Mathura district situated along the banks of the river Yamuna is a district of Uttar Pradesh state of north-central India. The historic city of Mathura is the district headquarters. Mathura district is home to many important sites associated with goddess Radha and Krishna, who is believed to be born in Mathura and grew up in the nearby town of Vrindavan. Both cities are some of the most sacred sites in the Vaishnava tradition, making Mathura district an important Hindu pilgrimage centre.

The District is part of Agra division. Total area of Mathura district is 3340 sq. km. There are 5 tehsils in Mathura district. 1. Mathura 2. Govardhan 3. Chhata 4. Mant 5. Mahavan. Mathura is bounded on the northeast by Aligarh District, on the southeast by Hathras District, on the south by Agra District, and on the west by Rajasthan and northwest by Haryana state.

History

Mathura has an ancient history. The district lies in the centre of the cultural region of Braj. According to the Archaeological Survey of India plaque at the Mathura Museum, the city is mentioned in the oldest Indian epic, the Ramayana. In the epic, the Ikshvaku prince Shatrughna slays a demon called Lavanasura and claims the land. Afterwards, the place came to be known as Madhuvan as it was thickly wooded, then Madhupura and later Mathura.

In the 6th century BCE Mathura became the capital of the Surasena mahajanapada. The city was later ruled by the Maurya empire (4th to 2nd centuries BC) and the Shunga dynasty (2nd century BC). It may have come under the control of Indo-Greeks some time between 180 BCE and 100 BC. It then reverted to local rule before being conquered by the Indo-Scythians during the 1st century BC.

Mathuran art and culture reached its zenith under the Kushan dynasty which had Mathura as one of their capitals, the other being Purushapura (Peshawar). The dynasty had kings with the names of Kujula Kadphises, Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva I.

Megasthenes, writing in the early 3rd century BC, mentions Mathura as a great city under the name Μέθορα (Méthora).

The Indo-Scythians (aka Sakas or Shakas) conquered the area of Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BCE.

The district was then ruled by the Guptas and the Vardhas(Harsha) before falling into the hands of local Rajput and Jat rulers

The findings of ancient stone inscriptions in Maghera, a town  from Mathura, provide historical artifacts giving more details on this era of Mathura. The opening of the 3 line text of these inscriptions are in Brahmi script and were translated as: "In the 116th year of the Greek kings..."

The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the "Northern Satraps", as opposed to the "Western Satraps" ruling in Gujarat and Malwa. After Rajuvula, several successors are known to have ruled as vassals to the Kushans, such as the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the "Satrap" Vanaspara, who are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath, and dated to the 3rd year of Kanishka (c 130 AD), in which they were paying allegiance to the Kushans.

Mathura served as one of the Kushan Empire's two capitals from the first to the third centuries.

Fa Xian mentions the city, as a centre of Buddhism about AD 400; while his successor Xuanzang, who visited the city in 634 AD, which he mentions as Mot'ulo, and said that it contained twenty Buddhist monasteries and five Brahmanical temples. Later, he went east to Thanesar, Jalandhar in the eastern Punjab, before climbing up to visit predominantly Theravada monasteries in the Kullu valley and turning southward again to Bairat and then Mathura, on the Yamuna river.

The city was sacked and many of its temples destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1018 and again by Sikandar Lodhi, who ruled the Sultanate of Delhi from 1489 to 1517.

Sikander Lodhi earned the epithet of 'But Shikan', the 'Destroyer of Hindu deities'. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, built the city's Jami Masjid. The noteworthy fact is that the exact place of birth of Krishna, according to historians, is in the place of worship of the Hindus, though the mosque was built near the birthplace of Krishna. The bigger Krishna shrine, better known as Dwarkadheesh temple is a few metres away from birthplace of Krishna. It was built in 1815 by Seth Gokuldas Parikh, Treasurer of Gwalior.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Mathura district has a population of 2,547,184, roughly equal to the nation of Kuwait or the US state of Nevada. This gives it a ranking of 167th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 22.53%. Mathura has a sex ratio of 858 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 72.65%. Scheduled Castes made up 19.89% of the population.

The district has about 1,600,000 voters, including 3,000,000 Jat people, 2,500,000 Thakur, 17,50,000 Brahmin and 150,000 Dhangars. Mathura receives a large number of daily visitors besides pilgrims who stay for an average of 3 days. Mathura's urban area's floating population on normal days is between 100,000 and 125,000 per day, whereas on festive and auspicious days it is over twice the population of urban area.

The majority of people in Mathura are Hindus. Muslims are equally divided between rural and urban areas while the Hindu population is mainly rural.

Language

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 75.20% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 22.25% Braj and 0.81% Urdu as their first language.

People in Mathura and nearby areas speak Braj. Braj Bhasha (Devanagari: ब्रज भाषा), also called Brij Bhasha (बॄज भाषा), Braj Bhakha (ब्रज भाखा), or Dehaati Zabaan (देहाती ज़बान, 'country tongue'), is a Western Hindi language closely related to Hindustani. In fact, it is usually considered to be a dialect of Western Hindi, and along with Awadhi (a variety of Eastern Hindi) was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before the switch to Hindustani (Khariboli) in the 19th century. Its purest forms are spoken in the cities of Mathura, Agra, Etah, and Aligarh.

Most speakers of Braj Bhasha worship Krishna. Their bhakti ("devotion") finds expression in the language, which has a very firm base in folk literature and songs. Almost all of the enactments of episodes from Krishna's life that are performed during the Janmashtami festival (celebrating Krishna's birth) are presented in Braj Bhasha.

Geography and climate
Mathura is located at . It has an average elevation of 174 metres (570 feet). The climate of Mathura is tropical extreme with very hot summers with temperatures rising beyond 44 °C, and cold and foggy winters with the temperature dipping to 5 °C. The average rainfall is 793  mm, received mostly during the monsoons from July to September.

Administration
Region of Mathura was added to British territory in 1803 A.D. Till 1832 A.D, when Mathura was recognised as district, the region was partly administered from Agra and partly from Sadabad.

