title: Ultima Online

text: "Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn" was announced in August 2006 and was released August 27, 2007. The new client modernized the game's look, making it easy to add new content without backsliding through outdated and outmoded art, while maintaining the niche market as an MMORPG that can run on lower-end computers. Electronic Arts referred to the "Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn" client as "2.5d," meaning that it was written in 3d and then moved into 2d to make it easier for lower-end computers to run. The client is available as a free download.


title: Ultima Online

text: Electronic Arts originally stated that the "Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn" client would replace the long-standing "Ultima Online" client. As of September 2009, the Kingdom Reborn client has been superseded by a modified version of the KR client, now called the "Enhanced Client". The Kingdom Reborn client no longer works on official shards. The new "Enhanced Client" keeps the rendering engine (including particle effects and light source rendering) from Kingdom Reborn, but not the KR graphics. Support for this client ended to streamline the patch process prior to the release of the expansion.


title: Ultima Online

text: A modified version of the Kingdom Reborn client, renamed as the "Enhanced Client", was introduced as part of the Stygian Abyss expansion. It was released as an open beta in July 2009. Changes included enhanced macro abilities, a more configurable interface, changes to the mapping system, and graphical improvements. The enhanced graphics of the Kingdom Reborn client had been retired in favor of lower resolution original graphics that more closely resembled the original 2D client. This graphic set was based on the Third Dawn client and was previously available in the Kingdom Reborn client as optional original graphics.


title: Ultima Online

text: "Ultima Online" has had several special releases that were not expansions or booster packs, but came with boxed or in-game extras.


title: Ultima Online

text: Two sequels were planned by Electronic Arts, but both were canceled during development so that more focus could be spent on the original.


title: Ultima Online

text: Shadowclan is a guild that gained notoriety within the online gaming community in 1997 by taking the place of non-player character orcs in "Ultima Online". Former clan administrator Ogur was interviewed about Shadowclan in "Massively Multiplayer Games For Dummies". A reference to Shadowclan was written into the official Dark Age of Camelot documentation.


title: Ultima Online

text: Fans of "Ultima Online" reverse-engineered the game to produce server emulators of the original Electronic Arts servers.


title: Advent International

text: Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core sectors.


title: Advent International

text: Since its inception in 1984, Advent has invested $56 billion in private equity capital and, through its buyout programs, has completed more than 375 transactions in 42 countries.


title: Advent International

text: Advent operates from 14 offices in 11 countries, with affiliates in additional countries, and employs over 240 investment professionals.


title: Advent International

text: Advent is a Boston, Massachusetts spin-out from TA Associates by Peter Brooke. Brooke had founded TA Associates in 1968 after having expanded the venture capital operations of TA's parent Tucker Anthony & R.L. Day. In 1985, Advent raised its first fund – a $14 million corporate venture capital program for Nabisco. In 1987, the firm raised the $225 million International Network Fund, its first institutional private equity fund. The firm raised its first European fund in 1989, with the $231 million European Special Situations Fund and opened its London office.


title: Advent International

text: Advent continued its expansion in the 1990s, opening offices in Frankfurt and Milan and merging with UK-based Trinity Capital Partners. In 1994, Advent completed fundraising for the first of its flagship series of funds, Advent Global Private Equity (GPE) II, with $415 million. In 1996, Advent expanded into Latin America raising a dedicated Advent Latin American Private Equity Fund and opening offices in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo.


title: Advent International

text: Advent crossed the billion dollar mark in 1997, with the raising of the $1.2 billion Advent Global Private Equity (GPE) III, and in the last few years of the 1990s, Advent raised additional sector funds focused on media and communications as well as healthcare and life sciences. Advent's founder, Peter Brooke, stepped down as the firm's CEO in 1996, but remained active as the company's chairman.


title: Advent International

text: Through the 2000s, Advent's expansion accelerated as the firm raised additional funds for its various fund families and opening new offices in Europe and Asia. Advent's sixth global private equity fund, raised in 2008 closed with €6.6 billion of investor commitments and the firm raised an additional €1 billion for investments in central Europe.


title: Advent International

text: In March 2016, Advent raised its eighth global private equity fund with $13 billion of investor commitments.


title: Advent International

text: Advent began to invest in Poland in 1995. In total, they have made 13 investments in Poland across multiple sectors, including construction materials, food and beverages, financial services, rail equipment, construction chemicals and the cable industry.


title: Advent International

text: It acquired the British variety store chain Poundland in 2002 and has investments in the Fat Face clothing brand and extended warranty firm Domestic & General.


title: Advent International

text: In 2004 Advent-owned fund Viva Ventures bought the Bulgarian state-owned telecoms monopoly Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (now Vivacom). The company was sold to AIG in 2007.


title: Advent International

text: In 2005, founder of lululemon athletica Chip Wilson partnered with Advent and Highland Capital Partners to sell a 48% minority stake in lululemon athletica.


title: Advent International

text: Advent bought a majority ownership of Bradco Supply, a leading distributor of building products in 2008.


title: Advent International

text: It has acquired a number of companies in Central and Eastern Europe through its dedicated regional funds. These include Romanian Ceramica IASI, one of Romania’s leading ceramic bricks and clay roof tiles producers, Bolix, a leading Polish producer of construction chemicals, Dufa Deutek, Romania’s largest decorative paints producer, and LaborMed Pharma, which manufactures and distributes generic pharmaceuticals primarily for cardiovascular and central nervous system ailments.


title: Advent International

text: In 2007 its Asia affiliate Seavi Advent led the restructuring of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, one of China's largest privately owned shipbuilders, and successfully listed the company on the Singapore Exchange; making it one of the largest IPOs by a foreign company in Singapore.


title: Advent International

text: In March 2009 Advent announced the acquisition of a controlling interest in Fifth Third Processing Solutions, the payment processing business of Fifth Third Bank in a $2.35 billion transaction. The transaction represented one of the largest private equity transactions completed in 2009 amidst the Financial crisis of 2007–2010. The deal was completed in June 2009.


title: Advent International

text: In November 2009 it announced a public tender offer to acquire 100% of Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne S.A. (WSiP), the largest Polish educational publisher.


title: Advent International

text: In April 2010, it took over the company DFS in the United Kingdom. In August 2010 Advent International was credited with spawning the takeover of Mexicana Airlines by an outside investor group. Advent International has no equity investment stakes in the takeover according to published sources.


title: Advent International

text: In 2011 it acquired Mondo Minerals, the second largest global talc producer and British mental health care provider, Priory Group, best known for providing mental health treatments to celebrities such as Eric Clapton and Johnny Depp.


title: Advent International

text: In August 2011, it acquired Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits, a regional chain of quick-service restaurants based in Charlotte, North Carolina.


title: Advent International

text: As of October 1, 2013 Advent had reached agreement with Vista Equity Partners to acquire P2 Energy Solutions.


title: Advent International

text: On August 7, 2014, lululemon athletica inc. and Wilson facilitated Advent's re-engagement in lululemon by selling 13.85% ownership in the company to Advent for approximately $845 million. The transaction received the full support of the lululemon Board of Directors and changes the board dynamic. Advent Managing Partner David M. Mussafer and Managing Director Steven J. Collins will be appointed to lululemon's Board of Directors, expanding the Board from 10 to 12 members. Mr. Mussafer will now share Chairman responsibilities with Michael Casey. Lululemon will also engage an independent expert to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the lululemon Board's committees, policies and procedures over the course of 90 days following the completion of Advent's stock purchase.


title: Advent International

text: In November 2014, Advent completed a new $2.1 billion private equity fund, its Advent Latin American Private Equity Fund VI, thought to be the largest ever raised for Latin America. Advent International also acquired a significant minority ownership of Noosa Yoghurt, a Bellevue-based company, for an undisclosed amount.


title: Advent International

text: Between 2016 and 2018, it acquired business-to-business distributors of industrial supplies Brammer and IPH Group to create Rubix.


title: Advent International

text: In February 2017, it announced that it would partner with CCC Information Services as their sole equity partner, buying out Leonard Green & Partners and TPG Capital.


title: Advent International

text: On May 31st, 2017, Advent and Bpifrance completed the acquisition of Safran Identity & Security (Morpho, now renamed IDEMIA), after receiving clearance from antitrust and regulatory authorities.


title: Advent International

text: Didier Lamouche was appointed President of the Executive Board and Marwan Lahoud Chairman of the Supervisory Board of OT-MORPHO.


title: Advent International

text: On December 20, 2019, the UK government approved Advent's £4 billion takeover of defense supplier Cobham Plc. On July 24, 2019, the firm announced the 165p in cash for each Cobham shares, takeover of the firm. On September 16, 2019, at a shareholders' meeting in London, the proposed takeover deal was approved with 93% voting in favor of the deal, surpassing the requisite 75% votes. The takeover was controversial, with opponents of the deal, such as the former First Sea Lord and Royal Navy chief Admiral Lord West expressing fears. The founding family of Cobham were also vocal opponents of the takeover. These oppositions for the takeover triggered an investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority, on the national security implications of the transaction, which led to the delay in the regulatory approval of the deal.


