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- Introduction
- Land
- People
- The economy
- Government and society
- Cultural life
- History
Nādir Shah
Nādr Qolī Beg took Herāt in 1732 after a desperate siege. Nādr was impressed by the courage of the Herātis and recruited many of them to serve in his army. He had himself elected shah of Persia, with the name Nādir Shah, in 1736.
In 1738, after a year's siege, the city of Kandahār fell to Nādir Shah's army of 80,000 men. Nādir Shah seized Ghazna and Kabul and occupied the Mughal capital at Delhi in 1739. His booty included the Koh-i-noor diamond and the Peacock Throne. He was assassinated at Fatḥābād, Iran, in 1747, which led to the disintegration of his empire and the rise of the last great Afghan empire.
The Durrānī dynasty
The commander of Nādir Shah's 4,000-man Afghan bodyguard was Aḥmad Khan Abdālī, who returned to Kandahār and was elected shah by a tribal council. He adopted the title Durr-i Durrān ("Pearl of Pearls"). Supported by most tribal leaders, Aḥmad Shah Durrānī extended Afghan control from Meshed to Kashmir and Delhi, from the Amu Darya to the Arabian Sea. The Durrānī was the second greatest Muslim empire in the second half of the 18th century, surpassed in size only by the Ottoman.
Aḥmad Shah died in 1772 and was succeeded by his son, Tīmūr Shah, who received but nominal homage from the tribal chieftains. Much of his reign was spent in quelling their rebellions. Because of this opposition, Tīmūr shifted his capital from Kandahār to Kabul in 1776.
Zamān Shah (1793–1800)
After the death of Tīmūr in 1793, his fifth son, Zamān, seized the throne with the help of Sardār Pāyenda Khan, a chief of the Bārakzay. Zamān then turned to India with the object of repeating the exploits of Aḥmad Shah. This alarmed the British, who induced Fatḥ ʿAlī Shah of Persia to bring pressure on the Afghan king and divert his attention from India. The shah went a step further by helping Maḥmūd, governor of Herāt and a brother of Zamān, with men and money and encouraging him to advance on Kandahār. Maḥmūd, assisted by his vizier, Fatḥ Khan Bārakzay, eldest son of Sardār Pāyenda Khan, and by Fatḥ ʿAlī Shah, took Kandahār and advanced on Kabul. Zamān, in India, hurried back to Afghanistan. There he was handed over to Maḥmūd, blinded, and imprisoned (1800). The Durrānī empire had begun to disintegrate after 1798, when Zamān Shah appointed a Sikh, Ranjit Singh, as governor of Lahore.
Shah Maḥmūd (1800–03; 1809–18)
Shah Maḥmūd left affairs of state to Fatḥ Khan. Some of the chiefs who had grievances against the king or his ministers joined forces and invited Zamān's brother Shah Shojāʿ (1803–09; 1839–42) to Kabul. The intrigue was successful. Shah Shojāʿ occupied the capital, and Maḥmūd sued for peace.
The new king, Shah Shojāʿ, ascended the throne in 1803. The chiefs had become powerful and unruly, and the outlying provinces were asserting their independence. The Sikhs of the Punjab were encroaching on Afghan territories from the east, while the Persians were threatening from the west.
Napoleon I, then at the zenith of his power in Europe, proposed to Alexander I of Russia a combined invasion of India. A British mission, headed by Mountstuart Elphinstone, met Shah Shojāʿ at Peshawar to discuss mutual defense against this threat, which never developed. In a treaty of friendship concluded June 7, 1809, the shah promised to oppose the passage of foreign troops through his dominions. Shortly after the mission left Peshawar, news was received that Kabul had been occupied by the forces of Maḥmūd and Fatḥ Khan. The troops of Shah Shojāʿ were routed, and the shah withdrew from Afghanistan and found asylum with the British at Ludhiāna, India, in 1815.
The rise of the Bārakzay
The Bārakzay were now dominant. This situation incited the jealousy of Kāmrān, Maḥmūd's eldest son, who seized and blinded Fatḥ Khan. Later Shah Maḥmūd had him cut to pieces.