Strategic importance
Mathura is the home for Indian I Corps (Strike Formation) within the Indian Army's Central Command, hosting Strike I Corps headquarters in a large classified area in the outskirts of the city known as Mathura Cantonment (Central Command itself has its headquarters at Lucknow). It hosts Strike Infantry units, Air Defence units, Armoured Divisions, Engineer brigades, Aritillery Units and classified units of Strategic Nuclear Command. Corps I is primarily responsible for western borders of India. In 2007 during Exercise Ashwamedha, all the armoured, artillery and infantry divisions performed a simulation of an overall NBC (nuclear-chemical-biological) environment. The aim was to show operational ability in high intensity, short duration and 'sudden' battles.

Politics
Mathura is governed by a number of bodies, the most important being the Mathura Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation), which is responsible for the master planning of the city. Now the responsibilities of planning of the city as well as urban areas ( including nagar nigam ) handed over to MATHURA-VRINDAVAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (in brief- "M V D A"). The Authority established in 1977.

Mathura Lok Sabha constituency elects MP from this district. In 2019 Hema Malini (BJP) won the election.

Healthcare
Health care facilities in Mathura are provided by Central, State and Local government facilities, besides numerous private providers. As per the recent District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3) 2007 – 2008, only 33% of currently married women are using a modern method of contraception, which is lower than the state average of 34.8%. Usage of any modern method, though, is higher in Mathura (29.4%) in comparison to the state's average of 26.7%. The percentage of IUD, Pill and Condom usage is again below the state average. The DLHS 3 estimates unmet Family Planning need in Mathura at 38.9%: 9.8% unmet need for spacing methods and 29.1% unmet need for limiting methods. The percentage of birth of order 3 and above is quite high at 46.9%. Mathura has lesser percentage of girls marrying before 18 years of age, which is 31.6% in comparison with the state average of 33.1%. But the most alarming statistic is that of mothers who had at least 3 antenatal care visits during the last pregnancy, which is only 21% as compared to the state average of 64.4%.

Public infrastructure

Economy and industry
One of the major contributors in the economy of Uttar Pradesh are Mathura Industries. Mathura Refinery located in the city is one of the biggest oil refineries of Asia. This oil refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation is a highly technologically advanced oil refinery. Mathura Refinery is the first in Asia and third in the world to receive the coveted ISO-14001 certification for Environment Management System in 1996.

Textile printing industry that includes both sari-printing and fabric dyeing and silver ornaments manufacturing are major industrial contributors to the region. Majority of these silver ornaments include silver jewellery and statues for gods and goddesses including Krishna. Apart from these other industries are water tap manufacturing units and other decorative and household items.
Mathura also is a big centre for production of cotton materials;prominent among them being pure white bleached cotton sarees for women and dhotis for men, and cotton niwar tapes for beds.
It is also a hub for production of milk based sweet meats, prominent among them being mathura Pedas and burfis. Renowned as the place where rivers of milk flowed, Mathura till today boasts of Milk trading centres where you can buy any amount of fresh milk where rates vary every few minutes and are notified on a black board akin to stock prices.

Education
GLA University Accredited by NAAC with "A" Grade, R.K. Group of Institutions (including Rajiv Academy For Technology Management, Rajiv Academy For Teacher's Education, Rajiv Academy For Pharmacy, K.D. Dental College Hospital, Rajiv International School, etc.), BSA College of engineering and technology, Excel Institute of Management Technology has been accorded as status of university). 40 engineering
management colleges had been established in Mathura up to 12-12-2009.

Mathura is home to the Uttar Pradesh Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Veterinary University, the first of its kind in the state and the fourth in the country to be made independent veterinary universities. The University is located on the Mathura-Agra road, about  from M. Famous Government engineering college, Bharatpur is located at 35 km from Mathura.

Many schools like Parmeshwari Devi Dhanuka, Hanuman Prashad Dhanuka, Kanha Makhan Public School, Kanha Makhan Millenium School, Amarnath Vidya Ashram, Sacred Heart, St. Dominics, Ramanlal Shorawala, SRBS International School,Braj shiksha sadan school and Rajiv International School are also located here.

Culture and religion

The culture of Mathura, and in fact the whole of Braj region is centered on the worship of Radha Krishna and their divine pastimes. Mathura witnesses sharp spike in tourism activities during the major festivals like Krishna Janamashtami, Radhashtami and Holi. The residents or natives of Mathura are called Brijwasi. Mathura is famous for its sweets and Chaat.

Language
The language spoken in the Braj mandal is mainly Braj, and spoken in the other parts of several states in India. This dialect is characteristic with the Braj and known as Brajbhasha. Before Hindi and until past few centuries, Brajbhasha used to be the dominant dialect in literature.

Dance
Raaslilas of Mathura have become an integral part of Indian folklore.

Charkula is a traditional folk dance of the Braj. In this dance, a woman balances a column of deepikas on her head and dances to the accompaniment of Rasiya songs by the menfolk.

Art
Mathura School of Art, style of Buddhist visual art that flourished in the Mathura, from the 2nd century bc to the 12th century A.D; its most distinctive contributions were made during the Kushan and Gupta periods (1st–6th century A.d). Images in the mottled red sandstone from the nearby Sīkri quarries are found widely distributed over north central India, attesting to Mathurā's importance as an exporter of sculpture. The Mathura School images are related to the earlier yakṣa (male nature deity) figures, a resemblance particularly evident in the colossal standing Buddha images of the early Kushān period. In these, and in the more representative seated Buddhas, the overall effect is one of enormous energy. The shoulders are broad, the chest swells, and the legs are firmly planted with feet spaced apart.

These days, around 1,000 craftsmen are involved in making wall hangings at Holi gate and Chowk Bazaar in the pilgrim town of Mathura. These wall hangings delve on religious themes and mostly revolve around Radha and Krishna seated on a swing, Krishna playing flute along with Radha and Gopis, Krishna with herds of cattle, Goddess Saraswati, Vaishno Devi and Vishnu. Wall hangings have the gods and goddesses in highly embellished form, marking the highpoints of the Mathura School of Paintings. Once the brush work is over, the figures are adorned with colourful stars and mica pieces to make them attractive. One of the most brilliant art works of Mathura School of Paintings is Goddess Lakshmi in the midst of lotus flowers.