title: Advent International

text: On 16 December 2022, the geospatial intelligence company Maxar Technologies announced it had been acquired by Advent International for $6.4 billion.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: , abbreviated JT, is a cigarette manufacturing company. It is part of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Large70 indices. In 2009 the company was listed at number 312 on the Fortune 500 list. The company is headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo and Japan Tobacco International's headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. As of 2012 the chairman is Hiroshi Kimura and the CEO is Mitsuomi Koizumi. It was founded as an enterprise of the Japanese government in 1945, and became a public company on 1 April 1985.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: Japan Tobacco is the successor entity to a nationalized tobacco monopoly first established by the Government of Japan in 1898 to secure tax revenue collections from tobacco leaf sales. In 1904, the government's leaf monopoly was extended completely to take over all tobacco business operations in the nation, including all manufactured tobacco products such as cigarettes. The ostensible reason for the expansion of control was to help fund the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War, but because all foreign tobacco interests in Japan at the time were forcibly evicted under the monopolization scheme, this also protected the domestic tobacco business for the following eighty years.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: The business operated within the Japanese government as an arm of the nation's Japanese Ministry of Finance until 1949 when the was established to enforce restrictive labor relations policies under the U.S. and allied forces' Occupation of Japan. The Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation remained a complete state monopoly under direct Japanese Ministry of Finance authority until 1985, when Japan Tobacco, Inc. was formed as a publicly traded stock company. Periodic incremental sales of share to the public began in October 1994. Japan Tobacco became two-thirds owned by the Japanese Ministry of Finance in June 2003, and the ministry continued to own 50% until March 2013. It was announced in May 2012 that the government would sell one-sixth of the company's outstanding shares to raise ¥500 billion to finance reconstruction from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. In 2013 the Japanese government disclosed the details of its plans to reduce its equity interest in Japan Tobacco by $10 billion, devoting the proceeds to reconstruction in northeastern Japan. The ministry of finance sold the stock in March 2013, selling about 333 million of the 1 billion shares it owned at that time. The government remains required by law to own at least one-third of JT's stock.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: Japan Tobacco has 66.4% of the cigarette market in Japan. Although tobacco consumption is declining, the Japanese remain heavy smokers, consuming an average of 1,800 cigarettes per capita in 2013, compared to about 1,000 per capita in the United States.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In April 2012 it was announced that Mitsuomi Koizumi would become president, and president Hiroshi Kimura would become chairman of JT. and Chairman Yoji Wakui would retire. Wakui had previously been a bureaucrat at the ministry of finance. Koizumi assuming the presidency meant that for the first time since the 1985 privatization neither president nor chairman was from the Ministry of Finance. Koizumi, who had been Executive Deputy President, became president in June 2012.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: On 30 October 2013 JT announced that it would close four Japanese factories and cut 1,600 jobs in Japan through voluntary retirements. This was planned to be completed by March 2016. JT also planned to consolidate 25 branch offices into 15 regional headquarters, and close leaf-processing and vending machine operations.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: Japan Tobacco also operates in foods, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, engineering, and real estate. It left the beverage industry in September 2015. As part of the company's pharma activities, it divested a compound collection of potassium channel inhibitors to Metrion Biosciences in 2018.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: JT International (JTI), acquired in 1999 from R.J. Reynolds, is an operating division of Japan Tobacco Inc., and produces, markets and sells the group's cigarette brands internationally. It sells Camel, Salem, and Winston brands outside the USA.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: Japan Tobacco completed the largest ever foreign takeover in Japanese history through acquisition of Gallaher Group plc in April 2007. Japan Tobacco runs the Tobacco and Salt Museum in Sumida-ku, Tokyo.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In 2006/2007 Japan Tobacco planned to start Serbia production, and also planned to invest another $100 million. JT paid "$35 million euros" for 98.5 percent of Senta Tobacco Industry in May 2006, with a further $10 million invested since then. The plant has a production capacity of some five billion cigarettes a year.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: On 12 June 2014 JT concluded an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of British e-cigarettes producer "Zandera Ltd", best known for its E-Lites brand. On 30 April 2015 JT announced it had agreed to buy Florida-based e-cigarette maker "Logic Technology Development LLC".


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In September 2015 it was announced that JT would buy the rights for Natural American Spirit outside the US for $5 billion.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In August 2017, the company announced it would acquire the Indonesian Kretek producers "Karyadibya Mahardhika" and "Surya Mustika Nusantara" from Gudang Garam for $677 million. PT Karya Dibya Mahardhika has a main brand in Indonesia, Apache, Extreme Mild, & Minna International.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In 2018, JT acquired Donskoy Tabak corporation, Russia's fourth largest cigarette manufacturer for $1.6 billion.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: There have been a number of Japanese court cases related to smoking, either directly or indirectly related to JT.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: A group of nonsmokers sued at the Tokyo District Court demanding that Japanese National Railways shinkansen (bullet trains) provide more non-smoking cars. The case was filed in 1980 and while the court recognized tobacco's health risks the 27 March 1987 ruling rejected the lawsuit on the basis that the plaintiffs had failed to prove their harm to be "beyond the limits of toleration".


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In 1998 seven plaintiffs represented by lawyer Yoshio Isayama sued JT at the Tokyo District Court for ¥70 million compensation (¥10 million per plaintiff) for health damage caused by smoking JT cigarettes. While similar cases had been filed in Nagoya, this was the first such case in Tokyo. In addition to financial compensation, the plaintiffs also demanded:


title: Japan Tobacco

text: The plaintiffs' case was dismissed by the district court on 21 October 2003. The court agreed with the 1980s ruling that tobacco had health risks, but said that there was no causal link between the smoking habits and the specific diseases of plaintiffs. In addition, Judge Kikuo Asaka denied that nicotine was highly addictive. Isayama said that the group would appeal the decision to the Tokyo High Court.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: On 22 June 2005 the Tokyo High Court dismissed the case; by that time brought by only six plaintiffs. Three of the plaintiffs had died during the course of the case. Judge Toshinobu Akiyama said he agreed with the District Court decision. Jun Araki, the son of one of the deceased plaintiffs, said: "This ruling placed priority on the annual 2.3 trillion yen in [tobacco] tax revenue over the precious lives and health of the Japanese people". He also said the plaintiffs would appeal to the Supreme Court.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In January 2005 plaintiffs Kenichi Morishita, Koreyoshi Takahashi, and Masanobu Mizuno filed a case in the Yokohama District Court against JT seeking ¥30 million in damages for smoking related illness. Morishita died of pneumonia while the case was being fought, and JT used the same argument as in the 1998–2005 Tokyo case, that smokers were free to quit any time and that cancer and other illnesses had multiple causes.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: On 20 January 2010 the court clearly ruled that there was a link between smoking and lung cancer and respiratory illnesses, and said that smoking may be addictive. However, the court rejected the demand for damages, and said that the plaintiffs had smoked of their own free will and that there was no proof that smoking had directly caused their sicknesses.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: JTI runs a series of posters designed to educate smokers about smoking etiquette. They can be seen widely around Japan, especially located near train stations. Poster gallery


title: Japan Tobacco

text: In 2008, Japan Tobacco had health issues involving their company: Contaminated gyoza dumplings made by a Chinese company's factory in China, which sold its products to JT, poisoned ten people, including a five-year-old girl. Thousands of other Japanese people were going to the hospital because of stomach issues as well. A number of dumplings were found containing dichlorvos and methamidophos from pesticide. The health minister of Japan said the contamination at the Chinese factory was possibly intentional, and the police are investigating for an attempted homicide. The dumplings were from China, but Japan Tobacco has said it does not plan to cease its manufacturing in China. Frozen food sales went down by 60% for the business since this health scare. Japan Tobacco's stock price fell 7.1% after they were forced to recall their products, and the company also lost a $500 million merger deal with Nissin Foods because of this incident.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: Japan Tobacco Inc, through its international operating divisions JT International S.A. and JT International Holding BV, signed a Cooperation Agreement with the European Commission in 2007 to combat the illicit trade in cigarettes under Article 9 of which the company agreed to "pro-actively disclose" to the European Commission’s Anti-Fraud Office (Office Europeen de Lutte Antifraude – OLAF) "…all material information coming into (its) possession after the Execution Date relating to potentially Illegal Product." The Agreement defines "Illegal Product" as Contraband or Counterfeit Cigarettes. Both Japan Tobacco Inc and JT International S.A. claim to adhere to a "zero-tolerance approach" to illicit trade.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: JT International S.A. and several of its distributors, including Megapolis in Russia and IBCS Trading in Cyprus, however, have been implicated as recently as 2011 in widespread smuggling to include selling cigarettes to a buyer in Syria subject to EU, Swiss, and US Sanctions and diverting cigarettes from Russia into the European Union and smuggling Winston and other popular cigarette brands into Iran. A JT International S.A. executive told the Wall Street Journal in August 2012 that the firm had continued to ship cigarettes to Syria until as recently as February 2012, almost a full year after the imposition of EU and US sanctions. The Journal cited Syrian dissident sources who claimed that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uses cigarettes as payment for the irregular military forces and militias, known as the shabeeha, who have had a central role in its violent crackdown.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: Company documents show that in 2010 the head of the JT International SA security office – who performed a similar function at the former Gallaher Group PLC – sought to destroy evidence linking up to 13 company officers to smugglers in the Balkans region; a parallel effort was then being run by company management to hack into the emails of company anti-smuggling investigators, competitors, and law enforcement.


title: Japan Tobacco

text: The firm also announced in 2011 that it had purchased the largest cigarette producer in Sudan and South Sudan as part of an effort to expand sales in the war-torn region, which has emerged as an entrepot for cigarette smuggling.


title: 3T

text: 3T is an American R&B/pop music trio featuring the three sons of Tito Jackson (from the Jackson 5) and Delores "Dee Dee" Jackson, from whom they inherit their Dominican ancestry. The band members include, from eldest; Toriano Adaryll Jackson Jr. ("Taj") (born August 4, 1973), Taryll Adren Jackson (born August 8, 1975) and Tito Joe Jackson ("TJ") (born July 16, 1978). Their late uncle Michael Jackson mentored the trio, and signed them to his label MJJ Music.


title: 3T

text: 3T released their debut album "Brotherhood" in 1995. The album sold approximately three million copies worldwide. The group achieved an international hit with their debut single "Anything". 3T released several hit singles in Europe, including "24/7", "Why" (a duet with their uncle Michael Jackson), "I Need You" (with a brief appearance by Michael), "Tease Me" and "Gotta Be You". In 1996, they were ranked second behind the Spice Girls, as the biggest-selling group in Europe. 3T have also written and produced songs for soundtracks to films such as; "", "Free Willy", "", "Men in Black" and "Trippin'". In early 1997, they went on a hugely successful European tour with their album "Brotherhood", which included all of the songs from the album, as well as a Jackson 5 tribute (featuring Tito 'Poppa T'), and a surprise performance of the Oasis hit, "Wonderwall".


