Eduard Locher (15 January 1840 in Zurich – 2 June 1910 in Zurich) was a Swiss engineer, inventor and independent contractor who received a doctorate honoris causa for his work.  He devised the Locher rack railway system and built his privately owned Pilatus Railway that uses this system.

The Locher rack system invented by Eduard Locher, has gear teeth cut in the sides rather than the top of the rail, engaged by two cog wheels on the locomotive.  This system allows use on steeper grades than the other systems, whose teeth could jump out of the rack.  It is used on the Pilatus Railway.

Locher set out to design a rack system that could be used on gradients as steep as 1 in 2 (50%). The Abt system - the most common rack system in Switzerland at the time - was limited to a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%). Locher showed that on steeper grade, the Abt system was prone to the driving pinion over-riding the rack, causing potentially catastrophic derailments, as predicted by Dr. Abt. To overcome this problem and allow a rack line up the steep sides of Mt. Pilatus, Locher developed a rack system where the rack is a flat bar with symmetrical, horizontal teeth. Horizontal pinions engage the centrally-mounted bar, both driving the locomotive and keeping it centered on the track.

This system provides very stable attachment to the track, also protecting the car from toppling over even under the most severe crosswinds. Such gears are also capable of leading the car, so even flanges on running wheels are optional. The biggest shortcoming of the system is that the standard railway switch is not usable, and a transfer table or other complex device must be used where branching of the track is needed.

Following tests, the Locher system was deployed on the Pilatus Railway, which opened in 1889. No other public railway uses the Locher system, although some European coal mines use a similar system on steeply graded underground lines.

References

Swiss railway mechanical engineers
1840 births
1910 deaths
Rack railways

Eduard Locher


See also Wigner–Weyl transform, for another definition of the Weyl transform.

In theoretical physics, the Weyl transformation, named after Hermann Weyl, is a local rescaling of the metric tensor:

which produces another metric in the same conformal class.  A theory or an expression invariant under this transformation is called conformally invariant, or is said to possess Weyl invariance or Weyl symmetry.  The Weyl symmetry is an important symmetry in conformal field theory.  It is, for example, a symmetry of the Polyakov action. When quantum mechanical effects break the conformal invariance of a theory, it is said to exhibit a conformal anomaly or Weyl anomaly.

The ordinary Levi-Civita connection and associated spin connections are not invariant under Weyl transformations.  Weyl connections are a class of affine connections that is invariant, although no Weyl connection is individual invariant under Weyl transformations.

Conformal weight
A quantity  has conformal weight  if, under the Weyl transformation, it transforms via

Thus conformally weighted quantities belong to certain density bundles; see also conformal dimension.  Let  be the connection one-form associated to the Levi-Civita connection of .  Introduce a connection that depends also on an initial one-form  via

Then  is covariant and has conformal weight .

Formulas
For the transformation

We can derive the following formulas

Note that the Weyl tensor is invariant under a Weyl rescaling.

References

Conformal geometry
Differential geometry
Scaling symmetries
Symmetry
Theoretical physics

Weyl transformation


The historical fort of Agra is located in the Indian city of Agra. It was constructed by the Mughal Emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573.

Up until the Mughals seized it during the Mughal Dynasty, until 1638, when the capital was moved from Agra to Delhi, it served as the primary palace for the Sikarwar clan of Rajput monarchs.

It was also known as "Lal-Qila","Fort Rouge", and "Qila-i-Akbari".The Marathas were the last Indian kings to rule it before being taken by the British.

The Agra Fort was officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It is located around 2.5 kilometers northwest of the Taj Mahal, it's more well-known sibling structure.

The walled city is a better way to characterize the fort.

The past of Agra Fort before Mahmud Ghaznavi's assault is unknown, just like the rest of Agra. However, the Chauhan Rajputs took control of it in the 15th century.

Sikandar Lodi (A.D. 1487–1517), who relocated his capital from Delhi to Agra and built a few structures in the already-existing Fort at Agra, gave that city its position as the nation's capital shortly after.

The Mughals seized control of the fort and ruled from it after the First Battle of Panipat (1526 A.D.). Humayun was crowned there in A.D. 1530. Throughout the reign of Akbar, the fort acquired its current look.

Currently, it serves as a tourist destination and is maintained by the government.

References

Forts in India
16th-century buildings and structures

Agra Fort


Bonny Oaks Arboretum is an arboretum located at 6183 Adamson Circle, Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is open daily without charge.

