title: Abdul Karim Telgi

text: Telgi's mother was Shariefabee Ladsaab Telgi, and his father was an employee of Indian Railways. His father died while he was young. Telgi paid for his education at Sarvodaya Vidyalaya Khanapur, an English medium school, by selling fruits and vegetables on trains. Eventually, he moved to Saudi Arabia. Seven years later, he returned to India, when he began a counterfeiting career, originally focusing on fake passports. He started a business to export manpower to Saudi Arabia and opened a company, Arabian Metro Travels at New Marine Lines. He used to create several fake documents that would facilitate laborers’ smooth passage at the airport even if their passport had an ECR (emigration check required) stamp or other issues that could raise red flags for immigration officials. This practice was called “pushing” in the parlance of manpower exporters.


title: Abdul Karim Telgi

text: Telgi moved to more complex counterfeiting when he began to counterfeit stamp paper. He appointed 300 people as agents who sold the fakes to bulk purchasers, including banks, insurance companies, and stock brokerage firms. The size of the scam was estimated to be more than One aspect of the scandal that caused much concern was that it required the involvement of many police officers and other government employees including Nikhil Kothari. An Assistant Police Investigator was found to have a net worth of over , despite making a salary of only per month. Several police officers were implicated in the case. Pradip Sawant, then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Branch, Mumbai, was discharged but subsequently reinstated after being found innocent. Then police officer S M Mushrif, known for the book "Who killed Karkare" took decisive measures in this case.


title: Abdul Karim Telgi

text: On 17 January 2006, Telgi and several associates were sentenced to 30 years rigorous imprisonment. On 28 June 2007, Telgi was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 13 years for another aspect of the scandal. He was also fined . The Income Tax Department requested that Telgi's property be confiscated to pay the fine. He had been in jail for 13 years.


title: Abdul Karim Telgi

text: Telgi used to go to dance bars and once showered Rs 90 lakh on one bar dancer in one night in Topaz Bar at Grant Road, Mumbai. He was said to be in love with a bar dancer, Tarannumn Khan.


title: Abdul Karim Telgi

text: Telgi was suffering from meningitis and died on 23 October 2017 at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru. He was suffering from diabetes and hypertension for over 20 years, besides other ailments.


title: Tej Sapru

text: Tej Sapru (born 5 January 1955) is an Indian actor. He is the son of D. K. Sapru and Hemvati, both of whom were actors in the Hindi film industry. He has appeared in a number of Bollywood films of between the 1980s and 2010s, including "", "Mohra", "Sirf Tum" and "Saajan". He is also known for his roles in popular television series such as "Qubool Hai", "", "Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli" and "The Zee Horror Show".


title: Tej Sapru

text: Tej's sisters, the actress Priti Sapru and the screenwriter Reema Rakesh Nath, are well-known names in Punjabi and Hindi cinema.


title: Tej Sapru

text: Sapru has acted in several daily soaps like "Qubool Hai", "", "Tumhari Pakhi", "Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli" and "Palampur Express". He is known for his portrayal of Amatya Rakshas in the Dangal TV/Imagine TV historical series "Chandragupta Maurya", which depicts the life of Indian emperor Chandragupta Maurya. He also played the role of Greek king Seleucus I Nicator in the Colors TV serial "Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat". and the role of Chanakya in ABP News TV series "Bharatvarsh" in 2016. He also portrayed as Md. Ali jinnah in the television series - Pradhanmantri.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: USS "John C. Stennis" (CVN-74) is the seventh nuclear-powered supercarrier in the United States Navy, named for Senator John C. Stennis of Mississippi.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: She was commissioned on 9 December 1995. Her home port is temporarily Norfolk, Virginia, for her scheduled refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH), which began in 2019. After her overhaul is completed sometime in the 2020s, she is scheduled to return to Bremerton, Washington.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The mission of "John C. Stennis" and her air wing (CVW-9) is to conduct sustained combat air operations while forward-deployed. The embarked air wing consists of eight to nine squadrons. Attached aircraft are Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet, EA-18G Growler, MH-60R, MH-60S, and E-2C Hawkeye.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The air wing can engage enemy aircraft, submarines, and land targets, or lay mines hundreds of miles from the ship. "John C. Stennis"s aircraft are used to conduct strikes, support land battles, protect the battle group or other friendly shipping, and implement a sea or air blockade. The air wing provides a visible presence to demonstrate American power and resolve in a crisis. The ship normally operates as the centerpiece of a carrier battle group commanded by a flag officer embarked upon "John C. Stennis" and consisting of four to six other ships.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: "John C. Stennis"s two nuclear reactors give her virtually unlimited range and endurance and a top speed in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h, 34.5 mph). The ship's four catapults and four arresting gear engines enable her to launch and recover aircraft rapidly and simultaneously. The ship carries approximately of fuel for her aircraft and escorts, and enough weapons and stores for extended operations without replenishment. "John C. Stennis" also has extensive repair capabilities, including a fully equipped Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, a micro-miniature electronics repair shop, and numerous ship repair shops.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: For defense, in addition to her air wing and accompanying vessels, "John C. Stennis" has NATO RIM-7 Sea Sparrow and Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) surface-to-air missile systems, the Phalanx Close-in Weapons System for cruise missile defense, and the AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The nuclear-powered USS "John C. Stennis" (CVN 74) was contracted on 29 March 1988, and the keel was laid on 13 March 1991 at Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The ship was christened on 11 November 1993, in honor of Senator John Cornelius Stennis (D-Mississippi) who served in the Senate from 1947 to 1989. The daughter of the ship's namesake, Mrs. Margaret Stennis-Womble, was the ship's sponsor. "John C. Stennis" was commissioned on 9 December 1995 at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, and she conducted flight deck certification in January 1996. The first arrested landing was by a VX-23 F-14B. The ship conducted numerous carrier qualifications and independent steaming exercises off the East Coast throughout the next two years. Included among these events was the first carrier landing of an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet on 18 January 1997.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 26 February 1998 with Carrier Air Wing Seven embarked, "John C. Stennis" left Norfolk for her maiden deployment, transiting the Suez Canal on 7 March and arriving in the Persian Gulf on 11 March 1998. The ship traveled in 274 hours, an average speed of to relieve in conducting Operation Southern Watch missions. "John C. Stennis" departed the Persian Gulf on 19 July 1998 for her new home port of Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California, arriving on 26 August 1998. In October 1998, she entered a six-month maintenance and upgrade period at North Island, returning to sea in April 1999. During the maintenance period, a jet blast deflector collapsed, severely injuring two sailors.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: In May 1999, the ship ran aground in a shallow area adjacent to the turning basin near North Island. Silt clogged the intake pipes to the steam condensing systems for the nuclear reactor plants, causing the carrier's two nuclear reactors to be shut down (one reactor by crew, the other automatically) for a period of 45 minutes. She was towed back to her pier for maintenance and observation for the next two days. The cleanup cost was about $2 million.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 7 January 2000, "John C. Stennis" deployed to the Persian Gulf to relieve in Operation Southern Watch. During the deployment, the ship made port visits to South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Tasmania and Pearl Harbor, before returning to San Diego on 3 July 2000.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: Following the September 11 attacks, "John C. Stennis" conducted Noble Eagle missions off the U.S. West Coast. In 2000 and 2001, "John C. Stennis" was part of Carrier Group 7.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 21 May 2001, the ship served as "the world's largest and most expensive outdoor theater" for the world premiere of the Disney film "Pearl Harbor". More than 2,000 people attended the premiere on the ship, which had special grandstand seating and one of the world's largest movie screens assembled on the flight deck.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 12 November 2001, two months earlier than scheduled, the ship left on her third deployment to the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of responsibility in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, returning to San Diego on 28 May 2002. From June 2002 to January 2003, "JCS" underwent a seven-month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA).