title: 3T

text: 3T completed an album after the release of "Brotherhood", with over 20 songs being recorded and 12 planned to be included on the final tracklist. The album was never released by Sony due to a strained relationship with Michael Jackson (MJJ Music), and is considered by many fans to be "The Lost Album".


title: 3T

text: Taryll and T. J. have written and produced tracks for their aunt Janet Jackson as well as for Lindsay Lohan and Bruno Mars. After signing with the French label TF1/NRJ in 2003, 3T continued to perform in France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The group signed with the Dutch label Digidance in 2004 for Dutch releases, appearances, and performances. The album titled "Identity" was released on March 23, 2004. Two singles were released: "Stuck On You" (a cover of the Lionel Richie song) was released in 2003 in France and Belgium and in 2004 in the Netherlands, and "Sex Appeal" in 2004. Neither single was released outside of Europe. In 2008, 3T made "Identity" available on both iTunes and amazon.com worldwide.


title: 3T

text: The brothers appeared on the show "This Is David Gest" in 2007, including recording the theme tune "Crazy Kinda Guy". The show began on April 22, 2007. They appeared in an episode where Gest took cameras for a rare glimpse of the Jackson family house in Encino, California, where he met Tito and 3T as well as matriarch Katherine Jackson, as well as a later episode showing them recording the theme tune. The brothers would occasionally bring Jermajesty on tour as an on and off DJ.


title: 3T

text: During the summer of 2008, the Jackson family (including Tito) stayed at a holiday let (rental) for six weeks in Appledore, Devon, England while searching for a house to buy in the area. The project was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary called "The Jacksons are Coming", which was aired in 2008. Taj and T. J. appear with their father, but Taryll did not join them on the trip. The three family members also attended a Michael Jackson fan event in Devon as part of their stay, ringing him up during the event which led to Michael talking to the fans over a loudspeaker on the phone.


title: 3T

text: All three of them appeared on the A&E TV show entitled "". They appear with their father Tito, who is trying to convince them to relaunch their career.


title: 3T

text: On January 31, 2010, the three brothers appeared on stage at the 52nd Grammy Awards to support their cousins Prince Michael, Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson as they accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of their father, Michael Jackson. On February 1, 2010, all three brothers then appeared in the remake of "We Are the World", this time in aid of the Haiti Appeal. However, they did not sing the main parts of the song and instead contributed to the background vocals. Currently, Taj is working on the "Code Z" zombie series and a science fiction project called "Clone 3". T. J. was selected to play the role of Prince Jean-Luc in the new stage version of Larry Hart's musical "Sisterella" that was scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2011. Taryll is working on his first solo album that he hopes will make his family and fans proud.


title: 3T

text: On October 8, 2011, 3T performed at the Michael Forever – The Tribute Concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They performed the Jacksons' track "Heartbreak Hotel" (also known as "This Place Hotel") followed by their own number 2 hit single "Why", which was originally a duet recorded with Michael for their 1995 album "Brotherhood". At the end of the performance of "Why", all three brothers broke down into tears. They then appeared in the finale of the show performing Michael's hit "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" with various other performers from the concert as well as members of the Jackson family who had been in attendance, including Michael's children Prince, Paris and Blanket (Prince II).


title: 3T

text: After almost two years away from the stage, 3T performed live on stage in Rome, Milan, Torino, and Verona during four charity concerts in Italy from December 5–8. 3T performed a 30-minute show and the setlist featured "Stuck On You", 'Anything', 'I Need You', the new song 'Forever Girl', 'With You', a jam session (Ed Sheeran's 'The A-Team', Oasis' 'Wonderwall' and 'Give Me All Your Lovin') and 'We Are the World'.


title: 3T

text: On December 26, 2013, British television station ITV2 announced that 3T would be part of season 2 of "The Big Reunion". The episodes were broadcast on ITV2 between February 6 and March 27, 2014. Along with 3T, the other bands that took part were A1, Damage, Eternal, Girl Thing and 5th Story. On February 21 "The Big Reunion" concert took place in a sold out Hammersmith Apollo in London and was broadcast on ITV2 on March 27, 2014.


title: 3T

text: On March 20, 2014, it was announced that the boy bands from both series (Five, 911, Blue, A1, 3T, Damage and 5th Story) would go on "The Big Reunion Boy Band Tour" in October 2014.


title: 3T

text: On September 27, 2014, 3T performed at a sold-out event in Rotterdam Ahoy. The next day, on September 28, 2014, 3T were special guests on the popular Dutch TV show . 3T share a special history with Carlo & Irene since they have been guests on their previous TV shows "Telekids" in 1996 and in 2003. During their interview on "Carlo & Irene: Life 4 You" 3T talked about their performance at the event and performed one of their new songs called "Forever Girl". On September 29, 2014, 3T were guests at dj Giel Beelen on radio NPO 3FM. After their interview with DJ Giel Beelen, 3T performed 'I Need You' live on radio NPO 3FM. 3T also visited DJ One'sy on FunX radio where one lucky fan got the chance to meet Taj, Taryll and T. J. in the studio because she won the meet & greet contest organised by FunX radio. To thank their fans for their continuing support a meet & greet was held later that day at the hotel in Amsterdam.


title: 3T

text: On March 12, 2015, Dutch radio station announced 3T would perform at the "Foute Party" on June 26, 2015. The event took place at the in 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.


title: 3T

text: On September 16, 2016, 3T had their up Close and Personal in RAI Amsterdam. A surprise concert was held September 17 as well, showcasing the album launch of “Chapter III” at the Melkweg concert venue in Amsterdam,Netherlands


title: 3T

text: On September 1, 2018, 3T performed their greatest hits at La Cigale, Paris, France. Following this sold out concert at La Cigale, on May 18 and 19, 2019, 3T returned to Paris, France to perform 2 unplugged shows at the Nouveau Casino de Paris. On August 29, 2018, 3T went to Naples, Italy to honor their uncle Michael Jackson on MJ Day, organized by MJJ Foundation Naples-Onlus. They held a press conference at Gran Teatro - Edenlandia before they performed at Teatro Mediterraneo. On December 16, 2018, 3T performed at La Madeleine in Brussels, Belgium, it had been 20 years since they last performed in Belgium.


title: 3T

text: On August 27, 2022, 3T headlined and performed at one of the biggest dance festivals in Europe, "We Love the 90s" at a sold-out Goffertpark in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The 10th anniversary was originally planned for 2020. The Covid pandemic postponed it twice.


title: 3T

text: Taj Jackson directed the short film "Code Z" in 2014, that Big Screen Entertainment Group optioned the rights to. The script was written by Taj and the Brazilian Sco triplets (Thaisa, Thaina, and Thayana Sco) Thayana is Taj's wife.


title: 3T

text: In 2015, Taj executive produced the reality series "". His brothers Taryll and TJ also co-produced the series.


title: 3T

text: Taj is now currently working on his forthcoming documentary series set to be released in 2023, where he will tell his uncle Michael Jackson story, saying “This documentary series will conclusively destroy decades of salacious myths which have been told and sold about Michael Jackson ad nauseam. In doing so, we will shine a light on the corruption within the media and entertainment industries which conceived and perpetuated them.” iHeartRadio reported in January 26, 2019. Taj has been vocal about how the allegations against Michael were false and defamatory. He said he felt betrayed by Wade Robson, who asked him to help get seats for him and his whole family at Michael’s 2009 memorial.


title: 3T

text: Taryll released his debut solo single "4Ever" on April 5, 2012, from his debut EP, "My Life Without You" which was released on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012, in honor of his mother Dee Dee Jackson. Other songs on this E.P are "My Life Without You", "When You Come Back To Earth", "Doubt", "Be My Girl", "When It Falls Down" and "Unlove You".On his birthday, August 8, 2012, Taryll released the single "Best of All Time", a tribute to his uncle Michael Jackson. The single is taken from his second EP "Undeniable", which was released on August 29, 2012, in honor of Michael. Other songs on this E.P are "Undeniable", "Can't Stop Falling In Love",


title: 3T

text: On April 21, 2019, Taryll released the 10 track-album "Crazy Love", and on June 8, 2019, Taryll performed his first solo concert at the Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Taryll's father Tito Jackson surprised him right before his concert, and later joined him on stage together with Taryll's partner Breana Cabral, and sons Bryce Connor and Adren Michael.


title: 3T

text: On July 17, 2020, Taryll released the full solo project, "Digital 8". Beyond the original 2012 solo debut EP's "My Life Without You" and "Undeniable", the 50 song-album includes completely remastered songs, special mixes, previously unreleased songs and bonus tracks.


title: 3T

text: On March 20, 2020, TJ released his debut solo E.P "Obsession" featuring his first single "Insomnia".Other songs on this E.P. are "Obsession", "I Can't Stand It", "I Don't Deserve this" and #1 Fan. TJ went to Nashville, Tennessee to record and produce the E.P, and he wanted to mix the current urban sound with his 90’s R&B roots. On November 20, 2020, TJ released his second E.P "Damaged" which includes the single "Last Night, and two other songs; "Good Time" and "Senseless Drama"


title: 3T

text: On March 26, 2021, TJ released the first single "Dreamgirl" off his project "Magic Mystery Memories" (MMM). The second single “Secret” was released May 7, and the third single “A Night To Remember” (co-written with Rhyan Shirley and David Thulin) was released July 2. "Secret" was inspired by his uncle Michael Jackson, and so was the single’s artwork. TJ also wanted to pay homage to the R&B he grew up on with this project.


