title: The Simpsons (season 10)

text: Despite the criticisms of season ten, it has been included in some definitions of "The Simpsons" golden age, usually as the point where the show began to decline but still put out some of the last great episodes. Ian Nathan of "Empire" described the show's classic era as being "the first ten seasons", while Rubbercat.net believes that "discussing what constitutes "The Simpsons" 'golden era' is a universal constant," in this case being seasons 3–10. Jon Heacock of LucidWorks states that while season ten was "the season in which, according to many, the show starts to go sour," it was also the final season where "the show was consistently at the top of its game," with "so many moments, quotations, and references – both epic and obscure – that helped turn the Simpson family into the cultural icons that they remain to this day."


title: The Simpsons (season 10)

text: In an article written for the Modern Day Pirates titled "In Search of The Last Classic Simpsons Episode", author Brandon listed "Homer to the Max" and "They Saved Lisa's Brain", both from the tenth season, as contenders for the latest episode that made him feel like he was "watching "The Simpsons" in their heyday."


title: The Simpsons (season 10)

text: The season and its episodes gathered some awards and award nominations. "The Simpsons" won the 1999 Annie Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Program", beating "Batman Beyond", "Futurama", "King of the Hill", and "The New Batman/Superman Adventures". That same year, Tim Long, Larry Doyle, and Matt Selman received an Annie Award in the "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production" category for writing "Simpsons Bible Stories", the eighteenth episode of the tenth season. The trio faced competition from writers of "Futurama" ("The Series Has Landed"), "King of the Hill" (""), "Batman Beyond" (""), and "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (""). "The Simpsons" was also nominated for two Emmy Awards in 1999, though the show did not win either. The season ten episode "Viva Ned Flanders" lost in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)" category to "" of "King of the Hill". Alf Clausen was nominated in the "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series" category for his work on "Treehouse of Horror IX", the fourth episode of the tenth season, but lost the award to Carl Johnson of "Invasion America".


title: The Simpsons (season 10)

text: The DVD boxset for season ten was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on August 7, 2007, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including audio commentaries for every episode, deleted scenes, and animatics. The set was released in two different packagings: a standard rectangular cardboard box featuring Bart on the cover driving through a security checkpoint gate at the 20th Century Fox movie studio, and a "limited edition" plastic packaging molded to look like Bart's head.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara). According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 AD by two fishermen, brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The first temple was founded in 645 AD, which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo. In the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The Nishinomiya Inari shrine is located within the precincts of Sensō-ji and a torii identifies the entry into the hallowed ground of the shrine. A bronze plaque on the gateway structure lists those who contributed to the construction of the torii, which was erected in 1727 ("Kyōhō 12, 11th month").


title: Sensō-ji

text: During World War II, the temple was bombed and destroyed during the 10 March air raid on Tokyo. It was rebuilt later and is a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people. In the courtyard there is a tree that was hit by a bomb in the air raids, and it had regrown in the husk of the old tree and is a similar symbol to the temple itself.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Sensō-ji is the focus of Tokyo's largest and most popular festival, Sanja Matsuri. This takes place over 3–4 days in late spring, and sees the surrounding streets closed to traffic from dawn until late evening.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Dominating the entrance to the temple is the Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate". This imposing Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning. Beyond the Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori with its shops, followed by the Hōzōmon or "Treasure House Gate" which provides the entrance to the inner complex. Within the precincts stand a stately five-story pagoda and the main hall, devoted to Kannon.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Many tourists, both Japanese and from abroad, visit Sensō-ji every year. Catering to the visiting crowds, the surrounding area has many traditional shops and eating places that feature traditional dishes (hand-made noodles, sushi, tempura, etc.). Nakamise-Dori, the street leading from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself, is lined with small shops selling souvenirs ranging from fans, "ukiyo-e" (woodblock prints), kimono and other robes, Buddhist scrolls, traditional sweets, to Godzilla toys, t-shirts and mobile phone straps. These shops themselves are part of a living tradition of selling to pilgrims who walked to Sensō-ji.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Within the temple itself, and also at many places on its approach, there are "o-mikuji" stalls. For a suggested donation of 100 yen, visitors may consult the oracle and divine answers to their questions. Querents shake labelled sticks from enclosed metal containers and read the corresponding answers they retrieve from one of 100 possible drawers.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands tall, wide and covers an area of . The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate dates from 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed in a fire in 1865.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The Kaminarimon was first built in 941 AD by Taira no Kinmasa, a military commander. It was originally located near Komagata, but it was reconstructed in its current location in 1635. This is believed to be when the gods of wind and thunder were first placed on the gate. The gate has been destroyed many times throughout the ages. Four years after its relocation, the Kaminarimon burned down, and in 1649 AD Tokugawa Iemitsu rebuilt the gate along with several other of the major structures in the temple complex. The gate burnt to the ground in 1757 AD and again in 1865 AD. The Kaminarimon's current structure was dedicated in December 1960 AD . Ninety-five years after the last fire, Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (now Panasonic), was asked to rebuild the gate. With monetary donations from Matsushita, the gate was rebuilt in 1960.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Four statues are housed in the Kaminarimon, two in the front alcoves and two on the other side. On the front of the gate, the statues of the Shinto gods Fūjin and Raijin are displayed. Fūjin, the god of wind, is located on the east side of the gate, while Raijin, the god of thunder, is located on the west side. The original sculptures were severely damaged in the fire of 1865, with only the heads being saved, and the statues restored for the gate's 1960 reconstruction.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Two additional statues stand on the reverse of the gate: the Buddhist god Tenryū on the east, and the goddess Kinryū on the west side. These were donated in 1978 to commemorate the 1350th anniversary of the first appearance of the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara) at Asakusa, which led to the founding of Sensō-ji. The statues were carved by then-106-year-old master sculptor Hirakushi Denchū.


title: Sensō-ji

text: A giant red lantern ("chōchin") hangs under the center of the gate. It is tall, wide and weighs approximately . The current lantern, the fifth iteration, was built by Takahashi Chōchin K.K in 2013 and has the same metallic base on the bottom as the previous lantern. The base has a name plate that says "Matsushita Denki", an abbreviated form of Panasonic's old Japanese name, Matsushita Denki Sangyo Kabushiki Gaisha. The front of the lantern displays the gate's name, . Painted on the back is the gate's official name, . During festivals such as Sanja Matsuri, the lantern is collapsed to let tall objects pass through the gate.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The is the inner of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the outer being the Kaminarimon) in Asakusa, Tokyo. A two-story gate ("nijūmon"), the Hōzōmon's second story houses many of the Sensō-ji's treasures. The first story houses two statues, three lanterns and two large sandals. It stands tall, wide, and deep.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The Hōzōmon was first built in 942 AD by Taira no Kinmasa. Destroyed by fire in 1631, it was rebuilt by Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1636. It stood for 300 more years until it was once again burned down during the Tokyo air raids of 1945. In 1964, the present steel-reinforced concrete structure was built with a donation of ¥150 million from Yonetarō Motoya.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Since the gate was reconstructed using flame-resistant materials, the upper story of the Hōzōmon stores the Sensō-ji's treasured sutras. These treasures include a copy of the Lotus Sutra that is designated a Japanese National Treasure and the "Issai-kyō", a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures that has been designated an Important Cultural Property.


title: Sensō-ji

text: Unlike the Kaminarimon, which houses four different statues, the Hōzōmon houses two guardian statues that are located on either side of the gate's south face. These tall statues represent Niō, the guardian deities of the Buddha. Because of these statues, the gate was originally called the before it was renamed the Hōzōmon.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The gate also features three large lanterns. The largest and most prominent lantern is a red "chōchin" that hangs under the center of the gate's opening. With a height of , a diameter of and a weight of , the lantern displays the name of the town . The current iteration of the lantern dates back to 2003 when ¥5 million was donated by the people of Kobunachō. Its donation commemorated the 400th-year-anniversary of the start of the Edo period. On either side of the "chōchin" hangs two tall copper "tōrō" weighing approximately each. All three lanterns are completely removed during festivals such as Sanja Matsuri.


title: Sensō-ji

text: The is a street on the approach to the temple. It is said to have come about in the early 18th century, when neighbors of Sensō-ji were granted permission to set up shops on the approach to the temple. However, in May 1885 the government of Tokyo ordered all shop owners to leave. In December of that same year the area was reconstructed in Western-style brick. During the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake many of the shops were destroyed, then rebuilt in 1925 using concrete, only to be destroyed again during the bombings of World War II.


title: The Host (novel)

text: The Host is a 2008 science fiction romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The book is about Earth, in a post-apocalyptic time, being invaded by a parasitic alien race known as "Souls", and follows one Soul's predicament when the consciousness of her human host refuses to give up her body.


title: The Host (novel)

text: "The Host" was released on May 6, 2008, with an initial print run of 750,000 copies. An international version of the novel was released on April 2, 2009, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Hong Kong by the UK publishing division. It was translated into many languages.


title: The Host (novel)

text: A species of parasitic aliens called "Souls" have invaded Earth, deeming the humans too violent to deserve the planet. When a Soul is implanted into a host body, the consciousness of the original owner is erased, leaving their memories and knowledge. Wanderer, a Soul, is placed into the body of Melanie Stryder. However, Melanie's consciousness is still alive and begins to communicate with Wanderer mentally. Wanderer's assigned "Seeker" suggests that she could be placed into Melanie to retrieve the memories before disposing of the defective body, but Wanderer makes several attempts to deny her Seeker's wishes. As Wanderer starts to uncover some of Melanie's memories of her younger brother Jamie Stryder and her boyfriend Jared Howe, Melanie gets her to follow a series of landmarks throughout the Arizona desert to find her Uncle Jeb, hoping that Jared and Jamie are with him. By doing so, she would be denying the Seeker Melanie's memories and the humans they would lead her to.