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: From 24 May to 1 November 2004, "John C. Stennis" conducted her fourth major overseas deployment, participating in Exercise Northern Edge 2004 in the Gulf of Alaska, Rim of the Pacific (RimPac) Exercise off Hawaii, exercises with "Kitty Hawk" off Japan and goodwill visits to Japan, Malaysia and Western Australia. Shortly after returning from deployment to San Diego, "JCS" changed her home port to Naval Station Bremerton, Washington on 19 January 2005. Once at Bremerton, "John C. Stennis" underwent an 11-month docking planned incremental availability (DPIA), the first time she had been dry-docked since commissioning. Upgrades included a new mast. The new mast's structure is the first of its kind. A new type of steel alloy was used, making it stiffer and thicker than before. The new mast is also heavier and taller, allowing it to support new antennae the old mast would not have been able to support. Other upgrades included the installation of a new integrated bridge system in the pilothouse that will save manpower and provide state-of-the-art displays.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: Following the maintenance cycle and pre-deployment training exercises, the carrier returned to Bremerton, Washington, and the carrier was certified surge ready, meaning the ship maintained a high state of readiness in case of an unscheduled deployment.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 20 January 2007, the carrier and her group set sail for the Persian Gulf as part of an increase in US military presence. "John C. Stennis" arrived in the area on 19 February 2007, joining in the United States Fifth Fleet area of operations. This marked the first time since 2003 that there were two aircraft carrier battle groups in the region simultaneously.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 23 May 2007, "John C. Stennis", along with eight other warships including the aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ship , passed through the Strait of Hormuz. US Navy officials said it was the largest such move since 2003.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: "John C. Stennis" departed Bremerton for a 6-month deployment to the western Pacific on 13 January 2009. On 24 April, the ship arrived in Singapore. That same day, one of the ship's sailors was crushed and killed while working from a small harbor boat to secure a drain that discharges oily water from the aircraft catapults.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 29 April, the ship's executive officer, Commander David L. Burnham, was relieved by Rear Admiral Mark A. Vance over unspecified personal conduct. Burnham was reassigned to a base in San Diego, pending an investigation.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: After participating in exercises with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and the Republic of Korea, as well as joint exercise Northern Edge 2009, "John C. Stennis" returned from deployment in early July 2009. Carrier Air Wing 9 debarked on 6 July at NAS North Island, prior to the ship's arrival at her homeport of Bremerton on 10 July.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 30 March 2011, a VMFAT-101 F/A-18C Hornet suffered an uncontained catastrophic engine failure, exploded and caught fire just before launch from "John C. Stennis" about off the coast of San Diego during launch and recovery training operations. The aircraft was at full power, in tension on the catapult when the accident occurred. Eleven flight deck crewmen were injured while the pilot was unhurt. There was no major damage to the carrier but the aircraft was a total loss.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 18 December 2011, the final command-and-control mission for U.S. forces over Iraq was flown by an E-2C Hawkeye ("pictured") from Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 112 (VAW-112), catapulting off the carrier "John C. Stennis" at 7:32 am and returning at 11:04 a.m, both local time. This mission effectively ended U.S. naval support for Operation New Dawn.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 3 January 2012, Iranian General Ataollah Salehi warned "John C. Stennis" "not to return to the Persian Gulf." The United States dismissed the warning.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 7 January, "John C. Stennis" led the rescue of an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel, "Al Mulahi," following her seizure by pirates. The pirates ambushed the ship and Iranian flag to search for other ships to hijack, while holding the original crew hostage. When some of the pirates attempted to board a Bahamian-flagged cargo ship, "Sunshine", she radioed for assistance. "John C. Stennis" dispatched a helicopter and cruiser to assist. A boarding party captured the pirates who attacked "Sunshine", fed them, then released them temporarily. A helicopter then secretly followed the pirates back to their mother ship, "Al Mulahi". Crew from the destroyer then boarded the fishing vessel (upon permission in Urdu from the captain), and arrested all of the pirates with no casualties.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 2 March 2012, "John C. Stennis" returned home from her 7-month deployment to homeport Bremerton, Washington.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 7 July 2012, crew members were informed that "John C. Stennis" would be returning to the Middle East in August, much sooner than expected.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 27 August 2012, "John C. Stennis" departed to the Middle East originally for six months, but was extended to eight.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 1 April 2013, the ship arrived at Changi Naval Base in Singapore. Local ITE students were invited for a guided tour inside the aircraft carrier.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: Following that the ship sailed to Pearl Harbor, where she performed a week long tiger cruise to San Diego


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: At 12:45 on 3 May 2013, "John C. Stennis" arrived at her home port of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, the completion of a ten-month, deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. During this deployment, squadron aircraft flew more than 1,300 sorties from the carrier's deck in the war in Afghanistan.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 27 June, the ship entered Dry Dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF) to begin her scheduled 16 month Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA). Work included preserving and painting the ship's hull, upgrading the propulsion plant, refurbishing the crew's berthing compartments, and a complete replacement of the ship's computer networks and work stations.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: "John C. Stennis" completed her Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA) on 5 November 2014. After a six-day sea trial, the ship certified on 10 November as a Naval Operational asset.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: In mid-January 2015, "John C. Stennis" departed her home port of Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, and arrived at Naval Magazine Indian Island to load munitions prior to departing for San Diego to receive aircraft and another 2,000 sailors. On 1 September, the carrier arrived back at Bremerton, Washington.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 15 January 2016, "John C. Stennis" left Naval Base Kitsap for a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific. On 19 April she arrived to Singapore for a regularly scheduled port visit after completing an annual bilateral training exercise in the Philippines. On 26 April 2016, China denied "John C. Stennis", and her escort ships, permission to make a port visit to Hong Kong. On 10 August, the carrier arrived in San Diego, California for offload and disembarkation of CVW-9. On 14 August, "John C. Stennis" arrived back to homeport, Naval Base Kitsap, finishing a Western Pacific deployment and RIMPAC exercise.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 2 August 2018, the Navy announced that "John C. Stennis" would change homeport to Norfolk, Virginia in advance of her refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding. will move from San Diego to Naval Base Kitsap to go through a period of maintenance at Puget Sound and will replace "Carl Vinson" at San Diego.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 12 December 2018, "John C. Stennis" launched her first combat sorties in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 16 May 2019, "John C. Stennis" arrived in her new home port of Norfolk, Virginia in preparation for her refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) in 2020. RCOH is expected to be completed sometime in the mid 2020s.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: On 7 May 2021, "John C. Stennis" went into Newport News for her midlife Refuel and Complex Overhaul (RCOH). The overhaul is expected to be completed by 2025.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: "John C. Stennis"s seal was produced from the combined efforts of several crew members with historical help from Stennis Center for Public Service, John C. Stennis Space Center and United States Senate Historian. The seal implies peace through strength, just as Senator John C. Stennis was referred to as an "unwavering advocate of peace through strength" by President Ronald Reagan, when the ship's name was announced in June 1988.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The circular shape signifies the "Nimitz"-class aircraft carrier's unique capability to circle the world without refueling while providing a forward presence from the sea. The predominant colors are red, white, blue and gold, the same as those of the United States and the Navy. The outer border, taken from one version of a U.S. Senate crest, represents the strength through unity of the ship's crew. The four gold bands and eight ties denote John C. Stennis' four decades (41 years) in the Senate and the eight presidents he served with, from President Truman to President Reagan. The seven stars in the blue border represent his seven terms in the Senate and characterize "John C. Stennis" as the seventh "Nimitz"-class aircraft carrier. The red and white stripes inside the blue border represent the American flag and the American people "John C. Stennis" serves. They also honor the courage and sacrifice of the United States' armed forces.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The eagle and shield is a representation of the gilt eagle and shield overlooking the Old Senate Chamber. The shield represents the United States of America. The twenty stars represent the US's twentieth state, Mississippi, the home of John C. Stennis. The three arrows in the eagle's talons symbolize the ship's and air wing's ability to project power. The burst of light emanating from the shield, representative of the emergence of a new nation in the United States Senate Seal, portrays the birth of over 25 major Naval Aviation programs under Senator Stennis' leadership, including all aircraft carriers from to , and aircraft from the F-4 Phantom to the F/A-18 Hornet. The eagle is representative of John C. Stennis' stature in the Senate, where he was respected and admired as a "soaring eagle" by some of his colleagues.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The ship herself is pictured in the seal. On the edges of the flight deck are the words "Honor, Courage, Commitment" which are the United States Navy's Core Values.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The seal, after selection by the ship's crew, was submitted to Mrs. Margaret Stennis Womble, the ship's sponsor and daughter of Senator Stennis, and to Mrs. John Hampton Stennis, the matron of honor and wife of Senator Stennis' son, for their approval. In February 1995 they approved the design.


title: USS John C. Stennis

text: The ship's name was originally approved by then-president Ronald Reagan in 1988. As of 2021, the ship's name was the subject of renewed controversy due to Senator Stennis's outspoken opposition to civil rights and racial equality, and his extensive record of legislative support for racial segregation. The controversy is part of a larger reassessment of military bases, ships and other U.S. military assets named after Confederate generals and other persons associated with slavery and racial segregation.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar is an Indian insurance aggregator and multinational financial technology company based in Gurgaon. The company was founded in June 2008 by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar. It provides a digital platform - website and app - where users can compare insurance policies and other financial services from major insurance companies. The company is India's largest insurance aggregator, and has expanded its operations to the United Arab Emirates.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar is the flagship subsidiary of PB Fintech Ltd which also owns the credit product aggregator Paisabazaar.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar.com was founded in June 2008 by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar, starting out as an insurance comparison website. At that time, the Indian insurance industry still lacked transparency and policies were mostly sold through agents. Policybazaar started by listing the details of multiple insurance policies for customers to choose from. It began as a price-comparison website, and an information portal for learning about insurance and insurance programs. The website subsequently expanded to becoming a marketplace for insurance policies. In 2015, Policybazaar launched its app for Android and iOS users.


title: Policybazaar

text: In February 2020, Sarbvir Singh was appointed CEO effective December 2019 while Yashish Dahiya took over the role of group CEO.


title: Policybazaar

text: In June 2021, Policybazaar obtained the insurance broking license from IRADA and announced that it would setup 100 offline outlets across India. The company also surrendered its web aggregator license.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar moved from a policy price comparison website to an insurance selling operation. The company claims to process nearly 25% of India's life insurance and over 7% of the country's retail health cover. Policybazaar provides several types of insurance plans like life insurance, health insurance, motor insurance, travel insurance as well as group plans.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar.com has tie-ups with insurance companies that help it procure information such as price, benefit, insurance cover etc. directly from the insurers. Users can use the Policybazaar website or app to research, compare and buy insurance policies from over 40 insurance providers. Policybazaar has companies, who offer car insurance, health insurance, life insurance, corporate insurance and travel insurance, as its business partners.


title: Policybazaar

text: Insurance Regulatory And Development Authority of India regulates the insurance web aggregation business of Policybazaar. The company is registered as an insurance web aggregator under the Insurance Web Aggregator Regulations, 2017.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar.com has so far raised US$366 million in 7 rounds of funding since its inception in 2008.