title: 3T

text: On May 27, 2022, TJ released his first solo album "Acoustic Sessions 1" a 9 track acoustic album which includes his stripped-down cover of “Human Nature” in honor of his uncle Michael, and on June, 24 he released the single " Heaven on My Lips" (co-written with Sam Tinnesz and David Thulin) the first single from his forthcoming album, "Pressure". On this album TJ wanted to focus on live instrumentation. On June 24 and 26, and July 1, 2022, TJ embarked on his first European solo tour "A Night To Remember" at the Théâtre de la Contrescarpe in Paris, France performing the acoustic versions from the album. TJ's father Tito Jackson came to Paris to support him and his wife Frances Jackson, and children Royalty Jackson, Delores Dior Jackson, Dallas Jordan Michael Jackson and Rio Tito Joe Jackson as a surprise. The tour included stops at Lyon,France July 2, Madrid,Spain July 3, Naples,Italy July 8, London,England July 9, Brussels,Belgium July 15 and Amsterdam,Netherlands July 16.


title: 3T

text: On October 2015, Taj, Taryll and TJ appeared in and co-produced the reality series "". The series aired on Lifetime USA and Lifetime Canada (2015), Lifetime UK and Ireland (2016), Lifetime Asia (2016) and Lifetime South Africa (2016).


title: Yandex Browser

text: Yandex Browser (Russian: Яндекс.Браузер) is a freeware web browser developed by the Russian technology corporation Yandex that uses the Blink web browser engine and is based on the Chromium open source project. The browser checks webpage security with the Yandex security system and checks downloaded files with Kaspersky Anti-Virus. The browser also uses Opera Software's Turbo technology to speed web browsing on slow connections.


title: Yandex Browser

text: Yandex is facing web search competition in Russia from Google Search. Google Chrome, Russia's most popular web browser, uses Google Search as its default search engine. In June 2012, Mozilla Firefox, the world's third most popular web browser, signed a deal to replace its default search engine Yandex Search with Google Search. As Yandex Browser's "Smartbox" uses Yandex Search as its default search engine, the browser will help Yandex compete for Russian search market share.


title: Yandex Browser

text: The browser is the second most popular desktop web browser (the third as a mobile browser) in Russia at 21.5%, while it is less popular in most other countries, e.g. in Ukraine fourth at 4.45% and globally has less share are than Internet Explorer (which is sixth at 1.65%).


title: Yandex Browser

text: Protect active security technology scans files and website for viruses, blocks fraudulent webpages, protects passwords and bank card details, and keeps online payments safe from theft.


title: Yandex Browser

text: Yandex Browser was the first browser to implement DNSCrypt technology, which encrypts Domain Name System (DNS) traffic. For example, it protects from a trojan DNSChanger, a tracking Internet provider, or hackers. This option must be enabled in the browser settings.


title: Yandex Browser

text: When connecting to open Wi-Fi networks or to the points that use a weak WEP-defense, Yandex Browser automatically encrypts traffic between it and the HTTP sites.


title: Yandex Browser

text: According to Douglas J. Leith, a computer science professor at Trinity College, Yandex Browser not only sends a hashed hardware identifier to Yandex, but also every letter typed in the address bar and every URL visited by the user.


title: Yandex Browser

text: Yandex was created by Ilya Segalovich and Arkady Volozh while working for Arcadia in 1993. It was named Yandex as an abbreviation for Yet Another Indexer. They named it Яndex, using Я as a shortened version of Ya. Yandex was unveiled on September 23, 1997. At that point it had indexed the entirety of the Russian internet. The following year, Yandex began showing advertisements. Their first advertisement said, "Ваша киска купила бы Cisco," meaning, "Your kitty would buy Cisco." In the year 2000, Yandex was registered as a company. Volozh became the CEO. In 2001, Yandex started to place advertisements directly into pages themselves. 2500 advertisers joined. A year later, the company became profitable. That same year, Yandex.Images and Yandex.Market started. Later that year, Yandex.money (a payment system) started jointly with the PayCash group. In 2003, Yandex started issuing dividends. That year, they issued $100,000 of dividends. Yandex also changed their advertisement system to a pay-per-click model. In 2004, Yandex.maps started. They had detailed maps of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Kyiv. It could not be used to search for addresses, just establishments. That year, Yandex created a separate search engine for blogs, that no longer exists.


title: Yandex Browser

text: According to analytics, Yandex Browser reached 2.3% market share in Russia two months after its release. As of June 2022, Yandex Browser held 16.47% market share in Russia.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: The Amazing Race Canada is a Canadian adventure reality game show based on the international "Amazing Race" franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race across Canada and around the world. Each season is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel by air, boat, car, taxi, and other modes of transport. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops. The first team to arrive at the Finish Line wins a grand prize of and additional prizes from the show's sponsors.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: Commissioned and broadcast by CTV, "The Amazing Race Canada" is hosted by former Olympian Jon Montgomery, produced by Insight Productions in association with Bell Media and with the support of Profiles Television.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: After the season 7 finale, it was announced that the show was renewed for an eighth season. Originally expected to premiere in mid-2020, the season's production was postponed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Season 8 premiered on July 5, 2022 and concluded on September 20, 2022. On November 28, 2022, casting opened for a ninth season.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: "The Amazing Race Canada" is a reality television competition between at least nine teams of two. Each season is divided into a number of legs wherein teams travel and complete various tasks to obtain "clues" to help them progress to a Pit Stop, where they are given a chance to rest and recover before starting the next leg twelve hours later. The first team to arrive at a Pit Stop is often awarded a prize while the last team is normally eliminated (except in non-elimination legs). The final leg of each race is run by the last three remaining teams, and the first to arrive at the final destination wins , two vehicles of any Chevrolet model cars and unlimited air travel for a year with Air Canada (seasons 1–3).


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: On the airdate of the first season finale it was announced that CTV Bell Media had ordered another season of "The Amazing Race Canada". Casting began in fall 2013 and the second season aired in summer 2014. New to the eligibility requirements for season 2 were clauses that applicants must possess a valid Canadian passport, and be able to travel not only within Canada but around the world; this meant that, unlike the first season, the show travelled to destinations outside of Canada, closer to its American counterpart.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: In the second season, Petro-Canada was the fuel sponsor with the team winning a lifetime supply of gasoline from Petro-Canada, and Scotiabank was the financial sponsor. In the third season, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) replaced Scotiabank as the financial sponsor. In the fourth season, Hotels.com replaced Air Canada as the trip sponsor with the team winning a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip for two around the world with Hotels.com, and the fuel sponsor was removed. In the fifth season, Sinorama replaced Hotels.com as the trip sponsor with the winning team winning a 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip for two around the world with Sinorama. In the sixth season, the financial and trip sponsors were removed, and Dempster's Bakery began their sponsorship. In the seventh season, Expedia was the trip sponsor and Shell Canada's V-Power was the fuel sponsor. In the eighth season, the fuel sponsor and Dempster's Bakery ended their financial support, while Desjardins Group, Subway Canada, Destination BC, GURU Organic Energy, Tourism Richmond, Trans Canada Trail and Marshalls started their sponsorships, with the once-in-a-lifetime trip for two around the world funded by GURU Organic Energy drinks.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: Each team is composed of two individuals who have some type of relationship to each other. A total of 81 teams, or 162 contestants, have participated in "The Amazing Race Canada".


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: Route Markers are yellow and red flags that mark the places where teams must go. Most Route Markers are attached to the boxes that contain clue envelopes, but some may mark places where teams must go in order to complete tasks, or may be used to line a course that the teams must follow.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: Clues are found throughout the legs in sealed envelopes, normally inside clue boxes. They give teams the information they need and tasks they need to do in order for them to progress.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: At the beginning of each leg, teams receive an allowance of cash, usually in Canadian dollars, to cover expenses during the legs (except for the purchase of airline tickets, which are paid-for by credit cards provided to the teams).


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: Teams then have to follow clues and Route Markers that will lead them to the various destinations and tasks they will face. Modes of travel between these destinations include commercial and chartered airplanes (which for the first three seasons were generally provided by sponsor Air Canada), boats, trains, taxis, buses, and rented vehicles provided by the show, or the teams may simply travel by foot. Each leg ends with a twelve-hour Pit Stop where teams are able to rest and where teams that arrives last are progressively eliminated until only three teams remain. Most legs comprise three or more challenges, often a Roadblock, Detour and a Route Info Task. The first teams to arrive at the Pit Stop win prizes, usually from the show's sponsors.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: Each race has a number of predetermined non-elimination legs, in which the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop is not eliminated and is allowed to continue. The non-eliminated team is required to do a Speed Bump – a penalty task that only the team saved from elimination on the previous leg must complete before continuing on.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: The show first aired in 2013 with the first season premiere airing on July 15, 2013 and ending on September 16, 2013.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: As of the eighth season, "The Amazing Race Canada" has visited all of Canada's provinces and territories, in addition to eleven foreign countries in Asia, Europe, South America and North America.


title: The Amazing Race Canada

text: The following are the number of times places (including Canadian provinces and territories) are featured in "The Amazing Race Canada".


title: Davide Calabria

text: Davide Calabria (born 6 December 1996) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club AC Milan, whom he captains, and the Italy national team.


title: Davide Calabria

text: Calabria has been with AC Milan since 2006, playing for the club's youth teams of different age groups up until "Primavera" (U-19). He received his first ever call-up to the senior team ahead of the away game against S.S. Lazio played on 25 January 2015; he, however, remained an unused substitute. He made his Serie A debut on 30 May 2015 against Atalanta, replacing Mattia De Sciglio at the 84th minute in a 1–3 away win. On 15 July 2015 Calabria was officially promoted to the first team. He made his first start in a 3–2 win over Udinese on 22 September, playing 49 minutes, and was highly praised for his performance.