1From promulgation of new constitution on Jan. 26, 2004.
2Thirty-four members are appointed by the president, while the remainder are indirectly elected.
3Three seats are reserved for Kuchis, Aghan Pashtun nomads.
4Six additional locally official languages per the 2004 constitution are Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, Kafiri (Nuristani), Pashai, and Pamiri.
|Official name
|Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Jomhūrī-ye Eslāmī-ye Afghānestān [Dari]); Da Afghanestan Eslami Jamhuriyat (Pashto)1
|Form of government
|Islamic republic1 with two legislative bodies (House of Elders [1022]; House of the People [2493])
|Head of state and government
|President: Ashraf Ghani
|Official languages
|Dari; Pashto4
|Official religion
|Monetary unit
|afghani (Af)
|(2014 est.) 27,933,000
|Total area (sq mi)
|Total area (sq km)
|Urban-rural population
|Urban: (2011) 23.5%
Rural: (2011) 76.5%
|Life expectancy at birth
|Male: (2012) 48.5 years
Female: (2012) 51.1 years
|Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate
|Male: (2006) 43.1%
Female: (2006) 12.6%
|GNI per capita (U.S.$)
|(2013) 700


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Malaysian bid to buy PH bank snagged
SMC says it's willing to walk away from P12.2-B deal
Malaysian banking giant CIMB's bid to acquire Bank of Commerce has hit a snag and seller San Miguel Corp. is willing to walk away from the P12.2-billion deal if this is not resolved soon.
In a week or so, the local conglomerate would know whether to close the transaction or break off the engagement with CIMB, SMC president Ramon S. Ang told the Inquirer.
"I think we're in the last stage," Ang said, saying it would likely take a week more to determine the outcome. "If this deal does not push through, then I will go run the bank. And if I will be the one to run it, I will increase its capital by $2 billion."
Nine months ago, CIMB and SMC agreed for the Malaysian bank to buy a 60-percent stake in Bank of Commerce, where the local conglomerate held an 84-percent stake. Industry sources said constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership of real estate in the country became a key stumbling block to the closing of the deal.
The sources said that since part of the bank's assets were in real estate, including the bank premises and some foreclosed assets, some assets had to be spun off into a realty company, which could not be controlled by a foreign entity like CIMB.
The sources said the delay had nothing to do with the valuation or even the quality of assets but was all due to the complications arising from CIMB's lack of legal capability to absorb real estate assets.
Ang confirmed that the real estate issue was the source of delay. "They want us to be part of the realty corporation," Ang said, noting that this was not part of SMC's assumption when it agreed to the deal.
Ang said SMC's position was a "take-it-or-leave-it," saying the conglomerate would be ready to keep Bank of Commerce in its portfolio.
Another source involved in the transactions said there was still a chance that the deal could push through, with the crucial meetings between SMC and the Malaysian group indeed happening within the coming week.
"It's not dead. It's just in ICU (intensive care unit). There's still some pulse to it," the source said.
CIMB, which has regional expansion plans across Southeast Asia, wants to acquire Bank of Commerce to break into the Philippine market.
Incorporated in December 1963, Bank of Commerce is the 16th largest bank in the Philippines with total assets of P96.3 billion. It operates 122 branches and 300 ATMs throughout the Philippines.
CIMB Bank had agreed to buy into the bank at a price of P181.25 a share, which valued the bank at 1.14 times the bank's book value per share as of end-2011. Upon full alignment with the CIMB group's accounting and provisioning policies, the effective price to book value was expected to be about 1.3x. Meanwhile, most listed banks in the country are now trading at more than twice their book value.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Trails Solutions continues to develop new singletrack for SORBA and the Northeast Alabama Bicycle Association, adding new miles at Coldwater Mountain. Project Manager Doug Vinson and subcontractor Preston York lay down sweet tracks in the... Read More / Post Comments
Chris Bernhardt
Chris Bernhardt leads IMBA's Trail Solutions program as Director of Consulting Services.
