher Education awards (in ascending order, commencing with undergraduate)" replacing items 4–6 (degrees, diplomas and certificates). This restores the Appointments section from the civil list omitted by Oxford and Nottingham, although the other differences remain.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Nottingham Trent University gives essentially the same ordering as Oxford and Nottingham, but without specifying the order in which degrees should be given. Nottingham Trent, Oxford and Loughborough recommend degree abbreviations be given in mixed case without stops between the letters (e.g. BA, not B.A.; PhD, not Ph.D.), as does Cambridge. Imperial College London, however, uses all small caps for post-nominals (e.g. , not PhD).


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Where all degrees are shown, as in university calendars, most universities will give these in ascending order. However, advice on the precise ordering varies:


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Active duty services personnel do not use any post-nominals other than, if applicable, Staff Corps affiliation (Navy only) followed by a comma and then their branch of service. Names are bracketed by the appropriate pre-nominal and post-nominal, e.g. LCDR John Q Public, MC, USN.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In the UK, it is usual to list only doctorates, degrees in medicine, and degrees in divinity. In particular, when a person has letters indicating Crown honours or decorations, only the principal degree would normally be given. The University of Oxford Style Guide advises writers: "Remember that you do not need to list all awards, degrees, memberships etc held by an individual – only those items relevant to your writing."


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In an academic context, or in formal lists, all degrees may be listed in ascending order of academic status, which may not be the same as the order in which they were obtained (although see notes on medical qualifications, below). The Oxford style is to list qualifications by their title starting with bachelor's degrees, then master's degrees, then doctorates. Postgraduate Certificates and Diplomas are listed after doctorates, but before professional qualifications, with a similar ordering being used by other universities. In this style, foundation degrees and other sub-bachelor qualifications are not shown. An alternative style is to give all higher education qualifications, starting from undergraduate, ordered by their level rather than their title. In this style, one might list a Certificate or Diploma of Higher Education first, then foundation degrees, first degrees at bachelor level, first degrees at master level (integrated master's degrees and first degrees in medicine), postgraduate degrees at master level (including postgraduate bachelor's degrees such the Oxford BCL), and doctorates. In this style, postgraduate certificates and diplomas could be shown either before postgraduate degrees at master's level (as in the table given by Loughborough University) or before first degrees at master's level (reflecting their position in the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies). Strictly speaking, both the Debrett's and Ministry of Justice lists only allow for the inclusion of degrees, not non-degree academic awards.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: For someone with a substantive doctorate, it is usual either to give "Dr" as the title (without a stop per normal British usage) or to list their degrees post-nominally, e.g. "Dr John Smith" or "John Smith, PhD" but not "Dr John Smith, PhD". Postnominals may be used with other titles, e.g. "Mr John Smith, PhD", "Sir John Smith, PhD", or "The Rev John Smith, PhD".


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In the case of a BA from Oxford, Cambridge or Dublin who proceeds to be an MA of those universities (which is taken without further study), the MA replaces the BA and thus only the MA should be listed. Oxford has said that there is no risk of confusion between their MA and "earned" MAs as the Oxford MA is denoted "MA (Oxon)" rather than simply MA. However, Debrett's has advised using just "MA" to describe a Cambridge Master of Arts.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Graduates from British and Irish universities sometimes add the name of the university that awarded their degree after the post-nominals for their degree, either in parentheses or not, depending on preferred style. University names are often abbreviated and sometimes given in Latin, e.g."BA, MA (Dunelm), PhD (Ebor)"; a list of abbreviations used for university names can be found at Universities in the United Kingdom#Post-nominal abbreviations. Where the same degree has been granted by more than one university, this can be shown by placing the names or abbreviations in a single bracket after the degree name, e.g. ", Mus.D. (Oxon., Cantab., Dunelm. et Yale, U.S.A.), LL.D. (Leeds, Aberdeen, and W. University, Pennsylvania.)".