Sanjhee is the colourful art of decorating the ground with flowers.

Music
Rasiya is a tradition that is integral to Mathura's culture. It is the tradition of folk-songs that describe the love of the divine couple Radha and Krishna. It is an inseparable part of the Holi celebrations and all other festive occasions at Mathura. (Dhulendi – Holi with drums (dholak), colours, etc. originated from Braj region hundreds of millennia before today.)

Sports
Traditional sports like kabbadi, gilli danda etc. Active participation in state level cricket. Other sports like netball, hockey and swimming are also common.

Religion

Mathura is one of the seven most holy places for Hindus in India.

A Kṣetra is a sacred ground, a field of active power, a place where Moksha, final release can be obtained. The Garuda Purana enumerates seven cities as giver of Moksha, They are Ayodhya, Mathura, Māyā, Kāsi, Kāñchī, Avantikā, Puri and Dvārāvatī.

Tourism

Temples
Shri Krishna Janmbhoomi is a Hindu temple complex located in heart of city of Mathura. Hindus consider it as one of the most sacred place as they believe that the temple stands on the same place where ancient Hindu god Krishna was born. The complex have a Keshavdev temple where spiritual environment could be felt during morning prayer (Mangla Aarti). The temple complex have a museum, where numerous articles excavated from the site related to story of Sri Krishna'a birth are displayed.

Dwarkadheesh Temple, built in 1814, is a temple near the banks of Yamuna river in Mathura city. This temple is managed by followers of Vallabhacarya. The temple is fairly interesting architecturally. People engaged in Bhajan Kirtan inside temple before daily morning prayer (Mangla Aarti gives an impression of festival and celebration.

Gita Mandir is situated at a distance of nearly five kilometers from Mathura Junction (in way of Vrindaban from Matura city) is an attraction of Mathura. The mandir was built by Birla, one of the leading industrial powers of India. The architecture of the temple attracts tourists from all over India. The whole of Gita, the sacred book of the Hindus, is inscribed on the temple. Carvings and paintings also enhance the temple. There is an image of Krishna is present in the sanctum of the Mandir.

Rangaji Temple, built in 1851 is dedicated to Ranganatha or Rangaji depicted as Vishnu in his sheshashayi pose, resting on the coils of the sacred Shesha-nag. The temple built in the Dravidian style has a tall gopuram (gateway) of six storeys and a gold - plated Dhwaja stambha, 50 feet high. A water tank and a picturesque garden lie within the temple enclosure. The annual festival of Jal Vihar of the presiding deity is performed with great pomp and splendour at the tank. The temple is also known for its `Brahmotsdav' celebration during the month of Chaitra (March - April), more popularly known as the `Rath ka Mela'. The ten-day-long celebrations are marked by the pulling of the rath (the chariot car) by the devotees from the temple to the adjoining gardens.

Jugal Kishor Temple was built in the 17th century after Emperor Akbar's visit to Vridaban in the year 1570, he ordered four temples to be built by the Gaudya Vaisnavas, which were Madana-mohana, Govindaji, Gopinatha and Jugal Kisore. The temple is located near Kesi Ghat in Vrindaban and also called as Kesi temple.

Radharaman Temple is another name of ancient Hindu god Krishna which means "one who gives pleasure to Radha". The seva puja of Radharamana was established in 1542, after the Deity self-manifested from a saligram-sila. Also kept in this temple is the wooden sitting place (hoki) and shawl (chaddar) or Chaitanya, that he gave as a gift to Gopala Bhatta Gosvami who built the temple. There is no deity of Radharani in this temple, but a crown is kept next to Krishna signifying her presence.

Jaipur Temple which was built by Sawai Madhav Singh, the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1917, is a richly embellished and opulent temple located in Vrindaban. The fine hand - carved sandstone is of unparalleled workmanship. The temple is dedicated to Radha Madhav.

Shahji Temple, another temple at Vrindavan, was designed and built in 1876 by a wealthy jeweller, Shah Kundan Lal of Lucknow. The deities at the temple are popularly known as the Chhote Radha Raman. Noted for its architecture and marble sculpture, the temple has twelve spiral columns each 15 feet high. The `Basanti Kamra' - the darbar hall is famed for its Belgian glass chandeliers and fine paintings.

Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir is the world's tallest temple under-construction at Mathura. At cost of  it will be one of the most expensively built temple in world by ISKCON.

Prem Mandir is a religious and spiritual complex situated on a 54-acre site on the outskirts of Vrindavan, is one of the newest temples dedicated to Radha Krishna. The temple structure was established by spiritual guru Kripalu Maharaj. The main structure of temple is made up of white marble. Idols of Radha Krishna and Sita Rama are present on the ground floor and first floor respectively. The whole premises of temple is covered with different art works depicting the pastimes of Radha Krishna.

Sri Vrindavan-Chandra Mandir (HKM Vrindavan), located in Vrindavan, is a replica of that supreme Goloka Vrindavana in the spiritual sky. It was inaugurated in 2006 on the most auspicious day of Sri Rama Navami day. The temple is housed in an ultra-modern geodesic structure with a traditional gopuram based on khajuraho style of architecture, greeting pilgrims at the entrance. The major festivals of the temple are Sri Krishna Janmashtami, Sri Radhashtami, Kartik Fest (7-day festival during Govardhan Puja time) and Gaura Purnima. Grand abhishekas are performed for Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan-chandra during festivals such as Radhashtami and Janmashtami.

