title: Abomination (character)

text: After encounters against Avengers Wonder Man and Hawkeye, the Tyrannus-controlled Abomination reappears during the "Atlantis Attacks" storyline with the Deviant Ghaur freeing Tyrannus from the body of the Abomination by restoring Tyrannus' mind to a duplicate of his own body and placing Blonsky's mind within the Abomination's body once more. The process drives Blonksy insane, and he battles heroes Spider-Man and the She-Hulk, managing to knock both unconscious. The Abomination is eventually driven off when set on fire by the She-Hulk. The Abomination's mental faculties eventually return and the Abomination reappears in the "Countdown" storyline as a pawn of another Hulk foe, the Leader. The Abomination is sent to a toxic waste site to collect samples and encounters the gray version of the Hulk again, who is outmatched and also weak due to being poisoned. The Hulk, however, throws the Abomination into toxic waste that partially dissolves and horribly scars the Abomination.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Abomination temporarily teams with villains Titania and Gargantua and finds and stalks his former wife, Nadia (a famous ballet dancer). The Abomination captures her and after taking her into the New York City sewers, reveals his true identity. After a brief skirmish, the Hulk persuades the Abomination to free his wife.


title: Abomination (character)

text: After befriending a woman who finds her way into the sewers, the Abomination battles Namor the Sub-Mariner during an attempt to save his kidnapped former wife. The Abomination retaliates against the NYPD when the Police Commissioner orders the sewers be cleared of all homeless, who the Abomination has placed under his protection. After killing several police officers, he is eventually driven away when confronted by the Hulk. The Abomination battles the mutant Nate Grey (who is searching the sewers for his lover and fellow mutant Threnody, who had been one of the homeless followers of the Abomination), who uses his mental abilities to trick the Abomination in thinking that he defeated Grey. He battles a delusional Hulk before encountering the Angel when the mutant visits the sewers in which he was once captured and maimed during the "Fall of the Mutants" storyline.


title: Abomination (character)

text: When Betty Ross dies in the title "Hulk", Banner mistakenly thinks her proximity to the Hulk has induced a fatal case of radiation poisoning. Using a gamma device, a vindictive General Ross tracks what he believes to be the Hulk to a destroyed town, where the Abomination reveals he was the true culprit. Despite baiting a newly arrived Hulk, the Abomination is unable to force the Hulk to fight and departs.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The circumstances of Betty's death are eventually revealed: Blonksy's transformation into the Abomination apparently alienates his former wife Nadia, driving his hatred of Banner; Blonsky, deciding to deprive Banner of Betty in return, secretly poisons her with his radioactive blood. After hearing the Abomination's admission, Banner eventually discovers the truth and the Hulk defeats the Abomination in combat. Taken into custody by the military, Blonsky is forced to watch old home movies of him and his wife together (prior to his transformation) as punishment. Operatives from a secret organization "Home Base" eventually release the Abomination to battle the Hulk, and although able to taunt the Hulk about Betty's murder, he is defeated once again. This encounter is later revealed to be a dream generated by longtime Doctor Strange foe Nightmare in an effort to torture the Hulk.


title: Abomination (character)

text: After a humorous encounter with the demigod Hercules, in which the Abomination is chosen as an adversary for the hero while he completes the modern version of the 12 Labours of Hercules, the Abomination is pardoned and employed by the U.S. government as a hit man against hostile foreign powers. The Abomination is also a conflicted opponent for the heroine the She-Hulk (currently employed by the spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D.). The Abomination has a subtle but significant role in the "World War Hulk" storyline, being the source of gamma-irradiated DNA that allows the creation of an anti-Hulk response team.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Abomination reappears after the events of "World War Hulk", encountering a new foe called the Red Hulk. This new opponent savagely beats, shoots, and kills the Abomination. Later on, it is revealed that the Abomination's killer, the Red Hulk, is actually General Ross's gamma-powered alter ego; he killed Blonsky as an act of revenge for his deliberate gamma poisoning (and later death) of Ross's daughter Betty.


title: Abomination (character)

text: During the "Dark Reign" storyline, the Abomination is among the dead characters present at Zeus's trial. Abomination reappears in the court of Pluto, attacking the Olympian god when he loses power over the dead.


title: Abomination (character)

text: During the "Chaos War" storyline, the Abomination is among the dead characters in the Underworld that Pluto liberated in order to help defend the Underworld from Amatsu-Mikaboshi. The Abomination fights the Hulk and his allies until Marlo Chandler taps into the Death essence within her to destroy his undead body.


title: Abomination (character)

text: A shadow organization (later revealed to be the Order of the Shield) bent on gaining control of the Hulk harvests biological material from a mortally wounded Bruce Banner. After Banner regains consciousness following the experiment and escapes as the Hulk, the organization uses this material to resurrect the Abomination under their control, leaving him "free of a mind or a conscience" and with an ability to seek out Banner/the Hulk for retrieval. The Hulk defeats the Abomination yet again with the aid of the Avengers. Iron Man uses technology taken from the Order of the Shield agents to teleport the Abomination into interplanetary space estimated to be "somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter".


title: Abomination (character)

text: Tissue samples of the Abomination were later used by the U.S. Hulk Operations to graft to the corpse of Rick Jones that revives him as an Abomination/A-Bomb-like creature that Dr. Charlene McGowan calls Subject B.


title: Abomination (character)

text: After ripping Rick Jones from Subject B's body in a brutal battle, Hulk Operations Commanding Officer General Reginald Fortean teleports to Gamma Flight Headquarters in space, killing Sasquatch and temporarily killing Doctor Samson to retrieve the Subject B husk. Fortean then willingly fuses himself with the body.


title: Abomination (character)

text: After returning to Earth, Abomination started his own company called Green Spring which makes gamma mutates. After finding a depowered Skaar, Abomination had him repowered and sent him to retrieve Stockpile. After Skaar's mission led to his encounter with Gamma Flight and the U.S. Hulkbuster Force, Abomination and Dr. Aliana Alba were shown to have watched the fight and commented on the powers of the gamma mutates that was shown off.


title: Abomination (character)

text: During the "Devil's Reign" storyline, Abomination appears as a member of the Thunderbolts and shows up to stop Jessica Jones and the Champions from interfering in the Thunderbolts' apprehension of most of the Purple Children. As Jessica notes that Abomination would not normally be someone to work for Mayor Wilson Fisk, Abomination states that Mayor Fisk has the information that he seeks. The recruitment of Abomination was the result of Rhino leaving the group as he crossed the line of hunting children.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Abomination is similar to the Hulk in terms of strength, stamina, speed, and durability, including his healing factor. In contrast with the Hulk, he retains his intellect after transforming and cannot change back into human form. He also possesses gills, enabling him to breathe underwater. Due to extreme pain, cold, or bereft of oxygen, he could enter into suspended animation for long periods. Initially, the Abomination is twice as strong as the Hulk, but unlike the Hulk, his strength does not increase/decrease in proportion to level of rage, with result that the Hulk is able to gain an advantage over the Abomination if the fight takes a sufficient amount of time for him to unleash his anger.


title: Abomination (character)

text: After being empowered by Amatsu-Mikaboshi, an undead Abomination is considerably larger than before. Formerly, he could project hellfire and was strong enough to rip an armored shell off of his successor A-Bomb (something that even the Red Hulk had previously been unable to do). After his second resurrection by this Illuminati-dubbed Order of the Shield, a cloned Abomination gains more augmentation through Banner's biological grafts. Currently, he has the ability to track down the Hulk anywhere at will. Another feature for him is also to manipulate his own gamma ray output in such a way that he can make it toxic and overwhelm the most resilient of individuals, including energy absorbers such as the Hulk, Captain Marvel, and Sunspot.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Abominatrix is a female counterpart of the Abomination. Florence Sharples was the manager at Jasper Keaton's savings and loans company. She became the Abominatrix due to a failed medical experiment done by Jasper Keaton's medical facility and fought the She-Hulk.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Teen Abomination is a 13-year-old boy who was exposed to gamma radiation and became a teenage version of the Abomination.


title: Abomination (character)

text: During "The Immortal Hulk" run by Al Ewing and Ryan Bodenheim, Desert Base Director Reginald Fortean accidentally turned himself into another version of the Abomination when he came in contact with the gamma activated tissue husk/armor of Subject B which was previously used on the decreased Rick Jones.


title: Abomination (character)

text: During "JLA/Avengers", the Abomination is among the villains enthralled by Krona to defend his stronghold, but is defeated by Superman.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Ultimate Marvel equivalent of the Abomination appears as part of an international group. This version is a Chinese scientist named Dr. Chang Lam. Dr. Lam was working to create a more efficient version of the Hulk. When he believed his research was complete, he used the formula on himself. When he transformed into a dinosaur-like giant, he retained control of his permanently enhanced form because of his lack of mental disorders, serving with the Liberators. He battled with the Hulk, believing that his intact intellect would allow him to easily beat him, but ended up ultimately being killed in the duel.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Ultimate iteration of Emil Blonsky (under "the Abomination" codename) is part of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos team and has the ability to Hulk out.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The character also stars in the limited series "Abominations", which continues plot points from the "Future Imperfect" storyline. A group of time-travelling assassins from the time of the villain the Maestro—sent by an alternate version of the Abomination called "Emil"—arrive in the present, intent on killing "Betty-6", a futuristic version of Betty Ross who is pregnant with the Maestro's child. The Abomination provides shelter for Betty-6 and prevents the assassination.


title: Abomination (character)

text: In the "Mutant X" universe, the Abomination appears as a part of a group that opposed the Beyonder and died after.


title: Abomination (character)

text: A zombified Abomination appears in "". Thor kills him by destroying his head with Mjolnir during the battle between the surviving heroes and the zombie horde.


title: Abomination (character)

text: The Emil Blonsky incarnation of the Abomination appears in live-action media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Tim Roth, who also voices and provides motion capture for the Abomination.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: The Opposition Platform – For Life (; , OPZZh) was a parliamentary and now banned pro-Russian and Eurosceptic political party in Ukraine.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: The party was the successor of For Life (, Russian: За жизнь) formerly All-Ukrainian Union "Center" from 1999 to 2016, a small pro-Russian political party. It was registered in December 1999. In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party won 37 seats on the nationwide party list and six constituency seats. Although it espoused pro-Russian policies, the party publicly denounced the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on 8 March 2022. On 20 March, its activities were suspended by the National Security and Defense Council for the period of martial law due to allegations of having ties to Russia made by the Council. On 14 April, the party's faction was dissolved in Ukraine's parliament. On 21 April, twenty-five of the party's former deputies formed a new parliamentary group called "Platform for Life and Peace" (). On 20 June, the party was banned by court. On 15 September 2022 the final appeal against this ban was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: At the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party won only 0.16% of the votes as part of National Movement Bloc along with People's Movement of Ukraine for Unity. During the legislative elections of 26 March 2006, the party was part of the Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak". In the 30 September 2007 elections, the party failed as part of the Electoral Bloc of Political Parties "KUCHMA" to win parliamentary representation. The party did not participate in the 2012 parliamentary elections. For the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party joined Opposition Bloc along with other five parties; in these elections Opposition Bloc won 29 seats.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: In July 2016, former members of Opposition Bloc Vadim Rabinovich and Yevhen Murayev reconstituted the party under the name "For Life". In September 2018, Murayev left For Life and five days later created the new political party Ours (Nashi). The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine did not register the name change of All-Ukrainian Union "Center".