The arboretum is a small round park in front of the Dent House, now the Hamilton County Agriculture Center, whose gardens and some buildings date from the mid-19th century. It contains 55 types of trees and shrubs, identified by common and scientific names, including the large willow oak which is over 100 years old.

See also
 List of botanical gardens in the United States

Arboreta in Tennessee
Botanical gardens in Tennessee
Geography of Chattanooga, Tennessee
Tourist attractions in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Protected areas of Hamilton County, Tennessee

Bonny Oaks Arboretum


Jan Sigurd Michael Arthursson (born 13 May 1958) is a Swedish politician and the current Secretary-General of the Centre Party.

Arthursson joined the Centre Party Youth in 1977 and soon came to hold various positions within the center movement through the 1990s, including Federal Secretary of the Centre Party Youth, Chairman of the Centre Party in Stockholm and group leader in the municipality of Stockholm. Since then he has worked as a management consultant and was instrumental in starting the think tank Fores, where he was chairman until March 2010.

During the election campaign for the election of 2010, Arthursson was campaign manager for the Centre Party's national election campaign. On November 17, 2010 Arthursson was designated party secretary of the Centre Party and succeeded Anders Flanking on January 1, 2011.

Arthursson has his roots in Halland, but now lives in Hässelby outside Stockholm. He is the domestic partner of Lovisa Morén and has six children.

References

External links
Michael Arthursson – Centerpartiet.se

Living people
1958 births
Centre Party (Sweden) politicians
People from Kungsbacka

Michael Arthursson


Hatch is a hamlet in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England.

It is located a little over a mile south-west of the market town of Sandy, and forms part of the Northill civil parish. Budna and Thorncote Green are located just to the west.

Hamlets in Bedfordshire
Northill

Hatch, Bedfordshire


The Organization for the Liberal Democracy in Venezuela (Organización por la Democracia Liberal en Venezuela, ODLV) is a classical liberal action tank from Caracas, Venezuela, created by a group of libertarian students. They are directive members of the Hispanic American Liberal Conference and as an intellectual group nowadays, they are willing to become a political party in the 2010.

ODLV uses the street alternative propaganda to promote classical liberalism, free-market ideas, individual rights and liberal capitalism. They have even filmed a controversial documentary: The Way Out, Liberal Capitalism (La Salida, el Capitalismo Liberal) with the support of the Movimiento Demócrata Liberal and Rumbo Propio para el Zulia.

External links
 Video Documentary The Way Out: the Liberal Capitalism (in Spanish)
 Organization for the Liberal Democracy in Venezuela (Website)

Libertarian think tanks
Classical liberalism
Civic and political organizations of Venezuela


William James Percival Webber (11 September 1901 – 12 April 1982) was a Welsh trade unionist.

Born in Swansea, Webber attended Swansea Grammar School, leaving at the age of sixteen to work as a clerk for the Great Western Railway.  He also joined the Railway Clerks' Association (RCA), and became active in the Labour Party.

In 1932, Webber was elected to Swansea Borough Council, and was the deputy mayor in 1942/43.  From 1940, he was chairman of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities Clerical, Administrative, Professional and Technical Grades. In 1944, he stood down from the council when he became a full-time divisional secretary for the RCA.

Webber was elected as assistant general secretary of the RCA in 1949, and that year also won election to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, serving until 1953. That year, he was elected as general secretary of the renamed Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), and also to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

From 1954, Webber was a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.  In 1958, he was appointed to the Coal Board, and in 1961 to the Royal Commission on the Press. In 1962, he retired from all his posts except the Coal Board, of which he became a full-time member until retiring in 1967. He was knighted the following year.

References

1901 births
1982 deaths
Councillors in Wales
Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford
General Secretaries of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association
Labour Party (UK) councillors
Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress
Trade unionists from Swansea
Welsh trade unionists

Bill Webber (trade unionist)


The aproned sparganothis or beautiful sparganothis (Sparganothis pulcherrimana) is a moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in the eastern United States and Canada (Florida to Texas, north to at least Iowa and Ontario). The distribution is not well documented due to historical confusion with Sparganothis niveana.

The wingspan is 15–16 mm. Adults are on wing from April to June.

References

External links
Bug Guide

Sparganothis
Moths of North America
Moths described in 1879

Sparganothis pulcherrimana


Star-Lord (Peter Quill) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, and is the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The character was created by Bill Mantlo, Steve Englehart, and Gray Morrow. A self-proclaimed ''outlaw'', Star-Lord was a member of the space thieves Ravagers who later formed a team with Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, and Groot to stop the evil Ronan the Accuser, and later to both protect the galaxy from threats, while at the same time getting paid for services.