title: The Host (novel)

text: When Jeb comes across Melanie's dying body, he realizes what had happened to her but still leads her to his hideout: a network of caves housing more than thirty people. Most of the other humans wanted her to be killed with the exception of Jared and Jamie, and later on Ian O'Shea, who develops feelings for Wanderer. As days pass and she starts to become a part of the community, many of the community members start to trust her with jobs and eventually gave her a teaching role among the colony. She is also given the name Wanda in replacement of the name Wanderer. After tending to a cancer patient one night, Wanda is attacked by Ian's brother, Kyle. After managing to save both herself and Kyle from drowning, the two are taken into the infirmary. Shortly after recovering, Wanda stumbles across a slew of mutilated bodies that cause her to hide by herself in terror for three days. During her time in isolation, Wanda learns from Jeb that the humans are trying to cut Souls out of their hosts in attempt to restore the consciousness and life of the humans but so far each attempt has resulted in a dead body.


title: The Host (novel)

text: When Jamie is suffering from a fever caused by infection from a leg injury, Wanda realizes that she must recover medicine from the Souls to cure Jamie before it is too late. With the assistance of Jared, the two manage to cure Jamie's ailments in time. Thanks to her efforts, Wanda is entrusted with attending raids for supplies and it is now believed by many that Melanie is still present inside Wanda's mind. Not long after the raiders return to the colony, they learn that the caves have been attacked and Wanda's Seeker has been captured. After coming to a conclusion about the Seeker's life, Wanda decides to tell Doc how to properly remove Souls from human bodies. The Seeker is sent back into space. Wanda devises another plan to remove herself from Melanie's body and let herself die in order to allow Melanie to return to Jared once more. Learning of Wanda's plan, Ian becomes furious and calls a tribunal to stop her plans. Despite his attempts, Wanda manages to get herself to Doc's beforehand. Before going through the procedure though, Wanda declares her love for Ian.


title: The Host (novel)

text: To her surprise, Wanda wakes up in a new host whose consciousness has not returned. In her new body, Wanda gains wide acceptance from the humans and is free to be in a relationship with Ian while Melanie goes back with Jared. Over the course of time following the surgery, the colony begins to grow and many of its residents become more prosperous than ever before. The novel ends with their discovery of another group of humans like theirs who have a Soul named Burns in their group.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Wanderer – Nicknamed "Wanda", a parasitic alien Soul who is inserted into Melanie Stryder's body. She received her name because of the number of planets she has lived on, having never settled on one she truly liked. She is later nicknamed "Wanda" by Mel's Uncle Jeb. Initially only interested in enjoying her new life, Melanie's love for her brother and boyfriend spills over to Wanda and she finds herself abandoning her kind to seek them out in the desert. She slowly develops sympathy for humans, eventually acknowledging that they have a right to their own lives, and attempting to sacrifice herself so that Melanie can have her life back. Like all Souls, she is naturally altruistic, horrified by violence, and finds it difficult to believably lie (to humans). She hates upsetting people and so suffers endlessly trying to be as little of a burden as possible.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Melanie Stryder – Melanie is a human rebel who was captured and implanted with a Soul after years of evading the Seekers. She is Wanderer's host body. Melanie's consciousness survives and resists Wanderer's control as best she can. She likes the feeling of being physically strong and berates Wanderer for neglecting to keep her that way. She has a temper and is often quick to use threats of violence, much to Wanda's displeasure. Melanie is passionately in love with Jared and shares a strong bond with her brother, Jamie, of whom she is fiercely protective. Despite initial anger at Wanderer for stealing her life, their shared love of Jamie and Jared turns them into unwilling allies. Their relationship grows to the point where Melanie tearfully begs Wanda not to give her body back, knowing the alien plans to kill herself once removed. Melanie is described as having hazel eyes, dark hair and tan skin and is half Latina on her mother's side.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Ian O'Shea – Wanderer calls Ian "as kind as a Soul, but strong as only a human could be". Like most of the group, he has a strong dislike of the Souls in the beginning, but quickly abandons it once he begins to empathize with Wanderer. Other characters seem to view him as mostly level-headed. Ian befriends Wanderer and gradually falls in love with her because of her personality, insisting he cares very little about Mel's body. He is constantly annoyed at how selfless and self-sacrificing she is, worrying that she is willing to do things she does not want because she thinks it will make others happy. Once Wanda is put into a new host they begin a relationship. He does not help Melanie find a new body for Wanda, which surprises Melanie. Ian said that he did not care what she looked like; he loved Wanda for her personality. He is described as being tall and muscular, with black hair, sapphire blue eyes and fair skin.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Jared Howe – Melanie's lover. Jared met Melanie while they were both stealing food from the same house, each believing the other to be a Soul; when he realized he had found another human he was so excited he kissed her. Loving, aggressive and somewhat excitable in Melanie's memories, by the time Wanderer meets him he has become bitter and hardened. He originally despises Wanda for taking Mel's life, but he cannot bring himself to let Doc experiment on her. He starts to change his views on the Soul when he sees her comforting a dying friend. His survival skills are an asset to the group, and he is often charged with leading the raids because of his rationality and levelheadedness. He has a somewhat parental relationship with Jamie, whom he continued to care for after Melanie's capture. He is described as being muscular and tall, with tan skin, sienna-colored eyes and naturally dark, but sun-bleached hair.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Jamie Stryder – Jamie is Melanie's younger brother. Unlike most characters, he holds no animosity towards Wanderer for stealing his sister's body or life and quickly comes to view her as a substitute sibling. He is fascinated with Wanda's stories about the other planets and the species that live on them. Despite his apparent innocence and naivete, Jamie wants to be treated like an adult; he yearns to go on raids with the others, and is uncomfortable with the coddling he receives when he is injured.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Uncle Jeb – Jebediah "Jeb" is Melanie's eccentric uncle. A paranoid survivalist before the invasion, Jeb had constructed an elaborate hide-out in caves beneath the Arizona desert. He maintains strict control over the hide-out by virtue of having the only firearm. He believes Wanderer can fit in with the humans and pushes for this to the point of creating great strain within the group. He is calm and deliberate in his decision-making, and despite being one of the most welcoming towards Wanderer, nonetheless does not hesitate to explain and justify the human perspective to her.


title: The Host (novel)

text: The Seeker – The Soul who originally caught Melanie. Her calling is to search for and track down humans who have managed to avoid implantation, although she takes her job more seriously than most others. Mutual spite towards the Seeker is the basis of Melanie and Wanderer's early relationship. She is unusually irritable and edgy for her species, at one point even shooting a human in cold blood, despite most Souls not being able to even pick up a gun. She mocks Wanderer for not being able to completely drive out Melanie's consciousness. This is later revealed to be because of her insecurity at having failed to subdue her own host, Lacey, who speaks to her like Melanie does to Wanda. Lacey is just as abrasive as the Seeker.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Kyle O'Shea – Kyle, Ian's brother, is impulsive, quick-tempered, and often considered a pain by the others. His hate for Souls is extreme, even among the group. He tries to kill Wanda, despite being warned not to hurt her, and ironically has to be saved by her from falling to his death after he is knocked out in the struggle. When he realises the Seeker's host was able to get her body back, he leaves to kidnap Sunny, the Soul now inhabiting Jodi's body, and takes her back to the cave to see if he can get Jodi back. He is shocked to discover that Sunny is not scared and feels an attachment to him, the way Wanderer did to Jared. When Jodi does not wake up after Sunny is removed, he allows Sunny to stay. Although still wishing Jodi could return, he becomes close to Sunny and they are described as being inseparable.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Doc – A tall, slim human who was a surgeon and serves as the group's doctor. Wanda's initial impression of him is that he is a cold-hearted torturer, but he is later shown as being deeply affected by the suffering of his patients and is one of the first humans to accept Wanda. He is fascinated by how effective Soul medicine is and is desperate to find a way to remove Souls without killing either the parasite or the host. Doc is prone to alcoholic binges when he fails in these endeavors. His real name is Eustace, as he mentioned to Wanda before he removed her from her host. A man of his word, Doc is only stopped from letting Wanda die like he promised her because Jared threatens him with a hunting knife. Some of his characteristics were influenced by Meyer's younger brother, Seth.


title: The Host (novel)

text: In an interview with "Vogue", Meyer stated that body image was a major aspect of her novel. She noted that she is "very critical" of her body, but not others'. In "The Host", she tried to convey "what a gift it is to just have a body, and really love it". This is something most humans would take for granted before being captured, and something of which Melanie is all-too aware once she loses control of her body. Other themes Meyer explored were the mother/child bond, the need to change our lives for the ones we love or because our community expects of us something other than what we want, and not fitting in. In other interviews, various themes were noted including the value of the Soul and faith in a world that has been destroyed, tolerance, forgiveness and understanding. Identity issues are also frequently mentioned, as Wanderer notes whether other characters differentiate between her personality and Melanie's identity as they interact with her.


title: The Host (novel)

text: The scenario of alien parasites taking over and impersonating humans is familiar from the Heinlein science fiction novel "The Puppet Masters", the film versions of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and the Robert Silverberg short story "Passengers". "The Host" also bears several similarities to the book series "Animorphs" by K. A. Applegate.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Like Meyer's other books, "The Host" includes a poem at the beginning of the novel. The poem, by May Swenson, is titled "Question", and ties into the idea of the mind's reliance on the existence of the body, just as Melanie experiences when inhabited by Wanderer.


title: The Host (novel)

text: Meyer has said that she is working on additional books in "The Host" series and that she intends to write a trilogy. She said in an interview that, if published, the first sequel would be entitled "The Seeker" and the second "The Soul". In November 2009, she said, "I'd like to eventually have "The Host" be part of a trilogy." In February 2011, Meyer said that she had outlines for the sequels and had done some writing on them.