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: According to "Ukrayinska Pravda", the negotiations on the unification of the parties For Life and Opposition Bloc started in the summer of 2018. "Ukrayinska Pravda" claims these talks were instigated by Serhiy Lyovochkin who, along with Dmytro Firtash, controlled one of the wings of Opposition Bloc, whereas Rinat Akhmetov controlled the other wing of Opposition Bloc. In early November 2018, the Opposition Bloc members loyal to Akhmetov decided to take pause the negotiations.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 5 November 2018, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates and chief of staff to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Medvedchuk was elected chairman of the party For Life political party's council. Medvedchuk was also leader of the Ukrainian Choice NGO, a socially conservative pro-Russian political group and partially prohibited in Ukraine as openly anti-Ukrainian.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 9 November 2018, Opposition Bloc chairman Yuriy Boyko and "For Life" signed an agreement (called Opposition Platform – For Life) for cooperation in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election and the parliamentary election of the same year.<ref name="pravda2018/11/17/7198528"> The association of Boyko-Rabinovich was determined with the presidential candidate, "Ukrayinska Pravda" (17 November 2018)</ref> The same day, Opposition Bloc leading members Vadym Novynskyi and Borys Kolesnikov claimed the agreement was a "personal initiative" of Boyko and that the party had not taken any decisions on cooperation with For Life.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: Opposition Bloc members, Ukraine – Forward! and Party of Development of Ukraine joined the Opposition Platform – For Life alliance on 17 November 2018. The same day, Opposition Platform – For Life nominated Boyko as its candidate in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: After Boyko was excluded from the parliamentary faction of the Opposition Bloc (the reason given was "because they betrayed their voters'" interests), on 20 November 2018 he announced the creation of a new parliamentary group called Opposition Platform – For Life. According to Boyko, part of Opposition Bloc is to join this new parliamentary group and he claimed "we have several offers from MPs belonging to other groups".


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 13 December 2018, it was announced that a new party, called "Opposition Platform – For Life", had been formed.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: Boyko's official nomination was announced on 17 November. Because Opposition Platform – For Life was not yet registered as a party in January 2019, it could not nominate him as a presidential candidate. Hence on 17 January 2019 Boyko submitted documents to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine for registration as a self-nominated candidate. In the election Boyko took fourth place with 11.67% of the total vote.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party won 37 seats (13.05% of the total votes) on the nationwide party list and 6 constituency seats. 11.4% of the party's elected deputies were women.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: In the October 2020 Ukrainian local elections Opposition Platform – For Life took third place with 11.75% of all votes being cast to the party. (The highest number of seats in the election was won by Servant of the People with 17.59% of local deputies nominated in the election by this party. Second place was for Fatherland with 12.39%.) The party was successful in South and Eastern Ukraine, although the local parties of city mayors (in particular in Odessa, Mykolaiv and Sloviansk) cost them support compared with its predecessor Opposition Bloc in the 2015 Ukrainian local elections. Oleksandr Popov, former head of the Kyiv City State Administration, was a candidate for Mayor of Kyiv nominated by OPFL. In the election he received 68,757 votes, securing second place but losing the election to incumbent Mayor Vitali Klitschko. from the OPFL won the election for mayor of Kryvyi Rih.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 3 July 2020, a grenade was thrown into the party's office in Poltava, and one person was injured as a result of the explosion.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: Following the enactment of Ukrainian sanctions imposed on fellow party member Taras Kozak and his media outlets on 2 February 2021, the party's deputies initiated the impeachment of president Volodymyr Zelensky.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: As of early 2022, its leadership consisted of Rabinovich and Boyko (co-chairs), Medvedchuk (head of Political Council, chair of Strategic Council) and Serhiy Lovochkin (chair of the Executive Committee).


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine. On this day party member Illia Kyva expressed support for the invasion and blamed the war on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and urged him to resign. On 3 March 2022 Kyva was expelled from the party. On 15 March 2022 parliament deprived Kyva of his mandate as a People's Deputy.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 7 March 2022 the party deprived Medvedchuk, who was charged with high treason in May 2021, of the post of co-chairman of the party; making Yuriy Boyko the sole chairman. Medvedchuk had escaped his house arrest on 28 February 2022. On 14 April, he was apprehended once again.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 7 March 2022 the party also demanded "from the leadership of the Russian Federation to stop the aggression against Ukraine and calls on the participants of the negotiation process to immediately decide on a ceasefire and withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine." The party also decided to support the participation of members of the Territorial Defense Forces to protect critical infrastructure, housing and looting and to support humanitarian corridors for the withdrawal of civilians.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: Opposition Platform – For Life was one of several political parties suspended by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on 20 March 2022, along with Derzhava, Left Opposition, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Party of Shariy, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Union of Leftists, and the Volodymyr Saldo Block.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: At the 24 March 2022 parliamentary sitting 5 MPs announced their resignation from the Opposition Platform – For Life faction. Meanwhile parliament itself was consulting with the Ministry of Justice on actions against the party's remaining deputies, as Ukrainian law did not provide for a single mechanism for suspending the activities of the party represented in parliament.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 26 March 2022 the faction Opposition Platform – For Life in the Odessa Oblast Council ceased to exist. 18 deputies joined the newly formed deputy group Our Home is Ukraine.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 21 April 2022 the Opposition Platform – For Life deputies in Ukraine's national parliament formed a new parliamentary group. The group was named "Platform for Life and Peace" () and headed by Boyko and consisted of 25 MPs. On 11 May 2022 The Opposition Platform – For Life faction in Kharkiv City Council ceased to exist. 16 of the parties 18 deputies created the parliamentary group "Restoration of Ukraine".


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: On 20 June 2022 the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal banned the party. The property of the party and all its branches were transferred to the state. The decision was open to appeal at the Supreme Court of Ukraine within 20 days. At the time Opposition Platform – For Life was one of two of the 20 March 2022 suspended parties that was subject to an attempt of getting banned in court, Opposition Platform – For Life was the only party to defend and participate in the case. (The other party was the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine.) On 15 September 2022 the final appeal against the party's ban was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, meaning that the party was fully banned in Ukraine.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: In the party election program for the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, the party promised to undo decommunization, lustration, Ukrainization policies, and renegotiate the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement while reviving trade with the CIS countries. The group wanted the "neutrality of Ukraine in the military-political sphere and non-participation in any military-political alliances." As a means of fighting poverty, the party advocated the "reduction of gas tariffs for the population of Ukraine to 3800–4000 UAH per thousand cubic meters due to direct gas supplies from the Russian Federation." The party wanted to end the War in Donbass by negotiating directly with the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. Other positions set out in its electoral programme include granting "autonomous status to Donbas as an integral part of Ukraine" by amending the Constitution and laws of Ukraine; the right to speak, communicate, study in Russian; decentralisation of governance; stronger mechanisms against corrupt politicians; "an end to deindustrialization, degradation and deintellectualization"; a stronger social state; constitutional amendment to ensure neutrality; and "revision of the bondage conditions" of Ukraine’s participation in the World Trade Organization; and a free trade agreement with the European Union.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: At a conciliation council among leaders of parliamentary factions on 17 February 2020, Vadim Rabinovych urged the sending of a Ukrainian delegation to participate in the 9 May victory parade in Moscow and started to sing the Soviet song "The Sacred War" ("Rise Up, the Mighty Country). The party celebrates Red Army veterans by marking occasions like the Victory Day over Nazism in World War II and the Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: During hostile relations between Russia and Ukraine, the parliamentary deputy group of Opposition PlatformFor Life sent its delegation as official parliamentary delegation of Ukraine to Russia's State Duma on 10 March 2020. The OPFL delegation was met with a standing ovation in the State Duma. Soon after information about the trip appeared, the press service office of the Verkhovna Rada denied that the parliament had commissioned the delegation to conduct any negotiations with Duma representatives and no official documents had been issued for the foreign visit of the delegation.


title: Opposition Platform — For Life

text: After Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022 on 8 March 2022 the party voiced its stance on this. The party stated that it "demands from the leadership of the Russian Federation to stop the aggression against Ukraine and calls on the participants of the negotiation process to immediately decide on a ceasefire and withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine." The party also decided to support the participation of members of the Territorial Defense Forces to protect critical infrastructure, housing and looting and to support humanitarian corridors for the withdrawal of civilians.


title: Skene's gland

text: In female human anatomy, Skene's glands or the Skene glands ( , also known as the lesser vestibular glands, paraurethral glands) are glands located around the lower end of the urethra. The glands are surrounded by tissue that swells with blood during sexual arousal, and secrete a fluid from openings near the urethra, particularly during orgasm.