He is a major character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is played by American actor Chris Pratt and is the protagonist of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie series, also appearing in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Source
  Some text was copied from Star-Lord at Disney Wiki, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license.

Marvel Comics superheroes

Star-Lord


Monochrome comes from the two Greek words mono (meaning "one") and chroma (meaning "surface" or "the colour of the skin"). If something is monochromatic, it only has a single color.

In physics, the word is used when talking about electromagnetic radiation of a single wavelength.

For an image, the term monochrome usually means the same as black-and-white or grayscale. It may also be used when talking about other combinations that only have two colors, for example, green-and-white or green-and-black. In computing, monochrome has two meanings:

It may mean having only one color which is either on or off.  If it also has shades of that color, then it is called grayscale.
A monochrome computer monitor can only show a single color, often green, amber, red or white. It can often also show shades of that color.

Color

Monochrome


Graham Jenkin (born Graham Keith Jenkin, 17 May 1938) is an Australian poet, historian, composer, and educator.

Graham Jenkin was born in Adelaide and educated at various country schools and at Prince Alfred College, Wattle Park Teachers College, and the University of Adelaide from where he has received an MA. His Master's degree thesis later became the basis of his book Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri. He received a PhD from the University of South Australia.  He spent two years  working as a jackeroo on stations in northern South Australia.  In 1961, he founded the Tea and Damper Club which was devoted to the preservation of Australian folklore, music and poetry.

From 1963 to 1965, he was Head Teacher of Coober Pedy Primary School.

In 1966, Graham Jenkin was appointed as a lecturer at Wattle Park Teachers College and then its successor institution the University of South Australia.

In 1968 Graham Jenkin, together with his wife Robyn Jenkin, Tony Strutton and Brenton Tregloan, formed The Overlanders, a group which performed Bush Songs and Bush Ballads. The Overlanders produced records, including Songs of the Breaker (1980) and Songs of the Great Australian Balladists (1978).

In 1996, Graham Jenkin was awarded the title of National Non-Indigenous Person of the Year, by the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC), for services to Aboriginal history.

Works

 Favourite Australian bush songs, (with Lionel Long), Adelaide, Rigby, 1964.
 Two years on Bardunyah Station, Adelaide, Pitjantjara, 1967.
 The famous race for Wombat's lace, Adelaide, Rigby, 1977.
 Songs of the great Australian Balladists, Adelaide, Rigby, 1978. Second edition published in 1983 by the Education Department of South Australia.
 Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri, Adelaide, Rigby, 1979. Winner, 1978 SA Biennial Literature Prize Winner, 1979 Wilke Award for Australian non-fiction
 Songs of the Breaker, Adelaide, Book Agencies, 1980.
 The head teacher, Adelaide, Education Department of SA, 1980.
 Convict times, (jointly), Adelaide, Omnibus, 1981.
 The ballad of the Blue Lake bunyip, Adelaide, Omnibus, 1982
 Calling me home, Adelaide, SACAE, 1989.
 The Bardunyah ballads, Sydney, Simtrak, 1992
 Meralte: the boat, Adelaide, JB Publishing, 2003.
 The songs from Meralte, Adelaide, JB Publishing, 2003.

References

External links
 The bushverse web site

Australian historians
1938 births
Living people
Australian children's writers
Australian male composers
Australian composers
Australian poets
People educated at Prince Alfred College

Graham Jenkin


Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan (born 17 August 1962), better known as Thol. Thirumavalavan is a political leader, scholar and activist from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a Member of Parliament from Chidambaram. Founder and President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. He rose to prominence in the 1990s as a Dalit leader, and formally entered politics in 1999. His political platform centres on ending caste-based discrimination and consequently the caste system. He has also expressed support for Tamil nationalist movements in Sri Lanka.

He contested the 1999 and 2004 general elections unsuccessfully and won the 2009 general elections from the Chidambaram constituency. He won the 2001 state assembly elections in alliance with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a post from which he resigned in 2004 quoting ideological differences with DMK. He is an author, and has also acted in Tamil cinema.

His confrontation with Pattali Makkal Katchi and its leader Ramadoss has resulted in frequent clashes between Dalits and the Vanniyars. Both parties have accused each other of instigating violence against the other community. Both Thirumavalavan and Ramadoss reconciled their differences and worked together during the period of 2004 to 2009, when they were part of the same electoral alliance.