title: The Host (novel)

text: In a review of the book for "The Guardian", Keith Brooke wrote, "When it's good, the novel works well, and will appeal to fans of the author's hugely bestselling "Twilight" series, but it is little more than a half-decent doorstep-sized chunk of light entertainment."


title: The Host (novel)

text: "The Host" was a #1 "New York Times" best seller, and remained on this list for 26 weeks. It also spent over 36 weeks on the "Los Angeles Times" bestseller list. The novel was #1 on Maclean's Magazine's list of 10 top-selling fiction books in Canada. "The Host" was named one of the "Best Books of May" by "Amazon.com".


title: The Host (novel)

text: "The Host" was developed into a film with Andrew Niccol as director and Saoirse Ronan as Melanie. The project was first announced in September 2009 when the producers Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz used independent financing to acquire film rights to "The Host". Niccol was hired to write the screenplay and to direct the film. In early 2011, before the start of filming, Susanna White had replaced Niccol as the director, but Niccol resumed his role of director in May 2011. In the same month, Ronan was cast to play Melanie in the adaptation. On June 27, it was announced that the film would be released on March 29, 2013, with principal photography to start in February 2012 in Louisiana and New Mexico. Open Road Films acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the film and Meyer acted as producer along with Wechsler, Steve Schwartz, and Paula Mae Schwartz.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) is an organofluorine compound with the chemical formula CFCOH. It is a structural analogue of acetic acid with all three of the acetyl group's hydrogen atoms replaced by fluorine atoms and is a colorless liquid with a vinegar-like odor. TFA is a stronger acid than acetic acid, having an acid ionisation constant, "K", that is approximately 34,000 times higher, as the highly electronegative fluorine atoms and consequent electron-withdrawing nature of the trifluoromethyl group weakens the oxygen-hydrogen bond (allowing for greater acidity) and stabilises the anionic conjugate base. TFA is widely used in organic chemistry for various purposes.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA is prepared industrially by the electrofluorination of acetyl chloride or acetic anhydride, followed by hydrolysis of the resulting trifluoroacetyl fluoride:


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: An older route to TFA proceeds via the oxidation of 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,3,3-trichloropropene with potassium permanganate. The trifluorotrichloropropene can be prepared by Swarts fluorination of hexachloropropene.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA is the precursor to many other fluorinated compounds such as trifluoroacetic anhydride, trifluoroperacetic acid, and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol. It is a reagent used in organic synthesis because of a combination of convenient properties: volatility, solubility in organic solvents, and its strength as an acid. TFA is also less oxidizing than sulfuric acid but more readily available in anhydrous form than many other acids. One complication to its use is that TFA forms an azeotrope with water (b. p. 105 °C).


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA is popularly used as a strong acid to remove t-butyl derived side-chain protecting groups in Fmoc peptide synthesis, and in other organic syntheses to remove the t-butoxycarbonyl protecting group.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: At a low concentration, TFA is used as an ion pairing agent in liquid chromatography (HPLC) of organic compounds, particularly peptides and small proteins. TFA is a versatile solvent for NMR spectroscopy (for materials stable in acid). It is also used as a calibrant in mass spectrometry.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: Trifluoroacetic acid is a corrosive acid but it does not pose the hazards associated with hydrofluoric acid because the carbon-fluorine bond is not labile. Only if heated or treated with ultrasonic waves will it decompose into hydrofluoric acid. TFA is harmful when inhaled, causes severe skin burns and is toxic for aquatic organisms even at low concentrations.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA's reaction with bases and metals, especially light metals, is strongly exothermic. The reaction with lithium aluminium hydride (LAH) results in an explosion.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA is a metabolic breakdown product of the volatile anaesthetic agent halothane. It is thought to be responsible for halothane induced hepatitis.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA was claimed to occur naturally in sea water, but only in small concentrations at about 200 ng per liter. However, a review paper from 2021 concludes that there is insufficient evidence that TFA occurs naturally, especially without a reasonable mechanism of formation.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: In the environment, it is also formed, among other things, by photooxidation of the commonly used refrigerant 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a). Moreover, it is formed as an atmospheric degradation product of almost all fourth-generation synthetic refrigerants, also called hydrofluoroolefins (HFO), such as 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene.


title: Trifluoroacetic acid

text: TFA is virtually non-degradable (persistent) in the environment. Median concentrations of a few micrograms per liter have been found in beer and tea. TFA is toxic to aquatic lifealthough it does not bioaccumulate, prevention of release into waterways is of extreme importance when using TFA.


title: Maximiliano Hernández

text: Maximiliano Hernández (born September 12, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Agent Jasper Sitwell in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and FBI Agent Chris Amador in the first season of "The Americans".


title: Maximiliano Hernández

text: A native of Brooklyn, New York of Honduran descent, Hernández began acting in high school. He briefly studied acting at the Leonard Davis Center for Performing Arts and worked as a stage actor before moving to Los Angeles, California.


title: Maximiliano Hernández

text: Early in his career, Hernández appeared in episodes of "Law & Order", "24" and "Numbers", as well as the film "Hotel for Dogs". He had parts in the films "Pride and Glory" and "Warrior", both from director Gavin O'Connor.


title: Maximiliano Hernández

text: Hernández made brief appearances as the Marvel Comics character Jasper Sitwell in 2011's "Thor," 2012's "The Avengers", and 2019's "" as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. He reprised the role in the Marvel One-Shots short films "" and "", the first season of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and the 2014 film "".


title: Maximiliano Hernández

text: In 2013, he appeared in the premiere season of "The Americans" as Chris Amador, an FBI agent. The project reunited him with Gavin O'Connor, who directed the pilot. Hernández exited the series in the ninth episode. Andy Greenwald of Grantland described Hernández's work in the series as "wonderful [...] making a fringe character both memorable and strangely noble in his limited screen time."


title: Thekkady

text: Thekkady(Idukki district) is a town near Periyar National Park, an important tourist attraction in the Kerala state of India. The name Thekkady is derived from the word "thekku" which means teak. Temperatures are lowest in the months of December–January and highest in the months of April–May.


title: Thekkady

text: Thekkady is situated about from Trivandrum, 145 km from Cochin International Airport and 114 km from Kottayam railway station. Thekkady is located 4 km away from Kumily, a plantation town in Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The sanctuary is famous for its dense evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savanna grass lands. It is home to herds of elephants, sambar, tigers, gaur, lion-tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs. Due to the density of the forest, sightings of elephants and especially tigers are highly unlikely.


title: Thekkady

text: The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is spread across , of which is thick evergreen forest. The wildlife sanctuary was declared a tiger reserve in 1978. The splendid artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River adds to the charm of the park. The greatest attractions of Periyar are the herds of wild elephants, deer and bison that come down to drink in the lake. The sanctuary can be accessed by trekking, boating or jeep safari.


title: Thekkady

text: Thekkady is considered a haven for natural spices such as black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, nutmace, ginger, and clove.


title: Thekkady

text: One of the highest Mountain for trekking. Jeep trip is available from Kumily. Thekkady lake is visible from the top of the mountain.


title: Thekkady

text: This is located about 15 km from Kumily en route to the Theni district of Tamil Nadu. This place has a lot of picturesque waterfalls and cascades.


title: Thekkady

text: Located at about 13 km from Kumily on the Kumily-Munnar road. A new airport is proposed at Anakkara and is under review by the Airports Authority of India.


title: Thekkady

text: It is situated about 18 km from Thekkady at an altitude of 1341 m above sea level. It is surrounded by lush greenery and is closed throughout the year except during the Chitra Pournami festival. At other times tourists can still visit it by getting a special letter from the forest ranger. The view from the temple premises is spectacular and one can see part of Eastern Ghats and some villages from adjacent state of Tamil Nadu.


title: Thekkady

text: It is spread across an area of 300 square miles, Periyar National Park is covered by lush evergreen and deciduous forests serving as home to various animals such as deer, elephants, sambar, Nilgiri Langurs,


title: Thekkady

text: Pattumalay literally means hills draped in silk. It is known for its lofty peaks, little streams, tea plantations and tea factories. This beautiful region in Idukki is 8 km from Peermade and 24 km from Thekkady. One of the major attractions of this region is The Velankanni Matha Church situated atop a hill. This is a famous pilgrim center, and is built entirely from granite. Pattumalay is also home of the biggest names in the tea production sector - Harrisons Malayalam limited Pattumalay Estate.