title: Skene's gland

text: The Skene's glands are located in the vestibule of the vulva, around the lower end of the urethra. The two Skene's ducts lead from the Skene's glands to the vulvar vestibule, to the left and right of the urethral opening, from which they are structurally capable of secreting fluid. Although there remains debate about the function of the Skene's glands, one purpose is to secrete a fluid that helps lubricate the urethral opening.


title: Skene's gland

text: Skene's glands produce a milk-like ultrafiltrate of blood plasma. The glands may be the source of female ejaculation, but this has not been proven. Because they and the male prostate act similarly by secreting prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which is an ejaculate protein produced in males, and of prostate-specific acid phosphatase, some authors refer to the Skene's glands as the "female prostate". It is homologous to the male prostate (developed from the same embryological tissues), but its homology is still a matter of research. Female ejaculate may result from sexual activity for some women, especially during orgasm. In addition to PSA and acid phosphatase, Skene's gland fluid contains high concentrations of glucose and fructose.


title: Skene's gland

text: In an amount of a few milliliters, fluid is secreted from these glands when stimulated from inside the vagina. Female ejaculation and squirting (secretion of large amounts of fluid) are believed by researchers to be two different processes. They may occur in combination during orgasm. Squirting alone is a sudden expulsion of liquid that at least partly comes from the bladder and contains urine, whereas ejaculation fluid includes a whitish transparent ejaculate that appears to come from the Skene's gland.


title: Skene's gland

text: While the glands were first described in 1672 by Regnier de Graaf and by the French surgeon Alphonse Guérin (1816–1895), they were named after the Scottish gynaecologist Alexander Skene, who wrote about it in Western medical literature in 1880. In 2002, the term "female prostate" as a second term after "paraurethral gland" was added in "Terminologia Histologica" by the Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology. The 2008 edition notes that the term was introduced "because of the morphological and immunological significance of the structure".


title: Gene Haas

text: Eugene Francis Haas (born November 12, 1952) is the American founder, president, and sole stockholder of Haas Automation, a CNC machine tool manufacturer. He also has a presence in motorsports, having founded NASCAR team Haas CNC Racing (now known as Stewart-Haas Racing) and the Formula One team, Haas F1 Team.


title: Gene Haas

text: Haas graduated from California State University, Northridge in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance. He originally majored in engineering but switched to business after Lockheed nearly went bankrupt. After graduation he was unable to find employment that paid more than what he was earning at his summer machine shop job. So, for the next few years he worked as a machinist and CNC programmer. In 1978, he opened Pro-turn Engineering, a small machine shop with two employees.


title: Gene Haas

text: In 1980, Haas noticed that it took one of his employees a long time to manually position an indexer. Haas thought that building his own indexer with a stepper motor drive would be more efficient. He built one for himself and a few more for other machine shops. In March 1983, he displayed his indexer at WESTEC (an industry expo). After seeing the positive reaction of attendees, he decided to form Haas Automation to mass-produce them. His first commercial product, the HBI-5C (Haas Brothers Indexer), sold well because it was programmable and inexpensive. In 1986, Haas and a partner were awarded a US patent for their invention.


title: Gene Haas

text: In 1988, Haas started production on a fully enclosed CNC machining center priced well below the competition. Some believed Haas copied or reverse engineered this machine, but at the time existing machines were so hard to use that Haas used them as an example of what not to do. Over time, Haas machine tools became extremely popular, mostly because they were simple, very affordable, and operator-friendly.


title: Gene Haas

text: By 1996, Haas had outgrown its facilities in Chatsworth, California, and began a search that ultimately brought it to Oxnard, California. In March 1997, the move was completed into the Oxnard factory, a facility. By 2005, the factory had been expanded to .


title: Gene Haas

text: Haas Automation is now the largest machine tool manufacturer in the United States. Sales for 2014 reached a record, reportedly exceeding $1 billion worldwide.


title: Gene Haas

text: In 2002, Haas formed a NASCAR race team, Haas CNC Racing. After purchasing the Concord, North Carolina-based Craftsman Truck race facility from Hendrick Motorsports, Haas CNC Racing began work on its first entry in the Winston Cup (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) Series as a single-car team. The first entry for the new team was September 30, 2002 with driver Jack Sprague, who finished 35th after a crash. The team raced only three times in 2002. By 2003 the team was running full-time with several driver changes over the season. The team won its first race in the then-Busch Series in 2004 with driver Jason Leffler. By 2006 the team had relocated to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and was fielding a full-time two car team in the Cup Series. At the end of 2008, the team was still struggling with a career-average finish of just under 27th place.


title: Gene Haas

text: Late in 2008, Haas announced that he would join forces with driver Tony Stewart; Stewart would drive for the team and in return would be given a 50% stake in the company. Stewart led the points for much of 2009, winning four times at Pocono, Daytona, Watkins Glen, and Kansas, ending up sixth in points. Stewart had a mediocre 2010 before picking up wins at Atlanta and Fontana, while Newman won at Phoenix. Stewart won the 2011 Sprint Cup Championship, winning 5 of the 10 Chase races.


title: Gene Haas

text: Haas was present at the first team win in May 2009 when Stewart won the All-Star Race. Haas also joined Stewart on the podium at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20, 2011, as Stewart won the Ford EcoBoost 400 that day and claimed his third Sprint Cup Championship. Stewart-Haas won their second Cup title with Kevin Harvick in 2014. On September 30, 2015, Stewart announced his retirement from the Cup Series as a driver following the 2016 season.


title: Gene Haas

text: The team currently runs cars in the Cup Series for Harvick (No. 4), Chase Briscoe (No. 14), Aric Almirola (No. 10) and Cole Custer (No. 41).


title: Gene Haas

text: With Cole Custer's victory at New Hampshire in September 2014, Haas joined a select club of owners who have won as an owner in all three national touring series, joining Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Bill Davis and Dale Earnhardt DEI.


title: Gene Haas

text: In January 2014, Haas confirmed that he had formally submitted to the FIA his interest in entering a team in the F1 championship in 2015 or 2016, initially named Haas Formula and Haas Racing Developments. On April 11, 2014, Haas announced that he had been granted a license from the FIA. On May 28, however, it was revealed that the team would delay its debut until 2016, with Haas officially confirming the postponement on June 4. In September 2014, the team took up its current name of Haas F1 Team to better promote its involvement in the chosen sport. In December 2014, it was further reported that Haas purchased major assets from the bankrupted Marussia F1 team, which was confirmed in early 2015.


title: Gene Haas

text: In 2006 planning began for a commercial wind tunnel. Haas commissioned California-based Triliad Development to oversee the project. The facility was designed to be the most advanced automotive wind tunnel in the world. The facility is centered on an MTS rolling road which allows a car to be restrained in place directly on top of a massive tread mill-like machine with a by by 1 mm thick stainless steel belt rotating at speeds up to . The rolling road accurately simulates the dynamics of a car on the race track, unlike traditional fixed-floor tunnels. Construction of the new wind tunnel began in 2007 and was completed by year-end. After six months of commissioning, the wind tunnel opened to its first customer, a Formula One race team, in July 2008. Today the Wind Shear facility counts numerous NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One and American Le Mans Series teams as customers. Wind Shear is owned 100% by Haas.


title: Gene Haas

text: Haas Automation and Haas were the recipient of the Roy Pinkerton Award, presented by United Way, Ventura County Chapter. Many engineering colleges have "CNC Labs" outfitted with machines he donated, including California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), California State University, Channel Islands, California State University, Northridge, and De Anza College.


title: Gene Haas

text: Haas also has been a generous donor to two-year colleges, most recently Danville Community College through the award of a $1 million grant in April 2015 to support an Associate of Applied Science degree program in Integrated Machining Technology. The program, which will be housed in the Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining in Danville, Virginia, will build upon the college's existing 80-credit Precision Machining Technology two-year diploma program.


title: Gene Haas

text: The Gene Haas Foundation has provided charitable donations since 2001 including Hospice Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Los Angeles Mission, YMCA Kids Camp, NAACP, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, MS Society, and others.


title: Gene Haas

text: On June 19, 2006, Haas was arrested by IRS agents for investigation of filing false tax returns, witness intimidation, and conspiracy. Four others were indicted together with Haas, all of whom pleaded guilty.


title: Gene Haas

text: Just before Haas's case was to go to trial, a plea agreement was reached, whereby he would plead guilty to felony conspiracy to commit tax evasion. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $75 million in restitution.


title: Gene Haas

text: Haas was incarcerated beginning January 2008 and was released on probation on May 7, 2009, after serving 16 months of his two-year sentence.


title: Funchal

text: Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its high cultural and historical value, Funchal is one of Portugal's main tourist attractions; it is also popular as a destination for New Year's Eve, and it is the leading Portuguese port on cruise liner dockings.


title: Funchal

text: The first settlers named their settlement Funchal after the abundant wild fennel that grew there. The name is formed from the Portuguese word for fennel, "funcho," and the suffix "-al", to denote "a plantation of fennel":


title: Funchal

text: This settlement began around 1424, when the island was divided into two "captaincies." The zones that would become the urbanized core of Funchal were founded by João Gonçalves Zarco who settled there with members of his family. Owing to its geographic location, the site became an important maritime port and its productive soils attracted new settlers. Its coastal position, the most productive on the island, quickly permitted Funchal to develop an urban core and surpass the populations of other settlements.


title: Funchal

text: As part of its administrative role, the settlement received its primary lighthouse between 1452 and 1454, when it was elevated to the status of "vila" and municipal seat. Funchal became an important transfer point for European commercial interests. Christopher Columbus was one of the early settlers, but later many of the merchant families established commercial interests on the island, including: João d'Esmenaut from the Picardy region, the Lomelino from Genoa, the Mondragão from Biscay, the Acciauoli from Florence, the Bettencourts from France, the Lemilhana Berenguer from Valencia and many others.