In 2019 Thirumavalavan regained his Chidambaram seat and has been a vocal Opposition MP. In 2021, he led his party to win 4 seats in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly.

Education
He did his Bachelor's course in Chemistry at Presidency college Chennai, Master's degree in Criminology and pursued Law at Madras Law College. He completed his Ph.D. at Manonmanium Sundaranar University titled "Religious conversion of Meenakshipuram Dalits – a victimological study" and was awarded his doctorate in 2018.

Early activism
When he was studying at Madras Law College, Thirumavalavan got interested in the Eelam movement, due to Suba Veerapandian (who conducted a guest lecture on the topic). Thirumavalavan later met Suba Veerapandian again in September 1990 at Periyar Thidal (headquarters of the Dravidar Kazhagam).

In 1988, when working for the government's Forensic Department in the southern city of Madurai, he met Malaichamy, the Tamil Nadu state convenor of the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (DPI), an organisation that fought for the rights of Dalits. Following Malaichamy's death, Thirumalavan was elected the leader of the DPI on 21 January 1990. He designed a new flag for the organisation and changed its name to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal (Liberation Panthers). As part of his work, he also began visiting Dalit villages in the Madurai region, and began learning about the problems faced by Dalits. The killing of two Dalits in 1992, he says, made him more militant. He was particularly noted for his aggressive speeches which gained him significant recognition. Against the background of increasing Dalit assertiveness, he emerged as one of two major Dalit leaders in Tamil Nadu, with a large base of grassroots support, particularly in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. During early 1997, he was suspended from his government job on account of his increased political activity. He resigned from his job formally in August 1999 to contest the 1999 Indian general elections.

Political career

The DPI boycotted elections until 1999 general elections. It is unclear why the party did not contest elections until 1999. The decision of contesting the election in 1999 was considered controversial within the party. Thirumavalavan allied with G. K. Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress and represented the Third Front. The party contested in the Parliamentary constituencies of Chidambaram and Perambalur. Thirumavalavan contested in Chidambaram, and managed to poll 225,000 votes in his debut elections. Thirumavalavan alleged in one of his interviews on 22 February 2000 that the opposing DMK administration used National Goonda Act and National Security Act to detain cadres of his party. The phase also culminated the rivalry between Thirumavalavan's party and his competitors in the Chidambaram Constituency, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). PMK is a party that has a strong presence in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. The election in the constituency was marked by violence from both the parties. Houses of Dalits were burnt and Dalits in the region were denied employment, while Vanniyar houses were also burnt.

In 2001 state elections Viduthalai Chiruthaigal allied with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and contested seven seats. Since the PMK joined the AIADMK alliance, the VCK had to join the DMK led alliance. There were ideological differences in the alliance as it had BJP, which was earlier criticised by Thirumavalavan. Thirumavalavan was elected from Mangalore Constituency to State Legislative Assembly. During the 2004 general elections, he resigned his MLA post on 3 February 2004 quoting humiliation meted out by the alliance partners, especially the DMK. He also quoted that he quit as he contested in the symbol of DMK during the 2001 assembly elections. Thirumavalavan contested once again from Chidambaram in 2004 general elections, this time with Janata Dal (United) and polled 257,000 votes and lost by a low margin.

During 2004, after efforts from N. Sethuraman from MMK, Thirumavalavan and Ramadoss, the leader of PMK joined hands through a Tamil protection movement named Tamil Paathukappu Iyakkam.
He joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) alliance in the 2006 elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. His party was recognised by the Election Commission of India as a registered political party on 2 March 2006. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi contested in nine seats in Tamil Nadu and 2 seats in Pondicherry. The party won two of them, namely Durai Ravikumar from Kattumannarkoil, and Selvaperunthagai from Mangalore constituency]]. The alliance with ADMK broke in 2006, when he started allying with the DMK. His party contested in the local bodies elections in DMK alliance in 2006 and won five chairman to various municipalities. In the 2009 general election, Thirumavalavan allied with DMK and was elected to Parliament from the Chidhambaram Lok Sabha constituency in his third attempt.

Elections contested and positions held

   2001: Elected to Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for the first time.
   May 2009: Elected to Lok Sabha (fifteenth) for the first time
   May 2019: Elected to Lok Sabha 17th for the second time
   31 August 2009:Member of committee on commerce and member of consultative committee on ministry of social justice and empowerment.