With a vision comes action, which is why the Shawnee Bluffs Bike Park has advanced so quickly. Proprietor Marc Miles retained IMBA's Trail Solutions program to design a high-quality bike park that takes advantage of the gorgeous landscape in... Read More / Post Comments
Knowing the value of a good plan, the City of Blue Ash engaged Trail Solutions to develop a conceptual bike park plan for their rapidly growing Summit Park. City staff and advocates continue to push for funding to build the inspriational design... Read More / Post Comments
Trail Solutions project manager Doug Vinson took a break from the cab of his excavator to join other voices talking with Pinkbike about the future of mountain biking. Doug nails it with a vision bike parks sitting alongside other rec facilities... Read More / Post Comments
Just as the Chinese New Year season began in Hong Kong, it was time for IMBA Trail Solutions' Joey Klein and Dirt Traction's Hui Min (HM) Lim to depart. It had been a fast-paced couple of weeks, working closely with the Hong Kong Mountain Bike... Read More / Post Comments


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Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
GOSH! ughh haha. HSPA+ Works Fine with the NORMAL "Phone" APN. But after 5GB I get throttled on HSPA+ Only never really been throttled on LTE, But I hardly EVER get on LTE maybe a few times every few months.
Well Anyway After I HIT 5GB I change over to the wap.cingular APN I created which that APN is usually used on older devices and flip phones and for as long as I have used it for awhile its NOT as reliable like streaming services act up when using it, BUT HD YouTube, Downloads, and Speed Tests I usually average about 4 megs down and 2 megs up in my cruddy county, But In Knoxville Tennessee a few weeks ago I got about 9down and 1 up while throttled but by using the wap.cingular apn, When using the stock "phone" apn I couldn't get higher than about 0.45mb down.
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Early 1980's Terry Bradshaw Game Worn Jersey. Despite the tremendous success of young Ben Roethlisberger, this white, black...
2007 May Sports Collectibles Signature Auction #707
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Early 1980's Terry Bradshaw Game Worn Jersey. Despite the tremendous success of young Ben Roethlisberger, this white, black and yellow jersey is the one that Pittsburgh Steelers fans still see in their sweetest dreams. In fact, the epic Championship battles between the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys define 1970's football for many fans nationwide, making this white durene gamer one of the most recognizable in the sport. Black tackle twill number "12" is applied to chest, back and shoulders, with two-tone block lettered "Bradshaw" spanning the rear nameplate. The "bumblebee" sleeve striping is the height of NFL fashion. The tail tagging has been lost over the years, but the outline of the "Sand-Knit" labels is still quite evident. Authenticator Lou Lampson estimates the size at "46" or "48," however, noting that this slightly larger size is likely attributable to cold weather usage, with some extra space given for cold weather undergarments as was typical for the club. There are no repairs or visible surface wear, or degradation, but there are a few "nylon durene" runs to denote wear. Overall a fine, distinctive specimen for the serious NFL collector, sourced from a former Dallas Cowboys employee. Also see the Terry Bradshaw game worn helmet also within this auction. LOA from Lou Lampson.
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May 18 – July 31: The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum Presents "Nanjing Style: Photographs from our Sister City"
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Jim Sterne | September 1, 2011 | Comments
Why are we still making the same mistake of using "hits" as our main metric?
Much like Kurt Vonnegut was credited for Mary Schmich's wonderful "Wear Sunscreen" article, I have been cited as having come up with the observation that "Hits" should stand for How Idiots Track Success. While I'd dearly love to take the credit for that one, it was the brainchild of Katie Delahaye Paine. Perhaps I helped promote it with frequent repetition.
The primary reason hits are for idiots is technical. The practical reason hits are for idiots is that they reveal a lack of business foresight in the face of technical confusion. That is, people turn to hits as a metric when they have no idea what they are talking about.
Those of us in the industry have finally learned to stop trying to educate those who use the term. We simply recognize them for the fools they are and let them blather on.
I did once stop a client midsentence with a look of incredulity when he said that his hits report was the most popular in the company.
"Oh, no. Don't worry. It's doesn't really report hits. It reports page views, but we just have all agreed to keep calling it the 'Hits Report.'"