title: Funchal

text: During the second half of the 15th century, the sugar industry expanded significantly along the southern coast, from Machico until Fajã da Ovelha, making Funchal the most important industrial centre of the industry. By the end of the century, fronting the Order of Christ, D. Manuel, Duke of Beja, expanded the support of the local community; he ordered the construction of the administrative Paços do Concelho and the Paços dos Tabeliães (completed in 1491), raised the construction of a church (began in 1493 and later raised to cathedral in 1514), and finally the construction of a hospital and customs-house in the village. In 1508, it was elevated to the status of city by King Manuel I of Portugal, and in 1514 (on completion of the Sé Cathedral) the bishopric was headquartered in Funchal.


title: Funchal

text: The island, and Funchal specifically, were vulnerable to privateers and pirate attacks. In September 1566, French corsairs under the command of Bertrand de Montluc, a gentleman in the court of Charles IX of France and second-son of Field Marshal Blaise de Montluc, departed from Bordeaux with a force of 1200 men, on a small fleet of three main ships and eight support craft. The armada sacked Porto Santo. When the news was relayed to the settlements on Madeira and the villas of Machico and Santa Cruz, the citizenry armed themselves. In Funchal, the governor, Francisco de Sales Gonçalves Zarco da Câmara, did not take any hostile action. Meanwhile, the armada anchored off the beach of Formosa, disembarked a contingent of 800 men that marched towards the city in three columns, encountering no resistance until the main bridge in São Paulo. At the bridge the privateers encountered a force from the small fort, with a few small-caliber pieces, which were quickly routed in confusion. At the road near Carreira, the attackers were confronted by a small group of Franciscan friars, who were quickly dispatched. Funchal's fortifications were finally assaulted by land, where its defense was thin; the defenders could not even reposition many of the cannons directed towards the sea. The city suffered a violent sack that lasted fifteen days, after which little remained.


title: Funchal

text: The following year, the military architect Mateus Fernandes III was sent to Funchal in order to completely modify the defensive system of the city. Evidence of the work produced by this architect was published in the "Mapa de Mateus Fernandes" (1573), considered to be the oldest plan of the island of Funchal. The document identifies the major defenses of the city, which included a large fortification in the area around the dyke in Pena.


title: Funchal

text: During the 16th century, Funchal was an important stop-over for caravels travelling between the Indies and the New World.


title: Funchal

text: The wine culture appeared during early settlement, through the incentives from Henry the Navigator. By 1455, the Venetian navigator, Luís de Cadamosto, on visiting Madeira, referred to the excellence of the Madeirense wines, principally the Malvasia castes from the island of Crete, which were being exported in greater numbers. By the end of the 16th century, the celebrated English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, cited the important export and notoriety of the Madeiran Malvasia castes: in Richard III the Duke of Clarence, the brother of King Edward IV selected a death by drowning in a barrel of Madeira. Later, in Shakespeare's "Henry IV" he has Poins censure Falstaff for having sold his soul to the devil for a cup of Madeira wine. The growth of viticulture in Madeira expanded when the sugar industry was attacked by cheaper exports from the New World and Africa, but also from various epidemics and the after-effects of the 1566 privateer sacks. In the 17th century, commercial treaties with England brought increased investments to a business that was still insular. Many commercial wine-makers from England moved to the island, changing the economy, architecture forms and lifestyle of the community. This incremental growth expanded the city with new estates, and a new merchant class that populated the urban quarters. Generally, there were many new three-floor homes with an intermediary service floor, a floor for storage and wine-cellars, and in some cases a tower to watch the port and monitor shipping in the harbour. Various island governors and the convents participated in commercial viticulture. The Companhia de Jesus developed the vast estate of Campanário, which extended from the city to Fajã dos Padres into one of the most successful wines on the island, whereas the nuns of Santa Clara, owners of some large parcels of land, entered into the wine industry, financing the ships that would take their wines to Brazil (and exchanging them for sugar for their sweets business). But, during the 19th century there were epidemics, aggravating the economy and forcing some to return to sugar plantations. In order to maintain the level of development, many landowners tried to plant new more-resistant castes, but of an inferior quality, in order to support the industry.


title: Funchal

text: A few of the notable visitors to the region were Elisabeth, empress of Austria-Hungary, 1837–1898 (who travelled to the island for leisure and health), Charles I of Austria (who was exiled), Emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, 1867–1918, Polish Field Marshal Józef Piłsudski in order to recuperate his health, Winston Churchill (who travelled there on holidays and was known to have painted a few paintings during his visits) and Fulgencio Batista (who stopped over en route to his exile in Spain). The presence of these notable visitors marked a period when Funchal became a center of tourism and therapeutic health. With the formal creation of the Port of Funchal, and later the establishment of the Santa Catarina Airport, Funchal turned into a major international tourist destination supported by a series of hotels and ocean-front residences.


title: Funchal

text: Funchal is located inside a natural amphitheatre-shaped valley, with gentle slopes beginning at the coast which rise to 1200 metres and provide a natural shelter for early settlers


title: Funchal

text: In addition to the urbanized area, the municipality includes the Ilhas Selvagens (), a nature reserve located south of the capital.


title: Funchal

text: Funchal has a subtropical Mediterranean climate (Köppen: "Csa") with even temperatures all year round. The climate can be divided into three main seasons: a warm and dry season spanning from May to September with average daily high temperatures ranging from , a warm and wet season from October to November with average daily high temperatures ranging from and a slightly cooler wet season from December to April with average daily high temperatures ranging from . Humidity levels remain constantly high at about 70%.


title: Funchal

text: Since the city rises from the sea level up to altitudes of on its northern slopes, it is quite common to experience cloudiness, fog and rain in the northern suburbs while, at the same time, having clear skies in the south. Temperatures also tend to be slightly lower at the higher altitudes.


title: Funchal

text: Early summer, especially June, tends to be quite infamous due to a phenomenon where persistent cloudiness covers the entire bay area of the city, similar to the June Gloom phenomenon, locally nicknamed "Funchal's helmet". The length and severity of the rainy season varies greatly from year to year.


title: Funchal

text: The urbanised core of the city of Funchal includes several of the civil parishes that surround the municipality (Câmara de Lobos, Santa Cruz, Machico and Ribeira Brava), and includes a population of 150,000 inhabitants, the largest Portuguese city outside of mainland Portugal. The municipality itself is a grouping of several smaller administrative entities, that includes Funchal, Câmara de Lobos, Caniço and Santa Cruz, located along the southern coast of Madeira. Funchal is a cosmopolitan and panoramic city, with parks, shops and hotels.


title: Funchal

text: The municipality () and city () are one administrative division, administered by an executive and legislative committee in the city hall. Local communities, are administered at the civil parish levels, through their own legislative bodies and executives. Funchal comprises ten civil parishes () based on traditional religious districts ():


title: Funchal

text: Madeira Airport, often known as Funchal Airport (code: FNC), is located east of the city, in the municipality of Santa Cruz. The airport was one of the most dangerous airports in the world due to the limited flat space in close proximity to cliffs, but the extension of the runway on concrete pillars in the sea has improved safety.


title: Funchal

text: The Port of Funchal was the only major port in Madeira. Since 2007 it has been fully dedicated to passenger transport (cruise ships and ferries) and other tourist-related boats and yachts. In that year all remaining fishing activity and cargo trade was moved to the newly developed port of Caniçal, to the east.


title: Funchal

text: A ferry service between Funchal and Portimão, on the mainland, provided by Naviera Armas sailed weekly from 2008, but was discontinued in 2013 due to a dispute over harbour fees. In summer 2018 it was re-instated, but as a seasonal service from July to September, being operated by Grupo Sousa using Naviera Armas's ship "Volcán de Tijarafe", that provided the crossing prior to the 2013 discontinuation, with a maximum speed of 23 knots. The crossing takes around 24 hours.


title: Funchal

text: Funchal is frequently used as a stop-over by transatlantic ships, en route from Europe to the Caribbean, as it is the northernmost Atlantic island that lies in the path of the Westerlies.


title: Funchal

text: A highway provides access to Câmara de Lobos and Ribeira Brava to the west, and Santa Cruz, Machico and Caniçal to the east.


title: Funchal

text: Today Funchal is a major tourist town, with hotels, port, and an international airport Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport (FNC), located in the nearby municipality of Santa Cruz.


title: Funchal

text: Besides the city of Funchal, tourist destinations include: Ribeira Brava, Curral das Freiras, Porto Moniz, Santana, the Laurisilva forest, a UNESCO Natural Site, in the centre of Madeira Island and the beaches in Porto Santo island. There is also a passenger gondola lift (Funchal Cable Car), that transports people from the lower section of the city to the suburb of Monte and another that runs between Monte and the Botanical Gardens.


title: Funchal

text: The Episcopal see (diocese) of the Roman Catholic bishop of Funchal includes the entirety of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and is a suffragan see under the Archdiocese of Lisbon. Its focus is the Sé Cathedral, located in civil parish of Sé, dedicated to "Nossa Senhora da Assunção" ("") while its patron saint is Saint James.


title: Funchal

text: Anglican services have been held at Holy Trinity Church in Funchal (Rua do Quebra Costas) since 1822, although the first recorded Protestant service took place in 1774. The Holy Trinity Church also takes care of the British Cemetery of Funchal.


title: Funchal

text: Funchal Baptist Church was established in Madeira in 1976. It is located at Rua Silvestre Quintino de Freitas, and provides English services in the morning and Portuguese in the evening.


title: Funchal

text: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established on Madeira in 1983. A few congregations have developed and a number of island converts have served missions off-island for the church in turn. Its main chapel in Lido was commenced in 1987 and dedicated a few years later.


title: Funchal

text: The Synagogue of Funchal was built in 1836, but is now disused. There is the Jewish Cemetery of Funchal which is also disused.


title: Funchal

text: Funchal has three Association Football clubs: Marítimo, Nacional and União. Together they form the Madeira derby which was first played in 1981 due to the teams being in different league levels for 7 decades.


