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Midday Meal Scheme

The Mid Day Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. The scheme has been renamed as PM-POSHAN Scheme. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in government primary and upper primary schools, government aided Anganwadis, Madarsa and Maqtabs. Serving 120 million children in over 1.27 million schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, the Midday Meal Scheme is the largest of its kind in the world.

The Midday Meal Scheme has been implemented in the Union Territory of Puducherry under the French Administration since 1930. In post-independent India, the Midday Meal Scheme was first launched in Tamil Nadu, pioneered by the former Chief minister K. Kamaraj in the early 1960s. By 2002, the scheme was implemented in all of the states under the orders of the Supreme Court of India.

Ajay Kumar Director of Poshan Abhiyaan shared 'The name of the scheme has been changed to PM-POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) Scheme, in September 2021, by MoE (Ministry of Education), which is the ministry responsible for the scheme'. The Central Government also announced that an additional 24 lakh students receiving pre-primary education at government & government-aided schools would also be included under the scheme by 2022.

Under article 24, paragraph 2c of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a party, India has committed to yielding "adequate nutritious food" for children. The programme has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013. The legal backing to the Indian school meal programme is akin to the legal backing provided in the US through the National School Lunch Act.

History
The Midday Meal Scheme refers to the government of India programme introduced in all government elementary schools to provide children with cooked lunches. Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to introduce this scheme. The first school which had the scheme was the Sourashtra Boys Higher Secondary School, Madurai, which implemented it in 1955. On 28 November 2001 the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this programme in their schools within 6 months. The programme has shown many positive effects. Many parents who couldn't send their children to schools due to poverty, were eager to get their children free nutritious food and this incentivized them to send their children to school. The Midday Meal Scheme increased the number of school-going children.

Roots of the programme
The roots of the programme can be traced back to the pre-independence era, when a midday meal programme was introduced in 1925 in Tamil Nadu. Initiatives by state governments began in the 1962–63 school year.

The Indian state Tamil Nadu was a pioneer in introducing midday meal programmes in India to increase the number of children enrolling in school; K. Kamaraj, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at the time, introduced it first in Chennai and later extended it to all districts of Tamil Nadu. During 1982, 1 July onwards, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran upgraded the existing midday meal scheme in the state to 'Nutritious noon-meal scheme' keeping in mind that around 68 lakh children were malnourished. Gujarat was the second state to introduce an MDM scheme in 1984, but it was later discontinued.

A midday meal scheme was introduced in Kerala in 1984, and was gradually expanded to include more schools and grades. By 1990–91, twelve states were funding the scheme to all or most of the students in their area: Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal received international aid to help with the implementation of the programme, while in AP and Rajasthan the programme was completely funded by foreign aid.

In Karnataka, the Children's LoveCastles Trust started providing midday meals in 1997. A total of eight schools were adopted and a food bank programme and an Angganwasi milk Programme were started. The food-bank programme was replaced by the State Government midday meal scheme.

Initiatives by the central government
The government of India initiated the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) on 15 August 1995. The objective of the scheme is to help improve the effectiveness of primary education by improving the nutritional status of primary school children. Initially, the scheme was implemented in 2,408 blocks of the country to provide food to students in classes one through five of government, government-aided and local body run schools. By 1997–98, the scheme had been implemented across the country. Under this programme, a cooked midday meal with 300 calories and 12 grams of protein is provided to all children enrolled in classes one to five. In October 2007, the scheme included students in upper primary classes of six to eight in 3,479 educationally backward blocks, and the name was changed from National Programme for Nutrition Support to Primary Education to National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools. Though cooked food was to be provided, most states (apart from those already providing cooked food) chose to provide "dry rations" to students. "Dry rations" refers to the provision of uncooked 3 kg of wheat or rice to children with 80% attendance.

Supreme court order
In April 2001, the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) initiated the Public Interest Litigation (Civil) No. 196/2001, People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India & Others – popularly known as the "right to food" case. The PUCL argued that article 21 – "right to life" of the Indian constitution when read together with articles 39(a) and 47, makes the right to food a derived fundamental right which is enforceable by virtue of the constitutional remedy provided under article 32 of the constitution. The PUCL argued that excess food stocks with the Food Corporation of India should be fed to hungry citizens. This included providing midday meals in primary schools. The scheme came into force with the supreme court order dated 28 November 2001, which requires all government and government-assisted primary schools to provide cooked midday meals.

Interim orders
The Supreme Court occasionally issues interim orders regarding midday meals. Some examples are:

Entitlements
The nutritional guidelines for the minimum amount of food and calorie content per child per day are: In the case of micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, and folate) tablets and de-worming medicines, the student is entitled to receive the amount provided for in the school health programme of the National Rural Health Mission.

Finances
The central and state governments share the cost of the Midday Meal Scheme, with the centre providing 60 percent and the states 40 percent. The central government provides grains and financing for other food. Costs for facilities, transportation, and labour is shared by the federal and state governments. The participating states/territories contribute different amounts of money, depending on whether they are Himalayan states, Northeastern Region (NER) states, union territories without legislature, or the residual (Non-NER states and union territories with legislature). The share contributed by states is often larger than what is stipulated. While the eleventh five-year plan allocated inr 384900000000 for the scheme, the twelfth five-year plan has allocated inr 901550000000, a 134 percent rise. The public expenditure for the Mid Day Meal Programme has gone up from inr 73240000000 in 2007–08 to inr 132150000000 in 2013–14. In 2020–21, the Midday Meal Scheme budget comprised 11% of the total budget for the Ministry of Education. The per day cooking cost per child at the primary level has been fixed to inr 4.13 while at the upper primary level is inr 6.18.

Decentralised model
This is the most widespread practice. In the decentralised model, meals are cooked on-site by local cooks and helpers or self-help groups. This system has the advantage of being able to serve local cuisine, providing jobs in the area, and minimising waste. It also allows for better monitoring (e.g., by parents and teachers). In total, the MDM Scheme employs over 2.5 million cooks/food preparers (referred to as cooks-cum-helpers), usually providing a small honorarium for their work (equal to approximately US$14 per month).

In the absence of adequate infrastructure (such as kitchen sheds, utensils etc.), it can lead to accidents and maintaining hygiene can be difficult. In 2004, 87 children died when the thatched roof of a classroom was ignited by sparks from a cooking fire. In 2011, a child died after succumbing to burn injuries she sustained after accidentally falling into a cooking vessel.

Centralised model
In the centralised model, an external organisation cooks and delivers the meal to schools, mostly through public-private partnerships. Centralised kitchens are seen more in urban areas, where density of schools is high so that transporting food is a financially viable option. Advantages of centralised kitchens include ensuring better hygienic as large scale cooking is done through largely automated processes. Various NGOs such as the Nalabothu Foundation, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Ekta Shakti Foundation, Naandi Foundation, and Jay Gee Humanitarian Society provide midday meals.