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Honorary degrees, if shown, can be indicated either by "Hon" before the post-nominals for the degree or "hc" (for "honoris causa") after the post-nominals, e.g. "Professor Evelyn Algernon Valentine Ebsworth CBE, PhD, MA, ScD, DCL hc, FRSC, FRSE" (emphasis added); "Professor Stephen Hawking Hon.ScD, CH, CBE, FRS" (emphasis added). The Oxford University Calendar Style Guide recommends not giving honorary degrees in post-nominals.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In academia and research, all degrees may be listed. In general, however, it is normal to only list those relevant to the circumstance. For example, if Jane Doe had a BS, MS, and PhD in computer science as well as an MBA, then if working in management in a retail company she would write "Jane Doe, MBA", but if working in an IT company she might write "Jane Doe, PhD", and if working in academia she could write "Jane Doe, BS, MS, MBA, PhD".


title: Post-nominal letters

text: The Gregg Reference Manual recommends placing periods between the letters of post-nominals (e.g., "B.S.", "Ph.D."); however, The Chicago Manual of Style recommends writing degrees without periods (e.g., "BS", "PhD"). If post-nominals are given, the full name should be used, without Dr., Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss. Other prefixes (e.g., "Professor") may be used.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In contrast to the style for academic qualifications, medical qualifications are listed in "descending" order, i.e.: doctorates, master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, postgraduate diplomas, and qualifying diplomas. Letters indicating doctorates, master's degrees and fellowships of royal colleges are always given, while bachelor's degrees, memberships and qualifying diplomas are only shown for people with no higher qualifications. In all but formal lists, only three medical qualifications are normally given.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Where someone holds qualifications in multiple fields, they are normally given in the order: medicine, surgery (except for MRCS, which is considered a qualifying diploma), obstetrics, gynaecology and other specialities. These are followed by qualifying diplomas and other diplomas.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Note that the academic style guides do not have a separate section for medical qualifications, so if following one of these guides, medical degrees should be listed with other degrees, medical diplomas with other diplomas, and fellowships and memberships of royal colleges with other fellowships and memberships of professional bodies.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In Africa, learned societies and professional bodies use designatory letters for their members and fellowships. For example, professionals admitted to the African Planning Society are entitled to place postnominal letters behind their names:


title: Post-nominal letters

text: In the UK there is, according to Debrett's, no defined order of precedence for placing designatory letters for fellowships of learned societies and memberships of professional bodies within their respective groups. Debrett's suggests that "In practice, where one society is indisputably of greater importance than another the letters are usually placed in that order. Alternatively, the fellowship of the junior society may be omitted. If such precedence cannot be determined, the letters may be placed in order of conferment. Where this is not known, they may be placed in alphabetical order." Earlier guidance that "Strictly speaking, they should be arranged according to date of foundation or incorporation of the societies concerned" has now been removed.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Only postnominals indicating honorific fellowships (e.g., FRS, FBA, FREng) are normally used socially. For professional bodies it is usual to list those most relevant to a person's profession first, or those most relevant to the particular circumstances. It is common to omit fellowships (except honorific fellowships) and memberships that are not relevant in a given situation.


title: Post-nominal letters

text: Debrett's notes that although Royal Academicians are listed after fellows of learned societies (and before members of professional bodies), they do not yield to them in precedence, "In practice the two lists do not coincide."


title: Post-nominal letters

text: The distinction between a learned society and a professional body is not well defined. Many organisations (e.g., the Royal Society of Chemistry) claim to be both learned societies and professional bodies. However, it is clear from both the Ministry of Justice and Debrett's that only "fellowships" of learned societies are listed, while "fellowships and memberships" may be listed for professional bodies.


title: Orders, decorations, and medals of India

text: The Indian honours system is the system of awards given to individuals for a variety of services to the Republic of India. The categories of awards are as follows:


text: The Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India, was instituted in the year 1954. Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, gender or religion is eligible for this award. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavor. On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a "Sanad" (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.


text: Padma Awards were instituted in the year 1954. Except for brief interruptions during the years 1978 to 1979 and 1993 to 1997, these awards have been announced every year on Republic Day. The award is given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, in decreasing order of precedence.


text: Unlike national honours, the Padma awards do not include cash allowances, benefits, or special concessions in rail/air travel. Per a December 1995 judgment of the Supreme Court of India, no titles or honorifics are associated with the Bharat Ratna or any of the Padma awards; honorees cannot use them or their initials as suffixes, prefixes or pre- and post-nominals attached to the awardee's name. This includes any such use on letterheads, invitation cards, posters, books etc. In the case of any misuse, the awardee will forfeit the award, and he or she is cautioned against any such misuse upon receiving the honour.


text: These awards seek to recognize work of any distinction, and is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements/service in all fields of activities/disciplines, such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry, etc. All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards.