I disagreed and after calling on four of the recipients of this report, determined that each thought it was something else; page views, people, visits and, yes, the actual and technically correct hits against the server. My client was appropriately chagrinned.
While the majority of the industry has backed off of this vilified word, the mistake continues, and that is the crux of my screed today. We are still making the same mistake.
This was pointed out in a Chinwag blog post ("What's In a Number? Why 1m Facebook Likes Isn't Enough") wherein Simon Caine asked the fundamental question, "Why do you need a million 'Likes'?"
And so, a new generation of online marketers brings in a new set of acrimonious acronyms:
The only three metrics that really matter are:
The rest is interesting but not always useful. Please, let's keep our eyes on the customers and the business and not on metrics that are the easiest to track.
On the heels of a fantastic event in New York City, ClickZ Live is taking the fun and learning to Toronto, June 23-25. With over 15 years' experience delivering industry-leading events, ClickZ Live offers an action-packed, educationally-focused agenda covering all aspects of digital marketing. Register today!
Want to learn more? Join us at ClickZ Live San Francisco, Aug 10-12!
Educating marketers for over 15 years, ClickZ Live brings together industry thought leaders from the largest brands and agencies to deliver the most advanced, educational digital marketing agenda. Register today and save $500!
Jim Sterne is an international consultant who focuses on measuring the value of the Web as a medium for creating and strengthening customer relationships. Sterne has written eight books on using the Internet for marketing, is the founding president and current chairman of the Digital Analytics Association and produces the eMetrics Summit and the Media Analytics Summit.
June 23-25, 2015
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Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce
This Magic Quadrant examines leading digital commerce platforms that enable organizations to build digital commerce sites. These commerce platforms facilitate purchasing transactions over the Web, and support the creation and continuing development of an online relationship with a consumer.
Paid Search in the Mobile Era
Google reports that paid search ads are currently driving 40+ million calls per month. Cost per click is increasing, paid search budgets are growing, and mobile continues to dominate. It's time to revamp old search strategies, reimagine stale best practices, and add new layers data to your analytics.
June 10, 2015
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HEYYYY everyone! I'm 15, I'm Ethiopian and I like reading and writing teen stories and poems. AND I joined wattpad because all of my friends were like "ITS SO AWESOME!!!".
I LOOOOVE music almost as much as chocolate wafers!!
If u wanna know more about me inbox me anytime! BUT BEWARE OF MY RANDOMNESS!!!
So hope u read and enjoy my works. And I want to get better at this so comments are really appreciated. SO VOTE AND FAN AWAY!!
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Lady Finger Delight (double)
Community Recipe from
- 24 package(s) semi sweet chocolate chips
- 3 eggs separated
- 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla
- 1 dozen lady fingers
- 1 pint(s) whipped cream
- 1. Melt chocolate bits in double boiler.
- 2. Add egg yolks one at a time and stir (off heat)
- 3. Fold beaten egg whites into mixture
- 4. Add vanilla
- 5. Line bottom and sides of spring form pan with lady fingers
- 6. Alternate chocolate and lady fingers
- 7. Top with whipped cream
November 2013
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10.11.05 - With just a little over one week to go before they square-off at The Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, November 19, Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Sharmba Mitchell both appear to be confident and prepared as they put the finishing touches on their respective training camps. Neither seems anxious to provide locker room bulletin board reading material for the other, opting instead to do their talking inside the ring..
In what is being billed as Pound for Pound King Battle of Champions, the scheduled special 12-round Welterweight bout features the undefeated WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Mayweather (34-0, 23 KOs) moving up in weight to take on the two-time former World Champion Mitchell (56-4, 31 KOs).
My preparation is well on schedule, Mayweather, regarded as the best pound for pound boxer in the world today, reported from his training camp in Las Vegas where he also resides. I have had excellent sparring and I am not taking Mitchell for granted.
I am looking forward to coming to Portland. I will put on a good show for the people of Portland and my fans around the world.
As for any predictions, Mayweather warned, Mitchell will not go the distance.
Mitchell is a slick southpaw from Washington, DC, who wants to regain his status as one of the best pound for pound boxers around and hopes this fight will help him to regain that lofty level. Training in Vero Beach, Florida, he predicted an upset on the fights outcome, and hinted at what the viewing public can expect in this highly anticipated duel.