A study of centralised kitchens in Delhi in 2007 found that even with centralised kitchens, the quality of food needed to be improved. The study also found that when the food arrives and is of inadequate quality, even teachers feel helpless and do not know whom to complain to.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development reported that 95% of tested meal samples prepared by NGOs in Delhi did not meet nutritional standards in 2010–12. In response, the ministry withheld 50% of the payment for the deficient meals.

International assistance
International voluntary and charity organisations have assisted. Church World Service has provided milk powder to Delhi and Madras Municipal Corporation; CARE has provided corn soya meal, Bulgar wheat, and vegetable oils; and UNICEF has provided high proteins foods and educational support. In 1982, 'Food for Learning' was launched with assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Initially the programme was aimed at scheduled caste and scheduled tribe girls. In 1983, the federal Department of Education prepared a scheme under the auspices of the World Food Programme to supply meals to 13.6 million scheduled caste girls and 10.09 million scheduled tribe girls in classes one to five in 15 states and three union territories. The value of the food itself was $163.27 million per year. Labour, facilities, and transportation costs were to be paid by the state governments. The reaction among the states and union territories was mixed. Many states were interested, but some were concerned about their ability to afford it if the FAO support were to be withdrawn.

Tithi Bhojan
Tithi Bhojan is a concept designed to ensure greater public participation under the Midday Meal Programme, that started out in the state of Gujarat. In order to generate greater community participation, local members were encouraged to celebrate social events like birth of a child and homewarming by donating to the midday meals served in the local schools. It is voluntarily served by the community/family among school children in several forms such as sweets and savoury snacks, along with regular MDM, full meals, supplementary nutritive items like sprouted beans, and contributions in kind such as cookware, utensils, dinner sets or glasses for drinking water. The concept has been adopted by 10 other states, some with local nomenclatures like "Sampriti Bhojan" in Assam, "Dham" in Himachal Pradesh, "Sneh Bhojan" in Maharashtra, "Shalegagi Naavu Neevu" in Karnataka, "Anna Dhanam" in Puducherry, "Priti Bhoj" in Punjab and "Utsav Bhoj" in Rajasthan. In the North Indian states of Uttarakhand, Haryana and the Union territory of Chandigarh, the scheme retains its original name of Tithi Bhojan.

Monitoring mechanism
The government of India Review Missions on Mid Day Meal Scheme, comprising members from the central government, state governments, UNICEF, and the office of the supreme court commissioner was created in 2010 to review the programme and offer suggestions for improvement. The scheme is independently monitored twice a year.

Evaluation of the scheme
The MDM Scheme has many potential benefits: attracting children from disadvantaged sections (especially girls, Dalits and Adivasis) to school, improving regularity, nutritional benefits, socialisation benefits and benefits to women are some that have been highlighted.

Studies by economists show that some of these benefits have indeed been realised. The positive effect on enrollment of disadvantaged children (Dreze and Kingdon), on attendance (by Chakraborty, Jayaraman, Pande), on learning effort (by Booruah, Afridi and Somanathan), on improving nutritional inputs (Afridi), and on improving nutritional outcomes (by Singh, Dercon and Parker). However, policy inputs by Dr Edmond Fernandes suggested that it would be wise to address the problem through a cross sectoral perspective as cascading risks globally is affecting food security & healthy nutrition.

Caste based discrimination continues to occur in the serving of food, though the government seems unwilling to acknowledge this.

Sukhdeo Thorat and Joel Lee found in their 2005 study that caste discrimination was occurring in conjunction with the Mid Day Meals programme.

Media reports also document the positive effect of the programme for women, especially working women and its popularity among parents, children and teachers alike. Media reports have also highlighted several implementation issues, including irregularity, corruption, hygiene, caste discrimination, etc. A few such incidents are listed below:

 * In December 2005, Delhi police seized eight trucks laden with 2,760 sacks of rice meant for primary school children. The rice was being transported from Food Corporation of India godowns Bulandshahr district to North Delhi. The police stopped the trucks and investigators later discovered that the rice was being stolen by an NGO.
 * In November 2006, the residents of Pembong village (30 km from Darjeeling) accused a group of teachers of embezzling midday meals. In a written complaint, the residents claimed that students at the primary school had not received their midday meal for the past year and a half.
 * In December 2006, The Times of India reported that school staff were inflating attendance in order to obtain food grains.
 * Twenty-three children died in Dharma Sati village in Saran District on 16 July 2013 after eating pesticide-contaminated mid day meals. On 31 July 2013, 55 students at a government middle school fell ill at Kalyuga village in Jamui district after their midday meal provided by an NGO. On the same day, 95 students at Chamandi primary school in Arwal district were ill after their meal.
 * Over the past 20 years, the amount allocated per student under the Midday Meal Scheme (Prime Minister's Poshan Shakti Nirman) has increased by Rs. 3.45. In the year 2004-05, Rs. 2 per child was provided for classes one to five, which has now increased to Rs. 5.45, and Rs. 8.17 for classes six to eight, including the cost of cooking ingredients like rice, lentils, vegetables, spices, oil, and salt, as well as the cost of cooking gas. The Midday Meal Scheme is jointly operated by the central and state governments, with 60% of the funds provided by the central government and 40% by the state government.

Criticism
Despite the success of the programme, child hunger as a problem persists in India. According to current statistics, 42.5% of the children under 5 are underweight. Some simple health measures such as using iodised salt and getting vaccinations are uncommon in India. "India is home to the world's largest food insecure population, with more than 500 million people who are hungry", India State Hunger Index (ISHI) said. Many children don't get enough to eat, which has far-reaching implications for the performance of the country as a whole. "Its rates of child malnutrition is higher than most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa," it noted. The 2009 Global Hunger Index ranked India at 65 out of 84 countries. More than 200 million went hungry in India that year, more than any other country in the world. The report states that "improving child nutrition is of utmost urgency in most Indian states".

As the MDM Scheme operates only in government/government-aided schools, it does not serve the large share of children in India who attend private schools. From 2015 to 2018, the number of children receiving food through the MDM scheme declined in many states, a pattern that may at least partly reflect the rising popularity of private schools in the country.

title: Midday Meal Scheme


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Ceyhan

Ceyhan is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,426 km2, and its population is 158,922 (2022). It is the most populous district of the province, outside the city of Adana. Ceyhan is the transportation hub for Middle Eastern and Central Asian oil and natural gas. The city is situated on the Ceyhan River that flows through Çukurova plain. The Ceyhan River is dammed at Aslantas to provide flood control and irrigation for the lower river basin around Ceyhan.

Climate
Ceyhan has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with very hot, muggy summers with low precipitation, and mild, rainy winters.

Economy
Ceyhan's marine transport terminal is the Mediterranean terminus of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (the "BTC") which brings crude oil from the landlocked Caspian Sea across Azerbaijan and Georgia, and entering Turkey in the northeast. The pipeline was completed in May 2005. The terminal contains seven storage tanks, a jetty capable of loading two tankers of up to simultaneously, metering facilities, a waste water treatment plant and vapor incineration ("burn-off") facilities.

Ceyhan Terminal is also the destination of Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline.

Contemporary Life
Ceyhan is the second most developed and populated district of Adana Province after the center of Adana. The river runs through the district.