Shree Radha Ras Bihari Ashta Sakhi Temple: In Vrindavan, the "Lila Sthan" (the place of the divine passion play) of Krishna, lies the temple that is a must visit destination for devotees completing the 84 kosh Vraj Parikrama Yatra. The temple is centuries old and is the first Indian temple that is dedicated to the divine couple and their Ashta Sakhi's - the eight "companions" of Radha who were intimately involved in her love play with the Krishna. The Ashta Sakhis are mentioned in the ancient texts of Puranas and the Bhagavata Purana. The temple is called Shree Radha Ras Bihari Ashta Sakhi Mandir and it is home to the divine Rasa Lila of Krishna and Radharani. It is located in close proximity to the Banke Bihari Temple. Legend has it that the Shree Radha Rasa Behari Ashta Sakhi Mandir is one of the two places in Mathura, Vrindavan where the Krishna actually indulges in the Rasa Lila with his beloved Radha and her sakhis. On these nights, devotees have reported hearing the sound of the anklets, beating in tune to a divine melody.

Govind Deo Temple was once a seven storeyed structure built in the form of a Greek cross. It is said that the Emperor Akbar donated some of the red sandstone that had been brought for the Red Fort at Agra, for the construction of this temple. Built at the astronomical cost of one crore rupees in 1590 by his general Man Singh, the temple combines western, Hindu and Muslim architectural elements in its structure.

Krishna-Balaram Mandir is a Gaudiya Vaishnava temple in the holy city of Vrindavan. It is one of the main ISKCON temples in India and internationally. Krishna-Balaram Mandir was built in 1975 on the orders of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

Shri Jambuswami Digambara Jain Mandir is an important religious places for the Jains as they believe the last Kevali Jambuswami attained nirvana from this place called Mathura Chaurasi.

Other important temple sites include - Radha Madanmohan Temple, Radha Damodar Temple, Radha Vallabh Temple, Radharani Temple, Nidhivan, Radha Krishna Vivah sthali, Bhandirvan.

Ghat
Vishram Ghat is a ghat, a bath and worship place, on the banks of river Yamuna. It is the main ghat of Mathura city and is central to 25 other ghats. The traditional parikrama starts and ends at Vishram Ghat. Krishna is said to have rested at this place after killing Kansa.

Some notable places in Mathura District:
 Mathura - the town
 Gokul
 Mahawan
Baldev
 Raya
 Vrindaban
 Goverdhan
 Barsana
 Nandgaon
 Kosi Kalan
 Farah
 Mant
Nauhajhil
 Bajna
 Surir
 Bhidauni
 Akos

Religious festivals

Krishna Janmashtami
Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) of the month of Shraavana (August–September) in the Hindu calendar. Rasa lila dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, are a special feature in Mathura. There is a huge arati at 12 midnight in temples all over Vrindavana.

Radhashtami
Radhashtami is the appearance day of Radharani. This festival falls on the eighth day, of the bright fort-night in the month of Bhadra (August-September), exactly 15 days after the appearance of Krishna. This festival is very joyously celebrated in whole Mathura region with its centre at Barsana. There is all night kirtana held the night before Radhashtami at the Radha Rani Temple in Barsana, ending with an ecstatic mangala arati. Many people especially visit Barsana on this day.

Guru Purnima
Guru Purnima is a Hindu festival dedicated to spiritual and academic teachers. This festival takes place in the month of Asadha (June–July). It is customary to worship the spiritual master on this day. Millions of people visit Mathura on Guru Purnima because of the presence of thousands of spiritual Gurus in Mathura. On this day many devotees gather at Manasi Ganga and do Govardhana parikrama.

Braj Parikrama
Braj Parikrama is a pilgrimage of all the places in Braj that associated with Krishna, is undertaken. Traditionally, the Chaurasi kos (84 kos) pilgrimage of Braj Mandal, with its 12 vanas (forests), 24 upvanas (groves), sacred hill Govardhan, divine River Yamuna and numerous holy places along its banks, is undertaken annually by lakhs of devotees from all over the country.
The Yatra extends to Kotban to the north of Mathura, to Nandgaon, Barsana and the Govardhan Hill to the west and South-west of the city and to the banks of the Yamuna to the east, where the Baldeo Temple is located. Colourful melas and performances of the rasalila (a depiction of the exploits of Krishna) in Braj Parikrama are distinctive to rainy month of Bhadon, the month when the Krishna was born, is a time of colourful celebrations.

Vasant Panchmi
Vasant Panchami, a festival that marks the commencement of spring season, is widely celebrated in Mathura. The festival marks the beginning of celebrations of Holi in Mathura. Special religious programs are organised in other temples of across the district, like in Bankey Bihari Temple of Vrindavan pilgrims celebrate the occasion by tossing rose powder.

Lathmar Holi

Lathmar Holi is a local celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi. It takes place well before the actual Holi in the town of Barsana. The name means "that Holi in which [people] hit with sticks". In the sprawling compound of the Radha Rani temple in Barsana, thousands gather to witness the Lath mar Holi when women beat up men with sticks (laṭh) as those on the sidelines become hysterical, sing Holi Songs and shout Sri Radhey or Sri Krishna.

Jal Jhulan
This is the swing festival at the Ranganatha temple. At night the temple tank is lit up. This festival is on the 11th day of the month of Bhadra (Aug-Sept).

Jhulan Yatra Mahotsava
This festival lasts for 13 days. It starts on the Tritya (third day) of the bright fortnight of Sravana (July-Aug) and lasts until the full moon night of the month. During this festival the Radha-Krishna Deities in the temples are swung on a swing. This is one of the biggest festivals of the year and Vrindavana is very crowded at this time. Often the swings are gold and silver. Some of the main temples that this festival is celebrated at are the Banke Bihari Temple and the Radha-Raman Temple in Vrindavana, the Dwarkadheesh temple in Mathura, and the Radha Rani Temple in Barsana.

Transport
Mathura is on the main lines of the Central Railways and is connected with all the important cities of Uttar Pradesh and India such as Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Mumbai, Jaipur, Gwalior, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai. The Nearest airport is Kheria (Agra), 62 km away from Mathura. Mathura is also well connected by motorable roads to important cities in the region.