title: Davide Calabria

text: Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Milan acquired Atalanta's Andrea Conti for nearly €25 million, viewing the player as the most likely starter on the right side of the team's defensive line; Calabria had been persuaded yet refused to join one of the lower-ranking Serie A teams on loan to increase his playing time. In September 2017, Conti injured his anterior cruciate ligament for the first time, and in March 2018 suffered a recurrence of the injury, effectively ending his season. The club ruled out the possibility of any further emergency signings, thus trusting Calabria as a long-term replacement for Conti in the right full-back position. He completed the season with 30 appearances in all competitions and scored his debut goal in senior professional football on 25 February 2018 in the Serie A 2–0 away win against Roma.


title: Davide Calabria

text: Already a regular in Pioli's side, Calabria played 32 league games in this season, a personal record.


title: Davide Calabria

text: He scored his first goal this season on 16 December 2020 at Luigi Ferraris Stadium against Genoa, a powerful shot from outside the box.


title: Davide Calabria

text: On 28 February in Stadio Olimpico Calabria won a penalty kick against Roma, which Kessié converted into Milan first goal in 2–1 victory.


title: Davide Calabria

text: On 23 August 2021, at the first match of the season against Sampdoria, Calabria made his first assist in the season, a deep run into Sampdoria defense to set up Diaz's only goal of the match.


title: Davide Calabria

text: Calabria wore the captain's arm band for the first time for Milan on 15 September, an away defeat to Liverpool, he described the moment as 'childhood dream'.


title: Davide Calabria

text: On the 3rd of October, Calabria scored his first goal of the season at Gewiss Stadium against Atalanta in eventual 3–2 win, the goal came after merely 28 seconds from the kick off, making it the third fastest AC Milan goal since the 2004–2005 season. On 23 October he scored against Bologna in eventual 4–2 win, with two goals in seven games, Calabria has already equalled his total goal tally on the entire 2020/21 Serie A season.


title: Davide Calabria

text: In a post match interview during the season, Calabria credited his own professional growth to his team coach, Pioli.


title: Davide Calabria

text: On 5 February 2022 against Inter in Derby della Madonnina, he assisted Giroud second goal in 2–1 win. On 6 March he again set up Giroud only goal against Napoli, helping Milan to win and climb to the top of Serie A table.


title: Davide Calabria

text: Calabria made his debut for the Italy U21 on 13 October 2015, in a qualifying match against Republic of Ireland.


title: Davide Calabria

text: In June 2017, he was included in the Italy under-21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship by manager Luigi Di Biagio. Italy were eliminated by Spain in the semi-finals following a 3–1 defeat on 27 June.


title: Davide Calabria

text: He made his debut for Italy's senior squad, managed by Roberto Mancini, in a 11 November 2020 friendly against Estonia in Florence, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute of a 4–0 victory. He would see his first action in a competitive match on 18 November 2020, replacing Lorenzo Insigne in the 94th minute of Italy's 2-0 UEFA Nations League win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, and clean energy. SNC-Lavalin is the largest construction company, by revenue, in Canada, as of 2018.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: The firm has over 50,000 employees worldwide, with offices in over 50 countries and operations in over 160 countries.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC Lavalin has over 50,000 employees worldwide, with offices in over 50 countries and operations in over 160 countries. According to its 2017 annual report, its four key service sectors are infrastructure, mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, and power; each sector offers services that includes design, studies, consultancy, financing, asset management, engineering, construction, procurement and operations and maintenance. Its infrastructure sector provides services from financing, building and maintenance. Its oil and gas sector includes upstream, midstream, and downstream projects across the lifecycle. Operations include mass transit and heavy rail systems, highways, bridges, airports and marine facilities, as well as industrial, commercial, cultural and healthcare buildings. Mining and metallurgy sector offers services to green fields and brown fields projects of any sizes or complexity including "mining commodities, fertilizers, and sulphuric acid facilities". Its power sector provides services in environment and water, the transmission and distribution of energy, hydro power, nuclear power, renewables and thermal power generation, energy from waste, electrical power delivery systems", and "clean and sustainable power technologies".


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 1911 Swiss-born Arthur established a consulting engineering office, Arthur & Cie., in Montréal after completing studies in Belgium and at the Polytechnique Montréal and working for several years with public works. Against the backdrop of the transformative advances in electrification. Surveyer worked on hydropower projects with his partner, Augustin Frigon (1888–1952), an engineer, professor, and Director at the Polytechnique Montréal where Surveyer had earned his degree. In 1912, they worked on a power distribution network for the city of Grand-Mère on Saint-Maurice River. The project that increased the company's profile was the Saint-Maurice River hydroelectric power station, which they designed and supervised. The company specialized in hydraulics, managing hydropower projects and flood control, and soon branched out into the industrial sector, particularly in pulp and paper, and mining and metallurgy.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 1967 Camille A. Dagenais , became president and CEO of SNC Group, a position he held until 1975. When Dagenais was inducted into the Order of Canada, he was honoured for his accomplishments at SNC—specifically for large-scale hydro development projects in Canada and internationally, for example, in India and Greece. One of the most important projects was the work he oversaw on the recently nationalized Hydro-Québec's Manic-5 project (1959–1970) on the Manicouagan River, north of Baie-Comeau. It was built for hydroelectric power production and supplies water to the Manic-5s power houses. The firm's first international contract was awarded in 1963, to design and build the 780 MW Idukki power station in Kerala State, India.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC's main rival in Canada was Lalonde, Valois International Limited, a company that was established in 1936 by engineers Jean-Paul Lalonde and Romeo Valois. Bernard Lamarre, who would later become director and CEO in 1962 and lead Lavalin for 29 years, had married Louise Lalonde, Jean-Paul Lalonde's daughter in 1952, and began working at Lalonde, Valois International Limited. In 1972, the company changed its name to Lavalin—combining syllables from the original company name. In the 1970s, Lavalin designed and built the fabric roof for Montreal's Olympic Stadium and built the James Bay Project, in a partnership with the United-States-based Bechtel.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: According to a 1986 "Maclean's" article by Anthony Wilson-Smith, Lavalin was Canada's "largest engineering firm, with $625 million in operating revenues in 1985 and 5,700 employees. SNC was the second largest". Wilson-Smith also said that they were "among the largest engineering firms in the world". Lavalin branched out in other industries, such as cable television—Canada's The Weather Network and MétéoMédia were founded by Lavalin in 1988. Lavalin's shares were sold to Pelmorex in 1993. By 1990 Lavalin Inc included over 70 companies worth CA$1.2 billion. It was forced to sell to its rival SNC in 1991.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: Bernard Lamarre remained with the newly formed company, SNC-Lavalin until 1999. He oversaw major projects including the TransCanada highway in Montreal, the Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel, the Olympic Stadium in Montréal, and Alcan in the Ville de La Baie. He also oversaw projects in Benin and in Algeria.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: Bernard Lamarre's younger brother, Jacques Lamarre, a civil engineer, became SNC-Lavalin's CEO in 1996 and left his post in 2009.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: According to Ingram, SNC-Lavalin partnered with Bombardier in the 1990s to build transportation projects in Malaysia and Turkey. SNC-Lavalin acquired a 27% share in Ontario's Highway 407 toll road for $175 million. In 2011, SNC-Lavalin sold part of its share of Highway 407, at a significant profit.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In June 2011, SNC-Lavalin purchased the commercial reactor division of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) from the Government of Canada for CA$15 million. SNC-Lavalin established a subsidiary company named Candu Energy to market the design and supply of CANDU reactors.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: On June 23, 2014, SNC-Lavalin acquired Irish engineering and construction business Kentz for approximately CA$2.1 billion (US$1.95 billion).


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2017, SNC-Lavalin acquired its UK rival WS Atkins—a British design, engineering and project management consulting firm, with $1.9-billion investment from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In late 2018, SNC-Lavalin agreed to form a joint venture with the Swedish-Swiss industrial giant ABB for the delivery of turnkey electrical substation projects. This new company, named Linxon, undertakes project design, engineering, procurement, and construction activities for a range of clients in the transport, utilities, and renewable electricity generation and transmission sectors.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 1999, the Ontario government signed a $3.1 billion 99-year lease for Ontario Highway 407 with "407 International Inc.", a conglomerate of three private companies, including SNC-Lavalin. It was renamed 407 ETR. In the early 2000s, SNC-Lavalin won the contract to repair Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2002–2003 the firm completed a feasibility study of the Lac Doré Vanadium Deposit, in which they established the deposit as the largest vanadium deposit in North America.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2005 SNC-Lavalin in partnership with Brun-Way Group, won the $543.8-million contract to build the Brun-way project to twin Route 2, the New Brunswick portion of the Trans-Canada Highway from Woodstock, New Brunswick to Fredericton. The contract with the New Brunswick government was completed in 2007. . In June 2005, the BC Department of Transport selected SNC-Lavalin for a 30-year contract valued at $179 million to "design, build, finance and operate" the William R. Bennett Bridge in Kelowna, British Columbia. Construction which was completed in 2008.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2004, the firm was awarded the contract for Canada Line, an extension of the SkyTrain rapid-transit system in Vancouver; the project was completed in 2009, ahead of schedule.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: The Goreway Power Station, a 869.8 megawatt gas-fiired power generation facility in Brampton, Ontario, near Pearson Airport, constructed by way of an EPC agreement with SNC-Lavalin, began commercial operation in 2009, for Toyota Tsusho and Chubu Electric Power. The firm completed the construction of Ermine Power Station for SaskPower in Saskatchewan in 2009.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2010 the firm completed the construction of a $1.3 billion hospital at the McGill University Health Centre. (See discussion regarding controversy, below.)


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: The firm was awarded the 2015 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards for its work in structural and civil engineering for the Halifax Central Library project in which they created a "civic landmark and centrepiece for the Capital District".