Transport
Adana Şakirpaşa Airport is the closest airport to Ceyhan 60 km west of the city. There are domestic and international flights to numerous destinations from the airport. There was a plane crash here in 1999. A Saudi bound plane carrying Hajj pilgrims crashed a few minutes after take off. There were many deaths.

Ceyhan railway station was opened in 1912 as part of the Berlin–Baghdad railway. The station is currently served by two regional lines and one long-distance line. Regional lines run from Mersin to İskenderun and Mersin to İslahiye; long-distance line runs from Adana to Elazığ. There are three services daily to Adana Central Station to connect to the western destinations; Mersin, Ankara, Karaman and Kayseri.

Places of interest

 * The Caravanserai of Kurtkulağı - built in 1659 by Hüseyin Paşa, architect Mehmed Ağa.
 * Tumlu Kale or Dumlukale - another castle.
 * Sirkeli Höyük - built to commemorate a battle here between Hittite emperor Muvattali and the Egyptian pharaoh Rameses.

Composition
There are 112 neighbourhoods in Ceyhan District:

 * Adapınar
 * Adatepe
 * Ağaçlı
 * Ağaçpınar
 * Akdam
 * Altıgözbekirli
 * Altıkara
 * Altıocak
 * Atatürk
 * Aydınlar
 * Aytemuroğlu
 * Azizli
 * Başören
 * Belediye Evleri
 * Birkent
 * Bota
 * Burhaniye
 * Burhanlı
 * Büyükburhaniye
 * Büyükkırım
 * Büyükmangıt
 * Çakaldere
 * Camuzağılı
 * Çataklı
 * Çatalhüyük
 * Çevretepe
 * Ceyhanbekirli
 * Çiçekli
 * Çiftlikler
 * Civantayak
 * Çokçapınar
 * Cumhuriyet
 * Dağıstan
 * Değirmendere
 * Değirmenli
 * Dikilitaş
 * Dokuztekne
 * Doruk
 * Durhasandede
 * Dutlupınar
 * Ekinyazı
 * Elmagölü
 * Emek
 * Erenler
 * Esentepe
 * Fatih Sultan Mehmet
 * Gazi Osman Paşa
 * Gümürdülü
 * Gündoğan
 * Günlüce
 * Hamdilli
 * Hamidiye
 * Hamitbey
 * Hamitbeybucağı
 * Hürriyet
 * İmran
 * İnceyer
 * İnönü
 * Irmaklı
 * İsalı
 * Isırganlı
 * İstiklal
 * Karakayalı
 * Kelemeti
 * Kılıçkaya
 * Kıvrıklı
 * Kızıldere
 * Konakoğlu
 * Köprülü
 * Körkuyu
 * Koruklu
 * Kösreli
 * Küçükburhaniye
 * Küçükkırım
 * Küçükmangıt
 * Kurtkulağı
 * Kurtpınar
 * Kuzucak
 * Mercimek
 * Mercin
 * Mithatpaşa
 * Modernevler
 * Muradiye
 * Mustafabeyli
 * Namık Kemal
 * Narlık
 * Nazımbey Yeniköy
 * Sağırlar
 * Sağkaya
 * Şahin Özbilen
 * Sarıbahçe
 * Sarımazı
 * Sarısakal
 * Şehit Hacı Ibrahim
 * Selimiye
 * Sirkeli
 * Soğukpınar
 * Soysallı
 * Tatarlı
 * Tatlıkuyu
 * Toktamış
 * Tumlu
 * Üçdutyeşilova
 * Ulus
 * Veysiye
 * Yalak
 * Yarsuat
 * Yellibel
 * Yeşilbahçe
 * Yeşildam
 * Yılankale
 * Zübeyde Hanım

International relations
Ceyhan is twinned with:
 * 🇦🇿 Sumgait, Azerbaijan

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

title: Ceyhan


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Galactic halo

A galactic halo is an extended, roughly spherical component of a galaxy which extends beyond the main, visible component. Several distinct components of a galaxy comprise its halo:

 * the stellar halo
 * the galactic corona (hot gas, i.e. a plasma)
 * the dark matter halo

The distinction between the halo and the main body of the galaxy is clearest in spiral galaxies, where the spherical shape of the halo contrasts with the flat disc. In an elliptical galaxy, there is no sharp transition between the other components of the galaxy and the halo.

A halo can be studied by observing its effect on the passage of light from distant bright objects like quasars that are in line of sight beyond the galaxy in question.

Stellar halo
The stellar halo is a nearly spherical population of field stars and globular clusters. It surrounds most disk galaxies as well as some elliptical galaxies of type cD. A low amount (about one percent) of a galaxy's stellar mass resides in the stellar halo, meaning its luminosity is much lower than other components of the galaxy.

The Milky Way's stellar halo contains globular clusters, RR Lyrae stars with low metal content, and subdwarfs. In our stellar halo, stars tend to be old (most are greater than 12 billion years old) and metal-poor, but there are also halo star clusters with observed metal content similar to disk stars. The halo stars of the Milky Way have an observed radial velocity dispersion of about 200 km/s and a low average velocity of rotation of about 50 km/s. Star formation in the stellar halo of the Milky Way ceased long ago.

Galactic corona
A galactic corona is a distribution of gas extending far away from the center of the galaxy. It can be detected by the distinct emission spectrum it gives off, showing the presence of HI gas (H one, 21 cm microwave line) and other features detectable by X-ray spectroscopy.

Dark matter halo
The dark matter halo is a theorized distribution of dark matter which extends throughout the galaxy extending far beyond its visible components. The mass of the dark matter halo is far greater than the mass of the other components of the galaxy. Its existence is hypothesized in order to account for the gravitational potential that determines the dynamics of bodies within galaxies. The nature of dark matter halos is an important area in current research in cosmology, in particular its relation to galactic formation and evolution.

The Navarro–Frenk–White profile is a widely accepted density profile of the dark matter halo determined through numerical simulations. It represents the mass density of the dark matter halo as a function of $$r$$, the distance from the galactic center:

$$\rho (r) = \frac{\rho_\text{crit} \delta_{c}}{(r/r_{s})(1+r/r_{s})^{2}}$$

where $$r_{s}$$ is a characteristic radius for the model, $$\rho_\text{crit} = 3H^2/8 \pi G$$ is the critical density (with $$H$$ being the Hubble constant), and $$\delta_c$$ is a dimensionless constant. The invisible halo component cannot extend with this density profile indefinitely, however; this would lead to a diverging integral when calculating mass. It does, however, provide a finite gravitational potential for all $$r$$. Most measurements that can be made are relatively insensitive to the outer halo's mass distribution. This is a consequence of Newton's laws, which state that if the shape of the halo is spheroidal or elliptical there will be no net gravitational effect from halo mass a distance $$r$$ from the galactic center on an object that is closer to the galactic center than $$r$$. The only dynamical variable related to the extent of the halo that can be constrained is the escape velocity: the fastest-moving stellar objects still gravitationally bound to the Galaxy can give a lower bound on the mass profile of the outer edges of the dark halo.