title: Funchal

text: Since 2011, the project "ArT of opEN doors project in Rua de Santa Maria" has been implemented in Funchal. The aims of the project is to "open" the city to artistic and cultural events. The project was born by the hand of many artists who were coordinated with the city council and decided to take it out on the streets of the Old Town, particularly in the Rua de Santa Maria.The doors of houses, abandoned shops, deteriorated areas received a new life, in order to sensitize people, towards the art and culture that fills these spaces.


title: Bhishma

text: Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the only character who witnessed the entirety of the Mahabharata, beginning from the reign of his father, King Shantanu of the Kuru kingdom. Bhishma was the step-brother of Vyasa, the grandfather of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He was a prominent statesman of the Kuru Kingdom. He was born as the elder son of the illustrious King Shantanu and Ganga.


title: Bhishma

text: Originally named Devavrata, he was made the heir-apparent of his kingdom. However, he ceded his throne for his father's happiness and took the vow of lifelong celibacy. Owing to this selfless decision, he came to be known as Bhishma and was blessed to live as long as he wanted, by his father, Shantanu. He played a major role in the political affairs of the Kuru kingdom and participated in the Kurukshetra War on the side of the Kauravas. On the tenth day of the war, the Pandava prince Arjuna, with the help of Shikhandi, pierced Bhishma with numerous arrows and paralysed him upon a bed of arrows. After spending fifty-one nights on the arrow bed, Bhishma left his body on the auspicious "Uttarayana" (winter solstice). Before his death, he passed down the Vishnu Sahasranama to Yudhishtira.


title: Bhishma

text: Bhishma is a revered figure in Hinduism. Each year his death anniversary is celebrated as Bhishma Ashtami, which falls on the eighth lunar day of the Shukla (light) half of Magha (January–February) month.


title: Bhishma

text: According to Monier Monier-Williams, the word "Bhishma" (भीष्म) means "terrible", "horrible", "fearful" or "fierce". The word is also used to describe Rudra, the fierce Vedic god, as well as the Rakshasa. In the epic, Devavrata received this as he undertook a fierce or terrible vow (Bhishma pratigya) and fulfilled it. Bhishma was given the name Devavrata (देवव्रत) at his birth, meaning one who is devoted to Gods.


title: Bhishma

text: As Bhishma was the only surviving son of Ganga, he was given many epithets which mean "son of Ganga" "Gangaputra" (गंगापुत्र), "Gang" (गंग), Gangasuta (गंगासूत) and Gangeya (गांगेय). The word "Gangadatta" (गंगादत्त) means given by Ganga. Patronymics of Bhishma include Shantanava (शान्तनव), Shantanuputra, Shantanusuta and Shantanuja. Bhishma was also referred as:


title: Bhishma

text: Bhishma's birth and youth are mainly narrated in the "Adi Parva" book of the epic. He was the only surviving son of Shantanu, a king belonging to the lunar dynasty, and his first wife Ganga, a river goddess. It is believed that he was the avatar of a Vasu named Dyu, alias Prabhasa.


title: Bhishma

text: According to the legend, Shantanu, the youngest son of the king Pratipa and the king of Kuru kingdom, was on a hunting trip, when he saw a beautiful woman on the banks of the river Ganga. He fell in love with her and asked for her hand in marriage. The lady agreed to his proposal but with one condition that he will never question her actions; and if this condition was broken, she would abandon him. Shantanu accepted it and lived a happy marital life with her. However, when a child was born, the queen used to drown him in the river Ganga. One by one, seven sons were born and drowned, while Shantanu remained silent because of his commitment. When she was about to throw the eighth child into the river, Shantanu, unable to control himself, stopped her and confronted her about her actions. After hearing Shantanu's harsh words, the woman revealed herself to be the goddess Ganga and justified her actions and narrated the following story.


title: Bhishma

text: Once the celestial Vasus and their wives were enjoying themselves in the forest when the wife of Dyu spotted an excellent cow and asked her husband to steal it. The cow was Nandini, daughter of the wish-fulfilling cow Surabhi, and was owned by the sage Vashishtha. With the help of his brothers, Dyu tried to steal it but Vashishtha caught them and cursed them to be born as mortals and suffer a miserable life. Upon their pleading, Vashishta showed mercy and told the other seven Vasus that they will be liberated soon after their birth. However, Dyu being the protagonist of the theft was cursed to endure a longer life on the earth. Before the birth of her sons, Ganga was requested to kill the seven children soon after their birth. Hearing this, Shantanu was filled with grief and regrets and Ganga decided to abandon him as her condition was broken. Before disappearing, she promised Shantanu to return his heir.


title: Bhishma

text: Ganga named her son Devavrata and took him to different "loka" (realms), where he was brought up and trained by many eminent sages.


title: Bhishma

text: Years later, Shantanu was roaming on the banks of the Ganga and observed that the water of the river had turned shallow. He saw a young man blocking the water currents with a dam made up of arrows. Shantanu recognised his son because of the similarities and begged Ganga to return him. Ganga appeared in a youthful form and handed her son to Shantanu as per her promise. The young Devavrata was known as Gangadatta as he was handed over by Ganga.


title: Bhishma

text: Devavrata was made the heir-apparent, and the citizens loved him because of his divine background and eligibility. Meanwhile, Shantanu went to the forest and met a fisherwoman named Satyavati, who operated the boats crossing the Yamuna. He fell in love with her and asked for her hand in marriage from her father. However, the fisherman-chief told that he would only agree if Shantanu promised to put the son born to Satyavati as the heir. Shantanu rejected the offer as he had already promised the throne to Devavrata and returned to the palace. He started to avoid any company and spend his time in bed in grief and solitude. Devavrata noticed his father's sorrow and discovered the reason behind it from a minister.


title: Bhishma

text: Devavrata immediately rushed to the cottage of the fishermen-chief and begged him for Satyavati, but the fishermen-chief repeated his former condition. For his father's pleasure and happiness, Devavrata ceded his rights to the throne and promised to put the son of Satyavati on the throne of the kingdom. Satyavati's father was not assured as he claimed that disputes were likely to arise between Satyavati's son and Devavrata's children regarding the rights to the throne. To satisfy him, Devavrata took the vow of lifelong "Brahmacharya" (celibacy), thus denying himself the pleasures of marital life.


title: Bhishma

text: The celestials showered flowers from heaven and he came to be known as "Bhishma" as he took a terrible vow. With the consent of the fisherman, Bhishma took Satyavati to his father on a chariot and informed him about his vows. A loving father Shantanu gave him a boon of "Iccha Mrityu", the control over the time of his death. Shantanu and Satyavati soon married and two children - Chitrangada and Vichitravirya were born.


title: Bhishma

text: After the death of his father, Bhishma played a major role in the affairs of the Kuru kingdom. He managed the kingdom when there were succession crises. He also arranged the marriage of his nephews and tried to bring peace between his grand-nephews, the Kauravas and the Pandavas.


title: Bhishma

text: The text "Harivamsa" mentions that during the mourning period after Shantanu's death, Bhishma killed Ugrayudha Paurava, a statesman of Panchala kingdom who lusted for Satyavati and tried to buy her with wealth. According to the "Mahabharata", Chitrangada was crowned as the king, however, he was soon killed by a "Gandharva" (celestial musician). Bhishma performed Chitrangada's funeral rites. Vichitravirya, who was too young to rule, was crowned as the king by Bhishma but the actual control of the kingdom was under Satyavati until he reached adulthood. Bhishma aided Satyavati during that time.


title: Bhishma

text: When Vichitravirya grew up, Bhishma decided to bring Amba, Ambika and Ambalikathe princesses of Kashi kingdomand get them married to him. Bhishma reached the kingdom and forcefully abducted the princesses, who were choosing their spouse in a "Swayamvara" (self-choice ceremony where a woman chooses her husband from a group of suitors). Shalva, the ruler of Shalwa or Saubala Kingdom and the lover of Amba, attempted to stop Bhishma but failed. Upon reaching Hastinapura, Ambika and Ambalika consented to marry Vichitravirya, while Amba told Bhishma about her love for Shalva. Learning about her feelings, Bhishma sent Amba to Saubala Kingdom.


title: Bhishma

text: The "Udyoga Parva" further narrates about Amba as well as the battle between Bhishma and Parashurama. When Amba requested Shalva to marry her, he rejected her, claiming that he was already humiliated during the Svayamvara. He also told her that he could not accept a woman, who was won by another man. A variant suggests that after Amba returned to Hastinapur, Bhishma then asked Vichitravirya to marry her, but he also refused to marry her as she loved another man. With no one to accept her, Amba blamed Bhishma for her misery and wanted revenge from him. She went to the kings of several kingdom and tried to convince them to slay Bhishma; but none of them agreed. After she was advised by some sages, she met Parasurama, Bhishma's teacher and successfully convinced him in giving vow to help her.


title: Bhishma

text: Parasurama went to Kurukshetra and sent a message to Bhishma to meet him. Bhishma arrived at the place and offered his service to his teacher. Wanting to solve the situation, Parasurama ordered him to marry Amba, telling him that it was his duty. However, Bhishma denied it, reminding him about his vow. This enraged Parashurama and he threatened Bhishma with death. Bhishma tried to calm him but it failed. An intense battle began with both protecting their words. They fought for twenty-three days, each using celestial weapons. Ganga tried to stop them but was unsuccessful. On the twenty-fourth day of battle, Bhishma attempted to use the Prashwapastra against Parashurama, but the divine sage Narada and the gods intervened and showed their concern over the use of powerful weapons which could destroy the world. Parashurama ended the conflict and the battle was declared a stalemate. After hearing about the event, Amba decided to take her revenge on her own and did severe austerities to please the god Shiva. Shiva appeared in front of her and assured that she would be reborn and become instrumental in Bhishma's death. Satisfied, she then made a funeral pyre of woods and killed herself. Years later, she was reborn as Shikhandini, daughter of King Drupada of Panchala kingdom.