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2015, the Eglinton Crosstown (LRT) and Blue22 (airport rail link) projects in Toronto were awarded to SNC-Lavalin, who was one of only two bidders for the Crosstown line. Both lines have since been transferred to Metrolinx ownership. The Crosstown line is due to be completed in 2020, while Blue22 opened as Union Pearson Express in 2015. SNC-Lavalin is one of three main partners of the Rideau Transit Group, along with ACS Group and EllisDon Confederation Line, on a 12.5 kilometre rapid-transit line project in Ottawa with a 2.5 kilometre downtown subway tunnel as the centrepiece. The project, originally scheduled to be completed in 2018, is expected to be completed in Spring 2019.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 1995, SNC-Lavalin won a large infrastructure contract to renovate and modernize hydro electric power stations with the Indian government.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2007, the firm won the $4.6-billion Ambatovy mine engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) management contract, the largest capital project in Madagascar's history. It was completed in 2010. The nickel and cobalt mining and preparation plant was completed in 2010. SNC-Lavalin sold its share for $600 million. There has been controversy about the mine's environmental and health impacts.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In December 2016, the firm won a BOO (build–own–operate) (BOO) contract from Crestwood Equity Partners valued at $100 million for multiple gas facilities in the Permian shale basin in the United States. In March 2016, it was awarded a $800M EPC management contract for a Middle East gas processing project.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is SNC-Lavalin's "long-term partner". According to an article by Pierre Fortin in "L'actualité", Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (the Caisse), which manages the Quebec Pension Plan and is the second largest pension fund in Canada, after the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), has increased its financing of Quebec enterprises from 2003 through 2013.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC-Lavalin's management teams have been investigated in a number of allegations under the "Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act" regarding contracts beginning with the SNC-Lavalin Kerala hydroelectric dam scandal (1995–2008) through to the allegations involving the bribing of Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC-Lavalin won a large infrastructure contract to renovate and modernize hydroelectric power stations with the Indian government in 1995 which resulted in an alleged net loss to the Indian exchequer of 3745.0 million rupees, but led to no charges against the firm. SNC was subsequently accused of bribery and financial fraud related to the contract in 2008. A government investigation resulted in the expulsion of several Indian government officials.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: According to a February 1, 2019, article in "La Presse", Quebec prosecutors are cooperating with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in an investigation called Agrafe 2 on potential criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin, concerning a contract in the early 2000s to repair Montreal's Jacques Cartier Bridge.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2016, commissioner of Canada elections was probing political party donations made by SNC-Lavalin employees. According to the source that provided information to CBC News, the investigation found that SNC-Lavalin reimbursed all of those individual donations—a practice forbidden under the Canada Elections Act—but Elections Canada reached an agreement with the company to avoid prosecution.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In May 2018, former SNC-Lavalin executive vice president Normand Morin was charged with making illegal donations to Canadian federal political parties, on recommendation from the director of public prosecutions, in the Court of Quebec. The charges allege that from 2004 to 2011, Morin orchestrated and solicited political donations from employees or their spouses to Canadian federal political parties anonymously on behalf of SNC-Lavalin, to be reimbursed afterwards. The amounts paid included about CA$110,000 to the Liberal Party and CA$8,000 to other Canadian political parties. In November 2018, Morin pleaded guilty to two of the five charges, and was fined $2,000. The remaining three charges were dropped by the prosecution.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: A 2012 "CBC News" report, said that the first reports of murky affairs surfaced against the company in 2010 in relation to contracts in Libya. According to a "CBC News" article, a Libyan bribery and fraud scandal involving crimes that took place from 2001-2011 led to charges in "connection with payments of nearly $48 million" to Libyan public officials. In the same article, it was reported that the company was also accused of "defrauding Libyan organizations of an estimated $130 million".


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2015, SNC-Lavalin was charged with bribing Libyan officials in exchange for construction contracts between 2001 and 2011. In 2011, the RCMP began an investigation called Project Assistance which was triggered by a tip from Swiss authorities. According to an August 8, 2013 "Financial Post" article, Michael Novak who, had been the head of SNC International, had signed "several of the contracts between SNC and "unknown commercial consultants to help win contracts" for "work in Africa". This included a contract with former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's controversial government. By the summer of 2013, police alleged that the "unknown commercial consultants" had never existed and that Ben Aissa had "set up shell companies so he could pocket the [$56 million] himself". By July 2014, Aissa was jailed in Switzerland for "suspicion of corruption, fraud and money-laundering in North Africa". When SNC-Lavalin pulled out of Libya in 2011, it left behind $22.9 million in Libyan banks. In 2013, Roy filed a countersuit for wrongful dismissal, claiming lost wages and damages to his reputation, alleging that he had been framed and scapegoated by higher-level executives whose directives he was obliged to follow.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: By February 2012, SNC investors had found out that audited financial statements had been delayed to accommodate an internal review relating to SNC's operations. The internal review probed $35 million of unexplained payments in Libya. Prior to the launch of the investigation, there had been months-long media speculation about the company's work in Libya and its ties to the Muammar Gaddafi family. In 2012, the RCMP investigated the company on these charges in the Project Assistance investigation and, in 2015, they charged SNC-Lavalin with "fraud and corruption", which the company indicated they would contest in court.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: On December 18, 2019, SNC-Lavalin Construction Inc. pleaded guilty to fraud contrary to section 380(1) a) of the Canadian Criminal Code. The company stated that, between 2001 and 2011, over $47.5 million had been paid to Al-Saadi Gaddafi. The money was directed through two representative companies, both listing Riadh Ben Aissa as the sole beneficial owner. In return for the bribes, Al-Saadi Gaddafi applied his influence to the construction contract bidding process, ensuring contracts were awarded to SNC-Lavalin Construction. Payments of personal benefits totalling over $73.5 million were also made through the representative companies to Ben Aissa and Sami Bebawi, a former vice-president of SLCI. As part of its plea agreement with the Public Prosecution Service, SLCI was fined $280 million and given a three-year probation order. In exchange, the remaining corruption and fraud charges against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., SNC-Lavalin Construction Inc. and SNC-Lavalin International Inc. were stayed.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: Charges were laid against senior executives from 2014 through 2019 in the bribery cases involving Arthur Porter at the McGill University Health Centre. According to a 2012 article in "The Globe and Mail", these reports prompted calls for Canada to tighten bribery laws.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: According to the "National Post", SNC-Lavalin employees allegedly were involved in fraud and forgery in relation to a $22.5 million kick-back described as "consulting fees" to Arthur Porter on the contract to build the new $1.3 billion hospital at the McGill University Health Centre's CEO in violation of the Quebec Health Act. SNC-Lavalin were awarded the contract even though they were outbid by $60 million. The case led to an investigation by the Charbonneau Commission. Porter resigned from the post on December 5, 2011 in light of substantial public pressure. Porter was arrested in Panama on fraud charges on May 27, 2013, which alleged that he took part in the kick-back scheme. The CBC called it the biggest fraud investigation in Canadian history. SNC CEO, Pierre Duhaime in March 2012, Duhaime was arrested on fraud charges by Quebec authorities on November 28, 2012.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC-Lavalin sued Duhaime for millions of dollars in damages, claiming that he stained its goodwill by means of the McGill University Health Centre superhospital scandal. The company claims that Duhaime "facilitated the execution of the embezzlement" of $22.5 million of company funds. Duhaime was charged with several counts related to the bribe. In February 2019 he pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust. The prosecution vacated some 15 further charges.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: An investigation into an alleged graft related to 2011 bids for the construction of the 6.51 kilometre (four-mile) USD$3 billion road—rail bridge crossing the Padma River in Bangladesh, resulted in the former SNC-Lavalin employees being cleared of all charges by a Canadian court. In May 2011, two former SNC-Lavalin International Inc. (SLII) employees Ramesh Shah and Mohammad Ismail met government officials in Bangladesh to discuss a bid for the $50-million supervision contract to build the Padma Bridge, a project estimated to be worth US$3 billion. Part of the allegations were related to SLII common practice of list project consultancy costs (PCC), also known as project commercial cost, as a line item in internal budgets documents related to the bidding process. As a result of the original investigation by World Bank investigators who worked with RCMP officers, in September 2013, the World Bank blacklisted SNC-Lavalin and its affiliates from bidding on the World Bank's global projects. The World Bank had originally offered to fund $1.5 billion of the $3 billion but pulled back following the allegations. However, on February 11, 2017, the Ontario Superior Court found no proof of the Padma bridge bribery conspiracy, dismissed the case, and acquitted the ex-SNC-Lavalin executives. According to the "Dhaka Tribune", Justice Ian Nordheimer rebuked the Canadian police, saying: "Reduced to its essentials, the information provided in the [wiretap applications] was nothing more than speculation, gossip, and rumor."


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2015, internal documents from SaskPower (the crown corporation that is the principal electric utility in Saskatchewan, Canada), revealed that there were "serious design issues" in the carbon capture and storage system at its coal-fired Boundary Dam Power Station, resulting in regular breakdowns and maintenance problems that caused the unit to be operational only 40% of the time. SNC-Lavalin had been contracted to engineer, procure, and build the facility, and the documents asserted that it "has neither the will or the ability to fix some of these fundamental flaws". The low productivity of the plant had in turn meant that SaskPower was only able to sell half of the 800,000 tonnes of captured carbon dioxide that it had contracted to sell to Cenovus Energy for use in enhanced oil recovery at a cost of $25 per tonne. In addition to the lost sales, this meant that SaskPower had been forced to pay Cenovus $12 million in penalties. In 2017, Cenovus sold its Saskatchewan operations to Whitecap Resources. By September 2018, "SaskPower and SNC-Lavalin had completed mediation and were headed to binding arbitration". In July 2018, SaskPower announced, in its annual report, that that would not be proceeding with retrofitting the two aging facilities near Estevan—Boundary Dams 4 and 5 (BD4 and BD5) with carbon capture and storage (CCS). According to a February 11, 2019 "CBC News" article, SNC-Lavalin has "received about $765,800,000 in [Saskatchewan provincial] government contracts from 2009 to 2018".