Formation of galactic halos
The formation of stellar halos occurs naturally in a cold dark matter model of the universe in which the evolution of systems such as halos occurs from the bottom-up, meaning the large scale structure of galaxies is formed starting with small objects. Halos, which are composed of both baryonic and dark matter, form by merging with each other. Evidence suggests that the formation of galactic halos may also be due to the effects of increased gravity and the presence of primordial black holes. The gas from halo mergers goes toward the formation of the central galactic components, while stars and dark matter remain in the galactic halo.

On the other hand, the halo of the Milky Way Galaxy is thought to derive from the Gaia Sausage.

title: Galactic halo


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Deathbird

Deathbird (Cal'syee Neramani) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Keith Pollard, the character first appeared in Ms. Marvel #9 (September 1977). Cal'syee Neraman is part of a segment of the extraterrestrial Shi'ar race with a mutation.

Deathbird was born into the noble family of the Shi'ar Empire. She is the banished sister of the Shi'ar empress Lilandra Neramani. Deathbird seeks to overthrow her sister to gain access to the throne. She is a recurring antagonist of the superhero Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel.

Publication history
Deathbird debuted in Ms. Marvel #9 (September 1977), created by writer Chris Claremont and penciler Keith Pollard. She later appeared in the 1981 Uncanny X-Men series. She appeared in the 2020 New Mutant series. She appeared in the 2022 Secret X-Men one-shot.

Fictional character biography
Deathbird was born Cal'syee Neramani to the ruling house of the Shi'ar Imperium on the Aerie (now known as Chandilar), native world of the Shi'ar. Her name was stripped from her after it was prophesied that she was destined to commit great evil. She was exiled after brutally murdering both her mother and an unnamed sister.

During this exile, she traveled on Earth and became an associate of MODOK and A.I.M. at some point. Following AIM's orders, she battled Ms. Marvel in New York one evening after Carol Danver's Park Avenue penthouse was destroyed by a bomb. The skirmish was interrupted after Deathbird severely injured the superhero, who became distracted trying to save the lives of two small children. It later resumed when Carol, going undercover, discovered that AIM had a secret headquarters underneath Alden's Department Store. The battle between the two seemingly ended with Deathbird's demise and MODOK's escape after betraying her. Whether Deathbird sought revenge on AIM remains unknown. She did battle Hawkeye while still on Earth. She later battles Ms. Marvel again.

Some time later, her younger sister Lilandra became Majestrix of the Empire following the events that left their brother, D'Ken, comatose. Deathbird decided to take the throne for herself, and allied with the councilman Samedar, alien parasites called the Brood, and renegade members of the Imperial Guard in an attempted coup. The X-Men defeated her and her allies, but not before being infected by the Brood (although they were ultimately cured thanks to the efforts of Danvers and the Acanti Soulsinger). She later succeeded in deposing Lilandra with the aid of the Brood, and took the throne for herself. As ruler of the Shi'ar Empire, she contended with the Starjammers and Excalibur, and sought to capture Rachel Summers, but was nearly killed by Lilandra in combat.

Some time later War Skrulls impersonating Charles Xavier and the Starjammers aided Lilandra in deposing Deathbird and restoring her to the throne. With Lila Cheney's help, she and the X-Men defeated the War Skrulls, but Deathbird ceded the empire back to Lilandra, since she had grown bored of the bureaucracy.

Deathbird later came to her sister's aid during the short Kree-Shi'ar War, assassinating Kree leaders Ael-Dann and Dar-Benn. She was captured by Hawkeye in his guise as Goliath. She was later released and granted dominion over the conquered Kree Empire as viceroy, and also made praetor (leader) of the Kree Starforce by Lilandra. She led the Starforce in a confrontation with Quasar. The Kree seem to have since become independent once more.

Romance with Bishop
When the Shi'ar asked for the X-Men's help against the invading Phalanx, who had already reached their throne-world Chandilar, the X-Men allied themselves with Deathbird. They managed to fend off a Phalanx assault on the Shi'ar Empire, and during the conflict, Deathbird and the X-Man Bishop forged a warrior's respect for each other. Deathbird was amazed that the Earth mutant showed no fear and stood up to her, and they also seemed physically attracted to each other.

As a gesture of honor, Deathbird escorted the mutants back to Earth, but their ship was inexplicably destroyed in transit. Deathbird and an injured Bishop escaped using a private ship. She initially convinced Bishop that he was paralyzed due to his injuries and that, of all the X-Men, only he survived. However, not before long, Bishop realized that he was not injured but that Deathbird was using the lab equipment to hold him in stasis. The craft was soon attacked, and Bishop convinced her to release him so that they could deal with the matter together. Eventually, they bonded and soon became romantically involved.

During their journeys, the two were accidentally transported to an alternate future Earth that was ruled by the evil daughter of Shi'ar Empress Lilandra and Charles Xavier. Bishop and Deathbird helped the rebels in opposing her and Deathbird defeated her niece in a duel. She could have slain her, and every instinct told her to do so, but she let her live. The heroes of the liberated Earth helped Bishop and Deathbird return to their own time, and they continued their quest to get home.

Betrayal and theorized heritage
Eventually, Bishop and Deathbird return to the Sol System and encountered the inert planetary mass of the Living Monolith on their way to Terra Firma. Curious, the two land their craft and investigate the man-shaped planet. Suddenly Deathbird betrayed Bishop to a cadre of Skrulls and he was returned to Earth to implement the ultimate plans of the Skrulls' ally, Apocalypse. Deathbird was herself betrayed and transformed by Apocalypse into one of his Horsemen. With the title of War, Deathbird helped Apocalypse assemble the X-Men he referred to as "the Twelve." Apocalypse was defeated, however, and Deathbird and the Horsemen scattered.

Deathbird and Bishop later run into each other during the Maximum Security event. Earth had been made a prison planet, with an energy barrier around the solar system, and Deathbird had the key to unlocking it. Bishop confronts her, and the two fight. Deathbird dares Bishop to kill her, before opening an airlock and getting sucked out into space. Bishop was able to close the airlock, and admits to himself that he hates her.

Some time later a globetrotting X-Men team led by Storm exile themselves from their home and teammates to find Destiny's thirteen diaries since none like the idea of having their destinies defined. This team would recruits new members Heather Cameron and her brother Davis. During a mission to infiltrate the ship of the intergalactic warlord Khan, Heather's appearance changes to resemble the alien Shi'ar race, and it was theorized that she and Davis had some Shi'ar heritage, Jean Grey noting that the cranial markings on her head and the crest of feathers she had manifested indicated Heather is of Shi'ar royal ancestry. An entry from Destiny's diary seems to imply that at least Heather was "Mothered by War," which happened to be Deathbird's Horseman moniker while she was serving Apocalypse. The entry shows a picture of Deathbird facing off some of the X-Treme team members (Storm, Bishop, Thunderbird and Lifeguard in her Shi'ar appearance).