title: Thekkady

text: Pattumalay Tea Factory is situated 24 km from Thekkady. Pattumalay Tea Factory is a major producer of Orthodox tea and belongs to Harrisons Malayalam Limited. It is the oldest Orthodox factory and also owns central Travancore only Orthodox Tea Factory. It has capacity of 16000 kg per day. The Pattumalay Estate was established in the year of 1931.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was presented with the Balfour Declaration, which pledged British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. Rothschild was the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1925 to 1926.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Walter Rothschild was born in London as the eldest son and heir of Emma Louise von Rothschild and Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, an immensely wealthy financier of the international Rothschild financial dynasty and the first Jewish peer in England.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: The eldest of three children, Walter was deemed to have delicate health and was educated at home. As a young man, he travelled in Europe, attending the University of Bonn for a year before entering Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1889, leaving Cambridge after two years, he was required to go into the family banking business to study finance.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: At the age of seven, he declared that he would run a zoological museum and, as a child, he collected insects, butterflies and other animals. Among his pets at the family home in Tring Park were kangaroos and exotic birds. As a boy, Rothschild was once dragged off his horse and assaulted by workmen while on a hunting ride near Tring, an experience he attributed to antisemitism.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: At 21, he reluctantly went to work at the family bank, N M Rothschild & Sons in London. He worked there from 1889 to 1908. He evidently lacked any interest or ability in the financial profession, but it was not until 1908, at the age of 40, that he was finally allowed to give it up. However, his parents established a zoological museum as a compensation and footed the bill for expeditions all over the world to seek out animals.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Rothschild was tall, suffered from a speech impediment and was very shy, but he had his photograph taken riding on a giant tortoise and drove a carriage harnessed to four zebras to Buckingham Palace to prove that zebras could be tamed.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Rothschild studied zoology at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Meeting Albert Günther sparked his interest in the taxonomy of birds and butterflies.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Although Rothschild himself travelled and collected in Europe and North Africa for many years, his work and health concerns limited his range and beginning while at Cambridge he employed others (explorers, professional collectors and residents) to collect for him in remote and little-known parts of the world. He also hired taxidermists, a librarian and, most importantly, professional scientists to work with him to curate and write up the resulting collections: Ernst Hartert, for birds, from 1892 until his retirement at the age of 70 in 1930 and Karl Jordan for entomology, from 1893 until Rothschild's death in 1937.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: At its largest, Rothschild's collection included 300,000 bird skins, 200,000 birds' eggs, 2,250,000 butterflies and 30,000 beetles as well as thousands of specimens of mammals, reptiles and fishes. They formed the largest zoological collection ever amassed by a private individual.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: The Rothschild giraffe ("Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi"), a subspecies with five ossicones instead of two, was named after him. Another 153 insects, 58 birds, 17 mammals, three fish, three spiders, two reptiles, one millipede and one worm also carry his name.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Rothschild opened his private museum in 1892. It housed one of the largest natural history collections in the world and was open to the public. In 1932, he was forced to sell the vast majority of his bird collection to the American Museum of Natural History after he had been blackmailed by a former mistress.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: In 1933, he was one of eleven people, involved in the appeal that led to the foundation of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), an organization for the study of birds in the British Isles.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: On his death in 1937, his museum and all of its contents were given in his will to the British Museum (of which the Natural History Museum, London was then a part), the greatest accession that the institution has ever received. The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum at Tring is now a division of the Natural History Museum.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Following a visit to Hungary in 1902, Rothschild brought six live edible dormice ("Glis glis") back to Tring. Some of them escaped and started breeding successfully in the wild. They have now become a localized pest over an area of approximately 200 square miles in a triangle between Luton, Aylesbury and Beaconsfield, and there are estimated to be at least 10,000 of them. Even though considered an invasive species, they are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Rothschild was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Giessen in 1898, was elected a Trustee of the British Museum in 1899 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1911.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Walter Rothschild was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Aylesbury from 1899 until he retired from politics at the January 1910 general election.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Despite his health, Rothschild served part-time as an officer in a Territorial Army unit, the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry, where he was a captain from July 1902, promoted to major in 1903 and retiring in 1909.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: As an active Zionist and a close friend of Chaim Weizmann, he worked to formulate the draft declaration for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. On 2 November 1917, he received a letter from the British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, addressed to his London home at 148 Piccadilly. In the letter, the British government declared its support for the establishment in Palestine of "a national home for the Jewish people". The letter became known as the Balfour Declaration.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Walter inherited the British peerage title "Baron Rothschild" from his father Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild in 1915. He died in 1937 at Tring Park, Hertfordshire, aged 69, and was buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery, London. He had no legitimate children and his younger brother Charles Rothschild had predeceased him, so the title was inherited by his nephew (Nathaniel Mayer) Victor Rothschild.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Furthermore, he also inherited the title "Baron de Rothschild" ("Freiherr von Rothschild") of the Austrian nobility, which was an authorized title in the United Kingdom by Warrant of 27 April 1932.


title: Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild

text: Rothschild is the author of around 765 publications. Of these 27 were co-authored with Ernst Hartert and 16 with Karl Jordan. He published 278 articles in the "Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club" and 318 articles in the "Novitates Zoologicae", a journal which he established in 1894 with himself, Hartert and Jordan as editors.


title: Jackie Swanson

text: Jackie Swanson (born June 25, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her role on the American sitcom "Cheers" as Kelly Gaines the rich, simple love interest of Woody Boyd and as Amanda in the first Lethal Weapon movie.


title: Jackie Swanson

text: In 1985, Swanson made her professional debut in the Prince video "Raspberry Beret" as the girl wearing the raspberry-colored beret who hands Prince his guitar at the beginning of the song. She and Prince were friends. He wrote a song entitled "Palomino Pleasure Ride" for her. In 1987, Swanson made her feature debut in the opening scene of "Lethal Weapon". She played Amanda Hunsaker, who falls to her death from a building onto the roof of a car. She performed this free-fall stunt from 35 feet into an airbag under the training of stuntman Dar Robinson. "Lethal Weapon" would be Swanson's first time working with cinematographer Steven Goldblatt. She worked with Steven Goldblatt again on "Charlie Wilson's War".


title: Jackie Swanson

text: In 1989, Swanson joined the cast of "Cheers" in the recurring role of Kelly Gaines. Her character was a pretty, wealthy, naïve, Lutheran girl, who would eventually marry Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson. She continued to appear in the show until the series ended in 1993.


title: Jackie Swanson

text: In 1991, she had a recurring role in the series "Baby Talk". In 1992, Swanson appeared on the cover of "TV Guide". Swanson modeled in runway show for Ralph Lauren. In 2002, she appeared in an automotive TV commercial in which she was seen driving a GM vehicle to pick up her husband, who emerged from a submarine that popped through thick ice.


title: Jackie Swanson

text: Swanson has appeared in a number of other national ad campaigns including commercials for: Broan (directed by Academy Award-winning director Joachim Back), Stacy's Pita Chips (directed by Christian Loubek), Orville Redenbacher (directed by Zach Math), Hummer (directed by Nick Lewin), Ford (directed by Eric Saarinen, son of architect Eero Saarinen and grandson of architect Eliel Saarinen) and Toyota (directed by Jeff Karnoff, and in which she portrayed the wife of Jim Belushi). Swanson also made a public service announcement for the Partnership for a Drug Free America/Anti-Meth Campaign (directed by Michael Patterson).


title: Nathu La

text: (, ) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal in Bengal, South Asia. The pass, at , connects the towns of Kalimpong and Gangtok to the villages and towns of the lower Chumbi Valley.


title: Nathu La

text: The pass was surveyed by J. W. Edgar in 1873, who described the pass as being used for trade by Tibetans. Francis Younghusband used the pass in 1903-1904, a diplomatic British delegation to Lhasa in 1936-37, and Ernst Schäfer in 1938–1939. In the 1950s, trade in the Kingdom of Sikkim utilized this pass. Diplomatically sealed by China and India after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the pass saw skirmishes between the two countries in coming years, including the clashes in 1967 which resulted in fatalities on both sides. Nathu La has often been compared to Jelep La, a mountain pass situated at a distance of 3 miles (4.8 km).


title: Nathu La

text: The next few decades saw an improvement in ties leading to the re-opening of Nathu La in 2006. The opening of the pass provides an alternative route to the pilgrimage of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, and was expected to bolster the economy of the region by playing a key role in the growing Sino-Indian trade. However, while trade has had a net positive impact, it under-performed, and is limited to specific types of goods and to specific days of the week. Weather conditions including heavy snowfall restricts border trade to around 7 to 8 months.


title: Nathu La

text: Roads to the pass have been improved on both sides. Rail routes have been brought closer. It is part of the domestic tourist circuit in south-east Sikkim. Soldiers from both sides posted at Nathu La are among the closest along the entire Sino-India border. It is also one of the five Border Personnel Meeting points between the two armies of both countries. 2020 border tensions and the coronavirus pandemic has affected tourism and movement across the pass.


title: Nathu La

text: The name "Nathu La" is traditionally interpreted as "the whistling pass", or more commonly as the "listening ears pass". The Chinese government explains it as "a place where snow is deepest and the wind strongest". According to G. S. Bajpai, it means "flat ground from where the hill features gradually rise to right and left". Lepcha people who are native to the region call it ma-tho hlo/na tho lo; which may have possibly evolved to the present usage of the word.


title: Nathu La

text: Nathu La is a mountain pass on the Dongkya Range that separates Sikkim and the Chumbi Valley at an elevation of . The pass is east of Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, and from Yatung Shasima, the headquarters of the Yadong County (or the Chumbi Valley).


title: Nathu La

text: Nathu La is one of the three frequently-used passes between Sikkim and the Chumbi Valley, the other two being Cho La and Jelep La. Historically, Nathu La served Gangtok, while Cho La served the former Sikkim capital Tumlong and Jelep La served Kalimpong in West Bengal. Nathu La is mere northwest of Jelep La, as the crow flies, but the travel distance could be as much as . On the Tibetan side, the Chola route led to Chumbi, the Nathu La route led to a village called Chema and the Jelep La route led to Rinchengang, all in the lower Chumbi Valley.


title: Nathu La

text: Even today, heavy snowfall causes the closure of the pass, with temperatures as low as and strong winds.


title: Nathu La

text: The Nathu La and Jelep La passes were part of the trade routes of the British Empire during the 19th and early 20th century.


title: Nathu La

text: The British Raj brought the Kingdom of Sikkim under their protectorate in 1861 and wished to promote trade with Tibet through Sikkim.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1873, J. W. Edgar, the Deputy Commissioner at Darjeeling, was asked to investigate the trading conditions and make recommendations for a preferred route. Edgar reported active trade running through the Nathu La pass ("Gnatui pass" in his terminology), which was linked to Gangtok as well as Darjeeling.


