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Radio Afghanistan

Radio Afghanistan, also known as Radio Kabul or Voice of Sharia, is the public radio station of Afghanistan, owned by Radio Television Afghanistan. The frequencies are 1107 kHz (AM) and 105.2 MHz (FM) for the Kabul area. The name Radio Kabul has been given to many different incarnations of the state-run radio station since the first radio transmitters were installed in Kabul in the 1920s.

Origins
In 1925, a 200 watt Russian transmitter operating at AM 833 kHz was installed in Kabul Palace by King Amanullah Khan. This transmitter was destroyed in the 1929 uprising against the King. The transmitter was replaced in 1931 by the new king Mohammed Nadir Shah, and was upgraded in 1940 when a new 20 kilowatt transmitter was installed in its place, operating at 600 kHz. This is generally considered the official birth of Radio Kabul. Programs were broadcast in Pashto, Dari Persian, Urdu, English and French.

Peacetime
As King Mohammed Zahir Shah tried to reinforce his goal of pan-Afghan unity, the station's name was changed in 1953 to the Afghan Broadcasting System, and again in 1960 to Radio Afghanistan. During times of relative peace in the 1960s and 70s, Radio Afghanistan hosted a whole generation of traditional and modern Afghan artists such as Ustad Mohammad Hussain Sarahang, Ustad Farida Mahwash, and Ustad Mohammad Hashem Cheshti. These master musicians were revered not only in Afghanistan but also in India and other countries.

Afghanistan conflict era
Throughout the modern history of Afghanistan, the radio has been controlled by (and renamed by) the currently ruling party or organization. The various changes of governments during the 1970s were all announced by the new leaders over the radio station. After the Soviet Union installed a puppet government in 1979, Radio Afghanistan was controlled by the Soviet-backed government and was used to rebroadcast pro-Soviet propaganda directly from the Soviet Union.

During the 1990s civil war, the radio station was damaged several times during the fighting, changing hands as different factions gained control of Kabul. In 1996, when the Taliban gained control of Kabul, the station's name was changed to the Voice of Sharia (د شریعت غږ; ). As the Taliban consolidated their power throughout the country, the radio station was used to rally Taliban supporters and to broadcast new edicts by the ruling mullahs. The Taliban banned music on the new station and ordered the destruction of the radio archives, which contained irreplaceable tapes of Radio Afghanistan music and political programs going back over forty years. The tapes were presumed to have been permanently lost, but in 2002, the BBC reported that, miraculously, the archives survived not only the Taliban but the utter destruction of the Radio Afghanistan building by American bombs during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001. The tapes were hidden by Mohammad Siddiq or "Mr. Computer", the person in charge of the archives, from the Taliban who destroyed what they thought were the archives but were instead actually Indian and Iranian music tapes. Siddiq claimed there were 50,000 radio tapes.

After the Taliban were driven from power, Radio Afghanistan resumed its music and political programs. It has been claimed that the first song broadcast by Radio Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban was the famous patriotic song "Watan" (Homeland) by Abdul Wahab Madadi.

In 2021, following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, the Voice of Sharia branding was again reinstated, with the station signing in with the aforementioned name on 16 August 2021, the day following the takeover. Music broadcasts were again outlawed, being replaced by religious, patriotic and jihadist chants.

title: Radio Afghanistan


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Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (বিমান বাংলাদেশ এয়ারলাইন্স) commonly known as Biman (pronounced [ ]) is the national flag carrier of Bangladesh. With its main hub at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the airline also operates flights from its secondary hubs at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and as well as Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. The airline provides international passenger and cargo services to multiple destinations and has air service agreements in 42 countries. The headquarters of the airline, Balaka Bhaban, is located in Kurmitola, in the northern part of Dhaka. Annual Hajj flights, transporting tourists, migrants, and non-resident Bangladeshi workers and the activities of its subsidiaries form an integral part of the corporate business of the airline. Bangladesh's air transport sector, which is experiencing an 8% annual growth rate thanks to a large number of outbound tourists, domestic tourists, and non-resident Bangladeshi travelers, is very competitive with stiff competition among a number of private Bangladeshi airlines as well as Biman.

Created in February 1972, Biman enjoyed an internal monopoly in the aviation industry of Bangladesh for 24 years, until 1996. In the decades following its founding, the airline expanded its fleet and destinations but it was adversely affected by corruption and mismanagement. At its peak, Biman operated flights to 29 international destinations, extending from New York City in the west to Tokyo in the east. The airline was wholly owned and managed by the government of Bangladesh until 23 July 2007, when it was transformed into the country's largest public limited company by the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. Since becoming a public limited company in 2007, the airline has reduced staff and begun to modernize its fleet. The airline had signed a deal with Boeing to buy ten new aircraft along with options for ten more in 2008. After getting delivery of the new planes, Biman expanded its destinations and increased in-flight amenities, especially onboard Internet, WiFi, mobile telephony and live TV streams.

During his visit to Dhaka in September 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron, together with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced a large order of ten Airbus A350 aircraft for Biman. The Airbus order consists of the purchase by Biman Bangladesh Airlines of two A350F cargo aircraft and eight A350 passenger aircraft. Delivery of the aircraft will be done in stages with two passenger A350 aircraft joining the Biman fleet first. Biman Bangladesh Airlines is certified as safe to fly in Europe by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. In addition, Biman has also successfully passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit and since then, the airline has resumed flights to some of its previous destinations in Asia and Europe. In recent times, Biman Bangladesh Airlines has seen a marked improvement in punctuality, as well as in on-time flight performance, under its new management team.

History
Biman Bangladesh Airlines was established on 4 January 1972 as Bangladesh's national airline under the Bangladesh Biman Ordinance (Presidential Order No. 126). The initiative to launch the flag carrier was taken by 2,500 former employees, including ten Boeing 707 commanders and seven other former pilots of Pakistan International Airlines, who submitted a proposal to the government on 31 December 1971 following the independence of Bangladesh. The airline was initially called Air Bangladesh but was soon changed to Biman Bangladesh Airlines, its current name.

On 4 February 1972, Biman started its domestic services, initially linking Dhaka with Chittagong, Jessore and Sylhet, using a single Douglas DC-3 acquired from India. Following the crash of this DC-3 on 10 February 1972, near Dhaka, during a test flight, two Fokker F27s belonging to Indian Airlines and supplied by the Indian government entered the fleet as a replacement. Shortly afterwards, additional capacity was provided with the incorporation of a Douglas DC-6, loaned by the World Council of Churches, which was in turn replaced with another Douglas DC-6, a DC-6B model leased from Troll-Air, to operate the Dhaka-Calcutta route. On 4 March 1972, Biman started its international operations with a weekly flight to London using a Boeing 707 chartered from British Caledonian. The short haul fleet was supplemented by a Fokker F27 from India on 3 March 1972; the aircraft was employed on a daily scheduled flight between Calcutta and Dhaka on 28 April 1972. Three additional Fokker F27s were acquired during March and September of that year. In the first year of operation, Biman operated 1,079 flights carrying just over 380,000 passengers.

Four Fokker F27s joined the fleet in 1973, enabling Biman to double the frequency of the Kolkata flight to a twice daily service. A Boeing 707 was added to the fleet in September and the flight to London became twice-weekly, while a Chittagong–Kolkata flight also began operating. In 1974, operations were extended to Kathmandu (February), Bangkok (November) and Dubai (December). In 1976, Biman sold two of its Fokker F27s and bought another Boeing 707 to extend international services to Abu Dhabi, Karachi and Mumbai. Singapore was added to Biman's list of international destinations, when a third Boeing 707 was purchased in February 1977, followed by Jeddah, Doha and Amsterdam the following year, which also saw the purchase of its fourth Boeing 707. In 1977, Biman was converted into a public sector corporation to be governed by a board of directors appointed by the government. The airline broke even for the first time in 1977–78, and made a profit the following year. International destinations expanded to include Kuala Lumpur, Athens, Muscat and Tripoli in 1979, followed by Yangon, Tokyo and Dhahran in 1980. Biman took delivery of its first 85-seater Fokker F28-4000 in 1981. In 1983, three Douglas DC-10s joined the fleet and the airline started to phase out the Boeing 707s. The flight network expanded further to include Baghdad (1983), Paris (1984) and Bahrain (1986). On 5 August 1984, Biman faced its worst accident ever when a Fokker F27 flying in from Chittagong crashed near Dhaka, killing all 49 on board. The long haul fleet was then supplemented by the purchase of two new Airbus A310s in 1996, followed by the addition of two more in 2000, from Singapore Airlines and Air Jamaica, and another in 2003.

Key people
Retired Senior Secretary Mostafa Kamal Uddin replaced former Senior Secretary Sajjadul Hassan, who had completed his term, as the chairman of the airline in January 2023. Additional secretary to the government Shafiul Azim is the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD). Previously, Kevin John Steele, who served as MD and CEO of Biman from March 2013 to April 2014, was the first foreign national in the airline's history to be appointed CEO and MD of Biman. He was chosen from a pool of 42 local and foreign candidates after a competitive selection process. Steele was a British citizen who had many years of experience working in management and administrative positions at British Airways and other airlines around the world. Steele resigned from Biman MD and CEO positions in December 2013 citing health issues. Steele left office on April 19, 2014. Kyle Haywood took office as Biman MD and CEO on 5 January 2015. A British national, Haywood was the second foreign national to hold the airline CEO position after Kevin Steele.

Ownership
The airline was wholly owned by the Bangladeshi government through the Bangladesh Biman Corporation since its inception. In 1977, Biman was converted into a public sector corporation which afforded Biman limited autonomy, led by a government-appointed board of directors. The authorised share capital was increased to BDT 2 billion in 1987, and Biman was transformed into a public limited company, the largest in Bangladesh, in 2007.