The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire
Deathbird was rescued by the Imperial Guard; Lilandra imprisoned her because she posed a threat to her rule. Vulcan is captured by the palace guard as he enters Shi'ar territory on his quest for vengeance against the entire Shi'ar race. He is incarcerated in the same maximum security installation that houses Deathbird. Vulcan is released by a member of a secret order that wishes D'Ken to lead the Shi'ar once more; Vulcan releases Deathbird.

Vulcan is enthralled by Deathbird, and they become romantically involved. He promises to put his quest for vengeance on hold. Deathbird convinces Vulcan to finish the healing process that the Shi'ar members of the secret order had begun on D'Ken, who remained in a coma since the M'Kraan Crystal incident. When D'Ken discerns Vulcan's feelings for Deathbird, he invokes an ancient Shi'ar custom and invites Vulcan to marry Deathbird and become part of Shi'ar royalty.

Vulcan and Deathbird are married in front of the M'Kraan Crystal just as the X-Men, Lilandra, The Starjammers, and the Shi'ar loyal to Lilandra attack. During the chaos that ensues Vulcan kills D'Ken (never having promised not to kill him) and assumes the throne of Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire, with Deathbird as his Empress. During the fight Polaris crushes the ribs of Deathbird's husband and she instructs the Imperial Guard, still loyal to the ruling family, to protect them as they flee.

The Providian Order
At some point after Vulcan's death she was captured by a top secret organization, however they were not interested in Deathbird, but in her child - a hybrid of an atavistic Shi'ar and a Human Mutant. The Providian Order, as the organization calls itself, was created to bring equality and uniformity to the universe, by creating a new perfect race. Sharada Darthri, the geneticist of the Providian Order, experimented on the baby and infused it with Kree geneline, thought the influx was stopped by the awakening of Deathbird, who rampaged through the laboratory.

Powers and abilities
Deathbird is a genetic mutant who belongs to the Shi'ar species. She possesses superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, flexibility, reflexes, coordination, balance, and endurance well beyond the average limits of her race. She shares the same avian-like physiology typical of her race, such as having hollow bones, but in her case the avian characteristics are more pronounced. This is because she is a "genetic throwback", meaning that she resembles the more primitive Shi'ar who were birds of prey. She has inherited atavistic characteristics such as fully functioning wings, which most Shi'ar lack, and is capable of self-propelled flight at a natural winged flight limit velocity. Her wings are also very strong, as she could flex her wing to throw Ms. Marvel off the building or to the wall. Her fingernails are essentially talons which can score steel and tear through substances such as bone and tissue easily.

Aside from her natural physical advantages, Deathbird is a formidably trained warrior of great skill and cunning, having trained the likes of Gladiator. She is also skilled at hurling javelins. She uses a variety of javelins, some of which are designed for specific offensive effects. She carries the javelins as eight-inch (203 mm) quills on twin wrist-bands; when removed from its sheath, a quill will telescope to about four times its original length. Her standard javelin can be used as a spear-like projectile to wound or kill her foes. She has also used a javelin that emits noxious, acrid fumes upon impact. Some of Deathbird's javelins are so designed that when their tips touch they emit a powerful, repeating 35,000 volt electrical charge. Deathbird has also used other equipment of Shi'ar design, including battle armor, and a large, advanced, one-woman energy cannon.

Reception
C. M. Edwards of Game Rant named Deathbird one of Marvel's "most iconic female villains," describing her as a "prominent threat to both the X-Men and Captain Marvel." Liz Wyatt of Comic Book Resources referred to Deathbird as an "iconic villain" of Captain Marvel. Darby Hart of Screen Rant called Deathbird one of the "best female villains" of the X-Men and a "major cosmic antagonist" of the superhero team."

Age of Apocalypse
An alternate version of Deathbird appears in the Age of Apocalypse storyline. She is the leader of the Starjammers. It is also revealed that she took over the Shi'ar throne when she and D'ken murdered their father. Deathbird was later betrayed by D'ken who forcibly took the throne for himself before murdering Lilandra. With nowhere else to go, she joined the Starjammers to oppose D'ken's rule.

Star Trek/X-Men
An alternate version of Deathbird appears in Star Trek/X-Men. Deathbird defies the will of her sister and leads a Shi'ar force into the Star Trek reality. She attempts to partner with the reality-controlling Gary Mitchell.

X-Men: The End
An alternate version of Deathbird appears in X-Men: The End. She and Lucas Bishop have a daughter named Aliyah. Deathbird is killed by her daughter after having been infected with a Brood Queen egg.

Television

 * Cal'syee Neramani / Deathbird makes non-speaking appearances in X-Men: The Animated Series. This version, following Lilandra Neramani's ascension to the throne, sought to overthrow her and install herself as Majestrix. In the process, she allies with Apocalypse, who is later revealed to have been using her for his own plans and abandons her.
 * Cal'syee Neramani / Deathbird appears in the X-Men '97 episode "Lifedeath - Part 2", voiced by Cari Kabinoff.

Video games

 * Cal'syee Neramani / Deathbird appears in X-Men.
 * Cal'syee Neramani / Deathbird appears as a boss in X-Men 2: Clone Wars.
 * Cal'syee Neramani / Deathbird appears as a boss in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Nika Futterman.

Merchandise
In 2013, Eaglemoss Publications released a Cal'syee Neramani / Deathbird action figure as part of the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection action figure line.

title: Deathbird


text:
John Bannon

John Charles Bannon (7 May 1943 – 13 December 2015) was an Australian politician and academic. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition back to government at the 1982 election.

At the 1985 election Bannon's government was re-elected with an increased majority, but it was reduced to minority government status at the 1989 election. In 1992 Bannon became Labor's longest-serving and South Australia's second longest-serving Premier. As a result of the State Bank collapse, he resigned as Premier in 1992, and from parliament at the 1993 election landslide. He was also an academic and the Head of St Mark's College.

Early life
Bannon was born in Bendigo, and attended East Adelaide Primary School and St Peter's College in Adelaide. He completed degrees in Arts and Law at the University of Adelaide. While at university, he was co-editor of the student newspaper On Dit along with Ken Scott and Jacqui Dibden in 1964. He was president of the Adelaide University Student Representative Council in 1966–67, president of the Adelaide University Union in 1969–1971 and president of the National Union of Australian University Students in 1968. Following the completion of his studies, he was an advisor to various governments, including Whitlam's.

Political career
He was elected to Ross Smith in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 1977 election and promoted to cabinet within a year. Following the resignation of Premier Don Dunstan and Labor's loss in the 1979 election, Bannon was elected to the Labor leadership. Despite factional struggles within Labor, the Tonkin Liberal government oversaw the economy suffer through the early 1980s recession. After just one term, Bannon managed to return Labor to government at the 1982 election with a 5.9 percent two-party swing but only a one-seat majority.