Political views
Thirumalavan's politics are grounded in Ambedkarite and Dravidian philosophies as well as a retheorization of Tamil nationalism, which seeks to turn it into a force for annihilation of the caste system. Oppression of Dalits, he says, is institutionalised in India, including Tamil Nadu. Although the Dravidian parties which dominate the politics of Tamil Nadu are ideologically committed to the eradication of the caste system, Thirumavalavan argues that they have in practice drifted away from the original ideals of the Dravidian movement. Their policies, he says, have mainly benefitted the middle castes, and had actually led to an increase in the oppression of Dalits, with the middle castes replacing the Brahmins as the oppressor. Dalits cannot and should not expect much help from the Dravidian parties. The solution, according to Thirumavalavan, lies in Tamil nationalism. Caste oppression, he says, can only be ended by building resistance from below, through appealing to Tamil sentiments, as happened in the early days of the Dravidian movement under Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. If a properly Tamil government is formed in Tamil Nadu, he says, caste oppression will immediately disappear.

Thirumavalavan's views on the importance of the Tamil identity have also led him to strongly support Tamil secessionist groups in Sri Lanka, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a militant secessionist group who are formally banned as a terrorist organisation in India. He has criticised India for assisting the Sri Lankan army during the Sri Lankan military operations against the LTTE in 2008 and 2009, and has called upon the government of Tamil Nadu to take steps to safeguard the Tamils of Sri Lanka. On 15 January 2009 he started a hunger fast near Chennai (Maraimalai Adigal Nagar) for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils. After four days, on 19 January he called off the fast, saying that it had had no effect on the Indian government, and calling for a hartal in its place. He was a part of the 10 member MP team that visited the war-affected areas and transitional centres in Vavuniya on 11 October 2009. The delegation visited various part of Jaffna district and had a meeting at the Jaffna public library.

Thirumavalvan has also severely criticised Hindu society for, in his views, being built on the basis of caste and obeying the Manusmriti.

Dr. Thirumalavan is also a staunch critic of Hindu nationalism and, in particular, Hindutva. Hindutva, to Thirumavalavan, is the essence of the oppressive Indian state. Hindutva, he argues, has through religion worked to homogenise Tamil society with that of northern India. This, he says, has led to Tamils losing their identity. Ethnic Tamil nationalism, in his view, is essential to combat Hindutva. In more recent years his politics have mainly revolved around opposing the BJP and RSS in their agenda, including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. He views Hindutva organizations and ideology as being against the ideas of secularism and social justice. To him the idea of a Hindu Rashtra goes against the Indian constitution and would lead to continuation of caste hierarchies as part of "Sanatana Dharma". He believes Sanatan Dharma rejects equality, freedom and brotherhood. He says that Sanatana forces wanted to divide people on religious lines to implement Manu Dharma.

In 2009, Tamil Nadu's chief minister M. Karunanidhi passed a resolution in principle for 3% inner reservation for Arunthathiyar community, which Thirumavalavan supported.

In 2021, he claimed that it is his policy to expose to people, the intentions of the BJP which seeks to gain political advantage by cultivating casteism in Tamil soil, inciting religious hatred and division.

Film career
Thirumavalavan played a guest appearance as a Tamil militant leader in Sri Lanka in his first film Anbu Thozhi (2007), directed by L. G. Ravichandran. Thirumavalavan was cast in the leading role of a film titled Kalaham to play the character of Balasingham, a law college professor, which was being directed by Kalanjiyam. The film later failed to materialize. He also appeared in a song in Mansoor Ali Khan's Ennai Paar Yogam Varum (2007). In 2011, he played the role of the Chief Minister in Minsaram.

Filmography

Works
Thiruma's books

 Aththumeeru (Transgress), Tamizhargal Hindukkala? (Are the Tamils, Hindus?)
 Eelam Enral Puligal, Puligal Enral Eelam (Eelam means Tigers, Tigers means Eelam)
 Hindutuvathai Veraruppom (We Shall Uproot Hindutva)
 Saadhiya Sandharpavaadha Aniyai Veezhtuvom (We Shall Defeat the Casteist Opportunist Alliance).
 Two of his books have been published in English by Stree-Samya Books, Kolkata: Talisman: Extreme Emotions of Dalit Liberation (political essays written for 34 weeks in the India Today magazine's Tamil edition) and Uproot Hindutva: The Fiery Voice of the Liberation Panthers (contains 12 of his speeches).
 In 2018, he released a book Amaipai Thiralvom based on his political experiences which received warm welcome, positive reviews and also criticism from various Intellectual sources