title: Bhishma

text: Vichitravirya was crowned as the king of Hastinapura and he ruled for a few years, before he died because of Tuberculosis. He had no offspring and the lineage was at the risk of extinction. Satyavati persuaded Bhishma to marry the widows of Vichitravirya and rule as the king or at least impregnate them to produce an heir. However Bhishma refused the proposal and told her about his vow. He then suggested that a sage could be hired to perform "Niyoga" (a practice in which another person is hired to impregnate a woman, whose husband is deceased or impotent). Satyavati called her premarital born son, Vyasa, to impregnate her daughters-in-law. Three children were born Dhritarashtra from Ambika, Pandu from Ambalika and Vidura from a maid. Bhishma trained them and also got them married. He arranged the wedding of Dhritarashtra with Gandhari, the princess of Gandhara Kingdom. He also brought Madri for Pandu from Madra Kingdom and also got Vidura married to the daughter of Devaka.


title: Bhishma

text: Despite Dhritrashtra being the eldest among the brothers, he was denied the throne because of his blindness. Pandu was appointed as the king, but later, he renounced his position and went to the forest with his wives. Dhritarashtra was made the de facto king and Gandhari gave birth to the Kauravas siblings. Meanwhile, Pandu's two wives gave birth to the five Pandava brothers. After the premature death of Pandu, his first wife Kunti returned to Hastinapur with her sons. Satyavati, along with Ambika and Ambalika, decided to retire to the forest for penance, leaving Bhishma with the responsibility of the kingdom. A Brahmin warrior Drona, was hired by Bhishma to train the princes in warfare.


title: Bhishma

text: From their childhood, the Kauravas hated their cousins and tried to kill them multiple times. One such was the event of Lakshagriha, in which Duryodhana—the eldest Kaurava—decided to burn the Pandavas. Bhishma was despondent but Vidura consoled him and told them that the Pandavas were alive. The event led to the succession dispute between Duryodhana and Yudhishthira. To resolve this, Bhishma advised Dhritarashtra to divide the kingdom among the princes. The Pandavas made their capital in Indraprastha and performed the "Rajasuya" to achieve sovereignty and the status of the emperor. Bhishma supported them and attended the ceremony. He suggested Yudhishthira give Krishna the highest place in the ceremony, but this enraged Shishupalaan enemy of Krishna. He initially protested to give the position to Bhishma, but after Bhishma showed no objection in honouring Krishna, Shishupala started insulting him.


title: Bhishma

text: Bhishma was present during the gambling game in Hastinapur, where Draupadi—the wife of the Pandavas—was humiliated in the court. When she questioned the dharma of Yudhishthira losing her in the game, Bhishma tried but failed to answer her and described dharma to be subtle.


title: Bhishma

text: In the great battle at Kurukshetra, Bhishma was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces for ten days. He fought reluctantly on the side of the Kauravas. Bhishma was one of the most powerful warriors of his time and in history. He acquired his prowess and invincibility from being the son of the sacred Ganga and by being a student of Lord Parashurama. Despite being about five generations old, Bhishma was too powerful to be defeated by any warrior alive at that time. Every day, he slew at least 10,000 soldiers and about a 1,000 rathas. At the beginning of the war, Bhishma vowed not to kill any of the Pandavas, as he loved them, being their grand-uncle. Duryodhana often confronted Bhishma alleging that he was not actually fighting for the Kaurava camp as he wouldn't kill any of the Pandavas. He also did not allow any of the Kauravas to be killed in the war, as he loved all his grand-nephews and wanted a peace negotiation.


title: Bhishma

text: Duryodhana approached Bhishma one night and accused him of not fighting the battle to his full strength because of his affection for the Pandavas. On the next day there was an intense battle between Bhishma and Arjuna. Although Arjuna was very very skilled and Powerful, he was not fighting seriously as his heart was not in it to hurt his beloved grandsire Bhishma. Bhishma fired arrows such that Arjuna and Krishna were both injured. That angered Krishna who had already vowed to not raise a weapon in the war, lifted a chariot wheel and threatened Bhishma. Arjuna stopped Lord Krishna by convincing him to return to the chariot and put down the wheel, promising to fight with all his might and stop Bhishma. Thus Bhishma fulfilled his vow of forcing Krishna to raise a weapon. Then Arjuna used stronger weapons, injuring Bhishma. Bhishma and Arjuna's duel was praised by the gods themselves as they watched over it from the sky.


title: Bhishma

text: The war was thus locked in a stalemate. As the Pandavas mulled over this situation, Krishna advised them to visit Bhishma himself and request him to suggest a way out of this stalemate. Bhishma loved the Pandavas and knew that he stood as an obstacle in their path to victory and so when they visited Bhishma, he gave them a hint as to how they could defeat him. He told them that if faced by one who had once been of the opposite gender, he would lay down his arms and fight no longer.


title: Bhishma

text: Later Krishna told Arjuna how he could bring down Bhishma, through the help of Shikhandi. The Pandavas were not agreeable to such a ploy, as by using such tactics they would not be following the path of Dharma, but Krishna suggested a clever alternative. And thus, on the next day, the tenth day of battle Shikhandi was accompanied by Arjuna as Arjuna was his chariot protector and they faced Bhishma who avoided Shikhandi. He was then felled in battle by Arjuna, pierced by innumerable arrows. Arjuna shot arrows at Bhishma, piercing his entire body. Thus, as was preordained (Mahadeva's boon to Amba that she would be the cause of Bhishma's fall) Shikhandi, that is, Amba reincarnated was the cause of Bhishma's fall. As Bhishma fell, his whole body was held above the ground by the shafts of Arjuna's arrows which protruded from his back, and through his arms and legs. Seeing Bhishma lying on such a bed of arrows humbled even the gods who watched from the heavens in reverence. They silently blessed the mighty warrior. When the young princes of both armies gathered around him, inquiring if there was anything they could do, he told them that while his body lay on the bed of arrows above the ground, his head hung unsupported. Hearing this, many of the princes, both Kaurava and the Pandava alike brought him pillows of silk and velvet, but he refused them. He asked Arjuna to give him a pillow fit for a warrior. Arjuna then removed three arrows from his quiver and placed them underneath Bhishma's head, the pointed arrow tips facing upwards. To quench the war veteran's thirst, Arjuna shot an arrow into the earth, and a jet stream of water rose up and into Bhishma's mouth. It is said that Ganga herself rose to quench her son's thirst.


title: Bhishma

text: After the war, while on his deathbed (arrow bed), he gave deep and meaningful instructions to Yudhishthira on statesmanship and the duties of a king. Bhishma always gave priority to Dharma. He always walked in the path of Dharma, despite his state because of the vow, he was supposed to forcefully follow the orders of his king Dhritharashtra, which were mostly Adharma, he was totally upset. He was sure he must let dharma win and Pandavas win, but the way he led the war and stayed silent were his sins in a way and he paid for it with the bed of arrows. Finally, Bhishma gave up the fight, focusing his life force and breath, sealing the wounds, and waiting for the auspicious moment to give up his body on the arrow bed. He did wait for about 58 nights for the winter solstice or first day of Uttarayana to give up his body on the arrow bed. "Mahabharata" states that he attained salvation after his death. He was granted the Maatru Lok (which is considered even above Swarga, the heaven). Magha (month) Shukla Ashtami marks the death anniversary of Bhishma Pitamah(Father), the day being known as Bhishma Ashtami. Hindus observe Ekodishta Śrāddha for him on this day, since many generations, and can only be performed by those whose fathers are not alive. Bhishma Panchaka vrata(fast) is observed in all Vishnu temples, starting from Bhishma Ashtami, for five days until Bhishma Dwadasi. People believe that they will be blessed with a son, having the steadfast qualities of Bhishma if they observe these holy rituals on the river banks. It is also said that those who will perform this fast will live a happy life and attain salvation after their death.


title: Bhishma

text: His life has been made into many films in different Indian languages. The first silent film was made in 1922. During the talkie period, the first film was made in Hindi (1937). It was followed by a Bengali film in 1942 directed by Jyotish Bannerjee. Jahar Ganguli played the title role.


title: Bhishma

text: The tank T-90 Main Battle Tank, one of the world's most advanced MBTs acquired from Russia for the Indian Army is named after Bhishma.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: Archons are, in Gnosticism and religions closely related to it, the builders of the physical universe. Among the Archontics, Ophites, Sethians and in the writings of Nag Hammadi library, the archons are rulers, each related to one of seven planets; they prevent souls from leaving the material realm. The political connotation of their name reflects rejection of the governmental system, as flawed without chance of true salvation. In Manichaeism, the archons are the rulers of a realm within the "Kingdom of Darkness", who together make up the Prince of Darkness. In "The Reality of the Rulers", the physical appearance of Archons is described as hermaphroditic, with their faces being those of beasts.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: A characteristic feature of the Gnostic concept of the universe is the role played in almost all Gnostic systems by the seven world-creating archons, known as the (ἑβδομάς). These Seven are in most systems semi-hostile powers, and are reckoned as the last and lowest emanations of the Godhead; below them—and frequently considered as proceeding from them—comes the world of the actually devilish powers. There are indeed certain exceptions; Basilides taught the existence of a "great archon" called Abraxas who presided over 365 archons.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: Evidently from works such as the "Apocryphon of John", the "Ophite Diagrams", "On the Origin of the World" and "Pistis Sophia", archons play an important role in Gnostic cosmology. Probably originally referring to the Greek daimons of the planets, in Gnosticism they became the demonic rulers of the material world, each associated with a different celestial sphere. As rulers over the material world, they are called "ἄρχοντες" (, "principalities", or "rulers"). As with ancient astronomy, which thought of a sphere of fixed stars, above the spheres of the seven planets, beyond the spheres of the evil archons (Hebdomad), there were the supercelestial regions which a soul must reach by gnosis to escape the dominion of the archons. This place is thought of as the abode of Sophia (Wisdom) and Barbelo, also called "Ogdoad".