While there had been a stream of social reform during Don Dunstan's 1970-79 premiership, Bannon's priorities were oriented in economics. Bannon government achievements include the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine, the submarine project, the defence industry, the Hyatt and Adelaide Casino complex, conversion of part of the Adelaide railway station into the Adelaide Convention Centre, construction of the O-Bahn Busway from 1983 to the 1986 to 1989 planning and construction of the Tea Tree Gully O-Bahn extension, and the Formula One Grand Prix. The government also sold land reserved for freeways under the MATS plan. Poker machines were introduced in South Australia, a decision Bannon would come to regret decades later. Other measures were introduced such as action to prevent destruction of vegetation and urban renewal programmes to invigorate some of the declining inner suburbs in Adelaide.

The economic situation, very difficult in the early 80s, improved substantially in 1983-84. Bannon's government was easily re-elected at the 1985 election, achieving a 2.2 percent two-party swing towards them from the Liberal opposition and a four-seat majority. However, the economy experienced another downturn in the late 80s/early 90s recession, and Bannon paid the price at the 1989 election, when the ALP won only 48 percent of the two-party vote: a swing of 5.2 percent against it. Both major parties won 22 seats each in the hung parliament, two short of a majority. Labor was able to form minority government with the confidence and supply support of the two Labor independent MPs, Martyn Evans and Norm Peterson. Peterson became Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly following the election. Shortly thereafter, electoral legislation was passed with the objective that the party which receives over 50 percent of the statewide two-party vote at the forthcoming election should win the two-party vote in a majority of seats, through a compulsory strategic redrawing of electoral boundaries before each election, making South Australia the only state to do so. One element of the Playmander remains to this day which contributes to the above: the change from multi-member to single-member seats. It was only the second time that a Labor government in South Australia had been re-elected for a third term (the first time was when Dunstan won in 1977). In April 1988, Bannon was elected Federal President of the Labor Party. He held that position until June 1991.

State Bank and resignation
Bad lending decisions made by the State Bank of South Australia's board and managing director Tim Marcus Clark were exposed. As the bank's owner, the government was the guarantor of $3 billion worth of loans. Bannon remained as Premier during three inquiries, the last two of which cleared him of any deliberate wrongdoing. Upon resigning as head of government, he announced that he would not contest his seat of Ross Smith in the coming election. Lynn Arnold replaced Bannon as Premier but was unable to stave off a landslide defeat at the 1993 election. Labor achieved just 39.1 percent of the two-party vote, and suffered a swing of 8.9 percent against it. As a result, it retained only 10 seats in a house of 47. Ross Smith was among the seats Labor retained despite suffering a 16% swing against it in its primary vote and an almost 11% swing against it in the two-party preferred vote.

Later life
In 1994, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation offered Bannon a directorial position, which he accepted. With an interest in South Australian history, he researched at Flinders University. He later studied and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Australian political history at Flinders University, where he was a professor. He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide Law School and in 2014 he received an honorary doctorate from the University. He was Master of St Mark's College in Adelaide, from 2000 to 2007. On Australia Day 2007, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. He wrote Supreme Federalist: The political life of Sir John Downer, which was released in 2009.

Personal life
Bannon's first wife was Supreme Court Justice Robyn Layton, with whom he had a daughter, Victoria. His second wife, Angela, is the mother of musician and television personality Dylan Lewis. Bannon's younger brother Nicholas died in Wilpena Pound in 1959.

Bannon was a good runner, completing the Adelaide Marathon 28 times, 11 of them in less than 3 hours. His best performance was the 1983 Adelaide Marathon, which he ran in a time of 2:44:34. He was premier at the time.

Death

Bannon died of cancer on 13 December 2015, aged 72, and was active right up until his death. He was given a state funeral on 21 December 2015.

title: John Bannon


text:
Dolma

Dolma (Turkish for "stuffed") is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Turkish or Ottoman cuisine, typically made with a filling of rice, minced meat, offal, seafood, fruit, or any combination of these inside a vegetable or a leaf wrapping. Wrapped dolma, specifically, are known as sarma, made by rolling grape, cabbage, or other leaves around the filling. Dolma can be served warm or at room temperature and are common in modern cuisines of regions and nations that once were part of the Ottoman Empire.

History
Stuffed vegetable dishes have been a part of West Asian Cuisine for centuries. Recipes for stuffed eggplant have been found in Medieval Arabic cookbooks and, in Ancient Greek cuisine, fig leaves stuffed with sweetened cheese were called thrion. The word dolma, of Turkish origin, means "something stuffed" or "filled". (A Turkish share taxi is called a dolmuş for similar reasons). In some of the former Ottoman countries, native names have been retained or have blended with Turkish language terms, for example, in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Damascus, stuffed leaves are called mahshi yabraq or mahshi brag, a combination of the Turkish word for leaf (yaprak) and the Arabic term for stuffed (mahshi). The origins of dolma, as suggested by The Oxford Companion to Food, likely stem from Armenian culinary traditions before becoming integrated into Turkish cuisine. William Pokhlebkin, a specialist on culinary history and cookbook author, contends that the dish's inception traces back to Armenian culinary heritage.

Several dolma recipes were recorded in 19th-century Iran by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar's chef, including stuffed vine leaves, cabbage leaves, cucumbers, eggplants, apples, and quinces, with varied fillings prepared with ground meat, sauteed mint leaves, rice and saffron. Iraqi Jewish families have a version of dolma with sweet and sour flavors that were not found in other versions. Dolma are part of cuisine of the Sephardic Jews as well. Jews in the Ottoman Empire used locally grown grape leaves and adopted the Turkish name of the dish.

During winter months cabbage was a staple food for peasants in Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and it spread to the Balkans as well. Jews in Eastern Europe prepared variations of stuffed cabbage rolls with kosher meat—this dish is called holishkes. As meat was expensive, rice was sometimes mixed in with the meat. Jews in Europe would sometimes substitute barley, bread or kasha (barley porridge) for the rice. There are similar Slavic cabbage rolls: golubtsy in Russian, holubtsi in Ukrainian, gołąbki in Polish.

In the Persian Gulf, basmati rice is preferred, and the flavor of the stuffing may be enhanced using tomatoes, onions and cumin. Cabbage rolls entered Swedish cuisine (where they are known as kåldolmar) after Charles XII, defeated by the Russians at the battle of Poltava, returned to Sweden in 1715 with his Turkish creditors and their cooks.

Distribution
Dolma dishes are found in Turkish, Balkan, Southern Caucasian, Levantine cuisine, Palestinian, Mesopotamian, Persian, Israeli, Maghrebi and Central Asian cuisine.

In the cuisine of the Crimean Tatars, dolma refers to peppers stuffed with minced lamb or beef, rice, onion, salt, pepper. Carrots, greens, tomato paste, and spices can be added to the filling. When grape leaves are stuffed with the same filling, however, they are called sarma.

In 2017, dolma making in Azerbaijan was included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Variants
There are many varieties of the zeytinyağlı (with olive oil) and sağyağlı (with clarified butter) dolmas. The zeytinyağlı dolmas are usually stuffed with rice and served cold with a garlic-yogurt sauce, but variations with meat based fillings are served warm, often with tahini or avgolemono sauce.