1980s
During the late 1980s, Hossain Mohammad Ershad, President of Bangladesh at the time, served as president of Biman. After an early period of expansion and growth, Biman entered an era of nose-diving profits and slow growth, exacerbated by incompetent and corrupt management, who padded purchases, falsified repair bills, and kept unprofitable routes in operation for political reasons. Research conducted in 1996 found that Biman had 5,253 non-flying personnel, 30 percent more than Singapore Airlines, a carrier who operated a fleet almost ten times the size of Biman's. The report described Biman as "poorly managed, overstaffed, under-capitalized, and subject to excessive political interference in its day-to-day management."

1990s
In the 1992–93 fiscal year, accounts under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism revealed that BDT 22 million in tax was not paid to the government. The audit carried out in 1999, also showed that Biman was owed BDT 2.2 million by travel agents from the proceeds of ticket sales, most likely with the collusion of Biman officials. Additionally, BDT 2.4 million was overpaid as incentive commissions to the sales agents in violation of Biman policies. In 2007, the caretaker government launched an anti-corruption drive. This was shortly followed by the forced retirement of 35 other employees and officials, some of whom were close aides of Shamim Iskander. In 2007, Iskander, younger brother of former premier Khaleda Zia, was sent to jail over charges of concealing information regarding his wealth and not for his connection with Biman.

Faced with growing losses from the late 1990s onwards, the government offered 40 percent of Biman to foreign airlines in 2004, hoping a buyer would take over the management of the carrier. However, the proposal demanded that many decision-making rights remain within the Bangladesh government, and the offer was ignored by outside airlines. A similar initiative in 1998 cost Biman $1.6 million in consultancy fees with no positive results.

2000s
In the 2005–06 fiscal year, Biman carried 1.15 million passengers, a growth of 70% over the previous decade. With the rise of private domestic carriers in Bangladesh, however, Biman's market share for domestic passengers dropped by 35% over the previous ten years' average, with only 162,000 passengers travelling with Biman in the domestic sector in the 2005–06 fiscal year. During the same period, Biman reported its biggest annual loss of over US$120 million (BDT 8.3 billion as of 2010), with a US$100 million (BDT 6.9 billion as of 2010) loss reported the following year. Biman also fell behind on millions of dollars in payments to its fuel supplier, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), with debts that rose to BDT 15.64 billion in late December 2006.

Public limited company
In May 2007, the caretaker government approved plans to turn Biman into a public limited company with shareholdings split between seven public sector organisations. As a part of the restructuring, the government put in place a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to reduce the man-equipment ratio (MER) of 367:1 (ratio of manpower to aircraft). The industry average at the time was 200:1, and other Asian airlines operated with MERs of about 150:1. The VRS provided compensation based on length of service, at a cost to the government of over BDT 2.97 billion borrowed from the World Bank. Biman management expected to reduce its workforce by 1,600, but 2,162 applications were received, many from employees who expected to be dismissed with little or no severance pay if the quota was not met. Biman accepted between 1,863 and 1877 applications, and affirmed that key personnel would not be allowed to leave the organisation via VRS.

On 23 July 2007, Biman Bangladesh Airlines became the largest public limited company in Bangladesh. Earlier suggestions that the airline should be renamed Bangladesh Airlines were rejected. The government is the sole shareholder of the 1.5 billion shares, but intends to offer 49 percent to the private sector while retaining majority ownership. The previous managing director, Dr. Abdul Momen, was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of the new organisation. The six directors were appointed from the ministries of energy, commerce, finance, civil aviation, foreign affairs, and the cabinet division, with the cabinet secretary taking on the role as chairman of the board of directors. The six secretaries and a joint secretary to the civil aviation ministry were made the seven shareholders of the new PLC. In September 2008, the government appointed Air Commodore Zahed Kuddus (retd) to replace Dr. Momen as CEO. From 2002 to 2005 Kuddus had been chair of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), before which he had held various posts in the Bangladesh Air Force.

Following the privatisation, an initiative was launched by ex-Biman employees, who left the organisation via the VRS, to set up a competing airline. Names proposed for the airline included Air Bangla International, Biman Employees Airlines and Balaka. They were joined by previous managing directors of Biman, along with the former president of the Bangladesh Airline Pilots' Association. However, nothing further was heard of regarding the proposed venture.

The airline made profits in FY 2007–08 (BDT 60 million) and FY 2008–09 (BDT 150 million); In FY 2009–10, however, the carrier incurred in a net loss of BDT 800 million.

2010s
In FY 2010–11 it made losses of BDT 2 billion, despite the government exempting it a debt of about BDT 11.94 billion and BDT 5.73 billion owed to the BPC and the CAAB, respectively. In FY 2011–12 it made a loss of BDT 6.06 billion (US$75 million); in FY 2012–13 unaudited figures show a loss of BDT 2 billion. , Biman owed BDT 15.60 billion to different sources; of which BDT 3676.2 million to CAAB and BDT 8.50 billion to Padma Oil Company, its fuel supplier. Biman made three consecutive profits of BDT3.24 billion, BDT2.76 billion and BDT1.51 billion for FYs 2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17, respectively. The net profit for FY 2016–17 was BDT470 million. In the FY 2017–18 Biman had an operating income of but having an expense of, it incurred a loss of. But in the FY 2018–19 its operating income and expenses both decreased to and  respectively and Biman earned a net profit of

Subsidiaries
Biman's subsidiaries are associated with aircraft ground handling, aviation engineering, aviation training and flight catering. There are five wholly owned subsidiaries, including:

Since 1972, BGH provides ground-handling services for all airports in Bangladesh; the company reported a profit of BDT 4.5 billion for the FY 2011–12. The wholly owned subsidiary BFCC was set up in 1989 to provide in-flight meals. It is one of Biman's profitable operations, supplying food to Saudia, Etihad, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways, Emirates, China Southern Airlines and Regent Airways, along with casual orders from other airlines operating into Bangladesh. The BFCC consumes 90% of the eggs and chickens from the BPC, another profit-making subsidiary of Biman formed in 1976 and put into operation in November 1980 to rear poultry at farms in Dhaka. Bird flu was detected at one of the farms in March 2007, and many of the birds were culled. This was the first incident of bird flu in Bangladesh.

Services
In 2013, Biman signed agreements with SITA and Mercator to provide infrastructure support and revenue accounting services to the airline. In 2014, Biman launched advance seat reservation system on its website. The airline also offers online meal selection option, where the passenger can choose from diabetic meals, vegetarian meals, Asian vegetarian meal, child meal and Muslim meal, that will be served on board. In collaboration with a third-party service provider, Biman allows passengers to request Business Class upgrades as well as adjacent extra seats after booking an economy class fare.

Flight classes
A two-class service (J and Y) is operated on most of Biman's aircraft. The Business Class cabin on its Boeing 777 are arranged in a 2–3–2 configuration, while economy class cabin is set up in a 3–3–3 configuration. The narrow-body Boeing 737-800s' Business Class is set up in a 2–2 configuration while Economy Class is in a 3–3 arrangement. Business Class passengers of Biman Bangladesh Airlines have exclusive access to airport and hotel lounges around the globe.

In-flight amenities
Biman relaunched its inflight magazine re-branded as Bihanga in September 2013. The bi-monthly magazine, previously known as Diganta, and prior to that Jatri, is published by Subcontinental Media Group. The magazine is available in both Bengali and English, covering topics about Bangladesh and Biman's destinations. English and Bengali language newspapers are also available in Business Class on board the aircraft. Biman launched in-flight duty-free sales in March 2014, branded as Biman Boutique. Duty-free products include perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery, watches, children's gifts, chocolates, tobacco, etc. In 2014, Biman launched amenity kits for children on-board which include colouring books, stationery, dolls and jigsaw puzzle. Biman doesn't usually serve alcoholic beverages on its flights in economy class, however Business Class passengers have exclusive access to lounges around the globe.

The newer Boeing 777s and 787s are equipped with modern in-flight entertainment systems. Every seat is fitted with personal touch screen displays which are loaded with movies, songs and games. It also has high resolution moving maps and live flight information. All this is available in two languages – English and Bengali.

Starting with the newly delivered Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Biman Bangladesh Airlines launched onboard Internet, WiFi, mobile telephony, movie streaming and live TV streaming services from September 2018 in most of the new planes in its fleet. Twenty-five satellites were deployed for this purpose. New Panasonic eX3 seat-back monitors with touch screens from Panasonic Avionics offer passengers more than one hundred on-demand movies, music and video games. Onboard touch screen 3D route-maps, the latest addition to the aviation industry, show the various structures of the territories the aircraft flies over. Since March 2017, Biman started to offer exciting new and diverse meal and beverage options in its flights, including diabetic and children's meal packages, which is reviewed and updated every three months. All meals served on-board Biman flights are Halal and in Business Class, à la carte menus are offered.

Frequent-flyer program

Biman launched a frequent-flyer program, named Biman Loyalty Club, in November 2013. It offers rewards such as tiered benefits, mileage bonuses, extra baggage, lounge access and priority check-in at airports. As of July 2014, the frequent-flyer program had 8,000 members.

Ticketing
An agreement was signed with Amadeus in 2007 to upgrade Biman's ticketing system with an e-ticketing solution to comply with IATA rules, which set out a deadline of 31 December 2007 for all member airlines to switch over their ticketing systems. E-ticketing allowed Biman to reduce costs, while eliminating the stress of lost tickets for passengers. In 2005, Biman had briefly stopped using the Amadeus ticketing system when the government suspended the operation of a local Amadeus subsidiary following a court order, after allegations of money laundering. The suspension, however, lasted only a month, and was lifted after the writ was appealed in the High Court. In 2013, Biman signed an agreement with German e-ticketing company Hahn Air, enabling Biman's tickets to be purchased from anywhere around the world.