Floyd has both power and speed, Mitchell acknowledged. And I do too!
We know that Floyd will be in shape, and we are working hard. We know that we must be ready for anything with Floyd, and we are preparing for that. I havent been this excited about a fight in a long time. A victory puts me right back where I belong.
With 54 knockouts between them, this bout shapes up as a potential fistic explosion boxing fans wont want to miss.
Pound for Pound King Battle of Champions is being promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions, with Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc, as presenting sponsor. The event will be televised live on HBO.
Tickets priced at $350.00, $250.00, $100, $65 AND $30.00 can be purchased at the Rose Quarter Box Office (M-Sa 10a-5p), online at www.RoseQuarter.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling (503) 224-4400. Ticket price does not include service charges.
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Paving the way for constitution of an "all-party" interim Cabinet to oversee next parliamentary elections, all 52 Ministers and State Ministers have submitted their resignations on Monday.
After a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuyan said the Ministers whose resignation would not be accepted by the Prime Minister would continue with their portfolios in the interim government. The interim cabinet would have some new faces too.
Requesting the Opposition to join the polls-time government, Ms. Hasina had proposed an all-inclusive interim government. But Opposition leader Khaleda Zia denounced the idea. The BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 18-party alliance called for an 84-hour strike to force the government to accept their demand for a neutral caretaker administration. But the ruling alliance led by the Awami League is pushing ahead with its plans.
The second day of the 84-hour shutdown was marked by sporadic violence, clashes and reports of bomb explosions.
Few buses and private vehicles were seen in Dhaka and major towns.
The police on Monday recovered nearly 200 handmade bombs in Dhaka's Lalbagh area, including a dozen from Dhaka University area.
Keywords: Sheikh Hasina, Khalida Zia, Bangladesh elections, BNP, Awami League


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Shiv was a key founder of APCOM, bringing together governments, the UN system and civil society to help ensure that the critical issue of HIV among MSM and transgender communities was included high on health and social development agendas across Asia and the Pacific region,? noted Dédé Oetomo of Indonesia who succeeded Khan as APCOM Chair. ?While Shiv?s critical health issues prevented him from participating fully in APCOM over the past couple of years, we?d been hoping he would recover and continue to provide moral and advisory support to us as APCOM continues to strengthen its role and demonstrates true impact on the ground. Shiv was not only a colleague but a friend, and I, along with so many around the world, will miss him dearly.?
Born Duncan George Khan to an Indian family encompassing diverse religious and ethnic identities, Shiv, as the world knew him, established himself as a trailblazing LGBT rights advocate in London, England, in the early 1990s, where he focused on communities and individuals within the South Asian diaspora who were vulnerable to HIV. Inspired by the death of a close friend to AIDS against the backdrop of homophobia and its deleterious impact on how governments and the health care sector initially addressed HIV, Shiv worked to ensure that health ? including access to HIV prevention, treatment and care ? was seen as a human right for all, including men who have sex with men. Shiv?s work was eventually honoured by the United Kingdom which awarded him the Order of the British Empire in 2005, an honorific he affixed proudly to his signature thereafter: ?Shivananda Khan, OBE?.
Having worked with South Asian MSM in the UK, Shiv turned his attention to India and the wider South Asian region itself, setting up an NFI office in Lucknow from where he began to address the complexity of MSM issues that needed to be thoroughly understood in order to effectively tackle the HIV challenge in countries as diverse as Nepal and Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
As Shiv explained in an interview, ?I suddenly started realising that there are several issues. One is culture — it is very hard (for most men) to find girlfriends and sexual partners. So there wasn't this division between men, between what they do with their bodies and with whom they do it with. It wasn?t whether ?I was doing homosexual sex or heterosexual sex, I am just doing sex.? There was the whole concept of 'masti' (fun), that ?this is not sex anyway and the only ?real sex? I am going to do is with my wife. All of this was staring at me, and we started counting in numbers and we realised that male-to-male sex is very common in our country for a whole host of reasons compared to western countries, which meant that the risk of HIV transmission was higher in our country. Unless we change the construction of the way we see gender, sexualities and masculinities and femininities, we are never going to deal with the issues of HIV. Having a gay identity is very much linked to class, income, it?s not a generic framework. The advantage of my education, my multi-ethnic background and my anger at how we have been treated as human beings –all of these became like a well-cooked soufflé.?