Villages

 Aduki
Bhidauni
Kiloni
Paigaon
Patloni
Dhangoi

See also
Vrindaban Road railway station
Vrindavan railway station
Ajhai Railway Station

References

External links

 Official website

Mathura district
Agra division
Districts of Uttar Pradesh

Mathura district


The 1993 Las Vegas Bowl was played December 17, 1993, at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Whitney, Nevada.

Background
Ball State, of the Mid-American Conference ran the table and won their second conference title in four years, while riding into this bowl game with a four game winning streak. The Aggies of the Big West Conference had won five straight games after starting the season 1–5 to win a share of the conference title with Southwestern Louisiana. This was their first bowl appearance since 1961.

Game summary
Utah State – McMahon 22 yard pass from Calvillo (Morreale kick, 10:27 1st)
Utah State – Grier 3 yard run (Morreale kick, 2:34 1st)
Utah State – Thompson 3 yard pass from Calvillo (Morreale kick, 0:24 2nd)
Ball State – McCray 7 yard pass from Neu (Swart kick, 13:11 3rd)
Ball State – Swart 31 yard field goal (12:05 3rd)
Utah State – Grier 15 yard run (Morreale kick, 6:41 3rd)
Utah State – Lee 16 yard pass from Calvillo (Morreale kick, 3:32 3rd)
Ball State – Neu 2 yard pass from Blair (Swart kick, 0:07 3rd)
Ball State – Safety, Calvillo forced out of end zone (12:56 4th)
Utah State – Toomer 32 yard INT return (Morreale kick, 11:34 4th)
Ball State – Nibbs 2 yard run (Neu pass good, 10:34 4th)
Ball State – Oliver 2 yard pass from Neu (Neu pass failed, 5:07 4th)

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo and running back Profail Grier led Utah State University to a 42–33 victory over Ball State University. Calvillo, a senior who finished the 1993 NCAA season ranked ninth nationally in total offense, completed 25 of 39 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.  Grier, a sophomore, rushed for 143 yards on 32 carries and ran for two touchdowns. The Aggies' offensive line played a pivotal role in the game by not allowing a quarterback sack, as the Utah State gained 429 total offensive yards in securing the victory.

Utah State led 21–0 at halftime.  The Aggies gained 329 of their 491 yards in the first half, scoring on drives of 73, 82 and 68 yards to lead at the half against a Ball State defense that had only allowed 12 points in its previous three games. Additionally, the Aggies defense limited the Cardinal offense, which had averaged 357.4 yards per game during the season, to just 31 offensive yards in the first half.

In the second half, however, Ball State scored 33 points to close the half-time gap. Running back Mike Blair threw a two-yard pass to quarterback Mike Neu to cut the lead to 35–17 with seven seconds remaining in the third quarter.  In the fourth quarter, Neu threw a touchdown pass to Mike Oliver to close the score to 42–33 for Utah State.  After that score, however, Utah State was successful in running out the remaining time on the clock to secure the victory.  While Ball State came into the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl as a predominantly running team, only 73 of its total 312 yards came on the ground.

The bowl victory was the first for Utah State in five tries.

Aftermath
Utah State made just one more bowl game in the decade. They did not win another bowl game until 2012. Ball State won another MAC title in 1996, but lost. They did not return to a bowl game again until 2008.

References

Video highlights of game by KSL-TV, Salt Lake City

Las Vegas Bowl
Las Vegas Bowl
Ball State Cardinals football bowl games
Utah State Aggies football bowl games
Las Vegas Bowl
December 1993 sports events in the United States

1993 Las Vegas Bowl


Randeep Singh Surjewala (born 3 June 1967) is an Indian politician from Haryana and a member of Indian National Congress party. He was an MLA in the Haryana state legislature until 2019 and a former minister. He held water supply and sanitation, parliamentary affairs, electronics and information technology, science and technology and public works as a minister in Haryana cabinet. In 2005, he was given the responsibility of  Transport and Parliamentary Affairs and thus became the youngest minister in Haryana. He defeated Om Prakash Chautala in 1996 and 2005. As of December 2017, Surjewala is one of the official spokespersons of Indian National Congress party, and as of September 2021, is a General Secretary of the Indian National Congress and Party in-charge for Karnataka. In the biennial elections of the Rajya Sabha for the State of Rajasthan, held on 10 June 2022, Mr. Surjewala was elected as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, with his term to start on 5 July 2022.

Early life

Randeep Singh Surjewala was born in Chandigarh as the youngest and fourth child of Ch. Shamsher Singh Surjewala and Vidya Kulharia. His father was then Minister for Agriculture & Co-operatives of Haryana. He has three elder sisters – Madhu Dalal, Poonam Chaudhery and Neeru.

He went to Adarsh Bal Mandir and Arya Higher Secondary School, Narwana. He did his Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) (1981–85) from DAV School and his Bachelor of Law degree (1985–88) from Faculty of Law, Punjab University, Chandigarh. During his years in law faculty, he remained member of the consultative committee of the faculty as also chairman of the Lawyer's Forum. He also earned his master's degree in political science by the same university in April 1995.

His father was expelled from Yadvindra State High School by the ruler of Sangrur for espousing the agenda of Indian National Congress.

In September 1957, his father started his law practice as an ace lawyer specializing in criminal law and jurisprudence but amiably graduated to grassroots politics. He was first elected as managing director of Central Co-operative Bank, Sangur, in 1959–1960 and then as chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Kalayat (now in District Kaithal) in 1961 and again in 1964.

Randeep's father is also a veteran parliamentarian, having been elected to Haryana Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1977, 1982, 1991 and 2005 and to Indian Parliament in 1993.

Career

As a lawyer

Surjewala started his practice as an advocate at 21 in 1988. He commenced his practice with the solicitors firm 'Shroff & Company, New Delhi' in 1988 and later in the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in 1991. Besides corporate and commercial litigation, he took up issues relating to farmers for their land.

Organisational roles

At the age of 17, he was appointed as the youngest general secretary of Haryana Pradesh Youth Congress. He was also appointed as the youngest senator of the Punjab University, Chandigarh, in 1992. He also remained a member of the faculty consultative committee in the law faculty.