text: In 2015, the government decided to end the practice of ministers recommending names for Padma awards and replaced it with any Indian citizen recommending a person for Padma awards online. The government said that this was done with the belief that every citizen has something to contribute to the nation and that contribution should be integrated with the country's growth. Accordingly, several hitherto unknown citizens were awarded Padma awards in 2017. The role of the state governments was also minimised.


text: While there are no specific criteria for withdrawing a Padma award, the President of India, per the awards' statutes, may cancel and annul any award in the case of any misconduct committed by the recipient. At least three awards of the Padma Shri have been so annulled, twice in 1958 for recipients residing in the state of Punjab and once in 1974 for a recipient residing in the state of Gujarat.


text: Since 11 July 2019, the Indian Army allows close relatives of deceased military personnel to wear their medals on the right side of the chest while attending homage ceremonies at war memorials, cemeteries and funerals.


text: These awards were instituted on 4 January 1952. These awards were renamed on 27 January 1967 as Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra from Ashoka Chakra (Class I), Ashoka Chakra (Class II) and Ashoka Chakra (Class III) respectively.


text: National Corporate Social Responsibility Awards are given by the president of India. These awards have been instituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Awards are given in 20 different sub-categories.


title: Middleware

text: Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".


title: Middleware

text: Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement communication and input/output, so they can focus on the specific purpose of their application. It gained popularity in the 1980s as a solution to the problem of how to link newer applications to older legacy systems, although the term had been in use since 1968.


title: Middleware

text: The term is most commonly used for software that enables communication and management of data in distributed applications. An IETF workshop in 2000 defined middleware as "those services found above the transport (i.e. over TCP/IP) layer set of services but below the application environment" (i.e. below application-level APIs). In this more specific sense "middleware" can be described as the dash ("-") in "client-server", or the "-to-" in "peer-to-peer". Middleware includes web servers, application servers, content management systems, and similar tools that support application development and delivery.


title: Middleware

text: ObjectWeb defines middleware as: "The software layer that lies between the operating system and applications on each side of a distributed computing system in a network." Services that can be regarded as middleware include enterprise application integration, data integration, message oriented middleware (MOM), object request brokers (ORBs), and the enterprise service bus (ESB).


title: Middleware

text: Database access services are often characterised as middleware. Some of them are language specific implementations and support heterogeneous features and other related communication features. Examples of database-oriented middleware include ODBC, JDBC and transaction processing monitors.


title: Middleware

text: Distributed computing system middleware can loosely be divided into two categories—those that provide human-time services (such as web request servicing) and those that perform in machine-time. This latter middleware is somewhat standardized through the Service Availability Forum and is commonly used in complex, embedded systems within telecom, defence and aerospace industries.


title: Middleware

text: Many definitions exist regarding the categorization of middleware specifying either on the field that it is used or the application module it serves. In recent bibliography, the main categories of middleware are the following:


title: Middleware

text: The term "middleware" is used in other contexts as well. "Middleware" is sometimes used in a similar sense to a software driver, an abstraction layer that hides detail about hardware devices or other software from an application.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Gump & Co. (or Forrest Gump and Co.) is a 1995 novel by Winston Groom. It is the sequel to his 1986 novel "Forrest Gump" and the Academy Award-winning 1994 film of the same name starring Tom Hanks. It was written to chronicle Forrest's life throughout the 1980s.


title: Gump and Co.

text: On the first page, Forrest Gump tells readers "Don't ever let nobody make a movie of your life's story," and "Whether they get it right or wrong, it don't matter."


title: Gump and Co.

text: However, the character is not an idiot savant, as in the first book, but more similar to Tom Hanks' "warmhearted dope." The text intentionally contains grammar and spelling mistakes in order to indicate the character's deficient education and cognitive difficulties, albeit less frequently than its predecessor, reflecting that Forrest is a more mature and somewhat more astute man.


title: Gump and Co.