title: Nathu La

text: The traders found significantly higher value for their goods at Darjeeling than at Gangtok. However, Edgar preferred the neighbouring Jelep La pass on physical grounds, and recommended building a road to that pass along with a trade mart close to it.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1903-1904 Francis Younghusband led a British military expedition into Lhasa consisting of 1,150 soldiers and over 10,000 support staff and pack animals. The first choice of crossing into the Chumbi Valley had been a pass north of Nathu La, the Yak La. Yak La provided the shortest route from Gangtok to Sikkim's eastern frontier, however the eastern descent proved too steep and dangerous. Both Nathu La and Jelep La were used by the expedition, with Nathu La becoming the main communication channel.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1936-37, a diplomatic British delegation to Lhasa including B. J. Gould and F. S. Chapman used the Nathu La pass. Chapman writes that during their journey from Gangtok to Nathu la, just at the foot of the pass, was a road leading to the right and a signbord indicating Kupup. This route would have put them onto the Kalimpong-Lhasa route via Jelep La. Chapman writes that "From Gangtok the mule-track starts for the Natu La, and from Kalimpong the longer and more difficult road leaves for the Jelep La. By these two passes the road from Lhasa crosses the main range of the Himalaya on its way to India..." Chapman goes on to write that from the summit of the pass, if it were not for the mist, the delegation would have been able to see Chomolhari. At the summit, Chapman writes of groups of stones and prayer flags— these were not only for the protection of travelers, but they marked the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet. The road near the pass was paved with stones. The first stop after the pass was Champithang, a resting place for the British on the way to Lhasa.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1938–1939 Ernst Schäfer led a German expedition to Tibet legally via Nathu La on the orders of Heinrich Himmler. This expedition also came across no gates or barriers at the pass, the border; only a "ladze," prayer flags and a cairn.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1949, when the Tibetan government expelled the Chinese living there, most of the displaced Chinese returned home through the Nathu La–Sikkim–Kolkata route.


title: Nathu La

text: The Kingdom of Sikkim had flourishing trade during the 1950s. Calcutta was linked with Lhasa via Chumbi Valley, with Nathu La being one of the main routes for passage. The majority of trade between China and India during those years was via this route. Some traders from India even set up their shop in Yadong. Goods exported to China included medicines, fuel, and disassembled cars. India imported wool and silk. Mules and horses would be the main transit vehicle during those years.


title: Nathu La

text: Construction to make the Gangtok–Nathu La road motorable started in 1954. It was completed and formally opened in the presence of the Maharaja of Sikkim by Jawaharlal Nehru on 17 September 1958. At the time the motorable road ended at Sherathang. However, the Chinese did not take up the construction of the road on their side at the time. The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, used this pass to travel to India for the 2,500th birthday celebration of Gautama Buddha, in the autumn of 1956.


title: Nathu La

text: After the People's Republic of China took control of Tibet in 1950 and suppressed a Tibetan uprising in 1959, the passes into Sikkim became a conduit for refugees from Tibet. During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Nathu La witnessed skirmishes between soldiers of the two countries. Shortly thereafter, the passage was sealed and remained closed for more than four decades.


title: Nathu La

text: During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, China exerted pressure on India diplomatically and militarily. In September 1965, China reinforced Yatung and nearby mountain passes with another infantry regiment. India also had a build-up in this area. On the south-eastern front of Sikkim the four passes of Nathu La, Jelep La, Cho La and Dongju had 9, 37, 1 and 9 Indian positions respectively. This build-up was influenced by the region's proximity to East Pakistan, and the tensions that remained following the 1962 war. Following Chinese pressure, Indian troops at Nathu La and Jelep La received orders to withdraw. Nathu La was under Major General Sagat Singh and he refused to withdraw. As a result, in the coming few days, Jelep La was occupied by the Chinese while Nathu La remained defended under India.


title: Nathu La

text: The coming months saw both sides tussle over dominance in Chumbi Valley. Numerous Indian incursions were reported by Chinese sources. At Nathu La, differing perceptions of the Line of Actual Control among frontline troops on both sides factored in to the increasing tensions. Trench digging, laying of barbed wires, patrolling, celebrating Independence Day, every action became contentious. Between 7 and 13 September 1967, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian Army had a number of border clashes at Nathu La and Cho La, including the exchange of heavy artillery fire. Numerous casualties were reported on both sides.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1975, following a referendum, Sikkim acceded to India and Nathu La became part of Indian territory. China, however, refused to acknowledge the accession, but the two armies continued to maintain informal communication at the border despite the freeze in diplomatic relations. In 1988 the visit of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to China marked the beginning of fresh talks between the two countries.


title: Nathu La

text: In 2003, with the thawing of Sino-Indian relations, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China led to the resumption of talks on opening the border. The border agreements signed in 2003 were pursuant to the "Memorandum on the Resumption of Border Trade" signed in December 1991, and "Protocol on Entry and Exit Procedures for Border Trade" signed in July 1992. The 2003 "Memorandum on Expanding Border Trade" made applicable and expanded the provisions of the 1991 and 1992 agreements to Nathu La.


title: Nathu La

text: In August 2003, the Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Chamling shook hands with a PLA soldier along the border and followed it up by giving his wristwatch. The PLA soldier in return gave the Chief Minister a packet of cigarettes. This signaled the return of trade to Nathu La. The formal opening was postponed a number of times between mid-2004 to mid-2006. Finally, after remaining sealed for decades, Nathu La was officially opened on 6 July 2006, becoming one of the three open trading border posts between China and India at the time, the other two being Shipki La and Lipulekh pass. The reopening, which was a part of a number of political moves by China and India with regard to the formal recognition of Tibet and Sikkim as part of either country respectively, coincided with the birthday of the reigning Dalai Lama.


title: Nathu La

text: The opening of the pass was marked by a ceremony on the Indian side that was attended by officials from both countries. A delegation of 100 traders from each side crossed the border to respective trading towns. Despite heavy rain and chilly winds, the ceremony was marked by the attendance of many officials, locals, and international and local media. The barbed wire fence between India and China was replaced by a 10 m (30 ft) wide stone-walled passageway. 2006 was also marked as the year of Sino-Indian friendship. It has been postulated that the reasons for opening the pass on both sides included economic and strategic ones, including that of stabilizing the borderlands.


title: Nathu La

text: The narrative surrounding the reopening of the pass highlighted border trade, the ancient silk road, and the ancient linkages between the two "civilisations". Anthropologist Tina Harris explains that this state-based narrative diverged from the regional narrative. While silk had been one of the commodities traded, this region saw a much larger trade of wool. A trader told Harris that the route should have been called the "wool route". Harris explains that this narrative of Nathu La rather highlighted the "contemporary global discourse"— that of a globalising and inter-connected Asia finding its place in the world, of which Sikkim and Chumbi Valley were a part.


title: Nathu La

text: Nathu La is one of the five officially agreed Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) points between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army of China for regular consultations and interactions between the two armies.


title: Nathu La

text: In 2010, the Queen's Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games that year also stopped at main trade gate at the pass.


title: Nathu La

text: Amidst the 2017 China–India border standoff centered around Doklam, the pilgrimage via Nathu La was cancelled. The border tensions also affected trade through the pass.


title: Nathu La

text: The standoff officially ended at the end of August 2017; and in October India's Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a goodwill visit to Nathu La, also briefly interacting with Chinese soldiers at the pass. In 2018, a "Special Border Personnel meeting" took place at the pass to mark the foundation day of the PLA. On Yoga Day in 2019, Chinese soldiers and civilians participated in joint yoga exercises at Nathu La.


title: Nathu La

text: In 2019 road conditions impacted movement across the pass. In April 2020, following the coronavirus pandemic, the Sikkim government closed the pass. The Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage through Nathu La would also remain shut. Further, fresh political and border tensions and skirmishes in 2020 also affected trade. This coronavirus pandemic–border tension situation continued into 2021, impacting movement across the pass.


title: Nathu La

text: In 1910 Scottish botanist W. W. Smith visited the area. Vegetation he listed included species of "Caltha scaposa", "Cochlearia", "Potentilla, Saussurea", "Rhododendron", "Cassiope", "Primula", "Corydalis", "Arenaria", "Saxifraga, Chrysosplenium, Pimpinella, Cyananthus, Campanula, Androsace, Eritrichium, Lagotis" and "Salvia". "Rhododendrons nobile" and marmots have been seen on the ascent of the pass.


title: Nathu La

text: Because of the steep elevation increase around the pass, the vegetation graduates from sub-tropical forest at its base, to a temperate region, to a wet and dry alpine climate, and finally to cold tundra desert devoid of vegetation. Around Nathu La and the Tibetan side, the region has little vegetation besides scattered shrubs. Major species found in the region include dwarf rhododendrons ("Rhododendron anthopogon", "R. setosum") and junipers. The meadows include the genera "Poa", "Meconopsis", "Pedicularis", "Primula", and "Aconitum". The region has a four-month growing season during which grasses, sedges, and medicinal herbs grow abundantly and support a host of insects, wild and domestic herbivores, larks, and finches. The nearby Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary has rare, endangered ground orchida and rhododendrons interspersed among tall junipers and silver firs.


title: Nathu La

text: There are no permanent human settlements in the region, though it has a large number of defence personnel who man the borders on both sides. A small number of nomadic Tibetan graziers or "Dokpas" herd yak, sheep and pashmina-type goats in the region. There has been intense grazing pressure due to domestic and wild herbivores on the land. Yaks are found in these parts, and in many hamlets they serve as beasts of burden. The region around Nathu La contains many endangered species, including Tibetan gazelle, snow leopard, Tibetan wolf, Tibetan snowcock, lammergeier, raven, golden eagle, and ruddy shelduck. Feral dogs are considered a major hazard in this region. The presence of landmines in the area causes casualties among yak, nayan, kiang, and Tibetan wolf.


title: Nathu La

text: The avifauna consists of various types of laughing thrushes, which live in shrubs and on the forest floor. The blue whistling-thrush, redstarts, and forktails are found near waterfalls and hill-streams. The mixed hunting species present in the region include warblers, tit-babblers, treecreepers, white-eyes, wrens, and rose finches. Raptors such as black eagle, black-winged kite and kestrels; and pheasants such as monals and blood pheasant are also found.