He was again the youngest member to the syndicate of Panjab University, Chandigarh from 1995–96 and member of academic council, member of joint consultative committee and youth affairs committee of the Punjab University Chandigarh. He also served as chairman of the Haryana Lawyers' Forum from 1990 to 1995. From 1987 to 1990, he was an active participant to rebuild the Congress in Haryana alongside his father, then PCC president.

In March 2000, Surjewala became first 'Haryanvi' to be appointed as the national president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC). He continued to be the president up till February 2005, thus making it the longest tenure in the history of IYC.

In August 2004, the youngest office bearer. In the run-up to the assembly elections in Haryana, he was appointed as working president of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee in December 2004 at the age of 37, the youngest president of PCC in the State.

Elections

He contested four elections to the Haryana Legislative Assembly, 1993 bye election, 1996, 2000 and 2005. The party chose to field him against former Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala. He won in 1996 and 2005 defeating him on both the occasions, a historical victory over then sitting Chief Minister.He lost to Lila Ram Gujjar of BJP in 2019 Kaithal Assembly Election. Surjewala was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2022 from Rajasthan.

As a Minister

In March 2005, Surjewala was inducted as the youngest Cabinet Minister in Haryana Cabinet headed by Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

In September 2007, Surjewala was a Minister for Power; PWD (Water Supply & Sanitation) and Parliamentary Affairs and heads the Standing Policy Framing Committee on Civil Aviation.

In November 2009, Surjewala became Cabinet minister in Haryana Government, and held the portfolios of Water Supply and Sanitation, Parliamentary Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology, Science and Technology and Public Works (Building and Roads) Department.

RajyaSabha
In 2022 Randeep Surjewala became a Member of Parliament ( Rajya Sabha) from Rajasthan on Indian National Congress nomination

Personal life

Surjewala married Gayatri in December 1991 and has two sons Arjun and Aditya.

Positions held

Elections contested

Haryana Legislative Assembly

References

External links
Haryana Vidhan Sabha MLA

Living people
State cabinet ministers of Haryana
Indian National Congress politicians
People from Kaithal district
Indian Youth Congress Presidents
1967 births
Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System alumni
Haryana MLAs 1996–2000
Haryana MLAs 2000–2005
Haryana MLAs 2014–2019

Randeep Surjewala


"Rebel Rebel" is the second episode of the seventh season of the American television drama series Homeland, and the 74th episode overall. It premiered on Showtime on February 18, 2018.

Plot
Carrie (Claire Danes) sees an unknown woman (Sandrine Holt) enter Wellington's house while watching her surveillance camera feeds. Desperate to identify her, she posts a screen capture of the woman on the 4chan political board, asking if anyone can identify her. A hacker responds to the post, and lures Carrie into downloading a file which infects her laptop with ransomware. The hard drive is encrypted with a demand for a $5,000 payment in bitcoin.

Brett O'Keefe (Jake Weber), being harbored by the Elkins family, makes another broadcast where he accuses President Keane of being somehow involved in the death of General McClendon. Keane (Elizabeth Marvel) is concerned with the public perception as she agrees McClendon's death looks suspicious. Wellington (Linus Roache) convinces Keane to go forward with his proposal: release the 200 federal employees who were arrested, and appoint Saul (Mandy Patinkin) as National Security Advisor. Saul's first assignment from Wellington is to oversee the manhunt for O'Keefe's hideout.

Max (Maury Sterling) has no luck dealing with Carrie's laptop. While they talk about it, the hacker starts talking back to them, revealing he's been listening via the laptop's microphone. He then escalates the ransom to $10,000, then $20,000 to decrypt Carrie's hard drive.  Max leaves and Carrie talks to the hacker who threatens to go public with proof of her spying on Wellington. Not having the money to pay the ransom, Carrie improvises and tries to seduce the hacker by doing a striptease on her webcam. After going along with his requests briefly, she insists on a face-to-face meeting. When they meet, Carrie hints at a sexual encounter, but when the hacker gets close she headbutts him and attacks him with an expandable baton concealed in her boot. After beating the hacker into submission, she forces him to unlock her laptop, reveals she is CIA and threatens to kill him if he tries anything with her again.

Production
The episode was directed by executive producer Lesli Linka Glatter and co-written by executive producers Patrick Harbinson and Chip Johannessen.

Reception

Reviews
The episode received an approval rating of 83% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews. The website's critical consensus is, "Carrie Mathieson squares off against a hacker in a seedy subplot that stretches credulity but is carried off with aplomb by Claire Danes."

There was some criticism regarding Carrie's main arc being of questionable import.  Scott Von Doviak of The A.V. Club' gave the episode a "B−" grade, concluding about Carrie's arc "What follows is suspenseful enough as far as it goes, mainly because director Lesli Linka Glatter is a pro... but it's hard to shake off the feeling that it's all completely unnecessary".  Entertainment Weekly's Shirley Li  also rated the episode a B- and had a similar thesis: "it's great to see Carrie back in action, and yes, she could use a W after all of that, but was all of that really necessary? Did that bring us any closer to this season's endgame?".

Ratings
The original broadcast was watched by 1.12 million viewers.

References

External links

 "Rebel Rebel" at Showtime

2018 American television episodes
Homeland (season 7) episodes
Television episodes directed by Lesli Linka Glatter

Rebel Rebel (Homeland)


Nimrod Lindsay Norton (April 18, 1830 – September 28, 1903) was a Confederate politician who served in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War.

Biography
Norton was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky, and later moved to Missouri. During the Civil War, he was a colonel in the Confederate Army. He represented the state in the Second Confederate Congress from 1864 to 1865.

References

1830 births
1903 deaths
Confederate States Army officers
Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Missouri
19th-century American politicians
People from Nicholas County, Kentucky

Nimrod Lindsay Norton


Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP, also polypeptide) is a kind of hormone that has 28 amino acid residues in it and is made in many areas of the human body including the gut, pancreas, and suprachiasmatic nuclei (which is a small part of the brain's midline) of the hypothalamus in the brain. In humans, the vasoactive intestinal peptide is encoded, or transforming information from one format into another, by the VIP gene.