Biman Cargo

Biman also operates a cargo service using the cargo holds of its passenger aircraft to ship freight to international destinations. It has established a Cargo Village at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka where the cargo is packaged and labelled before being loaded onto its aircraft for shipment overseas. The air cargo industry in Bangladesh grew by 16.5% in the fiscal year 2003–04. Private operators increased their share of the cargo market by 10.6% and were responsible for handling 24% of the total 99,000 tonnes of cargo at the expense of both Biman and foreign airlines which saw a reduction in their shares by 4.6% and 6.0% respectively. Foreign airlines handled 47% of the total cargo with Biman taking on the remaining 29% in the fiscal year 2003–04.

In March 2018, Biman Bangladesh Airlines received ACC3 and RA-3 (Regulatory Agent for third country) certifications from the European Union allowing direct cargo flights to all destinations in Europe. ACC3 stands for Air Cargo or Mail Carrier operating into Europe from a third country airport. These certifications were successfully obtained after the government of Bangladesh upgraded Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) and improved its security, including setting up of Explosive Detection Systems (EDS), Explosive Detection Dogs (EDD) and Explosive Trace Detection (EDT) machines. Due to the improved security standards, Biman Cargo Village and Dhaka airport (HSIA) also got the ACC3 and RA-3 certifications simultaneously and a RA-3 compliant warehouse was built at HSIA for Europe bound cargo freight where entry is restricted for everyone apart from accredited Biman staff.

Biman Bangladesh Mobile App
On 28 December 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Mobile App. She also laid the foundation stone of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and inaugurated the Sonar Tari and Achin Pakhi, which are two new purchases of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to the flag carrier. The app was made available for passengers around the world.

Destinations
Biman serves 30 destinations with 48 routes. The airline operates flights to several destinations in the Middle East, some in South and South East Asia and London and Manchester in Europe. The carrier has air service agreements with 43 countries leaving room for further expansion in future.

New York City
From 1993 to 2006, Biman operated flights to New York City from Dhaka, catering to the many Bangladeshis who lived and studied in the United States. New York was Biman's farthest and most prestigious destination, and was kept operational, despite heavy financial losses towards the end, to maintain a landing slot in the US which, if cancelled, could be difficult to regain.

In December 1993, the airline inaugurated service to New York City via Delhi, Dubai and Amsterdam using a McDonnell Douglas DC-10. It subsequently routed the flight from Dhaka to New York through Dubai and Brussels and the inbound one through Brussels. To curb the losses, Biman reduced the service to one flight per week and changed the European stop to Manchester Airport, UK, capitalising on travel demands from the expatriate Bangladeshi community in the north of England. On 8 April 2006, Biman's inaugural flight to Manchester landed at Manchester Airport en route to New York. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had placed the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) into Category 2 (does not meet International Civil Aviation Organization standards) according to its International Aviation Safety Assessment Program, which placed additional restrictions on the country's airlines when flying to the US. For Biman, this meant it could continue flying to the US, but could not expand or alter its routes. The FAA fined Biman for breaching its rules, and flights to New York began stopping in Brussels again.

The FAA already warned Biman to replace its ageing DC-10s by December 2005. According to experts, these aircraft were inadequately equipped to cross the Atlantic safely. On 13 May 2006, the FAA refused permission for the flight to enter its airspace, citing safety concerns over the DC-10. The pilots diverted to Montreal, Canada, where the passengers were provided with alternative airline options to complete their journey. Canadian authorities inspected the aircraft and gave it a clean bill of health after which the aircraft returned to Dhaka without any passengers. The FAA eventually admitted it was mistaken and apologised for the error. The incident put an end to the route, which had been losing US$80000 per flight, owing to its use of obsolete DC-10s. Biman decided to axe the route along with several other regional and domestic routes to curb the huge losses being incurred by the airline each month.

London
On 4 March 1972, Biman started its first international operations with a weekly flight to London using a Boeing 707. , Biman Bangladesh Airlines flies directly to London Heathrow, from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, four times a week transporting both passengers and cargo, using its newly purchased Boeing 777 aircraft. Under its new management, the airline has seen a marked improvement in punctuality as well as in on-time flight performance in recent times. Back in 2007, Biman faced strong criticism from major international airports including London Heathrow Airport and Dubai International Airport for its failure to maintain flight schedules. Heathrow Airport operator BAA wrote to Biman providing evidence which showed Biman had not achieved the minimum 80% usage of its allocated landing slots at Heathrow, as required by EU and International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations, during the summer of 2007. Biman should, therefore, not expect slot allocations at Heathrow for the summer of 2008 and should look to Stansted or Gatwick airports if it wished to continue serving London. Following discussions with BAA, however, Biman obtained landing slots for the summer of 2008 on condition that it achieved 80% usage. Delays continued unabated and in September 2008, Biman's Dhaka–London direct flight utilising a DC-10 aircraft was diverted and landed at Gatwick when it did not have sufficient fuel to remain in a holding pattern over Heathrow following arrival over three hours after the scheduled time. In 2008, the United Nations advised its staff not to fly with Biman, citing both safety and security concerns and Biman's unreliable flight schedules. It was made clear that UN staff who flew with Biman did so at their own risk, and would be ineligible to make claims on insurance. Biman's then-newly appointed managing director said he was unaware of the UN directive, but admitted that Biman did face problems in managing its flight schedules. He expected the situation to improve with the procurement of aircraft in the coming months.

Toronto
In July 2020, Biman announced the introduction of a new route to Toronto which will be flown thrice-weekly beginning in October 2020. The route comes as part of an air agreement between Bangladesh and Canada, and will allow passengers to connect onward to cities across North America with its Air Canada hub at Toronto's Pearson Airport. On 26 March 2022, on the occasion of 51st Independence Day of Bangladesh and to observe the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Biman operated a special flight, BG-305, from Dhaka and Toronto-Pearson. In April 2022, initially the inaugural commercial flight was scheduled on 11 June 2022, however, Biman decided not to operate a direct flight to Toronto as it would not be commercially viable, rather planned to operate the flight with a stopover in any of the European or Asian destinations for refueling and extra passengers. On 22 April, Biman confirmed that it would use Manchester Airport as a stopover for its Toronto flight, to make it more commercially viable. However, later in May, Biman decided that Istanbul Airport will be used for refueling purposes, making it a technical halt only, not being allowed to aboard or deboard passengers from the airport. On 27 July, the first flight left Dhaka at 03:30 with 160 passengers only.

Hajj flights
The annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca for the Hajj is undertaken by thousands of Bangladesh's predominantly Muslim population. Biman has been the sole Bangladeshi airline permitted by the government to provide flights for pilgrims to King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah. Every year, the commencement of these flights is inaugurated by high-ranking government officials, including, at times, the Prime Minister. In 2002, the government opened the service to private tour operators for the first time. The initial private flights were plagued with delays, with both outgoing and return flights postponed for as long as nine days. Biman's handling of Hajj flights has also been beset with troubles. In 2005, the State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism resigned after complaints that he set fares too high. In 2006, Biman took the unprecedented step of removing the business–class seats from its dedicated Hajj flights to accommodate more economy-class passengers. Procedural irregularities by the Hajj agencies delayed the confirmation of pilgrims' visas, and Biman had to cancel 19 flights owing to lack of sufficient passengers. Once the situation was resolved, Biman was then unable to offer the required number of flights to cope with the backlog of passengers.

In June 2007, the caretaker government approved a three-year Hajj policy aiming to alleviate the problems encountered during the previous two years. Hajj flights would also begin leaving from Bangladesh's two other international airports, Shah Amanat International Airport and Osmani International Airport. Biman put out a tender for the wet lease of two aircraft for additional Hajj flights and reached an agreement with Phuket Air. However, the deal fell through in August 2007 after Phuket Air demanded advance payment of 30% instead of the previously agreed-to 10%. Ausban Aeronautical Services of Australia was selected next, following a re-tender, to fill the gap left by Phuket Air. In 2008, Biman wet-leased a 542-seater Boeing 747-200 from Kabo Air of Nigeria for six months to operate flights to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Another 512-seater Boeing 747-300 was leased from Orient Thai Airlines. , Biman still experienced difficulties in providing their scheduled services, as the carrier gave priority to the transportation of pilgrims to Jeddah during the Hajj season using aircraft that otherwise were flown on its regular flights. Despite this, the airline reported a profit of almost BDT 1 billion from the 2012 Hajj season, the highest results ever since these services were started in 1973.

Codeshare agreements
, Biman Bangladesh Airlines had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
 * Gulf Air

Current fleet
, the Biman Bangladesh Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft:

1972–2000
A vintage Douglas Dakota and Douglas DC-3 were the first aircraft in Biman's fleet. Domestic operations commenced with the acquisition of four Fokker F27 aircraft flying passengers to Chittagong and Sylhet from its base in Dhaka. Shortly afterwards, a Boeing 707, chartered from British Caledonian, joined the airline's fleet, allowing Biman to begin international flights. In 1983, Biman purchased three McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft from Singapore Airlines to provide services on its long haul routes. In a deal worth US$40000000 1989, three British Aerospace ATPs were ordered in late 1989. These ATPs entered the fleet in late 1990, coming to replace the Fokker F27s.