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: The Ophites accepted the existence of these seven archons (Origen, "Contra Celsum", vi. 31; a nearly identical list is given in "On the Origin of the World"):


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: The last book of the "Pistis Sophia" contains the myth of the capture of the rebellious archons, whose leaders here appear as five in number.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: In the "Apocryphon of John", the demiurge Yaldabaoth, who is also known by the names Sakla and Samael, creates the "twelve authorities", who are:


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: The twelve authorities then create the "Seven Powers", who are described as representing the seven days of the week:


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: In the Hellenized form of Gnosticism, either all or some of these names are replaced by personified vices. Authadia (Authades), or Audacity, is the obvious description of Yaldabaoth, the presumptuous Demiurge, who is lion-faced as the Archon Authadia. Of the archons Kakia, Zelos, Phthonos, Errinnys, Epithymia, the last represents Venus. The number seven is obtained by placing a proarchon or chief archon at the head. That these names are only a disguise for the Sancta Hebdomas is clear, for Sophia, the mother of them, retains the name of Ogdoad, "Octonatio". Occasionally, as among the Naassenes, one meets with the archon "Esaldaios", which is evidently the El Shaddai of the Bible, and he is described as the archon "number four" ().


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: In Mandaean cosmology, Ptahil-Uthra, although not a deity, can be considered the primary archon since he is viewed as the creator of the material world.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: Among the Mandaeans, there is a different and perhaps more primitive conception of the Seven. In Mandaeism, the Seven, together with their mother Namrus (Ruha) and their father (Ur), are planets that belong entirely to the World of Darkness. They and their family are looked upon as captives of the angel Manda-d'hayye ('Knowledge of Life'), who pardons them, sets them on chariots of light, and appoints them as rulers of the world.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: The Manicheans readily adopted the Gnostic usage, and their archons are invariably evil beings, who make up the Prince of Darkness. It is related how the helper of the Primal Man, the spirit of life, captured the evil archons, and fastened them to the firmament, or according to another account, flayed them, and formed the firmament from their skin, and this conception is closely related to the other, though in this tradition the number (seven) of the archons is lost.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: Irenaeus tells us that "the holy Hebdomad is the seven stars which they call planets". It is safe, therefore, to take the above seven Gnostic names as designating the seven planetary divinities: the sun, moon and five planets. In the Mandaean system the Seven are introduced with the Babylonian names of the planets. The connection of the Seven with the planets is also clearly established by the expositions of Celsus and Origen ("Contra Celsum", vi. 2 2 seq.) and similarly by the above-cited passage in the "Pistis Sophia", where the archons, who are here mentioned as five, are identified with the five planets (excluding the sun and moon).


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: In this, as in several other systems, the traces of the planetary seven have been obscured, but hardly in any have they become totally effaced. What tended most to obliterate the sevenfold distinction was the identification of the God of the Jews, the Lawgiver, with Yaldabaoth and his designation as World-creator, whereas formerly the seven planets together ruled the world. This confusion, however, was suggested by the very fact that at least five of the seven archons bore Old-Testament names for God—El Shaddai, Adonai, Elohim, Jehovah, Sabaoth.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: Wilhelm Anz has also pointed out that Gnostic eschatology, consisting in the soul's struggle with hostile archons in its attempt to reach the Pleroma, is a close parallel of the soul's ascent, in Babylonian astrology, through the realms of the seven planets to Anu. The late Babylonian religion can definitely be indicated as the home of these ideas.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: In Mandaeism, the seven planets are generally not viewed favorably, since they constitute part of the entourage of Ruha, the Queen of the World of Darkness who is also their mother (see Mandaean cosmology).


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: The "Bundahishn" tells us that in the primeval strife of the devil against the light-world, seven hostile powers were captured and set as constellations in the heavens, where they are guarded by good star-powers and prevented from doing harm. Five of the evil powers are the planets, while here the sun and moon are of course not reckoned among the evil powers—for the obvious reason that in the Persian official religion they invariably appear as good divinities. It must be also noted that the Mithras mysteries, so closely connected with the Persian religion, are acquainted with this doctrine of the ascent of the soul through the planetary spheres.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: In "On the Origin of the World", the archons impregnate the Biblical Eve, an idea probably deriving from the Sons of God in or the Book of Enoch. In accordance with the depictions of fallen angels in the Enochian writings, the archons incite passions to humans. Further, they both teach idolatry, sacrifices and bloodshed to enslave the Gnostics and trapping them in ignorance.


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: The mythology of ancient Greece knew gods, daemons, and heroes. Θεοὶ ἄρχοντες (ruling gods) appear in the subsequent philosophy of Plato. However Philo never alludes to archons: in a single passage ("De Mon". i. 1), ἄρχοντες is merely correlative to ὑπήκοοι (lords).


title: Archon (Gnosticism)

text: Presently the syncretism of the later Greek philosophy found room for archons, which appear in Neoplatonism and were claimed to derive from Plato's unwritten tradition. They are inserted by the author of the book "De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum", and even it would seem by his questioner Porphyry, below gods, daemons, angels, and archangels, and above heroes (omitted by Porphyry) and departed "souls", in the scale of invisible beings whose presence may become manifest. It may be only an accidental coincidence that about the end of the 2nd century "Archon" was one of the names given by the Platonist Harpocration to the "Second God" of Numenius (Proclus in "Tim". 93 C).


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it has a market share of about 37.1% in the two-wheeler industry. , the market capitalization of the company was .


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: Hero Honda started its operations in 1984 as a joint venture between Hero Cycles of India and Honda of Japan. In June 2012, Hero MotoCorp approved a proposal to merge the investment arm of its parent Hero Investment Pvt. Ltd. with the automaker. This decision came 18 months after its split from Hero Honda.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: "Hero" is the brand name used by the Munjal brothers for their flagship company, Hero Cycles Ltd. A joint venture between the Hero Group and Honda Motor Company was established in 1984 as the Hero Honda Motors Limited at Dharuhera, India. Munjal family and Honda group both owned a 26% stake in the company.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: During the 1980s, the company introduced motorcycles that were popular in India for their fuel economy and low cost. A popular advertising campaign based on the slogan 'Fill it – Shut it – Forget it' that emphasized the motorcycle's fuel efficiency helped the company grow at a double-digit pace since inception. In 2001, the company became the largest two-wheeler manufacturing company in India and globally. It maintains global industry leadership to date. The technology in the bikes of Hero Motocorp (earlier Hero Honda) for almost 26 years (1984–2010) has come from the Japanese counterpart Honda.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: By December 2010, the board of directors of the Hero Honda Group had decided to terminate the joint venture between Hero Group of India and Honda of Japan in a phased manner. The Hero Group would buy out the 26% stake of the Honda in JV Hero Honda. Under the joint venture, Hero Group could not export to international markets (except Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and the termination would mean that Hero Group could now export. From the beginning, the Hero Group relied on their Japanese partner Honda for technology.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: Honda exited the joint venture through a series of off-market transactions by giving the Munjal family, which held a 26% stake in the company. Honda, wanting to focus only on its independent fully owned two-wheeler subsidiary, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), exited Hero Honda at a discount and get over for its stake. The discount was between 30% and 50% to the current value of Honda's stake as per the price of the stock after the market closed on 16 December 2010.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: The rising differences between the two partners gradually emerged as an irritant. Differences had been brewing for a few years before the split over a variety of issues, ranging from Honda's reluctance to fully and freely share technology with Hero (despite a 10-year technology tie-up that expired in 2014) as well as Indian partner's uneasiness over high royalty payouts to the Japanese company. Another major irritant for Honda was the refusal of Hero Honda, (mainly managed by the Munjal family), to merge the company's spare parts business with Honda's new fully owned subsidiary, HMSI.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: As per the arrangement, it was a two-leg deal: In the first part, the Munjal family, led by Brijmohan Lal Munjal group, formed an overseas-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) to buy out Honda's entire stake, which was backed by bridge loans. This SPV was eventually opened for private equity participation, and those included Warburg Pincus, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), TPG, Bain Capital and Carlyle Group.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: The name of the company was changed from Hero Honda Motors Limited to Hero MotoCorp Limited on 29 July 2011. The new brand identity and logo of Hero MotoCorp were developed by the British firm Wolff Olins. The logo was revealed on 9 August 2011 in London, to coincide with the third test match between England and India.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: Hero MotoCorp can now export to Latin America, Africa and West Asia. Hero is free to use any vendor for its components instead of just Honda-approved vendors.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: On 21 April 2014, Hero MotoCorp announced its plan on a joint venture with Bangladesh's Nitol-Niloy Group in the next five years to set up a manufacturing plant in Bangladesh. The plant started production in 2017 under the name "HMCL Niloy Bangladesh Limited". Hero MotoCorp owns 55% of the manufacturing company and the rest 45% is owned by Niloy Motors (A subsidiary of Nitol-Niloy Group). Hero also updated its 100cc engine range in 2014 for 110cc bikes except for Hero Dawn.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: In July 2013, HMC acquired 49.2% shareholding in Erik Buell Racing, a motorcycle sport company which produced street and racing motorcycles based in East Troy, Wisconsin, United States. EBR filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and Hero MotoCorp proceed to acquire certain assets for .,