Stuffed vine leaves
The origins of stuffed vine leaves are unknown. They can be made with meat or grain fillings, and served with garlic yogurt, tarbiya or sweet and sour sauces made with pomegranate syrup and sour cherries. They are known as dolmeh in Iran, dolmades in Greece, koupepia in Cyprus, tolma in Armenia, yarpaq dolması in Azerbaijan and yebra in Syria. Egyptians call this main course mahshi (also spelled mashi or mashy), but traditionally cabbage is used in the winter and vine leaves are used in the summer. Stuffed vine leaves without any meat, called yalancı dolma in Turkish, are served at room temperature.

Cabbage rolls
In several countries, cabbage rolls are stuffed with beans and tart fruits. It is wrapped with cabbage leaves, and stuffed with red beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, cracked wheat, tomato paste, onion and many spices and flavorings. Cabbage rolls are called Pasuts tolma (պասուց տոլմա) (Lenten dolma) in Armenian where they are of seven different grains – chickpea, bean, lentil, cracked wheat, pea, rice and maize. Armenian cooks sometimes use rose hip syrup to flavor stuffed cabbage rolls. Cabbage rolls also known as kalam dolmasi in Azerbaijan

Vegetables
Mülebbes dolma is a historic recipe from the Ottoman era. Halep dolması—named for Aleppo—is a dish of eggplants stuffed with a meat and rice filling that is flavored with spices and either sour plum flavoring syrup or lemon juice. Şalgam dolma are stuffed Russian turnips.

Soğan dolması ("soğan" meaning "onion" in Turkish), or stuffed onions, are a traditional dish in Bosnia, considered the specialty of Mostar. Ingredients include onions, minced beef, rice, oil, tomato purée, paprika, vinegar or sour cream, strained yogurt (locally known as kiselo mlijeko, literally "sour milk"), black pepper, salt and spices. After the onion's skin is removed, the larger, external, layers (leaves) of onion bulbs are used as containers, so-called "shirts" (Old Turk. "dolama(n)" for a special kind of Ottoman robe) for the meat stuffing. The remaining part of the onion is also used, mixed with the meat and fried on oil for a couple of minutes, to obtain the base of the stuffing. To extract the separate "shirts", the entire bulbs are cut on the top and then boiled until soft enough to be pried off, layer by layer. In order to prevent a further softening and crumbling, the bulbs should be blanched. The "shirts" are removed from the bulbs by slow and gentle finger pressure. Filled "shirts" ("dolme") are boiled slowly at low heat in broth. The level of liquid should be sufficient to cover the dolmas entirely. Sogan-dolma are usually served with dense natural yogurt.

Enginar dolması is stuffed whole artichoke hearts. They may be stuffed with seasoned rice or ground meat cooked in fresh tomato sauce with aleppo pepper. Celery root may be substituted for the artichoke.

A regional specialty from Mardin is a mixed dolma platter. The sumac and Urfa pepper seasoned rice filling is first wrapped with onion layers, vine leaves, and cabbage. The remainder of the rice is used to fill eggplant, zucchini, and stuffing peppers. The wrapped onion dolma are added on the bottom of a deep cooking pot and the stuffed vegetables, cabbage rolls, and stuffed vine leaves are layered on top of the onion dolmas. The entire pot of dolmas are cooked in sumac flavored water.

Seafood
There are also seafood variants of dolma. Stuffed mussels or Midye dolma may be filled with rice, onion, black pepper and pimento spice.

The filling for kalamar dolma (stuffed calamari) is made from Halloumi cheese, onion, fresh breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley. The whole tentacle is stuffed with the mixture and fried in a butter, olive oil and tomato sauce. For another variation a whole small squid may be stuffed with a bulgur and fresh herb mixture and baked in the oven.

Uskumru dolma (stuffed mackerel) is a staple of Istanbul cuisine. The version that was traditionally prepared by Armenian cooks is particularly well-regarded. After the fish is prepared by carefully separating the skin from the meat, the meat is sauteed with onions, currants, dried apricots, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, fresh herbs and lemon juice. The entire mixture is stuffed into the whole, intact skin. The stuffed mackerel is then either baked or preferably grilled long enough to brown the skin.

Sardines (sardalya) may be stuffed with a filling of kashar cheese, tomato, onion, dill and parsley. In Turkey, stuffed sardines may be served as a mezze platter at traditional taverns called meyhane.

Offal
There are several varieties of dolma made with offal. Dalak dolması, widely considered a delicacy of Armenian origin, is spleen stuffed with rice that has been seasoned with allspice, salt, pepper, mint, parsley and onion. It may be served an accompaniment with anise-flavored liquor like arak, rakı, ouzo or oghi.

Mumbar dolma is intestine stuffed with a moist mixture of ground meat, rice, pepper, cumin and salt. The stuffed intestine is then boiled in water until it is cooked thoroughly, after which it may be sliced and fried in butter before serving.

Fruit-based dolmas
There are some fruit-based dolmas as well like şekerli ayva dolması (stuffed quinces with a rice and currant filling, flavored with coriander, cinnamon and sugar) and pekmezli ayva dolması (meat and bulgur stuffed quince flavored with a traditional Turkish syrup, similar to molasses, called pekmez). Pekmez is also an ingredient in the meat-based variants of elma dolması (stuffed apples) and sarı erık dolması (stuffed yellow plums). Iranian Azerbaijanis and Persian Jews may serve stuffed quince, called dolma bay, as a Sabbath meal or during Sukkot.

One filling for stuffed apples is made from a high-quality cubed lamb shoulder called kuşbaşı, ground lamb, and rice. First black grapes are boiled together with sumac—the resulting sumac flavored grape juice is drained and reserved. The kuşbaşı lamb is cooked in this sumac flavored grape juice. The apples are stuffed with a mixture of ground lamb combined with rice, salt, pepper and layered in a pot on top of the cooked chunks of kuşbaşı. The apples are cooked in the remaining sumac flavored grape juice. Dried apricots and blanched almonds are added to the pot near the end of the cooking process. A meatless variant of the filling is made from a sauteed mixture of diced apples, diced pears, walnuts, hazelnut, currants, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise. The hollowed out apples are stuffed with the mixture and baked in the oven. This version may be garnished with powdered sugar.

Stuffed melons were part of the Ottoman palace cuisine. The recipe survives in modern Yemenite and Armenian cooking.

Religious celebrations and customs
It is customary for Jewish families to eat stuffed cabbage on Simchat Torah.

Assyrians prepare meatless dolmas for Lent. When traditional ingredients are not available, the Armenian Christian community in West Bengal, India celebrates Christmas with potoler dorma, a local variation from Anglo-Indian cuisine. Stuffed vegetables called gemista or tsounidis are also common in Greek cuisine.