During the mid-1990s, Biman switched its airliner of choice for long haul routes to the Airbus series of aircraft. In 1995, two PW4000-powered Airbus A310-300s were ordered; the first of them joined the fleet on 15 June 1996. It nevertheless retained its elderly DC–10 fleet. For over three decades, the DC–10–30s were Biman's sole widebody aircraft and served the airline consistently well, with no noteworthy mechanical problems – in marked contrast to the record of its domestic operations. These were operated with Fokker F28 and BAe ATPs which were routinely out of service because of technical trouble. In one incident, a government minister disembarked a flight and travelled by road when he learned that the aircraft he was on was a BAe ATP. In January 2003, Biman leased two Boeing 737-300s which were used on domestic and regional routes for eighteen months.

McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and Airbus A310-300s made up most of Biman's international fleet, before the delivery of the modern Boeing 777-300ERs started in 2011. Fokker F28s made up the remainder of the fleet for the domestic and regional sectors, before they were retired in 2012. Biman's fleet contains the second-to-last Douglas DC–10 to come off the production line (l/n 445), and only three other Airbus A310–300s were produced following Biman's purchase of two new Airbus A310s in 1996. The two Fokker F28–4000s were acquired from PBair in 2004 at a cost of $2.91 million. Both of these aircraft were built in 1977, making Biman's latest acquisitions the oldest aircraft in its fleet. The ageing fleet made it difficult for Biman to maintain its flight schedule, as the aircraft suffered from mechanical problems, leading to flight delays and cancellations. A number of aircraft remained grounded owing to lack of spare parts as they are no longer manufactured and used parts are difficult to source. A deal was signed in January 2012 a three-year contract with a German company for the maintenance of their powerplants, for the DC–10s. The airline operates its own ancillary and maintenance facilities at Shahjalal International Airport, where it carries out all maintenance work and C-Checks on DC–10–30s and A310–300s.

2000s
In 2000, Biman put out a request for proposal for the acquisition of four wide-bodied aircraft to replace the DC–10s, but both the fleet renewal plans and the airline's expected privatisation were shelved by the government. A further attempt was made in 2005 to acquire new aircraft and plans were submitted for the purchase of ten new wide-bodied Airbus and Boeing aircraft at a total cost of $1 billion. Boeing arranged to finance the purchase provided a guarantee was given by the Bangladesh government. After bureaucratic delays and a perceived lack of commitment from the government, Boeing lost interest and the plans were cancelled. A similar attempt to purchase medium-haul aircraft for domestic service was also postponed. In March 2007, Biman put out a tender for the dry lease of two Airbus A310-300 and two Airbus A300-600 aircraft for two years. The sole response to the tender came from Star Aviation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

After Biman became a public limited company, renewed attempts were made to procure new-generation aircraft to replace its ageing fleet. In November 2007, Boeing made an offer to supply Biman with four Boeing 777-200s (with options for two more) to be delivered by 2013 and four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners (with options for two more) to be delivered by 2017 and provide similar aircraft on lease for the interim period beginning in 2009. The average price of these aircraft was quoted as US$165 million. Airbus also made an offer to supply four Airbus A320 or Airbus A330 series aircraft at a much lower price than that of Boeing. To manage the fleet in the short run, Biman again floated a tender in January 2008 to purchase or dry lease with options to purchase two used Airbus A310-300 aircraft.

On 10 March 2008, the Biman management unveiled a plan to procure eight next-generation wide-bodied aircraft from Boeing Commercial Airplanes for a total cost of US$1.26 billion, including four 419-seater Boeing 777-300ER (average price of US$182.9 million per unit), and four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners that will seat 294 (US$133.31 million per unit), to be delivered in 2017. The deal for the acquisition of these eight aircraft was signed with Boeing in April 2008, and also included a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of two Boeing 737-800s to be delivered in 2015, with Biman making an initial instalment of US$1.54 million. Of the remaining cost, US-based EXIM bank will finance 85%, while a syndication of local banks will finance the balance. In 6 the same year, Biman placed a firm order for two Boeing 737-800s, and took options for two more aircraft of the type. The total order for these ten aircraft was valued at around US$2.5 billion.

2010s
In 2010, Biman leased two Boeing 777-200ERs from EuroAtlantic Airways. These aircraft were used mainly on routes to European destinations to cover the interim period before the delivery of the first two new Boeing 777-300ERs in 2011. To secure the delivery of these two brand new 777-300ERs the airline used an initial US$277 million loan granted from JPMorgan Chase. Wearing a new livery, the carrier took delivery of its first Boeing 777-300ER in late October 2011. It was the 777-300ER delivered by Boeing. The ever delivered Boeing 777-300ER also went to Biman. The airline took possession of it in late November 2011. The Boeing 777-300ER, named Aakash Pradeep, was handed over to the carrier in February 2014. The one, named Raanga Pravat, joined the fleet in March 2014, following the government approving a US$356 million loan, of which US$290 million will be provided by the Ex-Im Bank and the rest by the Standard Chartered Bank.

Biman retired its entire McDonnell Douglas DC-10 fleet on 20 February 2014, by operating a special Dhaka-Birmingham farewell flight with its last DC-10 with a stopover at Kuwait. The carrier also operated nine separate aviation enthusiasts' scenic flights at Birmingham, from 22 to 24 February, flying three flights a day. The aircraft was then offered for sale as scrap in Dhaka. The Airbus A310-300s were withdrawn from service in October 2016.

The carrier leased two Boeing 777-200ER aircraft from EgyptAir in March 2014. The airline planned to expand its fleet to 16 aircraft, to allow route expansion. With newly leased Dash 8-Q400 aircraft, the carrier resumed domestic flights in full swing to Cox's Bazar, Jessore, Saidpur, Rajshahi and Barisal in April 2015. The two aircraft, dry leased from Smart Aviation Company for a period of five years, also operated on regional flights to Kolkata and Yangon. Initially it was supposed to resume in November 2013, which Biman failed to as it was unable to find a lessor of aircraft. In February 2017, it was announced that the airline would acquire three of their own Dash 8-Q400 which will be used to replace the current aircraft leased from Smart Aviation Company to continue operating domestic and regional flights. Due to reliability issues with its Boeing 777-200ER aircraft leased from EgyptAir, Biman announced in December 2017 that the aircraft would be returned in March and May 2018, one year ahead of the expiration of the lease.

On 19 August 2018, Biman received its first of four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and it was named "Akash Beena" in Bengali by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who inaugurated it on 5 September 2018 during an inauguration ceremony before its maiden commercial flight. The Dreamliner has this name inscribed on its side, below the cockpit, written in English on the port side and in Bengali on starboard. On 1 December 2018, the second of four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners was received, increasing the fleet of Biman to fifteen aircraft, and it was named "Hangsa Balaka" in Bengali with BG-2112 as its serial number. The last Boeing 787-8 named "Raj Hangsha" joined the fleet on 14 September 2019.

After receiving all four Boeing 787-8, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina showed interest to buy two more Boeing 787-9. As China based Hainan Airlines cancels its 30 dreamliner orders, Boeing approaches Biman and the latter agreed to buy two 787-9 at a negotiated price of US$150 million for each aircraft. Both these aircraft joined the fleet on 21 and 24 December 2019 and these two aircraft are named as Sonar Tori and Awchin Pakhi.

2020s
In January 2020, Biman expressed interest to buy two more Dash-8 Q400NG short bodied aircraft. This proposal is made to increase the frequency of the flights in domestic and regional routes. Besides, discussion is going on for taking four more Boeing 787-9 that was not taken up by Hainan Airlines and later on passed by Vistara. Besides, the airlines intended to buy cargo aircraft in future. In 2023 French President Emmanuel Macron, together with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced a large order of ten Airbus A350 aircraft for Biman Bangladesh Airlines during President Macron's visit to Dhaka. The Airbus order consists of two A350F cargo aircraft and eight A350 passenger aircraft. Delivery of the aircraft will be done in stages with two passenger A350 aircraft joining the Biman fleet first.

All three Dash-8 Q400NG from the first batch of orders received by March 2021. Another two ordered and will join the fleet by 2022. The number of Dash-8 aircraft will be six by 2022 (including one from lease). By adding Dash-8 Q400NG, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will stop using Boeing 737-800 planes on domestic routes. So Boeing 737-800 will operate on international routes only. Biman will also use Dash-8 aircraft on some short range international routes.

Livery
In modern Bengali, the word বিমান Biman refers to "aeroplane", originating from the Sanskrit word vimāna, a name given to a flying machine mentioned in ancient Vedic literature. The logo, painted on the tail, is a stylised white stork (বলাকা bôlaka) inside a red circle. The logo was designed by painter Quamrul Hassan. The initial livery was a dark blue line extending across the aircraft along the windows and covering the tail section. This was replaced in the 1980s by dark green and red lines, matching the colours of the Bangladesh flag, and has remained so for over two decades.

In 2010, Biman went through a rebranding exercise and unveiled a new logo and livery, designed by Teague, which was applied to its leased Boeing 777 and 737 aircraft. However, following change of government, Biman reverted to the original branding as this livery was not deemed appealing or colour appropriate for Biman or reflecting Bengali culture. The carrier has since adopted a new, more modern and revised version of its livery, that was applied to the new Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, and all other aircraft delivered or leased from 2011 onwards.

The bôlaka has also given its name to the Biman headquarters, the Balaka Bhaban (বলাকা ভবন bôlaka bhôban, Stork Building). A landmark sculpture, named Balaka and depicting storks, is also found in front of Biman's former headquarters, the Biman Bhaban, in the Motijheel Commercial Area of Dhaka. Eminent Bangladeshi sculptor; and mural, terracotta and landscaping artist, Mrinal Haque, designed and built this sculpture.