text: In 1980, the shrimp market has exploded, and Forrest cannot keep up with the demand. Adding to Forrest's troubles, Lt. Dan sells off his share of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and the company eventually goes under. To make ends meet he gets a job as a janitor in a strip club, where he meets a former college football teammate who gets in a tryout for the New Orleans Saints. Forrest is kicked off the team when he's informed that Jenny has died and leaves town for her funeral. Jenny's mother is in poor health and Forrest resolves to earn money to support his son, Forrest, Jr, who only recently became aware that Forrest is his actual father.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Again unemployed, Forrest sells encyclopedias door-to-door, helps create the infamous New Coke, and operates a pig farm, all of which end in disaster.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Once at Union Station in Washington, Forrest sees a homeless, handicapped man, who says he is Lt. Dan, who had fallen in with those who took advantage of him and absconded with his retirement money, leaving him bankrupt. On top of that, Dan has become half-blind. Forrest, not wishing to see Dan homeless, says they will work something out. Forrest soon meets with a Marine colonel who recruits Forrest into a clandestine mission to Iran. They meet with Ronald Reagan. On the mission itself, they meet Ayatollah Khomeini. The mission is discovered, and everyone disavows responsibility save for Forrest, who is jailed.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Some time later, Forrest and the other prisoners are eligible for a work release program, to which they are put to work under a "religious rehabilitation" at Holy Land, along with John Hinckley Jr., where he accidentally exposes Jim Bakker's affair with his secretary.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Forrest then works with Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken on Wall Street, where he and his son meet Tom Hanks, who does not impress them. Forrest is visited by Jenny's ghost, who is worried about Forrest. Sure enough, he is set up to be the fall guy for their schemes, but his trial is disrupted by news of a crash. He's later met by two MPs, who tell him that due to an error in being medically released while in Vietnam, his enlistment has yet to expire and he is back on active duty. He is taken from New York to a remote post in Alaska, while his son stays behind.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Forrest considers Alaska a nice change of pace from the superficiality of Manhattan, but ends up accidentally wrecking the Exxon Valdez after a drunken night with an old friend. In the environmental hoopla that ensues, the Army spirits Forrest out of the States and decides to quiet his involvement, as court-martialing a Medal of Honor recipient would look bad. Forrest is then assigned to the reputed worst job in the Army: cleaning mud off tank treads in West Germany.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Forrest also meets an attractive blonde woman named Gretchen, who works in a beer hall. Originally from East Germany, Gretchen was spirited to the West, but her family still remains in the Soviet zone. Forrest and Gretchen start dating, but when Forrest suggests buying Little Forrest an oompah horn, Gretchen thinks he cannot afford such a gift on a private's salary and suggests better rapport could be built through writing letters explaining his situation in Germany.


title: Gump and Co.

text: When Forrest's background in pro football is discovered, he gets recruited for the unit's football team. During a game, Forrest punts the ball, which flies over the Berlin Wall, causing another turn of events where people in both East and West Berlin start breaking the wall with sledgehammers.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Forrest is deployed for the Persian Gulf War, where he is reunited with Lt. Dan. His tank crew captures Saddam Hussein. Norman Schwarzkopf is shocked at this, while privately praising such initiative, he remarks they got all of them in trouble with President Bush as it was not in the orders to get Saddam, and orders Hussein returned. They do so, taking Hussein to the outskirts of Baghdad. However, right afterwards they are hit by friendly fire. Forrest flees to safety, but not Lt. Dan, who says his time has come like all his ancestors who died in an American war.


title: Gump and Co.

text: Forrest starts harvesting oysters and builds it into a very successful business with the help of Forrest Jr. and all his old contacts. When thinking about investing the proceeds, he meets Bill and Hillary Clinton at Whitewater. The final chapter deals with Forrest arguing with Forrest Jr., who has taken up to adolescent rebellion by clandestinely drinking beer, and Forrest Sr. laying down the law in an old-fashioned way. Forrest gets one final visit from Jenny saying that he has set their son straight and that she "likes that German girl", implying that she is ready to crossover to Heaven. Forrest marries Gretchen, and his story gets put into film.


title: Gump and Co.

text: A sequel had been in the works, due to the success of the first book and film, but was delayed after the September 11 attacks and languished in development hell; the script for the sequel was submitted on September 10, 2001, a day before the attacks.


title: Gump and Co.

text: The publisher, Simon & Schuster, cite a number of positive reviews, including Patricia Holt, in the "San Francisco Chronicle", saying it "is a delight".


title: Tears for Fears discography

text: The English new wave/pop rock band Tears for Fears have released seven studio albums, along with numerous singles, compilations and videos. Formed in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, the duo signed to Phonogram Records in the UK and released their first single the same year. It was not until Tears for Fears' third single, "Mad World" (1982), that they scored their first hit, and their platinum-selling debut album "The Hurting" (1983) was a UK number one.