Controversies
In the northern districts of Tamil Nadu with a large Vanniyar population, there are frequent clashes between Dalits and Vanniyars. During the 1999 general elections, there was intense violence in the region with casualties on both sides. Thirumavalavan accused Pattali Makkal Katchi, a Vanniyar caste-based party and its founder Ramadoss of instigating violence among the Vanniyars that result in the attack of Dalits. While Ramadoss alleges that Thirumavalavan encourages his party men to have sham inter-caste love marriage, Thirumavalavan accuses Ramadoss of showing caste superiority and instigating violence against Dalits. Both Thirumavalavan and Ramadoss reconciled and worked together during the period of 2004 to 2009, when they were part of the same electoral alliance. After 2009, when PMK split out of the DMK combine, the mutual confrontation started again.

During December 2012, Ramadoss formed an all community safeguard forum comprising 51 intermediate castes. He said he would not have any further alliance with Thirumavalavan and his party. He alleged that the Dalits take undue advantage over other communities using the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and the Act should be abolished. During April 2013, after the party conference of PMK in Mahabalipuram, there were widespread attacks on the Dalits in Dharmapuri district that resulted in two Dalits being killed. Both PMK and VCK accused each other for the mishap, but Ramadoss was arrested after the orders from the state government for the hate speech and damages to the state property during the violence. Thirumavalavan accused Ramadoss that his loss in the electoral base after the 2009 general elections and 2011 assembly elections has resulted in his going back to instigating caste violence.

The BSP was floated in Tamil Nadu in December 2008 with the same ideology as in Uttar Pradesh to unite the Dalits and Brahmins. Some of the prominent members of VCK like Selvaperunthagai, who was a MLA in Mangalore constituency, joined BSP. Thirumavalavan, in his response, claimed that the BSP is no threat to VCK vote bank and that the BSP has dumped the principles of Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram and Periyar. Some of the senior journalists also believed that BSP will not have a firm hold in Tamil Nadu to garner the 19% Dalit vote bank in Tamil Nadu as it did in Uttar Pradesh, as the vote bank is already split by the VCK and Puthia Tamizhagam party.

The VCK, in a plan to start a television channel, asked the party men to donate gold on the occasion of the 50th birthday of Thirumavalavan. There were also Thulabaram type of functions where equal weight of Thirmavalavan was donated. This was subject to wider criticism, drawing parallels with the exotic celebrations organised by Mayawati, the leader of BSP in Uttar Pradesh. Thirumavalavan clarified that the idea was to collect donations for the party and that his party did not enjoy support from rich people as with the case of other parties. As of 4 October 2012, the party got  of gold from seven centres that included Puducherry that had .

An altered video of a webinar from September 2020 in which Thol. Thirumavalavan was mentioning certain portions from Manusmriti on the status of women and their role created a controversy where he allegedly said that the Manusmriti treated all women as prostitutes. As soon as the video gained steam, BJP members condemned his statements and claimed that Thirumavalavan had insulted women by referring to them as prostitutes. Thirumavalavan, however, claimed that he was not demeaning women but emancipating them and that he was merely quoting great leaders. The Chennai city police registered a case against Thirumavalavan for over his comment on Manusmriti on 23 October 2020, based on a complaint by BJP legal cell state secretary. The VCK cadre across Tamil Nadu staged protests, after the call for protests by Thirumavalavan urging the state and union government to ban Manusmriti on 24 October 2020 saying that the Manusmriti degrades Dalits, indigenous people, women and backward castes and spreads hate on them. During the protests, he claimed that a few groups edited out five minutes from the forty minute video and claimed that he was demeaning women and the Hindutva groups are circulating the false message against him.

Notes

References

External links
 Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
 Thirumavalavan elected VCK president
 Thirumavalavan not to contest polls
 Thirumavalavan invites minorities
 Official facebook

Living people
India MPs 2009–2014
Tamil male actors
Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu
People from Ariyalur district
1962 births
Activists from Tamil Nadu
Indian actor-politicians
Indian Tamil politicians
Tamil Maanila Congress politicians
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians
Janata Dal (United) politicians
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi politicians
India MPs 2019–present

Thol. Thirumavalavan


Sologamy or autogamy is marriage by a person to themself. Supporters of the practice argue that it affirms one's own value and leads to a happier life. Critics argue that the practice is not legally binding unlike traditional marriage as well as rooted in narcissism and self-aggrandizement.

An alternative term is self-marriage or self-cest (selfcest), but this may also refer to a self-uniting marriage, which is a marriage without an officiant.