Armed with considerable knowledge and personal involvement on the frontlines, Shiv was a natural fit when it came to putting together a coalition of MSM activists and organisations from across Asia and the Pacific, along with government representatives and key United Nations system stakeholders working on HIV. Edmund Settle, HIV Policy Advisor for UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, worked closely with Shiv on a landmark gathering of coalition partners in New Delhi in 2006, a meeting which helped lay the foundation of what would eventually become APCOM and place MSM and transgender HIV and health rights firmly on the development agenda Asia and the Pacific. ?Shiv was incredibly well connected in South Asia and around the world,? noted Settle. ?His ability to attract and nurture new community leaders, and inspire hope among individuals who are highly discriminated against will remain unequalled. Shiv was a mentor, a friend and a guru. He will be deeply missed.?
One such activist who was long associated with Shiv is Sunil Babu Pant, the founder of the Blue Diamond Society in Nepal, an organisation that has achieved significant success in establishing LGBT rights in that Himalayan nation. Pant?s condolence message via e-mail is just one of dozens received from civil society, government, academic and UN officials: ?Really sad indeed to hear this news. Shiv generated knowledge, trained and help to build capacity of many MSMs in the region and internationally. My sincere and deep-felt condolences! What a great loss to all of us.?
The loss is all the more personal and profound for Shiv?s long-time partner Ravindra (Ravi) Yadav, who was his companion in Lucknow these past several years and who nursed Shiv through his several bouts of ill health. ?Shiv once discussed the few great loves of his life with me one evening in Lucknow a few years back, when our conversation veered from work issues to the personal?, reminisced Roy Wadia, APCOM Vice Chair and Communications Advisor. ?There?s no doubt that in Ravi he?d found his ideal companion. Despite their considerable age difference, theirs was a relationship of equals. Shiv adored and respected Ravi who in turn served as an anchor in many ways for Shiv. At the 2011 ICAAP in Busan, Shiv acknowledged Ravi, who was present, to the audience attending APCOM?s forum, a truly emotional moment for a man who rarely displayed his emotions in public.?
In a 2006 interview, Shiv was asked to gauge progress from NFI?s perspective regarding MSM-related HIV and rights issues. ?I?ll illustrate it in a very simple way,? he said. ?When our staff members were arrested in 2001, the response of the National AIDS Control Organisation and UNAIDS in India was very quiet and muted. We were told to do everything behind the scenes with the government. When we had a threat in 2006, UNAIDS Geneva, UNAIDS India, and NACO came out more publicly with support. And UNAIDS for the first time sent out a press release condemning potential arrests and harassment of people. NACO made a positive statement. They sent somebody to the city to talk to the police. That is an enormous change for the government here. So, yes, more money is coming in, understanding is growing, more projects are available, and there?s more political and international support. I think we have some good news. We?re not going backwards, we?re moving forward. Maybe the train is picking up pace now.?
?Shiv was indeed a key component of the engine that has helped propel that train of progress not only in Asia and the Pacific, but whose influence has been felt globally,? concluded Midnight Poonkasetwattana, APCOM Executive Director. ?Thank you Shiv, from all of us at APCOM and your friends and colleagues the world over for having laid such a strong foundation upon which we are committed to building a truly strong structure. You will never be forgotten.?
Select Links:
Project Bolo summary of Shivananda Khan?s interview: http://www.projectbolo.com/shiv.htm
Project Bolo Full Interview with Shivananda Khan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE8o7oHNWMU
TREAT Asia interview (2006) with Shivananda Khan: http://www.amfar.org/articles/around_the_world/treatasia/older/an_interview_with_shivananda_khan%E2%80%94standing_up_for_msm_in_south_asia/
?The Trouble with MSM?: Article by Shivananda
Khan: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470585/