title: Tears for Fears discography

text: Their second album, "Songs from the Big Chair", was released in 1985 and became a worldwide hit, establishing the band in the US. After a third platinum-selling studio album, "The Seeds of Love" (1989), Smith and Orzabal parted company. The band's first Greatest Hits album was released in 1992 and went double platinum in the UK. Subsequent Tears for Fears studio albums "Elemental" (1993) and "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" (1995) were effectively solo albums by Orzabal. However, the duo reformed in 2000 for a new studio album, "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending", which was released in 2004/05. Although continuing to tour regularly across the world, the band's recording output slowed down for several years. A new compilation album, "", was released in 2017, giving the band their sixth UK Top 20 album. After a lengthy development, the band's seventh studio album, "The Tipping Point", was released in February 2022.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Sputnik V (, the brand name from RDIF) or Gam-COVID-Vac (, the name under which it is legally registered and produced) is an adenovirus viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia. It is the world's first registered combination vector vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19, having been registered on 11 August 2020 by the Russian Ministry of Health.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Gam-COVID-Vac was initially approved for distribution in Russia and then in 59 other countries (as of April 2021) on the preliminary results of Phase I–II studies eventually published on 4 September 2020. Approval in early August of Gam-COVID-Vac was met with criticism in mass media and discussions in the scientific community as to whether approval was justified in the absence of robust scientific research confirming safety and efficacy. A large-scale Brazilian study from Dec. 2020 to May 2021 confirmed its effectiveness and safety, as of Oxford–AstraZeneca's, i.e. above Sinopharm BIBP's.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Emergency mass-distribution of the vaccine began in December 2020 in countries including Russia, Argentina, Belarus, Hungary, Serbia, Pakistan (in limited quantities), the Philippines (in limited quantities), and the United Arab Emirates. The Sputnik V is currently registered and certified in 71 countries. However, as of April 2022 less than 2.5% of the people vaccinated worldwide have taken a Sputnik V dose. In early 2022, as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States and other countries placed RDIF on the list of sanctioned Russian entities and people, significantly reducing Sputnik V future commercial prospects.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine itself is available in two forms: frozen (vaccine storage: below –18 °C) and liquid (vaccine storage: from +2 to +8 °C, produced a little). In addition to the main vaccine, vaccines and its derivatives were also registered: Gam-COVID-Vac-Lyo (, no data on use), Sputnik Light (, used for revaccination, as well as vaccination of foreigners in Russia), Gam-COVID-Vac-M (, for vaccination of adolescents 12–17 years old).


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The vaccine can be formulated in two ways: as a ready-to-use solution in water that is frozen at the common home-freezer storage temperature of or lower, and as a freeze-dried (lyophlilized) powder, "Gam-COVID-Vac-Lyo", which can be stored at . The freeze-dried powder must be reconstituted with sterile water before use. The lyophilized formulation of Gam-COVID-Vac is similar to the smallpox vaccine, circumventing the need for continuous "colder chain" or cold-chain storage – as required for the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna vaccines – and allowing transportation to remote locations with reduced risk of vaccine spoilage.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The first dose (based on Ad26) is administered on the first day, and the second dose (based on Ad5) is administered on the 21st day to boost immune response. Both doses are administered into the deltoid muscle.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Sputnik Light is a registered single-dose vaccine consisting of only the first dose of Sputnik V. It is intended for areas with acute outbreaks and it will be used as a third (booster) dose for those who have received Sputnik V at least 6 months earlier.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On August 11, 2021, the developers of the Sputnik V vaccine offered its 'Sputnik Light' (Ad26) vaccine to Pfizer for trial against the Delta variant.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, or any other vaccine, is determined in a mass vaccination in a "real-world" setting (not in clinical trials). This is an assessment of how well the vaccine protects people from outcomes such as infection, symptomatic illness, hospitalization, and death. Effectiveness is evaluated outside of clinical trials, which by contrast, evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine. A vaccine is generally considered effective if the estimate is ≥50% with a >30% lower limit of the 95% confidence interval. Effectiveness is generally expected to slowly decrease over time.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 25 August, a preliminary version of a case-control study indicated an unadjusted effectiveness of about 50% against symptomatic disease. The authors expected that adjusting for age and sex would increase the estimate, citing an increase from 66% to 81% when adjusting the data for effectiveness against hospitalization.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: A large-scale study in Buenos Aires from December 29, 2020, to May 15, 2021, with 663,602 participants aged 60 and older who received Spunik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, or the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine observed an overall efficacy of against COVID-19-related deaths. The study noted that the three vaccines showed a similar effectiveness against death, and that the effectiveness against infection was similar to that of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine and greater than that of the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: A large-scale study was conducted in Mexico and was published as a preprint, awaiting peer review (as of July 22, 2022). The study,  compared 793,487 adults vaccinated with different vaccines with 4,792,338 unvaccinated adults between December 24, 2020, and September 27, 2021.The results were as follows:


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The vaccine efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine or any other vaccine is evaluated in controlled clinical trials. It is an estimate of how many people who received the vaccine got the disease compared to how many people who got a placebo had the same outcome. On 2 February 2021, an interim analysis from the Moscow trial was published in "The Lancet" reporting an efficacy of after the second dose for all age groups, with no unusual side effects. For the age group of 60 years and older, the reported efficacy was 91.8%. On 12 May, a group of biostatisticians from Russia, the US, France, Italy and the Netherlands questioned the efficacy results in a correspondence in "The Lancet", highlighting <q>data discrepancies</q>, <q>substandard reporting</q>, <q>apparent errors and numerical inconsistencies</q> and a very unlikely homogeneity in vaccine efficacy across age groups.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The authors responded by saying that they had provided the regulatory authorities with all the data necessary for obtaining approval, and that the data included with the paper were enough for readers to confirm the reported vaccine efficacy. They also addressed the protocol queries, and said numerical inconsistencies were "simple typing errors that were formally corrected".


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: In June 2022 a group of biostatisticians from Australia and Singapore published a paper suggesting that the almost identical efficacy for every age group from the Lancet paper is very unlikely to occur in genuine experimental data. The group called for a thorough investigation of the Lancet article, as well as the immediate release of anonymized individual patient data to an unbiased statistical expert, and suggested the Lancet article should be retracted. The Lancet Group recognized the concerns about the validity of data published in Lancet article and invited the authors of the article to respond to these latest questions.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Side effects are mostly mild and similar to other adenovirus vector vaccines such as the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Janssen vaccines. However, unlike the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines, and Pfizer, evidence does not suggest a risk of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Gam-COVID-Vac is a viral vector vaccine based on two recombinant replication-defective human adenoviruses: Ad26 (serotype 26) and Ad5 (serotype 5) replicated in HEK 293 cells. The viruses contain the gene that encodes the full-length spike protein (S) of SARS-CoV-2 to stimulate an immune response. Adenoviral vectors for expression of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein have also been used in two other COVID-19 vaccines. One is called Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, it utilizes the Ad26COV2 viral vector based on the human virus Ad26. For this vaccine, the cell line PER.C6 is used to replicate the vector. Another one called Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID‑19 vaccine, it uses chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAdOx1) as the vector. For both the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 and Gam-COVID-Vac vaccines the producer cells for the production of non-replicating adenoviral vectors were obtained from the HEK 293 cell line. Each dose of Gam-COVID-Vac contains (1.0 ± 0.5) × 10 virus particles.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Both Ad26 and Ad5 were modified to remove the E1 gene to prevent replication outside the HEK 293 cells. For the production of the vaccine, to propagate adenoviral vectors in which the E1 gene was deleted, HEK 293 cells are used, which express several adenoviral genes, including E1. However, although rare, homologous recombination between the inserted cellular sequence and the vector sequence can restore the replication capacity to the vector, with less than 100 replicating adenovirus particles per dose of the vaccine.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The other ingredients (excipients) are the same, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in the two doses.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Large quantities of both adenoviruses are produced by HEK 293 cells that have the E1 gene necessary for viral replication. Rarely, Ad5 can acquire the E1 gene from the HEK 293 cells, restoring its ability to replicate. Gamaleya has set an acceptable limit of 5,000 replicating virus particles per vaccine dose, and quality control documents state that tested batches contain less than 100 replicating virus particles per dose.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The production of the frozen liquid formulation was developed for large-scale use, it is cheaper and easier to manufacture. The production of the freeze-dried formulation takes much more time and resources, although it is more convenient for storage and transportation. It was developed with vaccine delivery to hard-to-reach regions of Russia in mind.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: According to Russian media, the mass production of the Gam-COVID-Vac was launched by 15 August. By that moment, the Russian Federation has already received applications from 20 countries for the supply of 1billion doses of vaccine. Three facilities were able to produce about a million doses per month at each with a potential doubling of capacity by winter. By the end of 2020, Gamaleya Research Institute's production, according to an interview with the organization's spokesperson, was planned to produce 3–5million doses.