title: Policybazaar

text: Info Edge, which runs the online job portal Naukri.com, invested as the seed fund in Policybazaar in mid 2008. Intel Capital and Info Edge invested into Policybazaar in May 2011 as part of the venture round.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar raised US$9 million from Intel Capital and Inventus Capital Partners in its series A investment round. Policybazaar raised US$5 million in its third round of funding in April 2013. This Series B investment was led by Inventus Capital Partners along with Info Edge and Intel Capital. In May 2014, Policybazaar.com raised $20 million in a Series C round of funding from existing investors including Tiger Global Management.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar raised around $40 million in its Series D round of funding in April 2015 from Premji Invest, the personal investment vehicle of Wipro chairman Azim Premji. The Series D also attracted money from Steadview Capital and ABG Capital. Policybazaar raised US$77 million in its Series E funding round. This was led by at least three new investors including True North and IDG Venture Partners invested in this round. Also, several media reports claimed that Boston-based asset management firm Wellington Management Group invested the online insurance aggregator.


title: Policybazaar

text: Policybazaar raised a total of US$238 million in June 2018 in its series F funding. Tokyo-based Softbank Group’s Vision fund led the round with its US$150 million investment that gave it a 15% stake in the parent company of Policybazaar - ETechAces Marketing and Consulting. The Series F investment saw Info Edge put in $45 million in the company through a special purpose vehicle, effectively lifting its stake to 13% from 9%. Softbank invested an additional $130 million to increase its stake to 15% in July 2020, valuing Policybazaar at around U$1.5 billion.


title: Policybazaar

text: In November 2021, PB Fintech Ltd, the parent company of Policybazaar, opened its initial public offering (IPO) and raised . Shares of PB Fintech Ltd began trading on National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange on 15 November 2021.


title: Policybazaar

text: In early 2019, Policybazaar filed an intellectual property case against insurance company Acko General Insurance and Coverfox Insurance Broking Private Limited for trademark infringement.


title: Policybazaar

text: In May 2021, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) imposed a fine of on Policybazaar for flouting norms related to SMS advertising.


title: Gemba

text: In lean manufacturing, the idea of "genba" is that the problems are visible, and the best improvement ideas will come from going to the "genba." The "gemba" walk, much like management by walking around (MBWA), is an activity that takes management to the front lines to look for waste and opportunities to practice "genba kaizen," or practical shop floor improvement. An important difference with MBWA is that Gemba Walks are not done randomly, but with a clear goal and often frequency and structure.


title: Gemba

text: Glenn Mazur introduced this term into Quality Function Deployment (QFD, a quality system for new products where manufacturing has not begun) to mean the customer's place of business or lifestyle. The idea is that to be customer-driven, one must go to the customer's "genba" to understand his problems and opportunities, using all one's senses to gather and process data.


title: Gemba

text: Gemba (aka Walkie Lookie) walks denote the action of going to see the actual process, understand the work, ask questions, and learn. It is also known as one fundamental part of Lean management philosophy.


title: Gemba

text: Taiichi Ohno, an executive at Toyota, led the development of the concept of the Gemba Walk. The Gemba Walk is an opportunity for staff to stand back from their day-to-day tasks to walk the floor of their workplace to identify wasteful activities. The objective of Gemba Walk is to understand the value stream and its problems rather than review results or make superficial comments. Along with Genchi Genbutsu or "Go, Look, See", Gemba Walk is one of the 5 Lean guiding principles that should be practiced by Lean leaders on a daily basis.


title: Gemba

text: The "gemba" walk, is an activity that takes management to the front lines to look for waste and opportunities to practice "gemba kaizen," or practical shopfloor improvement.


title: Gemba

text: The practice of regularly going to the Lean workplace to see the actual practices is known as gemba walking. Executives should expect to spend 45 to 60 minutes every week or two gemba walking with a Lean teacher, or Sensei, for six months to a year. Thereafter, they should regularly gemba walk on their own. Gemba walks are crucial to maintaining the disciplined adherence to Lean process designs, part of the Lean support role permeating all leadership positions.


title: Gemba

text: The term "going to the gemba" or, more appropriately, the Japanese term "genchi genbutsu" is also perceived to be comparable to management by walking around. The method bears much resemblance to the time and motion studies of Frederick Winslow Taylor, or even the more recent contextual inquiry and Contextual design methods, which are based in context-specific learning of work practices, in order to produce design-relevant process and product insights.


title: Gemba

text: Whereas Taiichi Ohno encouraged a focus on "going to the gemba," W. Edwards Deming suggested the need to look at the system, often referenced as "Production Viewed as a System". Deming's model of a system extends from suppliers, through an entire organization, to its customers, looping around with customer feedback. As conceived by Deming, and first shared in Japan during his infamous 1950 visit, his feedback loop is fundamental to exploring opportunities for continual improvement throughout the system. The commonly used models of production associated with lean, such as "value-stream mapping," do not extend to include suppliers, customers, or include a feedback loop to foster continual improvement of the system.


title: Gemba

text: Because of the lack of physical products or machines processing them, knowledge-based work, e.g., scientific research, software development, or copywriting, is not typically associated with the Gemba practice. But given Taiichi Ohno's influence on Lean project management and the later transformation of manufacturing Kanban into Kanban for IT, it's not uncommon to meet software teams referring to their visual Scrum and Kanban boards as their Gemba. With the code managed in repositories, the state of each task and planned developments are only available for viewing on those workflow management boards.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Fairweather Low was born in Ystrad Mynach, Wales, to working-class parents. The family, including his two brothers, lived in an "unheated council house" on an estate; his father, a road sweeper, was unable to afford a car. Fairweather Low's first opportunity to play guitar came when he took a Saturday job at a music shop in Cardiff. He achieved fame as a founding member of the pop group Amen Corner in the late 1960s. They had four successive top-ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, including the number-one single "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" in 1969. In the description of AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann, the band's overnight success and Fairweather Low's teen idol looks "put his attractive face on the bedroom walls of teenage girls all over Britain".


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Amen Corner split in two in 1970, with Fairweather Low leading Dennis Bryon (drums), Blue Weaver (organ), Clive Taylor (bass) and Neil Jones (guitar) into a new band, Fair Weather. The band's "Natural Sinner" peaked at No. 6 in the UK in July 1970, but their albums, "Beginning From An End" and "Let Your Mind Roll On", failed to chart. After twelve months, Fairweather Low left to pursue a solo career. He released four albums up to 1980 on A&M and Warner Bros. These spawned further single chart success with "Reggae Tune" (1974), and "Wide Eyed and Legless", a No. 6 Christmas-time hit in 1975. Welsh group Budgie covered "I Ain't No Mountain" off Fairweather Low's 1974 album "Spider Jiving" on their 1975 release "Bandolier".


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In the late 1970s and 1980s he worked for numerous artists as a session musician, performing as a backing vocalist and guitarist on albums by Roy Wood, Leo Sayer, Albion Band, Gerry Rafferty, Helen Watson, and Richard and Linda Thompson.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 1978, Fairweather Low sang backing vocals on the album "Who Are You", from The Who, specifically on the tracks "New Song", "Had Enough", "Guitar and Pen", "Love is Coming Down", and "Who Are You". On the Who's 1982 album "It's Hard", he played rhythm guitar on the song "It's Your Turn". Fairweather Low later appeared on Townshend's 1993 album "Psychoderelict" and the accompanying concert tour.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 1995, Fairweather Low played rhythm guitar on Joe Satriani's self-titled CD, along with Nathan East on bass and Manu Katché on drums. One reviewer commented that "this backup band of extremely gifted backup musicians sincerely adds a diverse range of textures and colors, bringing out a much-needed live feel to an otherwise bland album of blues-oriented jazz-rock."


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Fairweather Low has worked with Roger Waters since Waters' "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" tour of America in 1985. He contributed to two of Waters' albums – "Radio KAOS" in 1987 and "Amused to Death" in 1992. He played guitar and bass on Roger Waters' all-star performance of "The Wall – Live in Berlin" on 21 July 1990, on the 1999–2002 "In the Flesh" world tour and was playing on Waters' "Dark Side of the Moon Live" world tour in 2006 and 2007, but was not able to perform with him in 2008. His role was picked up by session guitarist Chester Kamen.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 1992, he began working on projects alongside Eric Clapton. Fairweather Low had earlier appeared in Clapton's band in the 1983 ARMS concerts for Ronnie Lane and, while he has continued to do session work for various people, including Dave Edmunds, Fairweather Low has spent most of his time since the early 1990s as a sideman in Clapton's backing band, as well as session work; notably Clapton's "Unplugged" concerts, as well as on "From The Cradle".