Retired fleet
The carrier also formerly operated the following aircraft:

 * Airbus A310-300
 * BAe ATP
 * Boeing 707-120B
 * Boeing 707-320
 * Boeing 707-320B
 * Boeing 707-320C
 * Boeing 737-300
 * Boeing 747-200B
 * Boeing 747-300
 * Boeing 747-300SCD
 * Boeing 747-400
 * Boeing 777-200
 * Boeing 777-200ER
 * Douglas DC-6B
 * Douglas DC-8-40
 * Douglas DC-8-50
 * Fokker F27-200
 * Fokker F27-600
 * Fokker F28-4000
 * McDonnell Douglas DC-10-15
 * McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
 * McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-80

Accidents and incidents
, Aviation Safety Network records 12 accidents/incidents for Biman Bangladesh Airlines, with two of them leading to fatalities.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Biman Bangladesh Airlines


text:
Talk:Green Grow the Rushes

Untitled
Is that really where "gringo" comes from? Another story I have heard is that it is an alteration of "griego," "Greek," in the same sense as the English expression "it's Greek to me." Both explanations sound kind of fanciful to me, so I don't know :) Adam Bishop 06:07, 1 Aug 2003 (UTC)

 * I don't really know either - maybe I should take it out jimfbleak

title: Talk:Green Grow the Rushes


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Talk:Baseball origins

Delhi Gazette might be Delhi, New York. Or it could be perfectly spurious. Then again it could be the very proof that was needed that Indians invented baseball. And I don't mean Cleveland Indians either... Wetman 04:44, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * The whole Delhi Gazette section should be eliminated. The term base ball apparently was in use prior to 1800, so use of that term in 1825 is not significant. More elaboration of games played prior to 1850 would be interesting, though. The article should make clear that townball was different from the game invented by Cartwright in 1845. Townball came first. Questions the article should answer: How was townball played? How did it develop? How did it differ from rounders? What other similar games were played at that time? How popular was townball? The article should also make it clearer that Abner Doubleday had nothing to do with inventing baseball. Bluelion 05:50, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Baseball origins


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Marabou stork

The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. It is sometimes called the "undertaker bird" due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back, skinny white legs, and sometimes a large white mass of "hair". It has the largest wingspan of any land bird, with an average of 2.6 m and some recorded examples of up to 3.2 m.

Taxonomy
The marabou stork was formally described in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson. He placed it in the stork genus Ciconia and coined the binomial name Ciconia crumenifera. He specified that locality as Senegal. The species epithet means "carrying a purse around the neck". The species is now placed with the lesser adjutant and the greater adjutant in the genus Leptoptilos that Lesson had introduced at the same time he described the marabou stork. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The common name marabou is thought to be derived from the Arabic word murābit meaning quiet or hermit-like. The species was originally described as Ciconia crumenifera. When the species was moved into the genus Leptoptilos, the ending was modified to crumeniferus and this was used by many authors until it was noted that the correct masculine ending to match the genus is crumenifer.

Description
The marabou stork is a massive bird: large specimens are thought to reach a height of 152 cm and a weight of 9 kg. A wingspan of 3.7 m was accepted by Fisher and Peterson, who ranked the species as having the largest wing-spread of any living bird. Even higher measurements of up to 4.06 m have been reported, although no measurement over 3.20 m has been verified. It is often credited with the largest spread of any landbird, to rival the Andean condor; more typically, however, these storks measure 225 – across the wings, which is about a foot less than the average Andean condor wingspan and nearly two feet less than the average of the largest albatrosses and pelicans. Typical weight is 4.5 –, unusually as low as 4 kg, and length (from bill to tail) is 120 to 130 cm. Females are smaller than males. Bill length can range from 26.4 to 35 cm. Unlike most storks, the three Leptoptilos species fly with the neck retracted like a heron.

The marabou is unmistakable due to its size, bare head and neck, black back, and white underparts. It has a huge bill, a pink gular sac at its throat (crumenifer(us) means "carrier of a pouch for money"), a neck ruff, and white legs and black wings. The sexes are alike, but the young bird is browner and has a smaller bill. Full maturity is not reached for up to four years.

Behavior and ecology
Like most storks, the marabou is gregarious and a colonial breeder. In the African dry season (when food is more readily available as the pools shrink), it builds a tree nest in which two or three eggs are laid. It is known to be quite ill-tempered.

It also resembles other storks in that it is not very vocal, but indulges in bill-rattling courtship displays. The throat sac is also used to make various noises at that time.

Breeding
The marabou stork breeds in Africa south of the Sahara. In East Africa, the birds interact with humans and breed in urban areas. In southern African countries, the birds breed mainly in less populated areas. The marabou stork breeds in colonies, starting during the dry season. The female lays two to three eggs in a small nest made of sticks; eggs hatch after an incubation period of 30 days. Their young reach sexual maturity at 4 years of age. Lifespan is 43 years in captivity and 25 years in wild.

Feeding
The marabou stork is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and long neck are adaptations to this livelihood, as it is with the vultures with which the stork often feeds. In both cases, a feathered head would become rapidly clotted with blood and other substances when the bird's head was inside a large corpse, and the bare head is easier to keep clean.

This large and powerful bird eats mainly carrion, scraps, and faeces but will opportunistically eat almost any animal matter it can swallow. It occasionally eats other birds including Quelea nestlings, pigeons, doves, pelican and cormorant chicks, and even flamingos. During the breeding season, adults scale back on carrion and take mostly small, live prey since nestlings need this kind of food to survive. Common prey at this time may consist of fish, frogs, insects, eggs, small mammals and reptiles such as crocodile hatchlings and eggs, and lizards and snakes. Though known to eat putrid and seemingly inedible foods, these storks may sometimes wash food in water to remove soil.

When feeding on carrion, marabou frequently follow vultures, which are better equipped with hooked bills for tearing through carrion meat and may wait for the vultures to cast aside a piece, steal a piece of meat directly from the vulture or wait until the vultures are done. As with vultures, marabou storks perform an important natural function by cleaning areas via their ingestion of carrion and waste.

Increasingly, marabous have become dependent on human garbage and hundreds of the huge birds can be found around African dumps or waiting for a hand out in urban areas. Marabous eating human garbage have been seen to devour virtually anything that they can swallow, including shoes and pieces of metal. Marabous conditioned to eating from human sources have been known to lash out when refused food.

Threats
Fully grown marabou storks have few natural enemies, and have high annual survival rate, though lions have reportedly preyed on some individuals in ambush. A number of endoparasites have been identified in wild marabous including Cheilospirura, Echinura and Acuaria nematodes, Amoebotaenia sphenoides (Cestoda) and Dicrocoelium hospes (Trematoda).

Human uses
Marabou down is frequently used in the trimming of various items of clothing and hats, as well as fishing lures. Turkey down and similar feathers have been used as a substitute for making 'marabou' trimming.

title: Marabou stork


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Uniform Civil Code

The Uniform Civil Code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply on all citizens equally regardless of their religion. Currently, personal laws of various communities are governed by their religious scriptures. Implementation of a uniform civil code across the nation is pursued by India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party. Personal laws cover marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance. While articles 25-28 of the Indian Constitution guarantee religious freedom to Indian citizens and allow religious groups to maintain their own affairs, article 44 expects the Indian state to apply directive principles and common law for all Indian citizens while formulating national policies.

Personal laws were first framed during the British Raj, mainly for Hindu and Muslim citizens. The British feared opposition from community leaders and refrained from further interfering within this domestic sphere. The Indian state of Goa was separated from British India during the colonial rule in the erstwhile Portuguese Goa and Daman, retained a common family law known as the Goa civil code and thus was the only state in India with a uniform civil code prior to 2024. Following India's independence, Hindu code bills were introduced which largely codified and reformed personal laws in various sects among Indian religions like Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs but they exempted Christians, Jews, Muslims and Parsis.

UCC emerged as a crucial topic of interest in Indian politics following the Shah Bano case in 1985. The debate arose on the question of making certain laws applicable to all citizens without abridging the fundamental right to practice religious functions. The debate then focused on the Muslim Personal Law, which is partially based on the Sharia law, permitting unilateral divorce, polygamy and putting it among the legally applying the Sharia law. A UCC bill was proposed twice, in November 2019 and March 2020 but was withdrawn both the times without introduction in the parliament. The bill is reported to be under discussion between the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Many opposition parties and BJP's allies from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have opposed the Uniform Civil Code, especially from Northeast India, claiming that it will go against the "idea of India" and will end special privileges of tribal communities after renewed calls by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023 about implementing a UCC.

On 7 February 2024, The Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly passed The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, making Uttarakhand the first state in India to have a law on the Uniform Civil Code. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami describes it as a "historic moment" for the country.

British India (1858–1947)
The Lex Loci Report of October 1840 emphasised the importance and necessity of uniformity in codification of Indian law, relating to crimes, evidences and contract but it recommended that personal laws of Hindus and Muslims should be kept outside such codification. According to their understanding of religious divisions in India, the British separated this sphere which would be governed by religious scriptures and customs of the various communities (Hindus, Muslims, Christians and later Parsis). These laws were applied by the local courts or panchayats when dealing with regular cases involving civil disputes between people of the same religion; the State would only intervene in exceptional cases. Thus, the British let the Indian public have the benefit of self-government in their own domestic matters with the Queen's 1859 Proclamation promising absolute non-interference in religious matters. The personal laws involved inheritance, succession, marriage and religious ceremonies. The public sphere was governed by the British and Anglo-Indian law in terms of crime, land relations, laws of contract and evidence—all this applied equally to every citizen irrespective of religion.

Throughout the country, there was a variation in preference for scriptural or customary laws because in many Hindu and Muslim communities, these were sometimes at conflict; such instances were present in communities like the Jats and the Dravidians. The Shudras, for instance, allowed widow remarriage—completely contrary to the scriptural Hindu law. The Hindu laws got preference because of their relative ease in implementation, preference for such a Brahminical system by both British and Indian judges and their fear of opposition from the high caste Hindus. The difficulty in investigating each specific practice of any community, case-by-case, made customary laws harder to implement. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, favouring local opinion, the recognition of individual customs and traditions increased.