title: Nathu La

text: Up until 1962, before the pass was sealed, goods such as pens, watches, cereals, cotton cloth, edible oils, soaps, building materials, and dismantled scooters and four-wheelers were exported to Tibet through the pass on mule-back. Two hundred mules, each carrying about of load, were used to ferry goods from Gangtok to Lhasa, which used to take 20–25 days. Upon return, silk, raw wool, musk pods, medicinal plants, country liquor, precious stones, gold, and silverware were imported into India. Most of the trade in those days was carried out by the Marwari community, which owned 95% of the 200 authorised firms.


title: Nathu La

text: The Nathu La Trade Study Group (NTSG) was set up by the state government of Sikkim in 2003 to study the scope of border trade in Sikkim with specific focus on Nathu La, which was scheduled to reopen. The informal group, consisting of civil servants and trade experts, was headed by Mahendra P. Lama and submitted its report in 2005. The report laid down two projections, a "higher projection", and a "lower projection". The lower projection estimated border trade through Nathu La at by 2010, by 2015 and by 2020. The higher projection estimated border trade through Nathu La by 2015. India's Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) gave an even higher estimation that trade could cross USD 10 billion in a decade.


title: Nathu La

text: These figures were also based upon policy recommendations in the paper. While the trade may not have met the study group's estimate, which 15 years later seem "over ambitious", it has benefitted the impacted areas positively. Ancillary benefits were also highlighted by the report such as revenue for truckers even with low volumes of vehicle movement. Since July 2006, trading is open Mondays through Thursdays. In 2006 India exempted 29 items for export and 15 items for import from duty. In 2012, 12 more items were added to the list. Apart from illegal items, China did not put any restrictions on the border trade in 2006.


title: Nathu La

text: The reopening of the pass was expected to stimulate the economy of the region and bolster Indo-Chinese trade, however the result has been underwhelming. In 2008, Mahendra P. Lama commented upon the mismatch in projections and actual trade during the first two years, "this is mostly attributed to poor road conditions, nascent infrastructural facilities, limited tradable items and lukewarm attitude of the policy-makers." Road limitations also constricted the size and number of trucks that can use the route. Further, there is a large mismatch between Indian and Chinese thinking with regard to trade through Sikkim, and a large mismatch with regard to on-the-ground infrastructure development with regard to supporting trade through Nathu La. In 2010 and 2011 there were no imports from China via the pass according to Government of Sikkim data. Weather also restricts trade to about 7 to 8 months and roughly between May and November.


title: Nathu La

text: There were concerns among some traders in India that Indian goods would find a limited outlet in Tibet, while China would have access to a ready market in Sikkim and West Bengal. A concern of the Indian government is also the trafficking of wildlife products such as tiger and leopard skins and bones, bear gall bladders, otter pelts, and shahtoosh wool into India. The Indian government has undertaken a program to sensitise the police and other law enforcement agencies in the area.


title: Nathu La

text: Nathu La is part of the tourist circuit in eastern Sikkim. On the Indian side, only citizens of India can visit the pass on Thursdays to Sundays, after obtaining permits one day in advance in Gangtok. There is no 'no man's land' at the pass. Minimal military presence and barbed wire separates both sides. Tourists informally shake hands and take photographs with the Chinese soldiers and army office in the background. Only meters apart, soldiers at Nathu La are among the closest soldiers along the entire Sino-India border. Domestic tourism at the pass was opened up in 1999.


title: Nathu La

text: The pass provides an alternative pilgrimage route to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. The route through Nathu La, as compared to the original route through Lipulekh pass, requires pilgrims to make a much easier and shorter trek. However, with new road construction by the Border Roads Organisation, the Lipulekh pass route has also been made easier. Baba Harbhajan Singh memorial and shrine is also part of the Nathu La tourist circuit.


title: Nathu La

text: Twice a week at 8:30 am in an exchanging lasting only 3 minutes, on Thursdays and Sundays, the international surface mail between India and China is exchanged by postmen of the respective countries at Nathu La's Sherathang border post. While the volume of mail is declining due the advent of email and internet, it is mostly from the Tibetan Refugees in India or among the locals with relatives on both sides of the border. This arrangement reduces the mail delivery time for the people of border areas to few days which would otherwise takes weeks to be delivered via the circuitous logistics chain. In this short exchange, no words is spoken as both sides do not understand each other's language, mail is exchanged, an acknowledgement letter is signed, sometimes empty mail bags are exchanged due to dwindling mail volume. This system, since the times of chogyals, continues uninterrupted even during the India-China disputes at 14,000 altitude where temperature drops to . An agreement between China and India in 1992 gave official recognition to the process.


title: Nathu La

text: The Gangtok–Nathu La road was first made motorable in 1958. At the time it only existed to Sherathang after which the journey was on foot. China had not developed the road during those years.


title: Nathu La

text: The stretch has several sinking zones and parts are prone to landslides. The flow of vehicles is regulated and road maintenance is supported by the Border Roads Organisation, a wing of the Indian Army. The road has an average rise of per km over a stretch of . Around 2006, plans were made to widen the road. Double-laning commenced in 2008. Also known as the "JN Marg", and later known as National Highway (NH) 310, an alternative axis was constructed in 2020.


title: Nathu La

text: 2006 also marked the inauguration of a railroad from Beijing to Lhasa via the Qinghai–Tibet line. In 2011, the railroad began to be extended to Shigatse. There has been talk of extending the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to Yadong. China National Highway 318 (Shanghai to Zhangmu) is connected to Chumbi Valley from Shigatse via provincial road S204, about 30 km from Nathu La and Jelep La.


title: Nathu La

text: India had been planning an extension of rail services from Sevoke in West Bengal's Darjeeling district to Sikkim's capital Gangtok, from Nathu La. However the broad gauge line has been shortened to a 45 km extension to Rangpo, due for completion in 2022.


title: BCE Inc.

text: BCE Inc., formerly Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is a publicly traded Canadian holding company for Bell Canada, which includes telecommunications providers and various mass media assets under its subsidiary Bell Media Inc. Founded through a corporate reorganization in 1983 when Bell Canada, Northern Telecom, and other related companies all became subsidiaries of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., it is one of Canada's largest corporations. The company is headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the Verdun borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.


title: BCE Inc.

text: BCE Inc. is a component of the S&P/TSX 60 and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (). It was ranked as Canada's 17th largest corporation by revenue as of June 2014 and as the ninth-largest by capitalization as of June 2015.


title: BCE Inc.

text: The Bell Telephone Company of Canada Ltd. was created by an act of Parliament on 29 April 1880. Later known as Bell Canada, its charter granted it the right to construct telephone lines alongside all public rights-of-way in Canada. Under a licensing agreement with the US-based American Bell Telephone Company, Bell also manufactured telephones and telephone equipment, an activity that would be spun off in a separate company that later became Northern Telecom and then Nortel Networks.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 1983, all of the Bell Canada group of companies (also known as the "Bell Group") were placed under a new holding company, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE). This corporate reorganization resulted in Bell Canada and its subsidiaries, including Northern Telecom (later Nortel Networks) and over 80 others, becoming subsidiaries of the new holding company, BCE. Under the new parent, each company was owned directly by BCE, which had the benefit of freeing the manufacturing company, Nortel, and other holdings from the heavily regulated telephone company, Bell Canada. Under a variety of leaders, BCE has embarked on a series of diversifications, consolidations, and corporate strategies. In 1988, Bell Canada Enterprises was renamed BCE Inc.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 1983, A. Jean de Grandpré, chairman of Bell Canada, was appointed as the first chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of BCE. The company soon embarked on a major diversification into property development, the energy sector, financial services, and other sectors. Within a few years, it became the first Canadian company to report CAD$1 billion in profits.


title: BCE Inc.

text: When Jean Monty assumed the job of CEO in 1998, he pursued a convergence strategy, attempting to combine both content creation and distribution within BCE, and to take greater advantage of the emerging Internet market. BCE's acquisition in 2000 (and subsequent financing) of overseas carrier Teleglobe cost billions of dollars. BCE sold Teleglobe two years later; Jean Monty resigned and was succeeded by Michael Sabia as CEO.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Michael Sabia refocused BCE on its core telecommunications business, prompting BCE to buy back the 20% share in Bell Canada that it had sold in 1999 to Ameritech (later acquired by SBC Corporation). BCE also spun off operating units that it did not consider to be core to its business, including Emergis in 2004, and Bell Globemedia and Telesat Canada in 2006.


title: BCE Inc.

text: On February 1, 2006, stating the need to remain competitive, Bell Canada announced job cuts of 3,000 to 4,000 employees by the end of 2006.


title: BCE Inc.

text: On April 28, BCE announced that CEO Michael Sabia was taking a 455% pay increase; his salary being raised from C$1.21 million to $6.71 million. The pay included a $1.25 million salary, a $2.2 million bonus that Sabia converted to deferred share units, a long-term incentive payout of $3 million and other compensation, the filing shows. Bell Canada also posted record revenue increases for the previous fiscal year.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Under pressure from investors, on October 11, 2006, BCE announced it would be wound down, with its remaining assets converted to an income trust so its income could be distributed directly to shareholders through dividends, avoiding corporate taxes. The new entity was planned to be named "Bell Canada Income Fund". As part of this restructuring, Bell Aliant offered to take Bell Nordiq private, while remaining separate from the new Bell trust. Due to announced changes in taxation law by the Canadian federal government, on December 12, 2006, BCE announced it would not proceed with its planned conversion to an income trust. It then started planning a restructuring that would have eliminated the BCE holding company, but this was put on hold when the company began attracting takeover bids.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In February 2021 and in line with the growing importance of 5G wireless networks, BCE announces the launch of the largest investment program in its history to double the proportion of Canadians covered.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Due to its stagnant share price, starting in April 2007, BCE was courted for acquisition by pension funds and private equity groups, including a consortium led by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts as one of the participants), a consortium led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), and a consortium that included Cerberus Capital Management. On June 30, 2007, BCE accepted a bid of $42.75 per share in cash, for a total valuation of $51.7 billion, from the group led by the OTPP, and including Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners, Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, and Toronto-Dominion Bank. The proposed deal would have been the largest acquisition in Canadian history and the largest leveraged buyout ever.