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In the same year, he was present on tours with the 1999 Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris collaboration. In December 1991, he played guitar on George Harrison's "Live in Japan", along with the rest of Clapton's band, and in 2002, he played several of the lead guitar parts for the Harrison tribute "Concert for George", on some songs playing Harrison's famous Fender Stratocaster "Rocky" and Harrison's gold Fender Electric XII. In 2004 he appeared in the Stratpack concert, celebrating 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: From 1998 to 2002, he played in Roger Waters' In the Flesh tour. In 2001, Fairweather Low accompanied Eric Clapton on his world tour and is featured on the 2002 album "One More Car, One More Rider", which also features accompaniment by Billy Preston, Steve Gadd, Nathan East and David Sancious.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 2002, Fairweather Low featured on "From Clarksdale to Heaven – Remembering John Lee Hooker" with, among others, Jeff Beck, Gary Brooker, Jack Bruce and Peter Green.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: By 2005, he toured extensively with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Some of the concerts were recorded for UK television, as part of their "50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll" tribute. In April 2005 he played in the Gary Brooker Ensemble's charity concert at Guildford Cathedral, Surrey, in aid of the Tsunami Appeal.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 2006, Fairweather Low toured with Roger Waters once more, this time for the latter's The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour, and with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. In the same year Fairweather Low toured with Chris Barber and the Big Chris Barber Band reprising many of his earlier hits, including "Gin House Blues" and "Worried Man Blues". Some of these performances form part of Barber's latest CD, "Can't Stop Now", featuring new arrangements by Barber's staff-arranger and trombonist, Bob Hunt.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Also in 2006 Fairweather Low released "Sweet Soulful Music", his first solo album in twenty-six years. The song "Hymn for My Soul" became the title track of Joe Cocker's 2007 album. Cocker's tour of 2007/08 bore the same title.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 2007, he continued touring with Roger Waters' Dark Side of the Moon Tour. Later that year he was on the road with his own "Sweet Soulful Music" tour, performing at venues such as the Stables in Wavendon, The Ferry in Glasgow and the Library Theatre, Darwen, Lancashire.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In May 2008, Fairweather Low & the Lowriders started a UK tour, the Low Riders being Paul Beavis, Dave Bronze and Richard Dunn. In 2009, he joined Eric Clapton's band for a series of 11 concerts held at the London's Royal Albert Hall. He became part of Clapton's touring band with drummer Steve Gadd and keyboardist Tim Carmon throughout May 2009. In 2011, Fairweather Low joined Clapton for another series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. He also performs with Edie Brickell, Steve Gadd, and bassist (and fellow Welshman) Pino Palladino as The Gaddabouts; their eponymous album was released in early 2011, and their second album, "Look Out Now!", was released in 2012.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Also in 2011, Fairweather Low made a guest appearance on Kate Bush's album "50 Words For Snow", singing on the chorus of the album's only single, "Wild Man".


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: In 2013, he opened Eric Clapton's shows with his band the Lowriders on Clapton's European tour and, later that year, Fairweather Low & the Lowriders released the album, "Zone-O-Tone". In April 2013, he appeared at the Eric Clapton Guitar Festival Crossroads in New York and featured on two tracks of the DVD of the concert. On 13–14 November, he was also part of Eric Clapton's band on the occasion of Clapton's two concerts during the "Baloises Sessions" in Basel, Switzerland, where he was featured singing "Gin House Blues". In November 2015, Fairweather Low made a guest appearance on Kevin Brown's album "Grit".


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Between September 2021 and April 2022, Fairweather Low & the Low Riders undertook an extensive UK tour, billed as 'On The Road Again', playing over 50 dates and ending at the Flowerpot in Derby on 30 April 2022.


title: Andy Fairweather Low

text: Fairweather Low is married to Barbara, sister of his Amen Corner and Fair Weather band-mate Neil Jones.


title: Smyths

text: Smyths Toys Superstores is an Irish multinational chain provider of children's toys and entertainment products with over 200 shops throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France. The business is owned by the Smyth family.


title: Smyths

text: The company is headquartered in Lyrr Building 1 in the Mervue Business Park, Galway, Ireland, and it has additional offices in Belfast and London in the United Kingdom.


title: Smyths

text: Group turnover reached €1.465 billion in pandemic-hit 2020 with the majority of sales coming from the U.K. market.


title: Smyths

text: The company is run by four brothers, Tony, Padraig, Liam and Thomas Smyth. The company was founded in Claremorris, County Mayo on . Smyths is Ireland's largest toy retailer. The Globe Retail Park in Naas, Ireland was subject to a fire on 27 July 2016 that destroyed one of the shop's stockrooms, causing the shop to temporarily close, with operations being moved until repairs could be made.


title: Smyths

text: On 24 April 2018, Smyths acquired Toys "R" Us stores in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2019, all the stores in those countries were re-branded as such to Smyths.


title: Smyths

text: In July 2022, Smyths acquired French toy chain in France out of Receivership and taking over 41 stores, 2 warehouses and a head office.


title: Smyths

text: In total, Smyths operates over 272 stores across 6 countries: 21 stores in Ireland, 117 in the United Kingdom, 68 in Germany, 16 in Austria, 10 in Switzerland and 41 in France. Smyths Toys UK Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.


title: Gulab Singh

text: Gulab Singh was born on 17 October 1792 in a Hindu Dogra Rajput family. His father was Kishore Singh Jamwal. He joined the army of Ranjit Singh in 1809 and was sufficiently successful to earn a jagir worth 12,000 rupees and also 90 horses.


title: Gulab Singh

text: In 1808, following the Battle of Jammu, the kingdom was annexed by Ranjit Singh. Ranjit Singh appointed a governor to administer the newly conquered area which was expanded in 1819 with the annexation of Kashmir by a Sikh force. In 1820, in appreciation of services rendered by his family and Gulab Singh in particular, Ranjit Singh bestowed the Jammu region as a hereditary fief upon Kishore Singh.


title: Gulab Singh

text: Apart from their sterling services, the family's intimate association with the region commended Kishore Singh's candidature to the Lahore court.


title: Gulab Singh

text: In 1821, Gulab Singh captured conquered Rajouri from Aghar Khan and Kishtwar from Raja Tegh Mohammad Singh (alias Saifullah Khan). That same year, Gulab Singh took part in the Sikh conquest of Dera Ghazi Khan. He also captured and executed his own clansman, Mian Dido Jamwal, who had been leading a rebellion against the Sikhs.


title: Gulab Singh

text: Kishore Singh died in 1822 and Gulab Singh was confirmed as Raja of Jammu by his suzerain, Ranjit Singh. Shortly afterward, Gulab Singh secured a formal declaration of renunciation from his kinsman, the deposed Raja Jit Singh.


title: Gulab Singh

text: As Raja (Governor-General/Chief) of Jammu, Gulab Singh was one of the most powerful chiefs of the Sikh Empire. Under the Imperial and Feudal Army arrangement, he was entitled to keep a personal army of 3 Infantry Regiments, 15 Light Artillery Guns and 40 Garrison Guns.


title: Gulab Singh

text: In 1824 Gulab Singh captured the fort of Samartah, near the holy Mansar Lake. In 1827 he accompanied the Sikh Commander-in-Chief Hari Singh Nalwa, who fought and defeated a horde of Afghan rebels led by Sayyid Ahmed at the Battle of Shaidu. Between 1831 and 1839 Ranjit Singh bestowed on Gulab Singh the jagir of the salt mines in northern Punjab, and the nearby Punjabi towns like Bhera, Jhelum, Rohtas, and Gujrat.


title: Gulab Singh

text: 1837 Poonch Revolt In 1837, after the death of Hari Singh Nalwa in the Battle of Jamrud, the Muslim tribes of Mughals, Tanolis, Karrals, Dhunds, Sattis and Sudhans rose in revolt in Hazara and Poonch. The insurgency was led by Shams Khan, a Chief of the Maldiyal Mughal tribe and former confidential follower of Raja Dhyan Singh. Thus the betrayal of Shams Khan Maldiyal against the regime was taken personally and Gulab Singh was given the task of crushing the rebellion. After defeating the insurgents in Hazara and Murree hills, Gulab Singh stayed at Kahuta for some time and promoted disunion among the insurgents. Then his forces were sent to crush the insurgents. Eventually, Shams Khan Maldiyal and his nephew Raj Wali Khan were betrayed and their heads were cut off during their sleep while the lieutenants were captured, flayed alive and put to death with cruelty. The contemporary British commentators state that the local population suffered immensely.


title: Gulab Singh

text: On the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, Lahore became a center of conspiracies and intrigue in which the three Jammu brothers were involved. They succeeded in placing the administration in the hands of Prince Nau Nihal Singh with Raja Dhian Singh as prime minister. However, in 1840, during the funeral procession of his father Maharaja Kharak Singh, Nau Nihal Singh together with Udham Singh, son of Gulab Singh, died when an old brick gate collapsed on them.


title: Gulab Singh

text: In January 1841 Sher Singh, son of Ranjit Singh tried to seize the throne of Lahore but was repulsed by the Jammu brothers. The defense of the fort was in the hands of Gulab Singh.


title: Gulab Singh

text: After peace was made between the two sides, Gulab Singh and his men were allowed to leave with their weapons. On this occasion, he is said to have taken away a large amount of the Lahore treasure to Jammu.


title: Gulab Singh

text: Meanwhile, in the continuing intrigues at Lahore, the Sandhawalia Sardars (related to Ranjit Singh) murdered Raja Dhian Singh and the Sikh Maharaja Sher Singh in 1842. Subsequently, Gulab Singh’s youngest brother, Suchet Singh, and nephew, Hira Singh, were also murdered. As the administration collapsed the Khalsa soldiery clamored for the arrears of their pay. In 1844 the Lahore court commanded an invasion of Jammu to extract money from Gulab Singh, reputed to be the richest Raja north of the Sutlej River as he had taken most of the Lahore treasury.


title: Gulab Singh

text: However, the Gulab Singh agreed to negotiate on his behalf with the Lahore court. These negotiations imposed an indemnity of 27 lakh Nanakshahee rupees on the Raja.


title: Gulab Singh

text: Lacking the resources to occupy such a large region immediately after annexing portions of Punjab, the British recognised Gulab Singh as a Maharaja directly tributary to them on payment of 75 thousand Nanakshahee Rupees for the war-indemnity (this payment was justified on account of Gulab Singh legally being one of the chiefs of the Kingdom of Lahore and thus responsible for its treaty obligations). The angry courtiers of Lahore (particularly the baptized Sikh, Lal Singh) then incited the governor of Kashmir to rebel against Gulab Singh, but this rebellion was defeated, thanks in great part to the action of Herbert Edwardes, Assistant Resident at Lahore.