The Muslim Personal law (based on Sharia law), was not strictly enforced as compared to the Hindu law. It had no uniformity in its application at lower courts and was severely restricted because of bureaucratic procedures. This led to the customary law, which was often more discriminatory against women, to be applied over it. Women, mainly in northern and western India, often were restrained from property inheritance and dowry settlements, both of which the Sharia provides. Due to pressure from the Muslim elite, the Shariat law of 1937 was passed which stipulated that all Indian Muslims would be governed by Islamic laws on marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption, succession and inheritance.

Legislative reforms
Certain Hindu customs prevalent at the time discriminated against women by depriving them of inheritance, remarriage and divorce. Their condition, especially that of Hindu widows and daughters, was poor due to this and other prevalent customs. The British and social reformers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar were instrumental in outlawing such customs by getting reforms passed through legislative processes. Since the British feared opposition from orthodox community leaders, only the Indian Succession Act 1865, which was also one of the first laws to ensure women's economic security, attempted to shift the personal laws to the realm of civil. The Indian Marriage Act 1864 had procedures and reforms solely for Christian marriages.

There were law reforms passed which were beneficial to women like the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, Married Women's Property Act of 1923 and the Hindu Inheritance (Removal of Disabilities) Act, 1928, which in a significant move, permitted a Hindu woman's right to property.

The call for equal rights for women was only at its initial stages in India at that time and the reluctance of the British government further deterred the passing of such reforms. The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) expressed its disappointment with the male-dominated legislature and Lakshmi Menon said in an AIWC conference in 1933, "If we are to seek divorce in court, we are to state that we are not Hindus, and are not guided by Hindu law. The members in the Legislative assembly who are men will not help us in bringing any drastic changes which will be of benefit to us." The women's organisations demanded a uniform civil code to replace the existing personal laws, basing it on the Karachi Congress resolution which guaranteed gender-equality.

The passing of the Hindu Women's right to Property Act of 1937, also known as the Deshmukh bill, led to the formation of the B. N. Rau committee, which was set up to determine the necessity of common Hindu laws. The committee concluded that it was time of a uniform civil code, which would give equal rights to women keeping with the modern trends of society but their focus was primarily on reforming the Hindu law in accordance with the scriptures. The committee reviewed the 1937 Act and recommended a civil code of marriage and succession; it was set up again in 1944 and send its report to the Indian Parliament in 1947.

The Special Marriage Act, which gave the Indian citizens an option of a civil marriage, was first enacted in 1872. It had a limited application because it required those involved to renounce their religion and was applicable mostly to non-Hindus. The later Special Marriage (Amendment) Act, 1923 permitted Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains to marry either under their personal law or under the act without renouncing their religion as well as retaining their succession rights.

Hindu Code Bill and addition to the Directive Principles
The Indian Parliament discussed the report of the Hindu law committee during the 1948–1951 and 1951–1954 sessions. The first Prime Minister of the Indian republic, Jawaharlal Nehru, his supporters and women members wanted a uniform civil code to be implemented. As Law Minister, B. R. Ambedkar was in charge of presenting the details of this bill. It was found that the orthodox Hindu laws were pertaining only to a specific school and tradition because monogamy, divorce and the widow's right to inherit property were present in the Shashtras. Ambedkar recommended the adoption of a uniform civil code. Ambedkar's frequent attack on the Hindu laws and dislike for the upper castes made him unpopular in the parliament. He had done research on the religious texts and considered the Hindu society structure flawed. According to him, only law reforms could save it and the Code bill was this opportunity. He thus faced severe criticism from the opposition. Nehru later supported Ambedkar's reforms but did not share his negative view on Hindu society.

The Hindu bill itself received much criticism and the main provisions opposed were those concerning monogamy, divorce, abolition of coparcenaries (women inheriting a shared title) and inheritance to daughters. The first President of the country, Rajendra Prasad, opposed these reforms; others included the Congress party president Vallabhbhai Patel, a few senior members and the Hindu fundamentalists within Indian National Congress. The women members of the parliament, who previously supported this, in a significant political move reversed their position and backed the Hindu law reform; they feared allying with the fundamentalists would cause a further setback to their rights.

Thus, a lesser version of this bill was passed by the parliament in 1956, in the form of four separate acts, the Hindu Marriage Act, Succession Act, Minority and Guardianship Act and Adoptions and Maintenance Act. It was decided to add the implementation of a uniform civil code in Article 44 of the Directive principles of the Constitution specifying, "The State shall endeavour to secure for citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." This was opposed by women members like Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Hansa Mehta. According to academic Paula Banerjee, this move was to make sure it would never be addressed. Aparna Mahanta writes, "failure of the Indian state to provide a uniform civil code, consistent with its democratic secular and socialist declarations, further illustrates the modern state's accommodation of the traditional interests of a patriarchal society".

Later years and Special Marriage Act
The Hindu code bill failed to control the prevalent gender discrimination. The law on divorce were framed giving both partners equal voice but majority of its implementation involved those initiated by men. Since the Act applied only to Hindus, women from the other communities remained subordinated. For instance, Muslim women, under the Muslim Personal Law, could not inherit agricultural land. Nehru accepted that the bill was not complete and perfect, but was cautious about implementing drastic changes which could stir up specific communities. He agreed that it lacked any substantial reforms but felt it was an "outstanding achievement" of his time. He had a significant role in getting the Hindu Code bill passed and laid down women-equality as an ideal to be pursued in Indian politics, which was eventually accepted by the previous critics of the bill. Uniform civil code, for him, was a necessity for the whole country but he did not want it to forced upon any community, especially if they were not ready for such a reform. According to him, such a lack of uniformity was preferable since it would be ineffective if implemented. Thus, his vision of family law uniformity was not applied and was added to the Directive principles of the Constitution.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954, provides a form of civil marriage to any citizen irrespective of religion, thus permitting any Indian to have their marriage outside the realm of any specific religious personal law. The law applied to all of India, except Jammu and Kashmir. In many respects, the act was almost identical to the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, which gives some idea as to how secularised the law regarding Hindus had become. The Special Marriage Act allowed Muslims to marry under it and thereby retain the protections, generally beneficial to Muslim women, that could not be found in the personal law. Under this act polygamy was illegal, and inheritance and succession would be governed by the Indian Succession Act, rather than the respective Muslim Personal Law. Divorce also would be governed by the secular law, and maintenance of a divorced wife would be along the lines set down in the civil law.

Significance of Shah Bano case
After the passing of the Hindu Code bill, the personal laws in India had two major areas of application: the common Indian citizens and the Muslim community, whose laws were kept away from any reforms. The frequent conflict between secular and religious authorities over the issue of uniform civil code eventually decreased, until the 1985 Shah Bano case. Bano was a 73-year-old woman who sought maintenance from her husband, Muhammad Ahmad Khan. He had divorced her after 40 years of marriage by triple Talaaq (saying "I divorce thee" three times) and denied her regular maintenance; this sort of unilateral divorce was permitted under the Muslim Personal Law. She was initially granted maintenance by the verdict of a local court in 1980. Khan, a lawyer himself, challenged this decision, taking it to the Supreme Court, saying that he had fulfilled all his obligations under Islamic law. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Shah Bano in 1985 under the "maintenance of wives, children and parents" provision (Section 125) of the All India Criminal Code, which applied to all citizens irrespective of religion. It further recommended that a uniform civil code be set up, stating that a uniform civil code would promote national integration by eliminating conflicting loyalties to laws with divergent ideologies. Besides her case, two other Muslim women had previously received maintenance under the Criminal Code in 1979 and 1980.

The Shah Bano case soon became nationwide political issue and a widely debated controversy. Many conditions, like the Supreme court's recommendation, made her case have such public and political interest. After the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, minorities in India, with Muslims being the largest, felt threatened with the need to safeguard their culture. The All India Muslim Board defended the application of their laws and supported the Muslim conservatives who accused the government of promoting Hindu dominance over every Indian citizen at the expense of minorities. The Criminal Code was seen as a threat to the Muslim Personal Law, which they considered their cultural identity. According to them, the judiciary recommending a uniform civil code was evidence that Hindu values would be imposed over every Indian.

The orthodox Muslims felt that their communal identity was at stake if their personal laws were governed by the judiciary. Rajiv Gandhi's Congress government, which previously had the support of Muslim minorities, lost the local elections in December 1985 because of its endorsement of the Supreme Court's decision. The members of the Muslim board, including Khan, started a campaign for complete autonomy in their personal laws. It soon reached a national level, by consulting legislators, ministers and journalists. The press played a considerable role in sensationalizing this incident.

An independent Muslim Member of Parliament proposed a bill to protect their personal law in the parliament. The Congress reversed its previous position and supported this bill while the Hindu right, the Left, Muslim liberals and women's organisations strongly opposed it. The Muslim Women's (Protection of Rights on Divorce) was passed in 1986, which made Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code inapplicable to Muslim women. The debate now centred on the divinity of their personal law. A Muslim member of parliament made a claim emphasising the importance of the cultural community over national by saying that only a Muslim judge could intercede in such cases. Bano later in a statement said that she rejected the Supreme Court's verdict. It also led to the argument defining a woman's right according to her specific community with political leader Jaffar Sharief saying, "today, in the Shah Bano's case, I am finding that many people are more sympathetic towards Muslim women than their own women. This is very strange."