Muslim families often serve dolma as part of the iftar meal during Ramadan and during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of the holy month. Large pots of dolma are prepared during the Novruz festival.

title: Dolma


text:
Liberalism in Austria

This article gives an overview of liberalism in Austria. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had representation in parliament. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

History until 1945
In the Austrian Empire a national liberal current evolved in the 19th century. Liberalism in Austria reached its peak at the time of the 1848 revolution, when civil liberty and a written constitution for the Austrian Empire were key demands of the revolutionary movement. At some time afterwards, Liberals gained some influence on the policy of the government; for example, Anton von Schmerling became Minister for Justice. The liberal Constitutional Party, also known as the "German-Liberal Party", had a majority in the Austrian parliament from 1867 to 1879. It supported the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 which transformed the Empire of Austria into the Austro-Hungarian Dual monarchy and the 1867 December Constitution. The panic of 1873 and the Long Depression led to strongly anti-capitalist and anti-liberal sentiments and the liberal movement in Austria began to decline, with pan-German nationalistic ideas and parties gaining strength at the same time. Later attempts to reorganize liberalism were unsuccessful, with its remnants mostly joining forces with pan-German nationalists.

This traditional association with Pan-Germanism was inherited from Austria-Hungary into the Austrian Republic; the Greater German People's Party and the Landbund represented national liberal, anti-clerical and pan-German voters. Both parties lost ground with the rise of Nazism in the 1930s and were later dissolved by the regime of Engelbert Dollfuss.

History from 1945
With the foundation of the Federation of Independents in 1949, a predominantly liberal party once again existed in Austria, but it was soon overtaken by nationalist elements and later merged into the Freedom Party of Austria, which was founded in 1955 by former Nazis. The attraction of the party to some of its voters lay in its opposition to both the Catholic clericalism of the Austrian People's Party and to the Marxism of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. Liberal politicians gained control over the Freedom Party during the years from 1980 to 1986, when it was led by Norbert Steger. However, its participation in a coalition under socialist Chancellor Fred Sinowatz brought it to the verge of extinction, which allowed Jörg Haider to take control of the party in 1986.

With the support of the remaining Pan-Germans (the appeal of whose own views has an equally small appeal to the Austrian electorate today), he transformed it into a right-wing populist, frequently immigration-sceptic party. The Freedom Party was subsequently expelled from the Liberal International, and the remaining liberals seceded to found the Liberal Forum (Liberales Forum, member LI, ELDR) in 1993. However, when the Liberal Forum lost its seats in parliament in 1999 and became a micro-party, liberalism effectively ceased to exist as a political force in Austria. In 2012 the social-liberal media, especially Der Standard, states that the Pirate Party Austria could become the new Liberal Forum.

Today
The conservative Austrian People's Party labels itself the party of open society in its manifesto. The Austrian Green Party, however, holds the most liberal views on social issues. The Alliance for the Future of Austria which was founded in 2005 as a split-off from the Freedom Party, sometimes considered itself right-libertarian ("rechtsliberal").

Other small parties on the liberal spectrum include the Democrats and the Social Liberals.

However, liberalism today is best represented by NEOS – The New Austria. The party calls itself a movement from the center of the people. It has been founded in October 2012 and moved into the national parliament less than one year later. In early 2014 – right before starting the election campaigns – they unified with the Liberal Forum and JuLis (Junge Liberale, Young Liberals) and form NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum.

Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire

 * 1861: Liberals from various parliamentary factions united in the Constitutional Party (Verfassungspartei), also known as the German-Liberal Party (Deutschliberale Partei).
 * 1860s: The large landowners' party split into a feudally conservative wing and a relatively liberal and constitutionalist one, the latter was called the "Constitutionally Loyal Large Landowners" or "Constitutional Landowners" (Verfassungstreuer Großgrundbesitz) group.
 * 1873: A radical faction of the Constitutional Party formed the liberal-nationalist Progressive Club (Fortschrittsklub).
 * 1881: Pro-government members led by Franz Coronini von Cronberg (the speaker of the House of Representatives) left the Constitutional Party to form the Liberal Center (Liberales Zentrum).
 * 1881: The Constitutional Party merged with the Progressive Club to form the United Left (Vereinigte Linke).
 * 1885: The United Left fractured into a liberal German-Austrian Club (Deutsch-Österreichischer Klub) and a nationalist German Club (Deutscher Klub).
 * 1888: The remnants of the United Left merged with the moderate parts of the German Club into the United German Left (Vereinigte Deutsche Linke); a little later the Constitutional Landowners joined the group, too.
 * 1896/97: The United German Left broke apart, its Bohemian members left, the Constitutional Landowners re-established their own parliamentary group. The remainder formed the German Progressive Party (Deutsche Fortschrittspartei).
 * 1911: Various liberal and nationalist elements merged into the German National League (Deutscher Nationalverband).
 * 1917: The German National League broke into many small factions.

First Austrian Republic

 * 1919/20–1934 The agrarian Landbund and the German-nationalist Greater German People's Party each comprised national-liberal factions and ideas.
 * 1920: The minor liberal Civic Workers' Party (led by Ottokar Czernin) won a single parliamentary seat. It merged with the equally tiny "Democrats" to form the Civic-Democratic Workers' Party, but remained electorally unsuccessful until it vanished around 1927.

Second Austrian Republic

 * 1949: With the formation of the Federation of Independents, many liberals became active in this party, but were soon marginalized by the nationalist factions.
 * 1955: The Federation of Independents merged into the Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) in which the dominance of a larger nationalist over a smaller liberal faction continued. However, the liberal wing (organized in the "Attersee circle") grew and the FPÖ was admitted to the Liberal International in 1979. After 1986, the FPÖ leadership shifted to right-wing populism and the liberals were marginalized again.
 * 1991: Some liberal members split from the FPÖ to form The Democrats (initially called FDP Austria, modelled on the Free Democratic Party of Germany).
 * 1993: Liberal dissidents from the Freedom Party of Austria formed the Liberal Forum (Liberales Forum). The FPÖ was pressured to leave the Liberal International and the Liberal Forum "inherited" its membership.
 * 2009: The Young Liberals, previously the Liberal Forum's youth organisation, separated from the mother party and ran in the European Parliament election on their own.
 * 2012: A group of disappointed voters of different parties formed a new party called the NEOS – The New Austria, taking a broadly liberal platform. Less than one year later they entered the national parliament.
 * 2014: The Liberal Forum and NEOS – The New Austria merged to form NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum. Also the Young Liberals joined the party and renamed to JUNOS – Young liberal NEOS.

Liberal leaders

 * Anton von Schmerling (1805–1893)
 * Baron Ignaz von Plener (1810–1908)
 * Prince Karl of Auersperg (1814–1890)
 * Adolf Fischhof (1816–1893)
 * Eduard Herbst (1820–1892)
 * Karl Ritter von Stremayr (1832–1904)
 * Ottokar Czernin (1872–1932)
 * Herbert Alois Kraus (1911–2008)
 * Norbert Steger (1944–)
 * Heide Schmidt (1948–)
 * Angelika Mlinar (1970–)
 * Matthias Strolz (1973–)

Liberal thinkers
In the Contributions to liberal theory the following Austrian thinkers are included:

 * Carl Menger (1840–1921)
 * Ludwig Edler von Mises (1881–1973)
 * Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950)
 * Friedrich von Hayek (1899–1992)
 * Karl Raimund Popper (1902–1994)

title: Liberalism in Austria