title: Gulab Singh

text: In the second Sikh War of 1849, he allowed his Sikh soldiers to desert and go to fight alongside their brethren in Punjab. The treaties of Chushul and Amritsar had defined the borders of the Kingdom of Jammu in the east, south, and west but the northern border was still undefined. In 1850 the fort of Chilas in the Dard country was conquered.


title: Gulab Singh

text: Diwan Kirpa Ram, the "Maharajah's private secretary and the son of Dewan Jwala Sahai, the Maharajah's Prime Minister", of the Diwans of Eminabad family, wrote the first biography of Gulab Singh titled "Gulabnama" in the 19th century in Persian.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The time period of 1985-1991 marked the final period of the Cold War. This time period is characterized by a period of systemic reform within the Soviet Union, the easing of geopolitical tensions between the Soviet-led bloc and the United States-led bloc, and the collapse of the Soviet Union's influence abroad, and the territorial dissolution of the Soviet Union.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The beginning of this period is marked by the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Seeking to bring an end to the economic stagnation associated with the Brezhnev Era, Gorbachev initiated economic reforms ("Perestroika"), and political liberalization ("Glasnost"). While the exact end date of the Cold War is debated among historians, it is generally agreed upon that the implementation of nuclear and conventional arms control agreements, the withdrawal of Soviet military forces from Afghanistan and Eastern Europe, and the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: After the deaths of three successive elderly Soviet leaders since 1982, the Soviet Politburo elected Gorbachev Communist Party General Secretary in March 1985, marking the rise of a new generation of leadership. Under Gorbachev, relatively young reform-oriented technocrats, who had begun their careers in the heyday of "de-Stalinization" under reformist leader Nikita Khrushchev, rapidly consolidated power, providing new momentum for political and economic liberalization, and the impetus for cultivating warmer relations and trade with the West.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: On the Western front, President Reagan's administration had taken a hard line against the Soviet Union. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the Reagan administration began providing military support to anti-communist armed movements in Afghanistan, Angola, Nicaragua and elsewhere.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: A major breakthrough came in 1985–87, with the successful negotiation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). The INF Treaty of December 1987, signed by Reagan and Gorbachev, eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of (short-range) and (intermediate-range). The treaty did not cover sea-launched missiles. By May 1991, after on-site investigations by both sides, 2,700 missiles had been destroyed.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The Reagan administration also persuaded the Saudi Arabian oil companies to increase oil production. This led to a three-times drop in the prices of oil, and oil was the main source of Soviet export revenues. Following the USSR's previous large military buildup, President Reagan ordered an enormous peacetime defense buildup of the United States Armed Forces; the Soviets did not respond to this by building up their military because the military expenses, in combination with collectivized agriculture in the nation, and inefficient planned manufacturing, would cause a heavy burden for the Soviet economy. It was already stagnant and in a poor state prior to the tenure of Mikhail Gorbachev who, despite significant attempts at reform, was unable to revitalise the economy. In 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev held their first of four "summit" meetings, this one in Geneva, Switzerland. After discussing policy, facts, etc., Reagan invited Gorbachev to go with him to a small house near the beach. The two leaders spoke in that house well over their time limit, but came out with the news that they had planned two more (soon three more) summits.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The second summit took place the following year, in 1986 on October 11, in Reykjavík, Iceland. The meeting was held to pursue discussions about scaling back their intermediate-range ballistic missile arsenals in Europe. The talks came close to achieving an overall breakthrough on nuclear arms control, but ended in failure due to Reagan's proposed Strategic Defense Initiative and Gorbachev's proposed cancellation of it. Nonetheless, cooperation continued to increase and, where it failed, Gorbachev reduced some strategic arms unilaterally.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Fundamental to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Gorbachev policy initiatives of Restructuring ("Perestroika") and Openness ("Glasnost") had ripple effects throughout the Soviet world, including eventually making it impossible to reassert central control over Warsaw Pact member states without resorting to military force.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: On June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to go further with his reforms and democratization by tearing down the Berlin Wall. In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate next to the wall, Reagan stated:


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: While the aging communist European leaders kept their states in the grip of "normalization", Gorbachev's reformist policies in the Soviet Union exposed how a once revolutionary Communist Party of the Soviet Union had become moribund at the very center of the system. Facing declining revenues due to declining oil prices and rising expenditures related to the arms race and the command economy, the Soviet Union was forced during the 1980s to take on significant amounts of debt from the Western banking sector. The growing public disapproval of the Soviet–Afghan War, and the socio-political effects of the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine increased public support for these policies. By the spring of 1989, the USSR had not only experienced lively media debate, but had also held its first multi-candidate elections. For the first time in recent history, the force of liberalization was spreading from West to East.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Grassroots organizations, such as Poland's Solidarity movement, rapidly gained ground with strong popular bases. In February 1989 the Polish People's Republic opened talks with opposition, known as the Polish Round Table Agreement, which allowed elections with participation of anti-Communist parties in June 1989.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The initially inconspicuous opening of a border gate of the Iron Curtain between Austria and Hungary in August 1989 then triggered a chain reaction, at the end of which the German Democratic Republic no longer existed and the Eastern Bloc had disintegrated. The idea for the Pan-European Picnic came from Otto von Habsburg and was intended as a test of whether the Soviet Union would react when the iron curtain was opened. The Pan-European Union Austria then advertised with leaflets in Hungary to make East Germans aware of the possibility of escape. The result of the greatest mass exodus since the building of the Berlin Wall and the non-reaction of the Eastern bloc states showed the oppressed population that their governments had lost absolute power. Subsequently, large numbers of East German refugees attempted to flee through Hungary and the weak reactions showed that the communist leaders lost even more power.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Also in 1989 the Communist government in Hungary started to negotiate organizing of competitive elections which took place in 1990. In Czechoslovakia and East Germany, mass protests unseated entrenched Communist leaders. The Communist regimes in Bulgaria and Romania also crumbled, in the latter case as the result of a violent uprising. Attitudes had changed enough that US Secretary of State James Baker suggested that the American government would not be opposed to Soviet intervention in Romania, on behalf of the opposition, to prevent bloodshed. The tidal wave of change culminated with the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, which symbolized the collapse of European Communist governments and graphically ended the Iron Curtain divide of Europe.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The collapse of the Eastern European governments with Gorbachev's tacit consent inadvertently encouraged several Soviet republics to seek greater independence from Moscow's rule. Agitation for independence in the Baltic states led to first Lithuania, and then Estonia and Latvia, declaring their independence. Disaffection in the other republics was met by promises of greater decentralization. More open elections led to the election of candidates opposed to Communist Party rule.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: In an attempt to halt the rapid changes to the system, a group of Soviet hard-liners represented by Vice-president Gennady Yanayev launched a coup overthrowing Gorbachev in August 1991. Russian President Boris Yeltsin rallied the people and much of the army against the coup and the effort collapsed. Although restored to power, Gorbachev's authority had been irreparably undermined. In September, the Baltic states were granted independence. On December 1, Ukraine withdrew from the USSR. On December 26, 1991, the USSR officially dissolved, breaking up into fifteen separate nations.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: After the end of the Revolutions of 1989, Gorbachev and President Bush Sr. met on the neutral island of Malta to discuss the events of the year, the withdrawal of the Soviet military from Eastern Europe, and the future course of their relationship. After their discussions, the two leaders publicly announced they would work together for German reunification, the normalization of relations, the resolution of Third World conflicts, and the promotion of peace and democracy (referred to by President Bush as a "New World Order".)


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Between the Malta Summit and the Dissolution of the Soviet Union negotiations on several arms control agreements began, resulting in agreements such as START I and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Additionally, the United States, still believing the Soviet Union would continue to exist in the long term, began to take steps to create a positive long-term relationship.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: This new relationship was demonstrated by the joint American-Soviet opposition to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The Soviet Union voted in the United Nations Security Council in favor of Resolution 678 authorizing the use of military force against its former Middle Eastern ally.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Several conflicts in third world nations (i.e. Cambodia, Angola, Nicaragua) related to the Cold War would come to an end during this era of cooperation, with both the Soviet Union and the United States working together to pressure their respective proxies to make peace with one another. Overall, this détente which accompanied the final twilight of the Cold War would help bring about a relatively more peaceful world.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: As a consequence of the Revolutions of 1989 and the adoption of a foreign policy based on non-interference by the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved and Soviet troops began withdrawing back to the Soviet Union, completing their withdrawal by the mid-1990s.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The United States had established a complex global presence by the 1990s and policymakers felt that some structure to explain the "threats, interests and priories" that guide foreign policy was needed, but there was no agreement how to proceed. Anthony Lake has said that attempts at doctrine making during this period risked introducing "neo-know-nothing" isolationism or what he termed "irrational" ideas. The goal then of Bush Sr. and Clinton during their terms in office was to develop foreign policy objectives that would support consensus rather than accelerate fragmentation inside America's sphere of influence.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Scholars have pointed to materialist and ideational reasons for the end of the Cold War. Materialists emphasize Soviet economic difficulties (such as economic stagnation and sovereign debt), whereas ideationalists argue that the worldviews and personas of Gorbachev and Reagan mattered. Ideationalists point to a Gorbachev and Reagan's mutual desire to abolish nuclear weapons, as well as Gorbachev's perceptions of the legitimate ends and means of foreign policy.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Countries such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia experienced economic reconstruction, growth and fast integration with EU and NATO while some of their eastern neighbors created hybrids of free market oligarchy system, post-communist corrupted administration and dictatorship.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Russia and some other Soviet successor states faced a chaotic and harsh transition from a command economy to free market capitalism following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A large percentage of the population lived in poverty, GDP growth declined, and life expectancy dropped sharply. Living conditions also declined in some other parts of the former "Eastern bloc".