The politicisation led to argument having two major sides: the Congress and Muslim conservatives versus the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and the Left. In 1987, the Minister of Social Welfare, Rajendra Kumari Bajpai, reported that no women were given maintenance by the Wakf Board in 1986. Women activists highlighted their legal status and according to them, "main problem is that there [are] many laws but women are dominated not by secular laws, not by uniform civil laws, but by religious laws." The legal reversal of introducing the Muslim Women law significantly hampered the nationwide women's movement in the 1980s.

Definition of the proposal
UCC is meant to replace various laws currently applicable to different communities which are inconsistent with each other. These laws include the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Indian Christian Marriages Act, Indian Divorce Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act. Meanwhile, certain codes like Sharia (Islamic laws) are not codified and solely based upon their religious scriptures.

The proposals in UCC include monogamy, equal rights for son and daughter over inheritance of paternal property, and gender and religion neutral laws with regards to will, charity, divinity, guardianship and sharing of custody. These proposals may not result in much difference to the status of Hindu society, as they have already been applicable on Hindus through the Hindu Code Bills for decades.

Points of view
The debate for a uniform civil code, with its diverse implications and concerning secularism in the country, is one of the most controversial issues in twenty-first century Indian politics. The major problems for implementing it are the country's diversity and religious laws, which not only differ sect-wise, but also by community, caste and region.

India is a 'secular' nation which means a separation between religion and state matters. However, 'secularism' in India is defined as equality of all religions and practitioners of all religions before the law. Currently, with a mix of different civil codes, citizens are treated differently by law and by courts based on their religion. The rights of Hindu women are far more progressive (and constitutional, by virtue of being gender-neutral and secular) than those of Muslim women, who are governed by Muslim Personal Law, which is based on the Sharia law.

Women's rights groups have said the issue of a uniform civil code is only based on the rights and security of women, irrespective of its politicisation. The arguments for it are: its mention in Article 44 of the Constitution, need for strengthening the unity and integrity of the country, rejection of different laws for different communities, importance for gender equality, and reforming the archaic personal laws of Muslims—which allow unilateral divorce and polygamy. India is thus among the nations that legally apply the Sharia law. According to Qutub Kidwai, the Muslim Personal Law is "Anglo-Mohammadan" rather than solely Islamic. The Hindu nationalists view this issue in the concept of the Hindu law, which they say, is secular and equal to both sexes. In the country, demanding a uniform civil code can be seen negatively by religious authorities and secular sections of society because of identity politics. The Sangh Parivar and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of the two major political parties in India, have taken up this issue to gain Hindu support. The BJP was the first party in the country to promise UCC if elected to power.

The Indian state of Goa abides by Goa Civil Code. It is a set of civil laws, originally the Portuguese Civil Code, which continues to be implemented even after the Indian annexation of the state in 1961.

Sikhs and Buddhists objected to the wording of Article 25 which terms them as Hindus with personal laws being applied to them. However, this article also guarantees the right of the members of the Sikh faith to bear a Kirpan.

In October 2015, the Supreme Court of India asserted the need for a uniform civil code and said: "This cannot be accepted, otherwise every religion will say it has a right to decide various issues as a matter of its personal law. We don't agree with this at all. It has to be done through a decree of a court". On 30 November 2016, British Indian intellectual Tufail Ahmad unveiled a 12-point draft proposal, citing no effort by the government since 1950. The Law Commission of India stated on August 31, 2018, that a uniform civil code is "neither necessary nor desirable at this stage" in a 185-page consultation paper, adding that secularism cannot contradict the plurality prevalent in the country. On June 14, 2023, the 22nd Law Commission of India requested input from religious organizations and the general public regarding the matter of implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). According to a notification released by the commission, individuals who are interested and willing can express their opinions within a 30-day time frame.

Indian society in pre-independence era had many other considerations like socio-economic status, jati and gotra etc. in case of marriages. While the Hindu Code Bills and other Acts wiped out all such practices in Hindu, Jains, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities, some conservative sections of these communities had been demanding amendments to their Marriage Acts.

Critics of UCC continue to oppose it as a threat to religious freedom. They consider the abolition of religious laws to be against secularism, and the UCC as a means for BJP to target Muslims under the pretense of progressivism. However, BJP members state that they promote UCC as a means of achieving religious equality and equal rights for women by fending off unfair religious laws.

Legal expert and rights groups suggest amending gender discriminatory laws, rather than implementing a uniform civil code. An example of such a law is Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 which applies to women of all communities without the need for a uniform civil code.

On 17 July 2023, Justice Krishna Murari, who recently concluded his tenure in the Supreme Court of India, said that "uniformity in anyway is beneficial", but before the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, extensive deliberations and consultations, on a large scale, with the general public should take place.

Legal status and prospects
UCC had been included in BJP's manifesto for the 1998 and 2019 elections, and was even proposed for introduction in the Parliament for the first time in November 2019 by Narayan Lal Panchariya. Amid protests by other MPs, the bill was soon withdrawn for making certain amendments. The bill was brought for a second time by Kirodi Lal Meena in March 2020, but was not introduced again. As per reports which emerged in 2020, the bill's specifics are being contemplated by the BJP due to its topical differences with the RSS.

A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court which sought establishment of a judicial commission or a high level expert committee to direct the central government to prepare a draft of UCC in three months. In April 2021, a request was filed to transfer the plea to the Supreme Court so that filing of more such pleas throughout various high courts doesn't bring inconsistency throughout India. The draft would further be published on the website for 60 days to facilitate extensive public debate and feedback.

UCC had been included in BJP's manifesto for the 2024 Indian general election, but cannot be implemented in 18th Lok Sabha as their National Democratic Alliance lost two-thirds majority in that general election, the required majority to amend The Constitution of India.

Reactions
Many political parties, ranging from opposition parties to the BJP's own allies in the NDA, have objected to calls for a uniform civil code by the BJP. Furthermore, the idea of the UCC has been opposed by many NGOs and organizations.

A group from Nagaland warned that it will burn the houses of all the 60 legislators in the state if the UCC gets implemented in the state. The Nagaland Transparency, Public Rights Advocacy and Direct-Action Organisation opposed the idea of the UCC, saying it will erode local customs and traditions of tribes. The Hynniewtrep Youth Council from the state of Meghalaya said they will request the Law Commission not to implement the UCC.

title: Uniform Civil Code


text: User:Bugmuncher

title: User:Bugmuncher


text:
Nonpartisan League

The Nonpartisan League (NPL) was a left-wing political party founded in 1915 in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, a former organizer for the Socialist Party of America. On behalf of small farmers and merchants, the Nonpartisan League advocated state control of mills, grain elevators, banks, and other farm-related industries in order to reduce the power of corporate and political interests from Minneapolis and Chicago.

The League adopted the goat as a mascot; it was known as "The Goat that Can't be Got".

History
By the 1910s, the growth of left-wing sympathies was on the rise in North Dakota. The Socialist Party of North Dakota had considerable success. They brought in many outside speakers, including Eugene V. Debs, who spoke at a large antiwar rally at Garrison in 1915. By 1912, there were 175 Socialist politicians in the state. Rugby and Hillsboro elected Socialist mayors. The party had also established a weekly newspaper, the Iconoclast, in Minot.

In 1914, Arthur C. Townley, a flax farmer from Beach, North Dakota, and organizer for the Socialist Party of America, attended a meeting of the American Society of Equity. Afterwards, Townley and a friend, Frank B. Wood, drew up a radical political platform that addressed many of the farmers' concerns, and created the Farmers Non-Party League Organization, which later evolved into the Nonpartisan League. Soon, Townley was traveling the state in a borrowed Ford Model T, signing up members for a payment of $6 in dues. Farmers were receptive to Townley's ideas and joined in droves. However, Townley was soon expelled from the Socialist Party due to this method of rogue operating.

The League began to grow in 1915, at a time when small farmers in North Dakota felt exploited by out-of-state companies. One author later described the wheat-growing state as "a tributary province of Minneapolis-St. Paul." Minnesota banks made its loans, Minnesota millers handled its grain, and Alexander McKenzie, North Dakota's political boss, lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Rumors spread at a Society of Equity meeting in Bismarck that a state representative named Treadwell Twichell had told a group of farmers to "go home and slop the hogs." Twichell later said that his statement was misinterpreted. He had been instrumental in previous legislative reforms to rescue the state from boss rule by McKenzie and the Northern Pacific Railroad around the start of the 20th century.

Rise to power in North Dakota
Proposing that the state of North Dakota create its own bank, warehouses, and factories, the League, supported by a populist groundswell, ran its slate as Republican Party candidates in the 1916 elections. In the gubernatorial election, farmer Lynn Frazier won with 79% of the vote. In 1917, John Miller Baer won a special election for the United States House of Representatives. After the 1918 elections, in which the NPL won full control of both houses of the state legislature, the League enacted a significant portion of its platform. It established state-run agricultural enterprises such as the North Dakota Mill and Elevator, the Bank of North Dakota, and a state-owned railroad. The legislature also passed a statewide graduated income tax, which distinguished between earned and unearned income, authorized a state hail insurance fund, and established a workmen's compensation fund that assessed employers. The NPL also set up a Home Building Association, to aid people in financing and building houses.

During World War I, Townley demanded the "conscription of wealth", blaming "big-bellied, red-necked plutocrats" for the war. He and fellow party leader William Lemke received support for the League from isolationist German-Americans. However, the NPL's initial success was short-lived, as a drop in commodity prices at the close of the war, together with a drought, caused an agricultural depression.

Decline
As a result of the depression, the new state-owned industries ran into financial trouble, and the private banking industry, smarting from the loss of its influence in Bismarck, rebuffed the NPL when it tried to raise money through state-issued bonds. The industry said that the state bank and elevator were "theoretical experiments" that might easily fail. Moreover, the NPL's lack of governing experience led to perceived infighting and corruption. Newspapers and business groups portrayed the NPL as inept and disastrous for the state's future.