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: Following a 2017 public consultation process, the Government of Canada moved forward with the establishment of a "made-in-Canada version of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) regime", called the "Remediation Agreement Regime", which was introduced in the March budget and came into effect in June 2018. By 2019, SNC-Lavalin, still facing criminal charges in regard to several contracts, began investigating the possibility of a DPA under the newly introduced Remediation Agreement Regime, as early as April 2018. On February 10, 2019, the "Toronto Star" reported that Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer met with SNC-Lavalin CEO Neil Bruce on May 29, 2018 to discuss the remediation agreement. The director of public prosecutions informed SNC-Lavalin on October 9, that its DPA option was rejected because "is not appropriate in this case". According to the "National Post", "If the company is convicted it would be barred from bidding on federal contracts for 10 years, potentially costing it billions in forgone revenue." In response, the company's share prices dropped, leaving it vulnerable to a hostile takeover. According to the "Montreal Gazette", Quebec Premier François Legault said that SNC-Lavalin was one of ten publicly-traded companies headquartered in Quebec that the province considers to be "strategic" and therefore in need of protection from a takeover that would force the company to leave the province.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: On February 8, 2019, "The Globe and Mail" reported that sources close to the government said that the Prime Minister's Office allegedly had attempted to influence Jody Wilson-Raybould's decision concerning SNC-Lavalin's request for a DPA, while she was Minister of Justice and Attorney General. When asked about the allegations, Justin Trudeau said that the story in the "Globe" was false and that he had never "directed" Wilson-Raybould concerning the case. Wilson-Raybould refused to comment on the matter citing solicitor-client privilege. Under pressure from the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party (NDP), on February 11, 2019, the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner launched an inquiry into allegations of political interference and a possible violation of the "Conflict of Interest Act" in the SNC-Lavalin case.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: On February 18, 2019, Gerald Butts, Trudeau's principal secretary, resigned and denied that he or anyone else in the Prime Minister's Office attempted to influence Wilson-Raybould.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: On February 27, 2019, Wilson-Raybould spoke about the SNC-Lavalin controversy at a hearing of the House of Commons justice committee. In her first substantial public statement on the matter, she testified that she was inappropriately pressured to prevent the Montreal-based company from being prosecuted in a bribery case.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: On 14 August 2019, Mario Dion, conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, released a report that said Trudeau contravened section 9 of the "Conflict of Interest Act" by improperly pressuring Wilson-Raybould. The report details lobbying efforts by SNC-Lavalin to influence prosecution since at least February 2016, including the lobbying efforts to enact DPA legislation. The commissioner has also found that Trudeau acted improperly when using his position of authority over Wilson-Raybould in an effort to have her overrule the director of public prosecution’s decision not to negotiate a deal with SNC-Lavalin that would see the company avoid criminal prosecution over charges of corruption and fraud stemming from an RCMP nvestigation. The report analyses SNC-Lavalin's interests and finds that the lobbying effort advanced private interests of the company, rather than public interests. The report's analysis section discusses the topics of prosecutorial independence and Shawcross doctrine (dual role of Attorney General) to draw the conclusion that the influence was improper and a violation of "Conflict of Interest Act".


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime resigned in March 2012 and was arrested by Quebec's anti-corruption squad on charges including fraud on November 28, 2012. He was replaced by Ian A. Bourne, who was also the chairman of Ballard Power Systems and a member of the CPP Investment Board. Bourne sat on SNC-Lavalin's board of directors beginning in 2009, before the "allegations of fraud and corruption in Libya" were made. As interim CEO from May 2012 to October 2012, Bourne oversaw a "major overhaul" of SNC-Lavalin's culture. Bourne resigned as chairman and as a director in March 2015 and was replaced by Lawrence N. Stevenson, who sat on SNC's board from 1999 until 2018.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: Just before retiring from SNC-Lavalin in May 2012, Gwyn Morgan—who had been chair since 2006—hired American civil and environmental engineer Robert Card as CEO. Card was instructed to revamp the company's "ethics and compliance standards" and oversee the departure of existing management that had been involved in the scandals. During this period, over 10,000 Canadian employees left the company, many of them voluntarily. By 2013, when Card had completed his "strategic offensive" against previous SNC-Lavalin management, Neil Bruce, a native of Scotland, replaced Card. By August, four senior executives had departed, including Gilles Laramée, former CFO, Ric Sorbo, former head of SNC's oil and gas business, Patrick Lamarre, head of the power unit, and Michael Novak. SNC also dismissed financial controller Stéphane Roy.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: Bruce undertook a campaign to improve ethics and compliance at all levels of the company management. This included using Transparency International's corruption rankings as a guideline in deciding which countries with which SNC-Lavalin would do business. In June 2019 Bruce retired from the company.


title: SNC-Lavalin

text: In 2019, the investigations continued to affect the company and its CEO Bruce. SNC-Lavalin continued to face criminal charges in 2019 in regards to alleged bribes contracts between 2001 and 2011. The company failed to receive a remediation agreement that would have provided a reprieve from criminal charges and now faces a potential conviction. A new investigation involving potential bribery in relation to a repair contract in the early 2000s, has been reported by "La Presse".


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Robert Siers Cavallo (born March 21, 1963) is an American record producer, musician, and record industry executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in history, and has produced or had creative involvement in albums that have sold over 130 million units worldwide.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Primarily known for his production work with Green Day, he has also worked with Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Eric Clapton, Beth Hart, the Goo Goo Dolls, the Dave Matthews Band, Kid Rock, Jawbreaker, Alanis Morissette, Black Sabbath, Phil Collins, Paramore, Sixpence None the Richer, Lil Peep, Shinedown, and Meat Loaf. He is also a multiple Grammy Award winner.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo plays multiple instruments and has professional credits for his bass, keyboard, organ, piano, guitar and percussion work.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo was born in Washington, D.C. and moved to Los Angeles, California with his family at age 10. His interest in music began at age 11 after listening to his father's The Beatles collection. He graduated from the University of Southern California, as a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, in 1985 with a B.A. in English. Cavallo also attended the Dick Grove School of Music.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo worked with George Massenburg at The Complex Recording Studios early in his career. He joined Warner Bros. Records as A&R representative in 1987 and worked with Black Sabbath as one of his first assignments. He also signed both the Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day during his first tenure at Warner Bros. Records. Cavallo became senior vice-president of A&R of Hollywood Records in 1998. He moved to Warner Music Group in 2002 and became chief creative officer of the company in 2009. He was named chairman of Warner Bros. Records in 2011, and served in that position until December 2012.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo also co-founded Level 7, a media company, with Broadcom Corporation co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo has produced multiple platinum-selling albums and tracks. Platinum-selling albums he has produced include:


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo-produced Fleetwood Mac album "Say You Will" went gold in the US, Canada and Britain. Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King debuted at number 1 on the "Billboard" 200 rankings. Phil Collins' single "Can't Stop Loving You," off the Cavallo-produced album "Testify", peaked at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Two Cavallo-produced Goo Goo Dolls tracks, "Iris" and "Slide," were included in Billboard's top 100 pop songs 1992–2012. "Iris" was the top pop song from 1992–2012 and "Slide" was ninth-best according to Billboard's list.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo played an important role as "A&R Representative" for Linkin Park's single "Burn It Down" which reached the 30th position on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified as Platinum by RIAA.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: After producing Beth Hart’s critically-acclaimed “War In My Mind” album in 2019, Cavallo pulled double duty in both producing and playing lead guitar in Hart’s 2022 “A Tribute to Led Zeppelin” album.


title: Rob Cavallo

text: Cavallo has won three Grammy awards: 1998 Producer of the Year; 2004 Best Rock Album for producing Green Day's "American Idiot"; and 2005 Record of the Year for producing Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".


title: Gandaki Province

text: Gandaki Province ( ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Bagmati Province to the east, Karnali Province to the west, and Lumbini Province and Bihar of India to the south. The total area of the province is 21,504 km - about 14.57% of the country's total area. According to the latest census, the population of the province was 2,403,757. The newly elected Provincial Assembly adopted Gandaki Province as the permanent name by replacing its initial name Province no. 4 in July 2018. Krishna Chandra Nepali is the present chief minister of Gandaki Province


title: Gandaki Province

text: Gandaki Province was named after the river Gandaki. Gandaki is a major river in the province. This river has Important links with historical Hindu civilization. The Gandaki river is mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. It has been said that Valmiki wrote the great epic "Ramayana" here. It is also believed to be the birthplace of Luv & Kush. Its evolution is described in Shiva Purana, Kumarakhand, in the chapter of the killing of Shankhachuda.


title: Gandaki Province

text: Gandaki province was once home to the Chaubisi Rajya, the 24 kings, of which Gorkha was one. From Gorkha, Prithvi Narayan Shah arose to unify all the kingdoms and expand to include all of present-day Nepal. Gandaki Province was known as "Gandak Kshetra" which was established in 1956. Gandak Kshetra was composed by grouping the then 4 districts. Those 4 districts are now divided into many districts. Gandak Kshetra had total area of and total population was 12 Lakhs. The four districts were:


title: Gandaki Province

text: In 1962, the administrative system was restructured again and the "Kshetras" system was canceled. The country was restructured into 75 development districts and those districts were grouped into zones. In 1972 area of the Gandaki Province named Western Development Region. It had 3 zones and 16 districts.