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: The post–Cold War era saw a period of unprecedented prosperity in the West, especially in the United States, and a wave of democratization throughout Latin America, Africa, and Central, South-East and Eastern Europe.


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein expresses a less triumphalist view, arguing that the end of the Cold War is a prelude to the breakdown of "Pax Americana". In his essay ""Pax Americana" is Over," Wallerstein argues, “The collapse of communism in effect signified the collapse of liberalism, removing the only ideological justification behind US hegemony, a justification tacitly supported by liberalism’s ostensible ideological opponent.”


title: Cold War (1985–1991)

text: Space exploration has petered out in both the United States and Russia without the competitive pressure of the space race. Military decorations have become more common, as they were created, and bestowed, by the major powers during the near 50 years of undeclared hostilities.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The United Nations Operation in the Congo (, abbreviated to ONUC) was a United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission with significant military capabilities, and remains one of the largest UN operations in both scale and operational scope.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Following its independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960, the Congo descended into chaos and disorder, prompting its former colonial power to invade under the pretext of restoring law and order and protecting Belgian nationals. On 12 July 1960, the Congolese Government appealed to the UN for assistance, and on 14 July 1960 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 143 (S/4387) calling upon Belgium to withdraw its troops, and authorizing the Secretary-General to provide the Congolese Government with military assistance, as the Force Publique was not in a condition to meet its tasks. The first UN troops, drawn mostly from African and Asian states, reached Congo on 15 July 1960.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: In the face of worsening conditions—including an insurrection in Katanga, the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, the collapse of the central government, and the intervention of foreign mercenaries—ONUC's initial mandate gradually expanded to include protecting the territorial integrity and political independence of the Congo, preventing an impending civil war, and securing the removal of all unauthorized foreign armed forces.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: At its peak, UN forces numbered nearly 20,000 military personnel from over two dozen countries, led largely by India, Ireland, and Sweden. During the peak of hostilities between September 1961 and December 1962, ONUC transitioned from a peacekeeping to a military force, engaging in several clashes and offensives against secessionist and mercenary forces. Following the reintegration of Katanga in February 1963, ONUC was gradually phased out, and civilian aid increased, becoming the single largest assistance effort by the UN up to that time. UN personnel were withdrawn entirely on 30 June 1964.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The Congo became independent on 30 June 1960, but the Belgian commander, Lieutenant General Émile Janssens, refused to rapidly "Africanize" the officers' corps of the Force Publique (the army), resulting in disorder and mutinies just four days after the Congo gained its independence. While the President, Josheph Kasa-Vubu and the Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba were trying to negotiate with the mutineers, the Belgian government decided to intervene to protect Belgians that remained in the country. The interference from Belgium was seen as neo-colonial aggression from the Congolese government and Lumumba accused the Belgian officers of causing the mutiny and he also accused them of also trying to annex the Congo. Belgium also, with the acceptance of Moïse Tshombé, sent troops to take over Katanga and establish a secession there to protect mining interests. Katanga was rich in minerals and natural resources, contributing to over 60% of the entire nation's raw materials. Katanga had some of the major sources of copper, cobalt, diamonds and uranium in the world, with the uranium being used for the nuclear bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: On 10 July, Belgian troops were sent to Elisabethville, the capital of Katanga, to control the situation and protect Belgian civilians. There were 100,000 Belgians living in the Congo at the time, and many were in a state of panic. The presence of Belgian troops was illegal under international law, as Congolese officials had not requested their presence. With the help of the Belgians, who wrote all his declarations, Tshombé proclaimed the independence of the new State of Katanga over television on 11 July, announcing himself as president. It was widely regarded by critics from around the world that Tshombé was a puppet for the Belgians and their mining interests in Katanga. On 12 July, the President and the Prime Minister asked for help from the UN. The UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld addressed the UN Security Council at a night meeting on 13 July and asked the council to act "with utmost speed" on the request.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: At the same meeting, the Security Council adopted Resolution 143 (1960), by which it called upon the Government of Belgium to withdraw its troops from the territory of the Congo. The resolution authorized the Secretary-General to facilitate the withdrawal of Belgian troops, maintain law and order, and help to establish and legitimize the post-colonial government in consultation with the Government of the Republic of the Congo. This mission was approved by a Security Council vote eight in favor and none against, with three countries abstaining which included the Republic of China, France and the United Kingdom. Both the United States and Soviet Union voted in favor. This mandate was extended to maintain the territorial integrity of the Congo, particularly through the removal of the foreign mercenaries supporting the secession of Katanga. ONUC's intention was an unprecedented role for a UN peacekeeping force, as it was not self-evidently peacekeeping in nature.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The United Nations stated four goals for the operation: first, to restore law and order; second, to keep other nations out of the crisis; third, to help build the country's economy; and fourth, to restore stability. A peacekeeping force had landed in the country within 48 hours of the resolution, as well as civilian experts who were tasked with keeping the country's infrastructure operating smoothly.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Lumumba asked the United Nations to intervene and use military force to stop Tshombe's forces in Katanga. The first UN troops arrived on 15 July, many airlifted by the United States Air Force as part of Operation New Tape. There was instant disagreement between Lumumba and the UN over the new force's mandate. Because the Congolese army had been in disarray since the mutiny, Lumumba wanted to use the UN troops to subdue Katanga by force and when they refused, he saw this as a betrayal to the United Nations' initial plans. Lumumba wrote to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld that from the text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 143 "it is clear that, contrary to your personal interpretation, the UN force may be used to subdue the rebel government of Katanga". Secretary General Hammarskjöld refused. To Hammarskjöld, the secession of Katanga was an internal Congolese matter, and the UN was forbidden to intervene by . He argued that intervening in Katanga would mean the UN would be enforcing parts of the country and it would not be seen as peacekeeping. Disagreements over what the UN force could and could not do continued throughout its deployment.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: In response, Lumumba accused the UN of siding with Tshombe and foreign mining companies. Lumumba then asked the Soviet Union for assistance and received aid in the form of trucks and aircraft which deeply concerned the United States and their allies. Using material of the former Force Publique, Lumumba ordered the army to launch an attack on the breakaway Katanga provinc but failed to take it back. President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba on 5 September 1960 which was deeply condemned by the Congo's Houses of Parliament. Lumumba refused to step down. On 14 September Kasa-Vubu dissolved parliament and Joseph Desire Mobutu announced over the radio that he was going to be taking control over the country’s military. After Lumumba had been dismissed, the UN general secretary's representative in the city of Léopoldville, Andrew Cormier, instructed that all airfields were to be closed and that the capital's main radio station was to be shut down as well. Lumumba was unable to fly in any troops that were loyal to him and he also lost his only means of mass communication.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: By 20 July 1960, 3,500 troops for ONUC had arrived in the Congo. The 3,500 consisted of 460 troops from the Ethiopian Army (later to grow into the Tekil Brigade), 770 troops from the Ghana Armed Forces, 1,250 troops from Morocco and 1,020 troops from the Tunisian Armed Forces. The first contingent of Belgian forces had left Leopoldville on 16 July upon the arrival of the United Nations troops. Following assurances that contingents of the Force would arrive in sufficient numbers, the Belgian authorities agreed to withdraw all their forces from the Leopoldville area by 23 July. The last Belgian troops left the country by 23 July, as United Nations forces continued to deploy throughout the Congo. The buildup continued, ONUC's strength increasing to over 8,000 by 25 July and to over 11,000 by 31 July 1960. Troops had also arrived from countries such as Sweden, Norway, Ireland and Ethiopia. The UN secretary general stated there would be no troops from any of the great nations or from any countries that had an interest in the crisis that was occurring. A basic agreement between the United Nations and the Congolese Government on the operation of the Force was finalized by 27 July.The United Nations set up headquarters in a seven story apartment building which was on the Boulevard d'Albert in the centre of Léopoldville.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: On 9 August 1960, politician Albert Kalonji declared the region of south-eastern Kasai, on the Congo's southern border with Portuguese Angola, to be the new Mining State of South Kasai () or Autonomous State of South Kasai (). The use of the word "state" () was deliberately ambiguous, allowing Kalonji to avoid specifying whether the South Kasai claimed to independence as a nation-state in imitation of Katanga, or as a province within the Congo. Due to rejection of requests to the UN for aid to suppress the South Kasai and Katanga revolts, the Lumumba Government decided to request Soviet assistance. De Witte writes that "Leopoldville asked the Soviet Union for planes, lorries, arms, and equipment. ... Shortly afterwards, on 22 or 23 August, about 1,000 soldiers left for Kasai." De Witte goes on to write that on 26–27 August, the ANC seized Bakwanga, Albert Kalonji's capital in South Kasai, without serious resistance. "In the next two days it temporarily put an end to the secession of Kasai."


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: By February 1961, there were four factions in the Congo: Antoine Gizenga (leading Lumumba's followers), Joseph-Desire Mobutu, Tshombe, and the self-appointed King Albert Kalonji. There were four separate armed forces: Mobotu's ANC itself, numbering about 12,000, the South Kasai Constabulary loyal to Albert Kalonji (3,000 or less), the Katanga Gendarmerie which were part of Moise Tshombe's regime (totalling about 10,000), and the Stanleyville dissident ANC loyal to Antoine Gizenga (numbering about 8,000).