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: HMC invested 205 crore (US$30.5 million) as Series B round of funding in October 2016 and gained a 32.31% stake in Ather Energy, a start-up company manufacturing electric scooters. It invested a further 130 crore (US$19 million) in 2018. HMC's share in Ather Energy has grown up to 34.58% since 2016.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: Hero MotoCorp has five manufacturing facilities based at Dharuhera, Gurugram, Neemrana, Haridwar and Halol . A new manufacturing facility is in the process of being set up in Chittor in Andhra Pradesh. Spread over 600 acres, the company has invested 1600 crores for setting up this greenfield facility. These plants together have a production capacity of over 76 lakh (7.6 million) 2-wheelers per year. Hero MotoCorp has a sales and service network with over 6,000 dealerships and service points across India. It has had a customer loyalty program since 2000, called the Hero Honda Passport Program which is now known as Hero GoodLife Program. As of 31 March 2020, the company has an annual capacity of 9.1 million units in its eight manufacturing facilities. Apart from these manufacturing facilities the company also has two R&D facilities, in Germany & Jaipur.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: It is reported that Hero MotoCorp has five joint ventures or associate companies, Munjal Showa, AG Industries, Sunbeam Auto, Rockman Industries and Satyam Auto Components, that supply a majority of its components.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: As of March 2013, the company has sold over 7 crore (70 million) 2-wheelers since its inception in 1984. It sold 60.7 lakh (6.07 million) 2-wheelers in 2012, out of which 55 lakh (5.5 million) were motorcycles. Hero MotoCorp sells more two-wheelers than the second, third, and fourth-placed two-wheeler companies put together. Its most popular bike, the Hero Splendor sells more than 10 lakh units per year.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: The company has a stated aim of achieving revenues of and volumes of 10 lakh two-wheelers by 2016–17. This is in conjunction with new countries where they can now market their two-wheelers following the disengagement from Honda. Hero MotoCorp hopes to achieve 10% of its revenues from international markets, and they expected to launch sales in Nigeria by end-2011 or early-2012. Hero MotoCorp launched XPulse 200 adventure motorcycle in India on 1 May 2019, along with the XPulse 200T touring motorcycle.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: In 2019, Hero MotoCorp sold more than 78 lakh (7.8 million) units, which is the highest by any two-wheeler company in the world. It registered its best-ever monthly performance by selling 7,69,000 units in the month of September 2018. In the April - June 2018 quarter (non-festive time), the company registered its best-ever quarterly performance by selling more than 21 lakh (2.1 million) units.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: In January 2021, Hero MotoCorp's production exceeded 100 million. As of 2021, Hero is the only Indian automobile brand to exceed 100 million in production. In February 2021, Hero MotoCorp sold 484,405 units with 0.9 percent growth.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: The equity shares of Hero MotoCorp are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the National Stock Exchange of India, where it is a constituent of the NIFTY 50.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: As on 31 December 2013, the promoters Munjal Family held around 40% equity shares in Hero MotoCorp. Over 61,000 individual shareholders hold approx. 7.44% of its shares. Foreign Institutional Investors hold approx. 30% shares in the company.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: As of 31 March 2014, the company had 6,782 employees, out of which 66 were women (1.1%). It also had approx. 13,800 temporary employees on that date. The company had an attrition rate of 5.1% in the FY 2012–13. The company spent on employee benefits during the FY 2012–13.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: The company started Raman Kant Munjal Foundation (RKMF), in 1992 when it was known as Hero Honda Motors Ltd., that looks after:


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: Hero has been the sponsor of the Caribbean Premier League, a twenty-20 cricket franchise, since 2018. Hero also sponsors India's top men's football leagues (Indian Super League and I-League), I-League Qualifiers, Futsal Club Championship, women's top-tier Indian Women's League, Senior NFC for Santosh Trophy, Super Cup, Youth League and previously Federation Cup. They are also the principal sponsors of all India national and developmental football teams kits. Since 2014, Hero has sponsored the Hero World Challenge golf tournament. Hero also sponsors two British events on the Golf European Tour: English Open (known as the Hero Open) and the Betfred British Masters.


title: Hero MotoCorp

text: In March 2022, the Income tax department conducted raids on offices and several other locations of Hero MotoCorp. Following this the department stated in a report that the two wheeler giant had made bogus claims of expenses to the tune of Rs 1000 crore.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe (born 18 October 1952) is an English billionaire, chemical engineer and businessman. Ratcliffe is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ineos chemicals group, which he founded in 1998 and of which he still owns two-thirds. The company is estimated to have had a turnover of $65 billion in 2021. He did not have a high public profile, and was once described by "The Sunday Times" as "publicity shy". As of May 2018, he was the richest person in the UK, with a net worth of £21.05 billion. As of April 2020, "Bloomberg Billionaires Index" estimated his net worth at $28.2 billion, 55th richest in the world and second in the UK. In September 2020, Ratcliffe officially changed his tax residence from Hampshire to Monaco, a move that it is estimated will save him £4 billion in tax.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Born in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, the son of a father who was a joiner and a mother who was an accounts office worker, Ratcliffe lived there in a council house until the age of 10. His father eventually ran a factory making laboratory furniture. Aged 10, he moved with his family to East Yorkshire, and Ratcliffe attended Beverley Grammar School and lived in Hull up to the age of 18.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Ratcliffe's first job was with oil giant Esso, but he decided to broaden his skills into finance by studying management accounting, taking an MSc in finance at London Business School from 1978 to 1980 (he donated £25m to the school in 2016). In 1989, he joined US private equity group Advent International.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Ratcliffe was a co-founder of Inspec, which leased the former BP Chemicals site in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1998, Ratcliffe formed Ineos in Hampshire to buy-out Inspec and the freehold of the Antwerp site.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: From this small base, using high-yield debt to finance deals, Ratcliffe started buying unwanted operations from groups such as ICI and BP, selecting targets based on their potential to double their earnings over a five-year period. In 2006 Ineos bought BP's refining and petrochemical arm Innovene, giving Ineos refineries and plants in Scotland, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and Canada.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In April 2010, Ratcliffe moved Ineos's head office from Hampshire to Rolle, Switzerland, decreasing the amount of tax the company paid by £100m a year.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In 2015, Ratcliffe opened the UK headquarters of the chemicals and energy group in Knightsbridge, London, along with gas and oil trading, and other functions, saying he was "very cheerful about coming back to the UK". He was pleased with UK policy, London as a business base, and untroubled by the prospect of Brexit. Full year 2015 EBITDA was €577 million compared to €253 million for 2014.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In the "Sunday Times Rich List 2018", he was named as the richest man in the UK, with a net worth of £21.05 billion.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In February 2019, it was announced that Ineos would invest £1bn in the UK oil and chemical industries, to include an overhaul of the Forties pipeline system that is responsible for transporting a significant percentage of the UK's North Sea oil and gas.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: On 1 May 2019, Ratcliffe criticised the current government rules that say fracking in Britain must be suspended every time a 0.5 magnitude tremor is detected, which has led to a "de facto" ban on fracking:


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: On 13 November 2017, Ratcliffe became the owner of FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss Super League football club.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In 2018 Ratcliffe partnered with Ben Ainslie to form Ineos Team UK to compete for the 36th America's Cup in 2021 with Ratcliffe reportedly investing over £110 million in the project.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: On 19 March 2019, Ratcliffe purchased the Team Sky cycling franchise, subsequently rebranded Team Ineos. Their first competitive race under the new Ineos sponsorship, was the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire. They subsequently won the 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro d'Italia with the Colombian rider Egan Bernal.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: On 22 August 2019, the French competition authority permitted the €100 million takeover of Ligue 1 club OGC Nice from Chinese-American entrepreneur Chien Lee by Ineos.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Ratcliffe supported the October 2019 , a successful effort by Eliud Kipchoge to run the classic marathon distance (42.195 kilometres or 26 miles 385 yards) under 2 hours.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In February 2020 Ineos became principal partners of Mercedes AMG F1, signing a five-year agreement with the team. In the same month, Ratcliffe rejected claims that he would buy a Premier League club, having previously been linked to Chelsea. However, he reversed direction in April 2022, making a bid of £4.25 billion for the club after Roman Abramovich put it up for sale.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In July 2021 Greenpeace criticized a decision by New Zealand Rugby to accept six years of sponsorship from Ineos as being inconsistent with the country's "clean green" values.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions on Roman Abramovich, long-term owner of Premier League side Chelsea F.C., forced him to put the club up for sale. Ratcliffe made £4.25 billion bid to buy the club but this was rejected. Despite the rejection, Ratcliffe remained hopeful of a takeover. Chelsea FC were eventually sold to US businessman Todd Boehly.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In August 2022, Ratcliffe expressed interest in buying Manchester United. In October 2022, he was rumoured to invest in West Ham United.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In October 2021, Ratcliffe announced plans to invest more than €2bn (£1.7bn) into electrolysis projects to make zero-carbon green hydrogen across Europe. He said the first units will produce clean hydrogen through the electrolysis of water in Norway, powered by renewable electricity, and will serve as a hub to provide gas for the country’s transport industry. This will be followed by projects in Germany and Belgium. Ratcliffe also intends to invest in France and the UK, where his hydrogen business will be headquartered.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In March 2019, Ineos said it would close its Middlesbrough manufacturing plant unless it is allowed to 'defer compliance' with EU rules designed to prevent air and water pollution. An analysis of data from the Environment Agency (EA) also reveals the plant clocked up 176 permit violations between 2014 and 2017. An EA spokesperson said: "air emissions are well over legal limits and this poses a risk to the environment". INEOS director Tom Crotty said the firm "cannot justify" the investment required to comply with EU air and water pollution rules due to come into force in the coming years.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Ineos has carried out small projects in bio ethanol production using "Clostridium" bacteria, but it has had problems because the syngas has levels of hydrogen cyanide too high for the bacteria to survive. Ineos sold the Florida plant to Alliance Bio-Products Inc. in 2017.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: In May 2009, Ratcliffe was granted an honorary fellowship by the Institution of Chemical Engineers citing "his sustained leadership in building the Ineos Group." In 2013 he received the Petrochemical Heritage Award. Ratcliffe was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to business and to investment.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Ratcliffe has two sons with previous wife Amanda Townson. He has one daughter from a previous relationship, with Maria Alessia Maresca, an Italian tax lawyer.


title: Jim Ratcliffe

text: Ratcliffe lives in Monaco and Hampshire, England. In May 2017, he submitted his fifth plan, less ambitious than the first four, to build a "luxury home" at Thorns Beach, near Beaulieu, on the Hampshire coast, which would replace an existing two-bedroom bungalow. In September 2020, Ratcliffe officially changed his tax residence from Hampshire to Monaco, a move that it is estimated will save him £4 billion in tax. He owns an estate on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland and the hotels, Le Portetta (Courchevel, France) and Lime Wood (Hampshire, England).