title: Gandaki Province

text: The province has an area of 21,773 km which is about 14.66% of the total area of Nepal. The state extends between 27°-20' N ~ 29°-20' N latitude and 82° 52' E ~ 85°-12' E longitude. In terms of terrain, the province is spread over the Himalayan, Hilly and Terai region of Nepal; 5,919 km (26.8%) of the area falls under the Himalayan region, 14,604 km (67.2%) of the area falls under the Hilly region and 1,310 km (6%) of the area falls under the Terai region.


title: Gandaki Province

text: The province has a population of 2,403,016 which is just about 9.06% of the total population of Nepal. The population density is about 110 persons per square kilometre. The province has a population growth rate of -0.33%. The sex ratio is 89 males for 100 females, with a total of 948,028 males and 1,144,124 females recorded in 2011. The urban population of the region is 1,452,186 (60.5%) and the rural population is 943,652 (39.5%). About 50.1% of the population in the province are independent population.


title: Gandaki Province

text: Hill Brahmins are the largest community with 21.26% of the population. Other aboriginal Khas communities include Khas/Chhetri (13.13%), Kami (8.66%), Sarki (4.10%), Damai (3.84%), Thakuri (1.61%) and Kumal (1.49%). The Janajati groups are Magar (18.79%), Gurung (11.30%), Newar (4.23%), Tamang (2.03%), Tharu (1.68%) and Bhujel (1.27%).


title: Gandaki Province

text: According to the 2011 Nepal census there are total 88 languages spoken in Gandaki Province. Nepali/Gorkhali/Khas Kura is the most-spoken language, by 72.67% of the population. 9.85% speak Kham Magar, 8.70% Gurung, 1.72% Newar, 1.48% Tharu and 1.42% Tamang.


title: Gandaki Province

text: The Language Commission of Nepal has recommended Magar, Gurung and Bhojpuri as official language in the province. The commission has also recommended Tharu, Nepal Bhasa and Tamang to be additional official languages, for specific regions and purposes in the province.


title: Gandaki Province

text: Gandaki province is divided into 11 districts, which are listed below. A district is administrated by the head of the District Coordination Committee and the District Administration Officer. The districts are further divided into municipalities or rural municipalities. The municipalities include one metropolitan city and 26 municipalities. There are 58 rural municipalities in the province.


title: Gandaki Province

text: The Governor acts as the head of the province while the Chief Minister is the head of the provincial government. The Chief Judge of the Pokhara High Court is the head of the judiciary. The present Governor, Chief Minister and Chief Judge are Sita Kumari Poudel (governor), Krishna Chandra Nepali Pokharel (chief minister) and Purushottam Bhandari. The province has 60 provincial assembly constituencies and 18 federal House of Representative constituencies.


title: Gandaki Province

text: Gandaki Province has a unicameral legislature, like that of the other provinces in Nepal. The tenure of the provincial assembly is of five years. The Provincial Assembly of Gandaki Province is temporarily housed at the Urban Development Training Centre in Pokhara.


title: Gandaki Province

text: 9 out of 11 districts of Gandaki Province are connected via surfaced roads. Road connections to Mustang and Manang are unsurfaced and can be impassable during the rainy season. Siddhartha Highway connects Lumbini to Gandaki. The highway starts at the Nepal-India Border in Siddharthanagar and terminates at Prithivi chowk, Pokhara. The major settlements on the highway are Siddharthanagar, Butwal, Tansen, Waling, Putalibazar, Syangja, and Pokhara.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The Central Military Commission (CMC) is the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. It operates within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under the name "Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China", and as the military branch of the central government under the name "Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China".


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: Under the arrangement of "one organization with two names", both commissions have identical personnel, organization and function, and operate under both the party and state systems. The commission's parallel hierarchy allows the CCP to supervise the political and military activities of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), including issuing directives on senior appointments, troop deployments and arms spending.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The CMC is chaired by Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and paramount leader. Almost all the members are senior generals, but the most important posts have always been held by the party's most senior leaders to ensure the loyalty of the armed forces. CMC has control over 6.8 million personnel.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The CMC is housed in the Ministry of National Defense compound ("August 1st or 'Eight-One' Building") in western Beijing.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The party military committee dates back to October 1925, and while operating under various degrees of authority and responsibility, was consistently named the CCP Central Military Commission (). Among Western commentators, “Affairs” is frequently dropped from the title. As a commission, it ranks higher in the party hierarchy than departments such as the Organization or United Front Departments. In 1937 the CCP Central Revolutionary Military Commission () was created after the Chinese Soviet Republic's Chinese Red Army were integrated into the Kuomintang's army for the anti-Japanese war, and it later evolved into the Central Military Commission after the Party's 7th Congress in 1945. In this period, the committee was always chaired by Mao Zedong.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: In the September 1949 reorganization, military leadership was transferred to a government body, the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government (). The final coexistence of two military committees was set in 1954, as the CCP Central Military Commission was re-established, while state military authority rested into a National Defense Council of the People's Republic of China () chaired by the President in keeping with the 1954 Constitution.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: As Mao Zedong was also the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and led military affairs as a whole, the CMC and NDC's day-to-day work was carried out by its first-ranking vice-chairman, a post which was occupied by Lin Biao until his death in 1971, then by Ye Jianying. As a consequence of the Cultural Revolution, the Party CMC became the sole military overseeing body, and the National Defence Council was abolished in 1975.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: Deng Xiaoping's efforts to institutionally separate the CCP and the state led to the establishment of today’s "State CMC", which was created in 1982 by the Constitution of China in order to formalize the role of the military within the government structure. Both the National Defense Commission and "State CMC" have been described as 'consultative' bodies. Contrarily to the National Defense Commission, however, the Party and state CMCs are almost identical in leadership, composition, and powers.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The Commission included the post of secretary-general until 1992. This post was held by Yang Shangkun (1945–1954), Huang Kecheng (1954–1959), Luo Ruiqing (1959–1966), Ye Jianying (1966–1977), Luo Ruiqing (1977–1979), Geng Biao (1979–1981), Yang Shangkun (1981–1989), Yang Baibing (1989–1992).


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: In 2016, the 4 traditional general departments were dissolved by order of Chairman Xi Jinping, and in their place 15 new departments were created as part of the ongoing modernization of the PLA.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: Unlike in most countries, the Central Military Commission is not organizational equivalent of other government ministries. Although China does have a Ministry of National Defense, headed by a Minister of National Defense, it exists solely for liaison with foreign militaries and does not have command authority.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The most important chain of command runs from the CMC to the 15 general departments (Joint Staff Department, Political Work Department, Logistic Support Department, Equipments Development Department) and, in turn, to each of the service branches (ground, navy and air forces). In addition, the CMC also has direct control over the Rocket Forces, Strategic Support Forces, the National Defense University, and the Academy of Military Sciences. As stipulated in the 1997 National Defense Law, the CMC also controls the paramilitary People’s Armed Police (PAP), who have the politically sensitive role of guarding key government buildings (including the main leadership compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing), armed offender response, emergency response and disaster relief work around China. China Coast Guard (CCG) and the Militia force are also under the control of the CMC. The CMC shared command authority over the PAP with the State Council mostly via the Ministry of Public Security; from 2018 the PAP is under the sole control of the CMC.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: Although in theory the CMC has the highest military command authority, in reality the ultimate decision-making power concerning war, armed forces, and national defense resides with the Politburo of the CCP. The CMC is usually chaired by the General Secretary of the CCP, who is supported by two to three vice-chairmen, sometimes, but not currently, including the Defense Minister. Members of the CMC used to include the heads of the PLA’s four general departments and the Commanders of the Ground Force, Air Force, Navy and Rocket Force; but after the recent reform only Minister of National Defense, Chief of Joint Staff, Director of Political Work, and Secretary of Discipline Inspection are included.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The armed forces of China also have Joint Staff Department, the Political Work Department, the Logistics Support Department and the Equipment Development Department, which implements the directives of the Central Military Commission. Along with the General Secretary of the Communist Party and Premier of the State Council, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission have consistently been one of the most powerful political leaders in China.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The Chairman of the CMC was twice in its history held by a senior official who had given up his other posts: by Deng in the late 1980s, and by Jiang in the early 2000s. In the case of Deng Xiaoping, because of his prestige, he was able to exercise considerable power after his retirement, in part due to his holding the position of CMC Chairman. There was speculation that Jiang Zemin would have been able to retain similar authority after his retirement from the positions of General Secretary and President, but ultimately Jiang was unable to do so. One major factor is that, in contrast to Deng Xiaoping, who always had close relations with the People's Liberation Army, Jiang had no military background. In addition, with the promotion of the fourth generation of Chinese leaders to lead the civilian party, there was also a corresponding promotion of military leaders. All the military members of the CMC come from Hu Jintao's generation rather than from Jiang's, and at the time of the leadership transition, there appeared some very sharp editorials from military officers suggesting that the military would have strong objections to Jiang attempting to exercise power behind the scenes.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: Jiang Zemin relinquished his post as chairman of the party's Central Military Commission in September 2004 to Hu Jintao, and from the state commission in March 2005, which appeared to solidify Hu's position as paramount leader. However, Jiang had appointed two generals who maintained good relations with him, Xu Caihou, and Guo Boxiong, to the vice-chairman positions, and continued to wield influence through them at the expense of Hu. Unlike Deng and Jiang, Hu relinquished his CMC post along with his remaining leadership offices in favour of his successor Xi Jinping.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: In China's state-party-military tripartite political system, the CMC itself is a decision-making body whose day-to-day affairs are not nearly as transparent as that of the Central Committee or the State Council. As one of China's three main decision-making bodies the relative influence of the CMC can vary depending on the time period and the leaders. In the event of war or political crisis, for example, the CMC may well function as a "de facto" executive for the country's daily affairs.


title: Central Military Commission (China)

text: The Tiananmen Protests of 1989 illustrates how the Central Military Commission functions. CMC Chairman Deng Xiaoping proposed the imposition martial law and the use of armed soldiers to suppress unarmed demonstrations in Beijing.