VIP has a half-life in the blood of about two minutes.

VIP is made more than it should in a VIPoma.

Related pages
Peptide hormone

Hormones
Peptides
Increase intestinal secretion, relaxes sphincters and smooth muscles. Released from nerve cells in mucosa and smooth muscle.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide


YggTorrent (sometimes abbreviated as Ygg) is a French semi-private torrent directory and BitTorrent tracker created in 2017.

According to Alexa Internet, as of January 1, 2020, it ranked as the 35th most visited website in France, making it the most popular in its category bittorrent directories and downloading website.

The site frequently changed its top-level domain to evade site blocking by French authorities, censorship, or domain name suspensions.

Content
YggTorrent is indexing digital audiovisual content, video games, as well as digital books and software. Founded in its current form in July 2017 by a French-speaking team, YggTorrent allows visitors to search, download, and contribute by adding torrent files, thus facilitating file sharing among users of the BitTorrent protocol.

As a file-sharing site with copyrighted material, usage of YggTorrent may be illegal in some jurisdictions. The site allows the sharing of content that is copyrighted, which may be illegal without proper rights acquisition.

History
On May 21, 2017, the yggtorrent.com domain name was registered for the first time. The site's administrators initially made it a public bittorrent directory listing a limited number of torrents Following the closure of t411 on June 26, 2017, the site underwent significant changes and officially opened its doors as a participatory public tracker in early July 2017. Its administrators chose after a few weeks to turn it into a private tracker with open registration.

On October 31, 2017, t411.si, a highly visited clone of the t411 site, announced its closure and merger with YggTorrent. On December 1, YggTorrent was delisted by the search engine Google in response to repeated copyright infringements and numerous DMCA claims sent to Google by copyright holders.

As of December 8, 2017, the site had more than 600,000 members, 173,000 torrents, accumulating a total of more than two million connected peers.

In December 2018, Numerama published an interview with a former site administrator who indicated that the site had generated 300,000 euros in four months and also revealed the total number of torrents on the site in December 2018, which was just under 280,000 torrents.

In early 2020, the site reported 3,500,000 users on Twitter without specifying the duplicate, triple, and multiple accounts also used by the team. In 2021, the site listed slightly more than 490,000 torrents, many of which were inactive.

On February 5, 2020, the site's domain name was deactivated by the domain name registrar for "infringements around intellectual property, or legal rights of copyright holders, such as the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to create derivative works."

On February 20, 2020, the site had its Twitter account suspended and now invites its users to follow it on Mastodon.

References

BitTorrent websites
Notorious markets

YggTorrent


Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run is a 2015 American animated direct-to-video adventure comedy film in the Looney Tunes franchise produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It was the first new Looney Tunes direct-to-video film since Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas was released nine years prior. The film was made shortly after The Looney Tunes Show, and shares much of the same crew as that series, including director Jeff Siergey, who had also been a supervising animator on Space Jam and lead animator on Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It was released on August 4, 2015, by Warner Home Video, but it was released early on July 7, 2015 on Vudu and Walmart.

Plot
From his headquarters, NSA General Foghorn Leghorn, his intern Pete Puma, and spy Cecil Turtle oversee an operation on a mountain in the central Mexican jungle. The objective of the operation is to extract a rare flower, as the agents believe it to be the world's most powerful weapon. However, they are beaten to it by Speedy Gonzales. In New York City, Lola Bunny is tired of working for Giovanni Jones at the Acme department store perfume counter. She accidentally damages the store, gets fired and takes a long, awkward ride home in Bugs Bunny's taxi. Arriving in her apartment, she screams when she sees a mouse, even though it is her landlord, Speedy. He gives her the flower as a gift, unaware it is being watched by the NSA.

General Leghorn sends agent Elmer Fudd to watch the flower, though Lola uses it to create her perfume, which has a side effect of invisibility. She doesn't notice as she accidentally sprays her eye, forcing her to wash it out, rendering her visible. Cecil sends his goons to get it, but Lola backs out the window and falls to Bugs' taxi below. On the way down, the perfume makes the wall invisible exposing, in successive apartments. General Leghorn puts out a reward of $500,000 for Bugs and Lola, and Yosemite Sam, who was preparing to rob a bank in Times Square (with just a short-range water pistol), learns of it and apprehends them. However, he refuses to hand them to the NSA or the NYPD until after he gets the money, and a one-sided gunfight ensues. Lola and Bugs escape and slip down a storm drain.

They emerge through a manhole in front of Porky Pig, causing a traffic jam, but Giovanni grabs the perfume. Lola runs after him and gets abducted by Cecil in a van. Bugs jumps in Daffy Duck's taxi and follows them. At a secret location, Cecil and his goons interrogate Lola and leave her to die, but Bugs and Daffy manage to free her. Driving through the streets (and subway tunnels) of New York and running through Central Park, the rabbits make haste to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Daffy envies the ducks in the park and decides to retire. Having been arrested, Sam steals an NSA car and follows Bugs and Lola to the airport, where she spots Giovanni, and they all board the plane as does Cecil. Bugs retrieves the perfume and makes a parachute from clothes in passengers' checked baggage and, after a fight with Sam over the perfume, he and Lola land in the Atlantic Ocean. The Goofy Gophers pick them up in their yacht, try the perfume, and discover its invisibility property, albeit to Lola's dismay, but Bugs convinces her to see the upside. The Gophers subsequently give Lola a makeover while singing a song.