title: BCE Inc.

text: (whose ruling was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal, but was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada),


title: BCE Inc.

text: and the CRTC, subject to certain conditions for its corporate governance structure to ensure that Bell remained under Canadian control.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Due to the tightening of the credit market caused by the subprime mortgage crisis, the investment banks financing the deal – led by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland – started negotiations on May 16, 2008, to revise the terms of their loans with greater interest rates and greater restrictions to protect themselves. On July 4, 2008, BCE announced that a final agreement had been reached on the terms of the purchase, with all financing in place, and Michael Sabia left BCE, with George Cope assuming the position of CEO on July 11.


title: BCE Inc.

text: On November 26, 2008, BCE announced that KPMG had informed BCE that it would not be able to issue a statement on the solvency of the company after its privatization, one of the required conditions of the buyout. As a result, the purchase was cancelled.


title: BCE Inc.

text: With Shaw Communications purchasing the Global Television Network, Vidéotron launching its wireless telephone network with video content as a key selling point, and the enormous popularity of wireless and Internet video and other media streams at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Bell once again sought to bring a content provider into its portfolio. In September 2010, Bell announced a deal to reacquire full control of the broadcasting properties owned by CTVglobemedia including the CTV Television Network. Bell also obtained a 15% interest in "The Globe and Mail", CTVglobemedia's other major asset, with the remaining 85% owned by the Thomson family.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Through this acquisition, Bell responded to an increasing trend away from traditional cable and satellite delivery channels and towards new distribution methods over the Internet and wireless networks.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 2016, BCE announced that it had entered an agreement to acquire Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) in a transaction worth $3.9 billion. The deal was approved by both companies' shareholders and boards of directors, and closed in March 2017 after the Competition Bureau and other agencies approved of the acquisition.


title: BCE Inc.

text: As of 2016, BCE Inc. has three primary divisions: Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, and Bell Media, comprising over 80% of BCE's revenue. Bell Aliant was a subsidiary company formed in 1999 from the merger of the four BCE-controlled telephone companies serving Canada's Atlantic provinces. In 2016, the operations of Bell Aliant were consolidated into those of Bell Canada.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Its Bell MTS Inc. subsidiary, owns 100% of its Bell Canada division which includes Bell Aliant, Bell Mobility, Bell Satellite TV, Bell Media, Bell Fibe TV, Virgin Mobile Canada and Lucky Mobile. Bell's flanker wireless brand, Virgin Mobile was officially rebranded to Virgin Plus on July 19, 2021 to reflect the brand's evolution beyond just wireless offerings which now includes Virgin Plus Internet as well as Virgin Plus TV.


title: BCE Inc.

text: The Bell Media assets include two Canadian conventional television networks, CTV and CTV 2 along with dozens of specialty television channels including BNN Bloomberg, CTV Comedy Channel, CTV News Channel, CTV Drama Channel, CTV Sci-Fi Channel, MTV Canada, MTV2 Canada, Much, E!, TSN, and 109 licensed radio stations in 58 markets across the country, all part of the iHeartRadio brand and streaming service. In 2014, Bell launched their CraveTV streaming service which offers the latest originals from Crave, HBO, HBO Max and Showtime, exclusive access to the entire HBO library, the biggest Hollywood blockbusters, and the best French-language content in Canada.


title: BCE Inc.

text: BCE also owns 18% of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, and (together with BCE's pension plan) a 37.5% interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (owner of several Toronto sports franchises). Several regional and local telecommunications companies (including Bell MTS, Northwestel, Télébec, NorthernTel, and Dryden Municipal Telephone Service) are direct subsidiaries of BCE rather than under Bell Canada.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Bell Canada formed the primary historic core of the company in central, Atlantic, and northern Canada.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Bell Media is the BCE broadcast and media subsidiary. In 2000, BCE bought the CTV Television Network for $2.3 billion. The company combined CTV with its holdings in "The Globe and Mail" newspaper to form Bell Globemedia, with BCE owning 70% and Thomson Newspapers and Woodbridge Co. Ltd. the remainder. In 2005, BCE sold its controlling interest in Bell Globemedia for $183 million to Woodbridge, Torstar, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, with BCE retaining a 20% stake. The company was subsequently renamed CTVglobemedia. In 2007, it acquired most assets of CHUM Limited. In 2010 BCE bought out the other owners, acquiring CTV's specialty television, digital media, conventional TV and radio broadcasting platforms. In August 2015, BCE sold its remaining 15% stake in the Globe and Mail to Woodbridge. Bell Media's subsidiaries:


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 2009, BCE partnered with the Molson family in acquiring the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club and the Bell Centre. The $575 million purchase was termed "the richest deal in NHL history"; BCE's share was reported to be $40 million.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 2011, together with Rogers Communications and Kilmer Sports (holding company of Larry Tanenbaum), BCE acquired Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs professional hockey team. BCE's interest is held in partnership with Rogers Communications through the holding company 8047286 Canada Inc., 50% owned by Rogers and 50% by BCE holding company 7680147 Canada Inc., which is in turn 74.67% owned by BCE and 25.33% by BCE Master Trust Fund (investment fund of Bell's pension plan).


title: BCE Inc.

text: Kilmer Sports and BCE also co-own the Toronto Argonauts, a team the companies purchased in 2015; BCE and Kilmer each own 50% of the team.


title: BCE Inc.

text: BCE Development was founded as Daon Development by Vancouver-based developer Jack Poole in 1964. In the mid-1970s, Daon became known for expanding aggressively in the United States. The company first entered the American market in 1976 and nearly quadrupled its total assets to $1.67 billion in four years. It borrowed heavily to finance deals for premium office space and condominium conversions. By 1981, the company had assets worth more than $2 billion. When interest rates soared, however, Daon was caught overextended, could not meet its debt payments, and was forced into a major restructuring with its bankers. In 1985, BCE acquired 68% of Daon from its creditors and changed its name to BCE Development Corporation in February 1986. In March 1986, it agreed to acquire US$1 billion of commercial real estate from the American subsidiary of the Oxford Development Group Ltd., more than doubling BCED's portfolio. BCE stated its goal was to convert from a land developer to a developer of prime commercial properties.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In July 1990, BCE Inc. sold 50% ownership in BCE Development to Carena Developments Ltd. (controlled by the Toronto branch of the Bronfman family). BCED was renamed Brookfield Development Inc. (now Brookfield Asset Management) followed in 1994 by the remaining 50%.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In March 1989, BCE bought a 64% stake in Montreal Trust from Power Financial for $547-million. The diversification was considered a "natural evolution" due to BCE's long-standing interest in financial services, its familiarity in selling services to the public, and its in-house money management operations. In 1993, BCE sold Montreal Trust to Scotiabank for about $290-million, taking a substantial loss.


title: BCE Inc.

text: When BCE was created in 1983, Northern Telecom was transferred from a subsidiary of CRTC-regulated Bell Canada to a non-regulated subsidiary of BCE. In 1998, with Nortel's acquisition of Bay Networks, the company's name was changed to Nortel Networks. As a consequence of the stock transaction used to purchase Bay Networks, BCE's holding was diluted to a minority stake. In 2000, BCE spun out Nortel, distributing its stock in Nortel to its shareholders. Nortel's share price collapsed with the dot-com crash of 2000 and combined with a mishandling of a subsequent accounting investigation, the company never fully recovered. It was liquidated in 2009.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 1987, BCE purchased a 30% stake in Memotec Data Corporation for $196 million. When Memotec purchased international telecommunications carrier Teleglobe Canada from the Canadian government in 1987, the company was renamed Teleglobe Inc. In March 2000, BCE announced the purchase of the Teleglobe shares it did not own for $9.65 billion. In April 2002, BCE announced it was cutting off long-term funding of Teleglobe, would give up on the company, and take a charge of up to $8.5 billion. In 2005, Teleglobe was sold to the Tata Group and is now known as VSNL International Canada. In September 2002, it sold its voice and data business for $197 million.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 1970, Bell Canada acquired a minority interest in satellite telecommunications carrier Telesat Canada. In 1998, BCE raised its stake to 100% at a cost of $158 million for the 42% of shares it did not already own. In December 2006, BCE announced the sale of Telesat to Loral Space & Communications and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board for CAD$3.28 billion.


title: BCE Inc.

text: In 1983, BCE acquired a controlling 42% stake in TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TCPL). In 1990, it announced its departure from the energy sector and sold its stake in TCPL for $1.1 billion.


title: BCE Inc.

text: BCE Inc.’s ISS Governance QualityScore as of December 3, 2019 is 2. The pillar scores are Audit: 1; Board: 3; Shareholder Rights: 3; Compensation: 3.


title: BCE Inc.

text: Corporate governance scores are provided to Yahoo! Finance by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). Scores denote a decile rank relative to index or region. A decile score of 1 denotes the lowest governance risk, while a score of 10 denotes the highest governance risk.


title: BCE Inc.