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Early in 1961, Patrice Lumumba was assassinated. UN Swedish troops witnessed Lumumba being transferred to the city of Elisabethville after being captured by Mobutu's forces and he was badly bruised and beaten. He was then executed by a Katangan firing squad and his body was dissolved in acid. Jawaharlal Nehru reacted sharply. Calling it "an international crime of the first magnitude", he asked Hammarskjöld to take a tough line. When the Security Council passed a second resolution on 21 February 1961, Nehru agreed to send an Indian Army brigade of some 4,700 troops to the Congo. The 99th Indian Infantry Brigade was thus dispatched. Thus United Nations mission was strengthened and expanded in response, in an effort to keep foreign mercenaries out of country. The second resolution stated it would restore order in the Congo while preventing civil war and it would see over the withdrawal of all foreign advisors in the country. It also stated it would urgently try and reconvene the Congo's parliament. In August of that year, three of the four groups claiming control of the country, Lumumba, Mobutu and Kalonji, reconciled with help from the United Nations. It resulted in the restoration of the country's parliament and prevented the outbreak of a large civil war. Tshombe's breakaway Katanga province was not part of this reconciliation. United Nations forces clashed with Tshombe's foreign mercenaries several times late in the year.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: On 17 September 1961, UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld was flying to Rhodesia to negotiate peace talks between the government and Tshombe when Hammarskjöld's plane crashed, killing him. It was a response to the troubled Operation Morthor ongoing at the time. The circumstances of his death were suspicious, and there remains suspicion that his plane was shot down. A recent book by Susan Williams (2011) uncovered evidence that a specially equipped fighter plane from the Belgian-led mercenary force referred to as the Katanga Gendarmerie shot down his plane. Hammarskjöld was succeeded by U Thant.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Swedish troops were assigned to keep order in a huge camp with approximately 40,000 refugees, which hastily grew up in just two weeks during August and September 1961.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: After Hammarskjöld's death, his replacement, U Thant, took a more aggressive approach. Removing Tshombe from Katanga became the primary military objective for the UN. In December 1961, UN troops from Sweden, Ireland, India, and Ethiopia were involved in heavy fighting for Katanga's capital, Elizabethville. UN forces eventually managed to defeat the Katangan gendarmes in the city and took Elizabethville. During the fighting, eleven Swedish soldiers were taken prisoner; they were released on 15 January 1962 in exchange for Katangan gendarmes.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: In August 1961, under the command of Indian Army's Brigadier-General K.A.S. Raja, the UN launched Operation Rumpunch, a surprise attack that led to the peaceful surrender of 81 foreign mercenaries.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: On 13 September 1961, the most obvious example of the transition from peacekeeping to peace enforcement occurred when the Indian ONUC leadership on the ground leading an Indian brigade, launched "Operation Morthor" (Hindi: twist and break) and swiftly took control of Katanga. The operation was meant to be a stepped up version of the earlier Operation Rumpunch. However, Hammarskjöld was not fully informed and did not know the operation was happening.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The operation led to a serious eight-day military engagement between ONUC and the Katangese forces. Tshombe's paid mercenaries were prepared for the UN forces and launched an effective counterattack. Thirteen UN troops were killed as well as 200 Katangese civilians and troops. Operation Morthor was executed with Indian support, but without full approval by several member countries of the UN, particularly the UK, France, and United States. The Soviet Union was angrily accusing the US of supporting the assassination of Lumumba, a Soviet ally, and of installing American ally Mobutu as president. The Soviet state interpreted ONUC to now be acting as a proxy for the US rather than supporting the interests of the entire Security Council.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: During the fighting, the UN special representative in Katanga, Conor Cruise O'Brien, accounted that the Katanga secession movement was over. Most observers interpreted that as meaning that the UN military forces had successfully defeated Tshombe's troops, but the announcement was premature in every possible way.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: During the operation, a company of 155 Irish UN troops was attacked by Moise Tshombe's forces in Katanga. The Irish were seriously outnumbered and outgunned, but managed to hold out for six days until they finally ran out of ammunition. The Irish managed to inflict heavy losses against Tshombe's foreign mercenaries, without any of their own being killed themselves. This event is known as the Siege of Jadotville.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The United Nations launched Operation Unokat in early December 1961, which put pressure on Tshombe to enter serious negotiations with Congolese Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula. On 16 December the attack on Camp Massart took place were the stronghold of the Katangese Gendarmerie was captured. On 21 December Tshombe signed the Kitona Declaration, an agreement whereby he would recognize the authority of the central government and work to reintegrate Katanga into the Republic of the Congo. However, Tshombe subsequently deferred to the Katangan Parliament and put off any action of reconciliation. In January 1962 the rival government of the Free Republic of the Congo was finally subdued and the UN was able to refocus its efforts on ending the Katangan secession. By then contact between the central government and Katanga had broken down, and ONUC intelligence reports indicated that the latter was rebuilding its forces.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: In August 1962 Secretary General Thant drew up a "Plan for National Reconciliation" by which Katanga would rejoin a federalized Congo. Adoula and Tshombe both accepted the proposal. Thant was wary of Tshombe's delaying tactics and applied increasing political pressure on the Katangan government to abide by the plan's timetable. Still doubting the likelihood of a peaceful resolution of the Katangan secession, he sent Ralph Bunche to Léopoldville. There, Bunch worked with local UN Mission Chief Robert Gardiner and UN Force Commander Sean MacEoin to create a plan to achieve freedom of movement for ONUC personnel and eliminate the foreign mercenaries. By then it was obvious that Tshombe did not intend on rejoining the Congo; there were 300–500 mercenaries in Katanga (as many as there had been before previous UN operations) and new airfields and defensive positions were being constructed. ONUC personnel and even consuls from troop-contributing supporters of ONUC faced increasing harassment at the hands of Katangan forces.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The situation came to a breaking point on 24 December 1962 when Katangan gendarmes brazenly attacked peacekeeping forces in Katanga, causing Thant to authorize a retaliatory offensive to decisively eliminate secessionist opposition.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Major General Dewan Prem Chand launched Operation Grandslam on 28 December and by the end of the day UN troops had seized downtown Élisabethville. Reinforced by recently amassed air power, United Nations peacekeepers successfully completed the first phase of the operation by the end of the year. In early January the United Nations forces turned their attention towards remaining strongholds in southern Katanga. Indian peacekeepers surpassed their orders and crossed the Lufira River ahead of schedule, generating panic behind the Katangan lines and causing an incident among United Nations leadership. Tshombe, realizing that his position was untenable, sued for peace on 15 January 1963. Two days later he signed an instrument of surrender and declared the Katangan secession to be over.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: After Operation Grandslam, the United Nations shrank the force significantly, only keeping a small peacekeeping force in the country.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: By autumn 1963 plans were underway to remove the United Nations force from the Congo after the reincorporation of Katanga. At that time six battalions of UN troops were stationed in Katanga, one battalion was at Luluabourg, one at Force Headquarters, and administration personnel were at Leopoldville.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Canadian Brigadier-General Jacques Dextraze was sent to the Congo in 1963, to serve as mission Chief of Staff, effectively deputy to the mission's military commander. The military component headquarters, coordinated by Dextraze, was in the process of planning the mission's withdrawal in early 1964 as the Simba rebellion loomed. Dextraze launched a small-scale operation during Pierre Mulele's Kwilu Province uprising of January 1964 in order to save at least some of the threatened aid workers and missionaries under attack from the "jeunesse".