In 1918, opponents of the NPL formed the Independent Voters Association. In 1921, the IVA organized a recall election which successfully recalled Frazier as governor. Frazier lost the recall election by a margin of 1.8%, becoming the first U.S. state governor to be recalled. However, a year later he was elected in the 1922 United States Senate election in North Dakota, serving until 1940.

The 1920s were economically difficult for farmers, and the NPL's popularity receded. However, the populist undercurrent that fueled its meteoric growth revived with the coming of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl conditions of the 1930s. The NPL's William "Wild Bill" Langer was elected to the governorship in 1932 and 1936. Langer was later elected to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1940 until his death in 1959.

By 1950, two factions divided the traditionally left-wing NPL; on one side were the Insurgents, and on the other were the Old Guard. The Insurgents aligned liberally with pro-farmers' union, organized labor, and Democratic Party groups. The Insurgents wanted to merge the NPL with the North Dakota Democratic Party. In 1952, the Insurgents formed the Volunteers for Stevenson Committee, to help elect Adlai Stevenson II, the governor of Illinois and Democratic nominee for president. The Old Guard, also known as the Capitol Crowd, were more conservative, anti-farmers' union, anti-labor, and pro-Republican segment of the league, these members wanted to keep the Nonpartisan League aligned with the Republican Party; they supported General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 presidential race. Over the following four years, legislative polarization grew and the Nonpartisan League eventually split in two. In 1956, the Nonpartisan League formally merged with the state Democratic Party, creating the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party, while much of the League's base joined the North Dakota Republican Party. The Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party introduced a unified slate of candidates for statewide offices and adopted a liberal platform that included the repeal of the Taft–Hartley Act, creation of a minimum wage of $1.25 an hour, and a graduated land tax on property worth $20,000 or more. In May 1956, the Democratic Convention accepted the Nonpartisan League's candidates and adopted its platform, fully unifying the two parties into one.

Although the Democrats were still in the minority in the state government, the number of Democrats in the state legislature increased greatly. Before the league moved into the Democratic Party, there were only 5 Democrats among the 162 members of both houses of the legislature in 1955. By 1957, the number grew to 28, and in 1959 the numbers continued to grow, reaching 67.

Governors of North Dakota

 * Lynn Frazier (1917–1921)
 * Arthur G. Sorlie (1925–1928)
 * Walter Maddock (1928–1929)
 * William Langer (1933–1934, 1937–1939)
 * Ole H. Olson (1934–1935)
 * Walter Welford (1935–1937)

Lieutenant Governors of North Dakota

 * Howard R. Wood (1919–1923)
 * Walter Maddock (1925–1928)
 * Ole H. Olson (1933–1934)
 * Walter Welford (1935)
 * Thorstein H. H. Thoresen (1937–1939)
 * Jack A. Patterson (1939–1941)
 * Oscar W. Hagen (1941–1943)

North Dakota Attorneys General

 * William Langer (1917–1920)
 * William Lemke (1921)
 * Arthur J. Gronna (1933)
 * Peter O. Sathre (1933–1937)
 * Alvin C. Strutz (1937–1944)

North Dakota Secretaries of State

 * Thomas Hall (1913–1924, 1943–1954)
 * James D. Gronna (1935–1940)

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner

 * Ben C. Larkin (1941–1949)

North Dakota State Treasurers

 * Obert A. Olson (1919–1920)
 * Berta E. Baker (1929–1932)
 * Alfred S. Dale (1933–1934)
 * John R. Omland (1939–1940)

North Dakota State Auditors

 * Carl R. Kositzky (1917–1920)
 * David C. Poindexter (1921–1924)
 * Berta E. Baker (1935–1956)

North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction

 * Neil C. Macdonald (1917–1918)

North Dakota Insurance Commissioners

 * Sveinung A. Olsness (1917–1934)
 * Harold Hopton (1935–1936)
 * Oscar E. Erickson (1937–1945)

North Dakota Commissioners of Agriculture and Labor

 * John N. Hagan (1917–1921, 1937–1938)
 * Theodore Martell (1935–1936)
 * Matt Dahl (1939–1964)

North Dakota Tax Commissioners

 * George E. Wallace (1919–1921)
 * Thorstein H. H. Thoresen (1925–1929)
 * Frank A. Vogel (1933)
 * J J. Weeks (1933–1935)
 * John Kenneth Murray (1937)
 * Owen T. Owen (1937–1938)
 * Claude P. Stone (1938–1939)

United States Senators

 * Edwin F. Ladd (1921–1925)
 * Lynn Frazier (1923–1941)
 * Gerald Nye (1925–1945)
 * William Langer (1941–1959)

United States Representatives

 * John M. Baer (1917–1921)
 * William Lemke (1933–1941, 1943–1950)

Representation in other media

 * Northern Lights (1978), a feature film starring Joe Spano, portrayed early 20th century conditions in North Dakota and the rise of the NPL among immigrant farmers. The film won the 1980 Camera d'Or award for best first film at the Cannes Film Festival.
 * The didactic historical novel Harangue (The Trees Said to the Bramble Come Reign Over Us) (1926) by Garet Garrett tells the story of the Non-Partisan League and its various supporters after the league took control of the North Dakota government in 1919.

Legacy

 * The NPL arose as a faction within the Republican Party in 1915. By the 1950s, its members felt more affiliation with the Democratic Party and merged with the North Dakota Democrats. The North Dakota branch of the Democratic Party is therefore known as the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party to this day. The Executive Committee of the NPL still formally exists within the party structure of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL. It was at one point headed by former State Senator Buckshot Hoffner (D-NPL, Esmond), chairman, and former Lt. Governor Lloyd B. Omdahl, Secretary.
 * The Nonpartisan League laid a foundation of enriched public ownership and responsibility in such institutions as a state bank. One study has drawn conclusions that publicly operated institutions such as the state bank have helped North Dakota weather these economic storms.
 * The Bank of North Dakota was created to address market failures associated with monopoly power among large financial and business institutions in the early twentieth century. This market power meant that small farming operations had inadequate access to credit. One of the goals of the Nonpartisan League was to remedy limited access to credit by establishing this institution. A measure of the public good brought about by the Bank's establishment that still stands today is what some have identified as the Bank's role in reducing the impact of economic recession. The public-private relationship establishes roles assigned according to what each sector does best, allowing the mutual benefit of public and private banks balancing out inequality and building equality, thus creating an economic safety net for North Dakota citizens. These early roots of the Democratic-Nonpartisan League party have been celebrated for establishing a foundation that rights the state in times of national crisis and provides economic security to generations of the state's farmers.
 * The early success of the party in North Dakota spawned Nonpartisan League branches on the Canadian prairies, including the Alberta Non-Partisan League and another in Saskatchewan. Two Alberta NPL members were elected in the 1917 provincial election; the party was absorbed in 1919 by the United Farmers of Alberta, who would form government from 1921 until 1935. No NPL candidates were elected in Saskatchewan, but the party boasted the first woman—Zoa Haight—to run for office in the province.
 * As of May 2021, both the North Dakota Mill and Elevator and the Bank of North Dakota continue to operate. The legislature in 1932 prohibited corporate farming and corporate ownership of farmland.
 * The Fred and Gladys Grady House and the Oliver and Gertrude Lundquist House, both in Bismarck, North Dakota, are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as examples of the work of the Nonpartisan League's Home Building Association.

title: Nonpartisan League


text:
User:Dr jkl

I have been contributing to Wikipedia since 2002.

Fields of interest include:

Traditions of visual representation and their evolution, migration, and fusion over time.

Military History (Particularly large-scale invasions and religious wars).

The decline of Polytheism and early development of Monotheistic Cults.

I was very excited about the Wikipedia project initially, but that excitement abated somewhat after I saw the fate of an article on Kaloyan of Bulgaria that I authored.

That article set off an argument between Bulgarian and Romanian nationalists that was fascinating. Unfortunately Wikipedia requires that in the end there is only one article that represents some approved version of "the facts."

I find that to be rather unfortunate. Human knowledge is so incredibly finite that it is ridiculous to presume that we can know the one correct and reliable set of "facts." I wish that Wikipedia could have multiple articles representing opposing views.

Right now (28 August 2006) the Kaloyan article contains the following: "One of the stories about the demise of the Latin Emperor Baldwin describes his cruel dismemberment by an enraged Kaloyan, whose wife had falsely alleged that Baldwin had propositioned her, when he had in fact spurned her advances."

In fact? Falsely alleged?

Wow ... I'm glad somebody discovered those surveillance video tapes so we could be so absolutely sure of the facts!

title: User:Dr jkl


text:
Wenceslaus I

Wenceslaus I may refer to:

 * Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (907–935 or 929), and subject of a Christmas carol
 * Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (c. 1205–1253), King of Bohemia
 * Wenceslaus I of Legnica (c. 1318 – 1364)
 * Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (1337–1383), the first Duke
 * Wenceslaus I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg (1337—1388)
 * Wenceslaus I, Duke of Opava (1361–1381)
 * Wenceslaus I, Duke of Cieszyn (1413/18 – 1474)
 * Wenceslaus I of Zator (c. 1418 – before 29 July 1468)

title: Wenceslaus I


text:
Marabou

Marabou can refer to:

 * Marabou (chocolate), a Swedish chocolate brand
 * Marabou (ethnicity), a historical term for a multiracial person in Haiti
 * Marabou (weed), or el marabú in Cuba, the legume Dichrostachys cinerea
 * Marabou stork, a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae
 * Marabou (fashion), downy feathers used as a fashion trimming. Historically known as "marabout."
 * Marabou, a collection of poems by Nikos Kavvadias
 * Marabou, a thrown silk typically dyed in the gum or a fabric made of said silk

title: Marabou