text: As of March 2020, the current board of directors are: Barry K. Allen, Mirko Bibic, Sophie Brochu, Robert E. Brown, David F. Denison, Robert P. Dexter, Ian Greenberg, Katherine Lee, Monique F. Leroux, Calin Rovinescu, Karen Sheriff, Robert C. Simmonds, and Paul R. Weiss.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: Stargirl is a young adult novel written by American author Jerry Spinelli and first published in 2000.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: "Stargirl" was well received by critics, who praised Stargirl's character and the novel's overall message of nonconformity. It was a "New York Times" Bestseller, a Parents Choice Gold Award Winner, an ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults Award winner, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: A sequel "Love, Stargirl" was released on August 14, 2007. A feature film adaptation of the novel directed by Julia Hart, produced by Kristin Hahn, and starring Grace VanderWaal was released March 13, 2020, on Disney+.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: The book begins with a brief introduction to the main character, Leo, at an early age, which is followed by his move from his home state of Pennsylvania to Arizona when he is 12. Before the move, his Uncle Pete gives Leo a porcupine necktie as a farewell present, inspiring him to collect more like it. After his birthday and collection of porcupine neckties are mentioned in a local newspaper when he's 14, Leo receives a second porcupine necktie, left anonymously.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: The story picks up two years later with the arrival of Stargirl Caraway at Leo's school, Mica High. Leo learns that up until this point, she has been homeschooled, but even that doesn't seem to excuse her strange behavior; for example, she comes to school in strange outfits—kimono, buckskin, 1920s flapper clothes, and pioneer clothes. She also brings a ukulele to school every day, as well as her pet rat, Cinnamon. She is so different that at first, the student body does not know what to make of her. Hillari Kimble, a well known and somewhat popular girl at Leo's school, declares that Stargirl is a fake, and speculation and rumors abound.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: One of Stargirl's quirks is singing happy birthday to students when it is their birthday, bringing her ukulele to school to do so. When Hillari orders Stargirl not to sing to her on her birthday, Stargirl sings Hillari's name but directs the song to Leo and mentions in front of everyone that she thinks he is cute. Though at first rejected by most of the students, Stargirl gains a measure of popularity and is asked to join the cheerleading squad after she succeeds in getting the crowd excited about the school's losing football team while cheering for them at a game. Students mimic her behavior, and at lunch, she no longer sits alone. Her antics on the squad spark a boom in audience attendance at sporting events.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: However, Stargirl's popularity is short-lived. Thanks in part to her efforts, the football and cheer season is the best in the school's history, and school spirit flourishes; however, students begin to resent Stargirl's habit of cheering for both teams, which before had added to her popularity. Their anger comes to a head during the filming of the student-run television show, "Hot Seat," which is run by Leo and his best friend Kevin. During the show, a "jury" of students is invited to ask questions of the guest star. This show's guest is Stargirl, and the session turns into an embarrassing attack on Stargirl's personality and actions. An advising teacher cuts the show short, and it is never aired, but the damage is done. Shortly thereafter, Stargirl stops cheering for both teams at games, but cannot stop herself from comforting a hurt player from the opposing team during a playoff basketball game and is blamed for Mica High's loss in the following game. She is shunned by the entire student body, except for her friend Dori Dilson, Leo, and, to some extent, Kevin.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: Leo praises Stargirl for her kindness, bravery, and nonconformity, and the two begin a tentative romance. They spend more and more time together, and Leo experiences her unusual lifestyle and starts helping her with various projects, such as leaving cards for people they don't know and dropping change on the sidewalk for others to find. For a while, he is deliriously happy with their relationship, but as reality sets in, he realizes that the entire school is shunning both of them. In response, Leo convinces Stargirl to act more "normal." She starts going by her real name (Susan), wears typical teen clothing, and becomes obsessed with being accepted and popular. These actions fail to produce results.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: Stargirl decides that the best way to become popular is to win the state's public speaking competition, which she does. But when she returns to the school expecting a hero's welcome, only three people show up. Realizing that she has achieved nothing by trying to fit in and has betrayed her true self, Stargirl reverts to her former personality. Seeing that dating Stargirl is getting him shunned by his peer group, Leo parts ways with her so he can be accepted in social company, choosing his peer group as a group over his sweetheart.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: Despite the parting, Stargirl attends the school's spring dance—the Ocotillo ball—with Dori. Leo watches as Stargirl arrives at the dance on a bike covered in sunflowers. Though initially ignored by the other attendees, something about Stargirl attracts attention and temporary acceptance. She convinces the bandleader to play the "Bunny Hop," and the other students come to join her in the dance until the only people not in line are Hillari Kimble and her boyfriend, Wayne Parr. When the dance ends, Hillari confronts Stargirl, tells her that she always ruins everything, and slaps her as hard as she can. Stargirl returns Hillari's attack with a kind kiss on the cheek. No one in the town sees Stargirl again after that night, and Leo learns that she and her family have moved away to Minnesota.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: Flashing forward fifteen years, a now-adult Leo notes that his former high school has become permanently changed, and wonders what has happened to Stargirl. In the end, he reveals that he has received a porcupine necktie in the mail one day before his most recent birthday—presumably from Stargirl.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: The story continues with the sequel, "Love, Stargirl", which is written from Stargirl’s perspective about her new life after Mica Area High School.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: In January 2015, "Stargirl" was staged by First Stage company. The play was adapted and directed by John Maclay, and the cast were mainly teenagers. The play met with positive reviews from critics and audience.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: In February 2018, a feature film adaptation produced by Walt Disney Pictures was announced to be in development. The film is directed by Julia Hart, from a screenplay written by Kristin Hahn and stars Grace VanderWaal in the title role. Filming began on September 24, 2018 in New Mexico and wrapped November 16, 2018. The film was released exclusively on the streaming service, Disney+ on March 13, 2020.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: While the plot remains relatively the same, various changes were made. Stargirl and Leo's relationship begins almost immediately in the film and they never formally break up, though it is slightly implied to be on Stargirl's part. Leo's fascination with porcupine ties comes from his deceased father rather than his uncle who is never mentioned. While Kevin and Dori are included, with the former's last name changed from Quinlant to Singh to match with the actor's ethnicity, various new characters are added as part of Leo and Stargirl's social group. Hillari's role is somewhat reduced, however she is still responsible for Stargirl's sadness. Rather than a typical bully, Hillari's dislike for Stargirl comes from how she inconsiderately tried to cheer up her brother, only to make him more miserable. Stargirl apologizes to her at the end. There is also heavy emphasis on music in the film with classic rock songs being used. For the dance at the end, instead of Stargirl leading everyone into the "Bunny Hop", she has Leo perform "Just What I Needed" by The Cars.


title: Stargirl (novel)

text: In 2004 students from Kent, Ohio founded a Stargirl Society, which aimed to promote the nonconformist message of the novel. The society received much attention, and inspired young people all over the world to create their own societies. Spinelli's website contains a list of tips on how to start a Stargirl Society.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Nicholas Radbourn Hewer (born 17 February 1944) is a retired English television presenter, company director (2010) and former public relations consultant. From 2005 to 2014, he appeared as Alan Sugar's adviser in the British television series "The Apprentice". From 2012 to 2021, he presented the Channel 4 programme "Countdown" with Rachel Riley and Susie Dent.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer was born in Swindon on 17 February 1944. His mother was Mary Patricia Hewer (née Jamison; 1918–1999) and his father, John David Radbourn Hewer (1915–2010), was a senior partner of Hewer, Spriggs and Wilson, a veterinary practice in the Old Town area of Swindon. They met when both were university students in Dublin. The family lived in Old Town and Hewer was educated at Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school in County Kildare, Ireland. Hewer has two sisters and two brothers.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer's grandfather, John Radbourn Hewer, began as a vet in Swindon in 1912. His maternal grandfather, Oswald Jamison, was High Sheriff of Belfast during the 1920s.


title: Nick Hewer

text: He secured a place to study law at Trinity College, Dublin, but his parents could not afford the fees for him to go there.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer moved to London in the 1960s, aged 20, to join a public relations (PR) consultancy as a trainee. Within six years, he had joined the board and eventually bought out the owner, becoming the sole shareholder. His PR company was hired by Amstrad to represent them in 1983. He spent 21 years in the Amstrad management group. He sold his PR agency in 1998.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer's status as a businessman and public figure has been used in various ways; for example, in 2012, he was one of many celebrities to help promote the change in the UK pension scheme to automatic enrolment. In 2013, he worked with Vista Print on their "Build Your Small Business" campaign, and in 2014 worked with Bark.com to promote its services marketplace product.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer and the ex-Amstrad owner Alan Sugar became friends through their working relationship. He became one of Sugar's advisers in "The Apprentice" on BBC One. On 18 December 2014, Hewer revealed that he had decided to leave the show after the tenth series, believing it to be "the appropriate time".


title: Nick Hewer

text: On 9 January 2012, Hewer became the new host of the Channel 4 game show "Countdown" taking over from the sports presenter Jeff Stelling. On 7 December 2020, Hewer announced that he would be leaving "Countdown" in 2021. His final episode aired on 25 June; he was replaced by Anne Robinson.


title: Nick Hewer

text: In July 2012, Hewer presented a four-part series on BBC Two called "The Farm Fixer", in which he assisted farmers in Northern Ireland in diversifying.


title: Nick Hewer

text: He also presented two BBC One series, "The Town that Never Retired" and "We All Pay Your Benefits" with Margaret Mountford.


title: Nick Hewer

text: In July 2014, Hewer co-presented a BBC One documentary series with Margaret Mountford called "Nick and Margaret: Too many Immigrants?", which researched the impact of and attitudes towards immigrants in the UK.


title: Nick Hewer

text: In 2015, Hewer presented a BBC Two programme called "Nick and Margaret: The Trouble with our Trains" with Mountford, in which they explore all the problems and insights of Britain's Railways.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer has appeared on the panel shows "Would I Lie to You?" (2011), "Ask Rhod Gilbert" (2011), "Have I Got News for You" (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016), "Room 101" (2012) and "Big Star's Little Star" (2015).


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer was also a contestant in "The Great British Bake Off" for "Stand Up to Cancer" in 2018 in series 1, episode 2.


title: Nick Hewer

text: Hewer married Margo Spindler in 1973; they had two children and in 1985 were divorced. His son, James, briefly acted as co-director of his father's company.