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: In May 1964 troops began to withdraw, beginning with the Irish unit in Kolwezi on 11 May, and ending with units in Leopoldville in June. The United Nations also maintained a large civilian staff of 2000 experts in the country throughout 1963 and 1964. The final group of peacekeepers, 85 men of the First Nigerian Battalion and 58 men of the 57th Canadian Signals, departed Ndjili Airport in Leopoldville on 30 June. The last soldier to leave was UN Force Commander Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The UN were criticised numerous times during their involvement during the Congolese crisis about how they handled certain situations such as the death of Lumumba and the secession in Katanga. They suffered from many accusations after the death of the Prime Minister Lumumba as many believed he should have been better protected by the UN. The most well-known demonstration against the UN over Lumumba’s death was in New York, when African American protesters pushed their way into the UN building, unsettling the General Assembly and the UN’s office in Belgium was also attacked.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The USSR also criticised the UN's involvement, and on the 23rd December 1960 Khrushchev addressed the General Assembly of the UN, who highlighted the operations controversial political direction along with the accusation that it was responsible for Lumumba's death, its moves favoring Lumumba's political opponents and also their lack of willingness initially to deal with Katanga. Norrie Macqueen writes that the UN's peacekeeping approach in the Congo had no clear place in the views of the Soviets international relations.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Khrushchev would go on to criticise the role of the Secretary General within the UN, claiming it was a position that gave one person far too much power. He suggested a radical reform which included abolishing the position of secretary general and replacing it with troika system. It was inevitably rejected.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: On 12 July 1960, after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution, calling on Belgium to pull out its forces and the UN to assist the Congolese government, Hammarskjöld appointed as his special representative a senior Indian diplomat, Rajeshwar Dayal, who would later become India's foreign secretary. Lumumba's assassination shocked Jawaharlal Nehru who reacted sharply. Calling it "an international crime of the first magnitude", he asked Hammarskjöld to take a tough line. When the Security Council passed a second resolution on 21 February 1961, Nehru agreed to send an Indian Army brigade of some 4,700 troops to the Congo. Kasavubu and Mobutu took great exception to these moves. They had all along resented Dayal's and Nehru's support for Lumumba. Now they threatened dire consequences for the UN mission if Dayal remained at its helm. At Hammarskjöld's request, Nehru agreed that Dayal should step down.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Indian Army involvement then escalated. On 13 September, the 99th Indian Infantry Brigade launched Operation Morthor (Hindi: twist and break) that swiftly took control of Katanga. The staff officer who planned the operation would later become the chief of the Indian Army: Major Krishnaswamy Sundarji. It was in this context that the British government sought to arrange that fateful meeting between Hammarskjöld and Tshombe in Ndola, ostensibly to negotiate a ceasefire.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: On the eve of Operation Rum Punch the UN had 5,720 troops in Katanga; there were 1,600 Indians, 500 Irish, and 400 Swedes in Élisabethville, 1,200 Indians in Albertville, 1,000 Indians at Kamina Base, 500 Indians at Kabalo, 400 Ethiopians and Indians in Manono, and 120 Irish in Jadotville.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Nehru's support for the UN in Congo was significant. India sent more troops than any country, and they were active throughout 1962 in stubbing out the secessionist forces, Indian Army units leading the fight. The UN forces were commanded by Indian officers including Major General Dewan Prem Chand. Even during the war with China, Nehru did not insist on an immediate withdrawal of the Indian brigade, but the Canberra bombers that it had deployed, were called back. The troops returned only after the mission was completed in March 1963.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Malaya (now Malaysia) was invited to send a contingent to serve in ONUC. The Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, in response to the United Nations' request offered a force of 120 men in a telegram to the Secretary-General on 4 August 1960. On 24 August, in another telegram to New York, the force level was increased to 450 men. Eventually, the force level was settled at 613 all ranks. The name given to this force for service with ONUC was Malayan Special Force or MSF in short. The original force was drawn from two of the finest units in the Federation Army - 4th Battalion, the Royal Malay Regiment and 'C' Squadron 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment (now 2 Armour). It had a complement of 42 officers and 571 other ranks.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Sweden had an active role in the UN forces during the crisis. When Dag Hammarskjöld established UN Mission ONUC he organized it into two parts: one military and one civilian. The Swedish Major General Carl von Horn became the head of the military part and the Swedish diplomat Sture Linnér was responsible for the civilians. Both of them were subject to American Ralph Bunche, who was appointed head of the whole operation.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: In September 1961, in response to an appeal by the United Nations (UN) for military support, an initial force of five J 29Bs were stationed in the Republic of Congo as a contribution to a UN peacekeeping mission (ONUC) in the region, organized as the F 22 Wing of the Swedish Air Force. It was subsequently reinforced by four more J 29Bs and two S 29C photo reconnaissance Tunnans in 1962. The J 29 was the only combat aircraft at the disposal of the UN, the J 29Bs dispatched receiving the UN identifying legend upon their fuselages.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Most of the missions involved attacking ground targets with internal cannons as well as unguided rockets. No aircraft were lost in action despite large amounts of ground fire. Consensus of the crews and foreign observers was that the Tunnan's capabilities were exceptional. (The Katanga secessionists used a few Fouga Magisters and other aircraft with relatively poor air combat capabilities.) The only aircraft lost was by a high-ranking officer who made a trial run and crashed during an aborted takeoff. When ONUC was terminated in 1964, some of the Swedish aircraft were destroyed at their base, since they were no longer needed at home and the cost of retrieving them was deemed excessive.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: From 1960 to 1964, the Swedish Army sent a total of nine battalions to Congo. In the initial stage of the crisis, when whites in the Congo became targets during the riots, Dag Hammarskjöld assessed that it was important that there were white UN troops in the country. He therefore requested that Sweden and Ireland would send a battalion each, with the ulterior motive that they would more easily win the confidence of the whites than soldiers from African states. The first Swedish battalion arrived in Congo directly from Gaza 22 July 1960. The first days the Swedes were patrolling in Leopoldville and guarded N'djili Airport in the city.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: Swedes, like other UN troops, found difficulty keeping track of the fluent and rapidly changing political alligences of the various groups, and the fighting they engaged in did not always have an apparent rational reason. In August, the Swedes moved to Elizabethville in Katanga, where they ended up in their first combat situation and suffered their first loss in connection with the escort of a rail road transport. The trains, which were carrying Katangan Baluba prisoners, were attacked by Baluba, a nationalist group who supported the central government against the break out government. In practice, at that point, the Swedes fought on the same side as the Belgian-led Katangan gendarmerie, who would later become the UN's worst enemy.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The Swedes had to try to maintain order in a huge camp with approximately 40,000 Baluba refugees in Kasai which was suddenly formed in just two weeks in 1961, with refugees fleeing Gendarmerie attacks in north Katanga. In 1962, the Swedes moved to the Kamina base, near the town of Kamina. On New Year's Eve 1962, the UN troops advanced towards Kamina, cleared all the gendarmes roadblocks and managed to knock down the organized resistance.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The Congo Crisis became by far the most serious international task the Swedish Armed Forces faced during the Cold War, and it was the first time in 140 years that Swedish forces were forced into battle. During the years in Congo, 40 Swedish soldiers were injured and 19 were killed. As late as 2004, it was made public that the corpses of two killed Swedes were eaten by locals, purportedly because cannibalism was believed by Africans to be a way to assimilate the victim's strength. The event was considered very sensitive to the UN and the Congolese government and the incident was covered up.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: A total of 6,334 Swedes served in the Congo during the years 1960–1964, 19 died and many wounded. Eleven soldiers were awarded the Swedish Vasa Medal for "extraordinary courage and commendable action to save human lives". Two soldiers who received this medal were Stig von Bayer and Torsten Stålnacke.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The first Swedish UN battalion in Sinai in 1956 was named Battalion 1. This numbering continued up to Battalion 9 which was initially deployed in the Sinai and later in Gaza. After Battalion 9 the numbering was changed to include only odd numbers starting with 11 and with the additional letter G for Gaza. Battalion 8 was transferred from Gaza to the Congo and then took the name Battalion VIII K (Kongo (Congo)). Ultimately, seven of the Congo battalions, 10 to 22, were recruited to serve in ONUC, while the other two were Gaza battalions transferred to the Congo as reinforcements.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The Irish Army's first large deployment to the Congo was in 1960. The 32nd Infantry Battalion was the first deployment of Irish troops overseas and they were woefully ill-equipped. The standard uniform was a heavy bullswool tunic and trousers and the service rifle was the .303 Lee–Enfield. Issues with kit were eventually solved, new lightweight uniforms were issued and the FN FAL rifle replaced the Lee–Enfield. The Irish Battalions had a huge area to patrol and not much transport to patrol it with. Most patrols consisted of a couple of Land Rovers or Willys CJ3As, carrying soldiers armed with rifles, Gustav M45 submachineguns and Bren Guns. One such patrol was ambushed at Niemba on 8 November 1960 by Baluba tribesmen. Of the 11 Irish soldiers, 9 were killed and only 2 escaped, while 25 Baluba were also killed in the battle. Trooper Anthony Browne was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry (the highest Irish military award) for giving his life to save his comrade. As a result of the ambush, the army equipped its contingent with 8 Ford armoured cars. These had been constructed in Ireland during the Second World War as a stop-gap armoured vehicle. Armament consisted of a single turret-mounted Vickers HMG. Modifications included extra ammunition storage, a searchlight and a cooling fan.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: The most famous Irish action of the operation was the Siege of Jadotville where 150 Irish troops of "A" Company, 35th Battalion, held out against a much larger force of 3,000–5,000 Belgian, French, and Rhodesian led Katanga mercenaries and irregulars. The Irish fought until their ammunition ran out, inflicting hundreds of casualties on their opponents while suffering only several wounded. However, an attempt by Irish and Swedish reinforcements to relieve them failed, and in the end, the besieged Irish troops were forced to surrender.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: A total of 6,000 Irish soldiers served in the Congo from 1960 until 1964, taking 26 casualties in that time. The Congo deployment resulted in greater investment by the government in personal kit and eventually, armoured personnel carriers.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: When violence erupted in the Congo, Canada had set aside an infantry brigade especially for the use of the United Nations. When Dag Hammarskjold received the offer to send the Canadian Brigade to the Congo, he refused stating that "If outside help was required to resolve the developing crisis, they preferred non-African states to be used as a last resort." The United Nations did not wish to turn the Congo Crisis into a Cold War proxy war and so tried to pick peacekeepers from neutral countries. This trans-Atlantic country would be Canada, even though as Dr. Spooner put it "Canada: [was] Just West of Neutral". Canadian forces were perfectly suited for a peacekeeping mission in the Congo because they were bilingual, which allowed them to communicate with the mostly English-speaking UN troops as well as the French-speaking Belgian and Congolese forces. They could also communicate with the Congolese people.


title: United Nations Operation in the Congo

text: All of this occurred prior to there being an official request for assistance from the Congo. The first request for assistance from the Congo requested that the United Nations send technical assistance to support the Force Publique, the armed forces of the Congo. In response, "the secretary general suggested the dispatch of UN technical personnel to the Congo to assist in restoring order and discipline within the armed forces". Canadian National Defence assumed that the United Nations would ask for French-speaking military advisers; the army maintained a standby list of one hundred officers, including many who were bilingual and could be posted abroad on short notice. Before Hammarskjold could put his plan into action, however, a second Congolese request arrived, sent directly to the secretary general from President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Joseph Lumumba, "the Congolese leaders asked for UN military forces to counter the violent Belgian intervention". Again Canada offered combat troops stating that if the need arose for Canadian military intervention in the Congo Canada could also "deploy one of three French speaking battalions made ready for UN Service". The offer for combat troops was again refused, though Hammarskjold officially accepted the Canadian French-speaking officers. Colonel Jean Berthiaume of the Royal 22e Regiment led the UN effort as the mission's first Chief of staff. Berthiaume was congratulated for his impressive organizational skills, but also for his bravery and for his "initiative, linguistic ability, and special aptitude for negotiating". He became the first Canadian since the 2nd World War to be awarded the rank of Officer of the Order of the British Empire.