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: As of March 2021, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has licensed production in India, China, South Korea and Brazil. In the EU, RDIF has signed production agreements. By the end of March 2021 RDIF anticipates 33million doses will have been manufactured in Russia, less than 5% of which will have been exported.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: An agreement for the production of over 100million doses of vaccine in India was made with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which on 11 January 2021 submitted mid-stage trial data to the Indian regulator and recommended moving onto late-stage trials. The RDIF announced plans to sell 100million doses to India, 35million to Uzbekistan, and 32million to Mexico, as well as 25million each to Nepal and Egypt. In India, the first dose of Sputnik V vaccine was administered on 14 May 2021 at Hyderabad. Argentina became the first Latin American country to produce it. Large-scale production started in June 2021. As of 31 December 2021 277 million doses were manufactured, mostly (265 million) in Russia.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 28 February 2022, as a result of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States placed RDIF and its chief executive on its list of sanctioned Russian entities and people. The European Union, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Australia followed later in February and in March. This significantly reduces vaccine's future commercial prospects.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Under a resale arrangement, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) offered Abu Dhabi-based firm, Aurugulf Health Investments the exclusive rights to sell the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. According to media reports, the vaccine was intended to be sold to a host of countries at huge premiums. As per documents reviewed by the Moscow Times, Emirati Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum, a Dubai royal, worked as the middleman for reselling millions of Sputnik V vaccine doses to countries in dire need of COVID-19 vaccine at a higher premium.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Corporate registry data showed that one of the two entities controlling Aurugulf is Royal Group, a conglomerate headed by UAE national security advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Acquired documents, interviews with officials and buyer data showed that countries like Pakistan, Guyana, which were on the receiving end of the vaccine from the UAE, were coerced to pay more than double the price advertised by Russia.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The same deal was further used for reselling 1 million Sputnik V vaccine doses by the Emirati royal Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook al-Maktoum to Kenya for huge mark-ups. However, the deal eventually failed as Nairobi learnt of the first shipment consisting of 75,000 doses not coming directly from Russia.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine was developed by a cellular microbiologists team of the government-backed Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. The group was led by MD and RAS associate member Denis Logunov, who also worked on vaccines for the Ebolavirus and the MERS-coronavirus.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: In May 2020, the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology announced that it had developed the vaccine without serious side effects. By August 2020, phases I and II of two clinical trials (involving 38 patients each) were completed. Only one of them used the formulation which later obtained marketing authorization under limited conditions. This vaccine was given the trade name "Sputnik V", after the world's first artificial satellite.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: During preclinical and clinical trials, 38 participants who received one or two doses of the Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine had produced antibodies against SARS-CoV-2's spike protein, including potent neutralizing antibodies that inactivate viral particles. On 11 August 2020, the Russian minister of Health Mikhail Murashko announced at a government briefing with the participation of President Vladimir Putin regulatory approval of the vaccine for widespread use. The state registration of the vaccine was carried out "conditionally" with post-marketing measures according to the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. The registration certificate for the vaccine stated that it could not be used widely in Russia until 1 January 2021, and before that, it may be provided to "a small number of citizens from vulnerable groups", such as medical staff and the elderly, according to a Ministry of Health spokesperson. The license under register number No. ЛП-006395 ("LP-006395") was issued on 11 August by the Russian Ministry of Health. Although the announcement was made even before the vaccine candidate had been entered into Phase III trials, the practice of marketing authorization "on conditions" also exists in other countries. On 26 August, certificate No. ЛП-006423 ("LP-006423") was issued for the lyophilized formulation "Gam-COVID-Vac-Lyo".