Ceremonies
Ceremonies in a self-marriage may take almost exactly the same form as that of a traditional marriage, which includes guests, a cake, and a reception. Some self-marrying programs include giving guidance, practice, and support prior to the marriage.

Self-marriage has become increasingly popular in the 21st century, especially among affluent women. , a travel agency in Kyoto is offering self-marriage packages for women, with some customers being wives who were dissatisfied with their original wedding. Some media outlets also reported the self-marriage of a British photographer in 2014 and an Italian fitness trainer in 2017. In June 2022, Kshama Bindu, an Indian woman from Gujarat, married herself, following all rituals and customs of a traditional Hindu wedding. This was noted as India's first sologamy. She identified herself as bisexual and her reason for marrying herself is that she always wanted to be a bride but not a wife.

In July 2023 the italian visual artist Elena Ketra brought the digital performance 'Sologamy.org' in an international preview in Rome, presented by the Fondazione Solares delle Arti. For the first time all the people could marry themselves online, entering their data to a touchscreen and 'by virtue of art and love', with also a free certificate attesting to their sologamous marriage.

In fiction
Several television series have featured characters who married themselves. Those include Sue Sylvester in Glee, Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City, Holly Franklin in season 4 of The Exes, a middle-aged man in Jam, The Red Guy in the episode "Comet!" of Cow and Chicken and Rona Jefferson in Doctors. Valerie Pitman, also from Doctors, had a storyline that sees her marry herself.

Sologamy is the subject of the award-winning 2010 British short comedy film The Man Who Married Himself, based on a short story by Charlie Fish that was first published in 1999.

In the 2016 Ben Stiller movie Zoolander 2, the transgender model All (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) is married to herself, as it's told that "monomarriage is finally legal in Italy".

The woman protagonist of the Icíar Bollaín's 2020 movie Rosa's Wedding (La boda de Rosa).

See also
 Selfcest
 Sologamy.org

References

External links

Endogamy

Sologamy


Fabian Gotthard von Steinheil (, tr. ; 14 October 1762 – 23 February 1831) was a Baltic German who served as a Russian military officer and the Governor-General of Finland between 1810 and 1824.

Steinheil was born in Hapsal, Estonia. His father's family was from region of Upper Rhine in Germany (where they had been burghers and officials of their hometowns); and his mother was from a cadet branch of the ancient Baltic House of Tiesenhausen, daughter of nobleman Fromhold Fabian Tiesenhausen, lord of Orina in Estonia. Stenheil's uncle and father had received a baronial title from the imperial authorities.

Fabian von Steinheil became a lieutenant in the Imperial Russian Army in 1782. He took part in the war in Finland in 1788 and in 1791-92 he worked with construction of fortifications in Old Finland, after which he served in military cartography.

He became a Major General in 1789 and took part in the campaigns in Prussia in 1806-1807 and Poland in 1805-1807. He became a Lieutenant General in 1807 and commanded the Russian troops on Åland in 1809 during the Finnish War.

In 1810 he was appointed as the Governor-General of Finland, to succeed Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly. He was well regarded by the Finnish population and was made a count in 1812. In 1813 he took part in the war against Napoleon as the commander of an army in Courland and Livonia, and was succeeded as Governor-General by the influential Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt. However, due to Armfelt's fragile health, Steinheil soon returned to the post of Governor-General which he held to 1824, being then succeeded by Count Arseniy Zakrevskiy.

He remained in Finland and died in Helsingfors in 1831.

Honours and awards
 Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
Order of Saint Anna, 1st class
Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class
Gold Sword for Bravery
Order of St. George, 3rd class
 Order of St. George, 4th class
Order of the Red Eagle 1st Class

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1762 births
1831 deaths
Baltic-German people
Governors of the Grand Duchy of Finland
Imperial Russian Army generals
People from the Governorate of Estonia
Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree
Ethnic German people from the Russian Empire

Fabian Steinheil


The Liuwu Bridge (} crosses the Lhasa River linking downtown Lhasa, Tibet to Lhasa railway station and Niu New Area on the south bank.
It was built in conjunction with the  Qinghai–Tibet Railway, which terminates on the south side of the river, and provides a connection to the town center on the north side.

Location

The Liuwu Bridge links central Lhasa to Lhasa Railway Station and the newly developed Niu New Area of Doilungdêqên County on the south bank of the Lhasa River.
Residents in the Ne'u area were resettled to make way for the new development.
The  "Liuwu New District" includes new residential buildings in traditional Tibetan style.
The villagers, numbering almost 1,700, were moved into these buildings.
The effect of the railway, bridge and Liuwu New District development has been urbanization and development of new enterprises such as transport, retail outlets and restaurants.