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 12 June 2021, developers announced that they had developed and tested a nasal vaccine for children aged 8 to 12, with no side effects found, and that they expected to release it on 15 September 2021.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: A phase I safety trial began on 18 June 2020. On 4 September 2020, data on 76 participants in a phase I–II trial were published, indicating preliminary evidence of safety and an immune response. The results were challenged by international vaccine scientists as being incomplete, suspicious, and unreliable when identical data were reported for many of the trial participants, but the authors responded that there was a small sample size of nine, and the measured results of titration could only take discrete values (800, 1600, 3200, 6400). Coupled with the observation that values tended to reach a plateau after three to four weeks, they contend that it is not unlikely that several participants would show identical results for days 21 to 28.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: In early November 2020, Israel Hadassah Medical Center director-general Prof. Zeev Rotstein stated that Hadassah's branch in Moscow's Skolkovo Innovation Center was collaborating on a phase III clinical trial.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The ongoing phase III study is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-centre clinical trial involving 40,000 volunteers in Moscow, and is scheduled to run until May 2021. In 2020–2021, phase III clinical studies were also being conducted in Belarus, UAE, India and Venezuela.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On April 13, 2021, India's health ministry said its drug regulator had found that safety and immunogenicity data from a local trial of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine was comparable to that of a late-stage trial done in Russia.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: In May 2021, a study by researchers of the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, found that the vaccine produced antibodies capable of neutralizing the Gamma variant.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: A study in Argentina found that neutralization is maintained against Alpha and Lambda and reduced against Gamma. The degree of reduction, however, does not necessarily imply reduced protection.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: A small study of 12 serum samples found that antibodies from the vaccine effectively neutralize the Alpha variant, with moderately reduced neutralization against the E484K substitution (median 2.8 fold reduction). However, neutralization of the Beta variant was markedly reduced (median 6.1 fold reduction).


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: In August 2020, British and American officials stated that the Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine would likely be rejected due to concerns that the normally rigorous process of vaccine clinical testing was not followed.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: As of December 2020, Belarus and Argentina granted emergency use authorization for the vector-based vaccine. On 21 January 2021, Hungary became the first European Union country to register the shot for emergency use, as well as the United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf region.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 19 January 2021, the Russian authorities applied for the registration of Sputnik V in the European Union, according to the RDIF. On 10 February, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that they had "not received an application for a rolling review or a marketing authorisation for the vaccine". The developers have only expressed their interest that the vaccine be considered for a rolling review, but EMA's Human Medicines Committee (CHMP) and the COVID-19 EMA pandemic Task Force (COVID-ETF) need to give their agreement first before developers can submit their application for initiation of the rolling review process. On 4 March 2021, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA started a rolling review of Sputnik V. The EU applicant is R-Pharm Germany GmbH. On 16 June, Reuters reported that approval of Sputnik V will be delayed at least until September because not all the necessary clinical data has been submitted by the deadline. As of June 2021, Sputnik V is under rolling review process by EMA, but the marketing authorisation application was not submitted yet.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: Emergency use has also been authorized in Algeria, Bolivia, Serbia, the Palestinian territories, and Mexico.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 25 January 2021, Iran approved the vaccine, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying the country hopes to begin purchases and start joint production of the shot "in the near future", after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned the government from importing vaccines from the United States and United Kingdom.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: The Czech Republic is also considering buying Sputnik V, and Prime Minister Andrej Babis dismissed the minister of health, Jan Blatný, who was a loud opponent to the use of Sputnik V.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 4 March 2021, EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) has started a rolling review of Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Russia's Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology. When asked about the prospect of Austria giving Sputnik V the approval (as some other European countries chose to do), EMA management board chair Christa Wirthumer-Hoche pointed to the fact there was not yet sufficient safety data about those who had already been given the vaccine. "We could have Sputnik V on the market in future, when we've examined the necessary data," she said, adding that the vaccine needed to match up to European criteria on quality control and efficacy.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 18 March 2021, German regional leaders including State Premiers and the mayor of Berlin called for the swift approval of the Russian vaccine by the European Medicines Agency to counteract the acute shortages of effective vaccines in Europe. German medical experts have recommended its approval also, and consider the Sputnik Vaccine "clever" and "highly safe".


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 19 March 2021, the Philippine Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Sputnik V, the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be given authorization. The Philippine government planned to buy 20million doses of the vaccine.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 12 April 2021, India approved the use of Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use against COVID-19 based on strong immunogenicity data.


title: Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

text: On 1 March 2021, Slovakia bought 2million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. Slovakia received the first batch of 200,000, and expected to receive another 800,000 doses in March and April. Another 1million doses were set to arrive in May and June.