Construction

The Liuwu Bridge was built by China Communications Construction.
The construction project began in 2004.
About 500 people worked on the bridge, but according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent even the laborers engaging in sweeping and pushing wheelbarrows were almost all Chinese, since the chief engineer said Tibetans "do not have the technical training needed for the task."
The bridge was completed in April 2007.
It was opened to traffic on 1 May 2007.
Total funding allocated to the project was RMB 388.51 million.

Structure

The bridge is one of the notable structures of the  Qinghai–Tibet Railway, the highest railway in the world.
It is the first urban overpass in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The total length is  and the elevated section is .
The main span has a duplex basket-handle arch with a heeling angle of 28.4 degrees and an arch length of .
The piers of the main bridge use piled underground diaphragm walls.
The bridge is  wide, with three lanes in each direction.
The structure includes the first cloverleaf junction in Tibet.

References

Sources

Buildings and structures in Lhasa
Bridges in Tibet
Chengguan District, Lhasa
Doilungdêqên District

Liuwu Bridge


Ħamrun is a clachan in the middlin o Malta. The fowk that bides thare is tradeetionally kent as Tas-Sikkina literally meanin "o the dirk". It is a trokin centre in Malta, an parteecular kenspeckle for the monie plenishin shops an shoppin centre. It is the cauf kintra o the Seilie Dun George Preca an it is the hametoun o the umwhile Presses Guido de Marco. Forby thon Ħamrun is kent for it's fitbaa club - Hamrun Spartans.

References

Touns in Maltae
Local cooncils o Maltae

Ħamrun


Nikki Snelson (born Nicole Snelson) is an American actress, who works mainly in stage musicals.

Biography
Snelson is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and received her training at the Boston Conservatory. Snelson's first major role on Broadway came as "Winnie Tate" in the 1999 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun (musical), opposite Bernadette Peters. She also appeared on Broadway in the revival of Sweet Charity in 2005, starring Christina Applegate.

She was in a long term relationship with actor Christian Campbell, from 2005 to 2007.

In 2007, Snelson originated the role of exercise queen "Brooke Wyndam" in the world premiere of the musical Legally Blonde: The Musical in San Francisco. She performed the same role in the Broadway production at the Palace Theatre, opening in April 2007. She can be heard on the cast recording of the show, and was also in the MTV Broadcast, as well as the reality casting show Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods.

In 2008, she left the company of Legally Blonde to join the National tour of A Chorus Line, as "Cassie", starting in May 2008.  She was requested to audition for the role of Cassie, after she had tried out the role of Val for the Broadway revival before. She then appeared in 42nd Street at The Muny in St. Louis in June 2009, as "Annie", opposite Robert Cuccioli.

Snelson originated the role of the Mad Hatter in the world premiere of the new Frank Wildhorn musical Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure.  The musical had its world premiere on November 24, 2009 in previews and officially December 5, 2009 at The David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa, Florida, and opened at the Alley Theatre, Houston on January 15, 2010. While the plot of the show was reviewed poorly (though the production good), Snelson received great reviews for her portrayal, which featured her performing difficult choreography (by Marguerite Derricks) while singing "high energy" Wildhorn tunes. Tampa Bay Online says Snelson "gives a knock-out performance."  Variety added that Snelson played the Hatter "deliciously wicked." However, before its Broadway production, the musical's creators altered the role of the Hatter drastically, including taking out the dancing, cutting out the sarcastic dialogues, as well as replacing her signature song "Nick of Time," and decided to replace Snelson.  In an interview following this, Snelson said "it was a wonderful experience for me, and I will forever be heartbroken."

She took part in a reading of a new musical Sphinx Winx on March 15, 2010 in New York. The musical has music and lyrics by Kenneth Hitchner, Jr. and a book by Phillip Capice, Bob Keuch and Anne Hitchner.

Television and Film
Snelson has appeared in several television shows, including as a guest on Desperate Housewives (2005) and as "Chelsea" on ABC's All My Children (2004).

Snelson played herself in the movie Every Little Step and auditioned for the part of Val, but did not get the part.

She was offered a role in the CW's Valentine, but her contract with the Chorus Line national tour forbid her from leaving, as the producers threatened to sue.

References

External links
Official Website

 Internet Off-Broadway database listing

American musical theatre actresses
Place of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Actresses from St. Louis
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American women

Nikki Snelson