They arrive in Paris, and Bugs and Lola spray themselves, subsequently having fun with their invisibility: stealing lemonade, smashing the Louvre Pyramid by playing baseball, going skiing in "Ze Alps", painting a picture of the perfume and cramming several cars into the Arc de Triomphe. When it rains, the invisibility wears off and they find themselves caught between Elmer Fudd and Cecil at the Pont des Arts, Fudd holding the Gophers hostage. Cecil and his goons betray and disarm Fudd and the Interpol officers he hired with heat ray pistols, and Bugs tries to throw the bottle into the Seine to force the cops to stand down, but Sam catches it. They all dogpile on Sam, but are suddenly teleported to a space station over Mars, where Marvin the Martian grabs the bottle, with Cecil revealing he works for Marvin. Cecil's goons unzip their costumes revealing they are Instant Martians, much to Cecil's confusion. Marvin reveals his plan to make all of Earth invisible, as it "obstructs [his] view of Venus". To do so, he extracts the invisibility part of the potion from the perfume part, but ends up with two identical bottles; one of them has invisibility and the other does not.

Bugs and Lola play switcheroo and end up with both of them, handing Marvin a Joker card. They are chased to the Transporter Depot, but everyone crams into one pod overloading the system and causing them all to switch heads, bodies, and other parts. They continue to play body part swap for a while and even Screwball Daffy from Duck Amuck walks across the scene, and they are eventually restored. Marvin catches them, grabs the bottle, betrays/fires Cecil and sprays the Earth with perfume, not knowing that Bugs has switched it so Earth doesn't turn invisible. To Marvin's fury, Bugs turns the group and himself invisible, allowing them to escape the Martians, and they board the Martian Maggot. Before they leave, Bugs tosses Marvin the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator, which Marvin was originally going to use to blow up Earth. Ironically, the Modulator blows up Mars instead, killing the Instant Martians and leaving Marvin hanging from a root, remarking "I hate Earthlings." The Maggot returns the rest safely to Earth, landing in the Seine. When they accidentally leave the bottle in the spaceship, sinking with it, Fudd comes to believe the world is not ready for invisibility, and starts a one-sided chase to arrest Cecil for his complicity in Marvin's plan. Lola forgives Giovanni for stealing the perfume, and happily continues her relationship with Bugs. Unexpectedly, Speedy shows up to collect his "morning croissant" and briefly calls Lola out on her failures to pay rent while being able to visit Paris, before departing for Switzerland.

One year later, perfume mogul Pepé Le Pew introduces his newest scent "Lola" and back in New York, Bugs reveals that he still has the invisibility potion, while Daffy has retired to Central Park. In a pre-credit scene, during a parody of the original "That's All Folks!" ending, Porky Pig says "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!" Daffy walks across with a corndog and sarcastically remarks "Interesting" whereupon Porky angrily hits Daffy on the head with a frying pan.

Voice cast
 Rachel Ramras as Lola Bunny, a tan bunny who is on the run due to inadvertently creating invisibility. The character was previously voiced by Kristen Wiig in ''The Looney Tunes Show''.
 Jeff Bergman as:
 Bugs Bunny, a grey bunny taxi driver who is protecting Lola from the NSA and criminals.
 Daffy Duck, a black duck taxi driver who helps Bugs and Lola escape.
 Foghorn Leghorn, the rooster general of the NSA.
Pepé Le Pew, a French skunk perfume mogul who buys Lola's scent. Bergman reprises all four of his roles from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Maurice LaMarche as Yosemite Sam, a petty criminal who is after Bugs and Lola, but only for the money. LaMarche reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Billy West as Elmer Fudd, an associate of General Leghorn's sent to capture Bugs and Lola. West reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Damon Jones as Marvin the Martian, a martian who plans to make Earth invisible so he can look at Venus. Jones reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Jim Rash as Cecil Turtle, a turtle who is after Bugs and Lola and revealed as a double agent working for Marvin. Rash reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Michael Serrato as Giovanni Jones, Lola's former boss. Serrato reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Fred Armisen as Speedy Gonzales, a mouse and Lola's landlord. Armisen reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Rob Paulsen as Mac Gopher, a gopher who shares a boat with Tosh. Paulsen reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Jess Harnell as:
 Tosh Gopher, a gopher who shares a boat with Mac. Harnell reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Pete Puma, a puma who is an intern for General Leghorn until he's fired for coming up with "Operation Flower Grab". The character was previously voiced by John Kassir in The Looney Tunes Show.
 Bob Bergen as Porky Pig, a pig who is delayed by Bugs and Lola. Bergen reprises his role from The Looney Tunes Show.
 Ariane Price as French Woman
 Price also voices Perfume Girl

Release
The film was released on DVD with the bonus cartoons "Best Friends" (the first episode of The Looney Tunes Show) and the 3D animated theatrical shorts Coyote Falls, Fur of Flying, Rabid Rider, and I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat.

The film later premiered on Cartoon Network on March 25, 2016.

References

External links

2015 films
2015 comedy films
2015 animated films
2015 direct-to-video films
2010s American animated films
2010s English-language films
American children's animated comic science fiction films
American children's animated space adventure films
American direct-to-video films
Animated crime films
Looney Tunes films
Bugs Bunny films
Daffy Duck films
Elmer Fudd films
Foghorn Leghorn films
Goofy Gophers films
Marvin the Martian films
Pepé Le Pew films
Porky Pig films
Speedy Gonzales films
Yosemite Sam films
Animated films about turtles
Films about invisibility
Animated films set in London
Films set in Maryland
Films set in Mexico
Films set in New Jersey
Animated films set in New York City
Animated films set in Paris
Films set in the Atlantic Ocean
Films set on airplanes
Animated films set in outer space
Mars in film
Films set in 2015
Films produced by Sam Register
Films scored by Kevin Manthei
Warner Bros. Animation animated films
Warner Bros. direct-to-video animated films
Rough Draft Studios films

Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run


Alan Scholefield (15 January 1931 – 26 October 2017) was a South African writer famous for his Macrae and Silver series.

He lived in Hampshire and was married to Australian novelist Anthea Goddard. They had three daughters.

Biography
Born in Cape Town, Scholefield was educated at Queen's College, Queenstown and the University of Cape Town where he read Eng. Lit. and where he won an athletics blue and broke a South African junior record. After university, from which he graduated in 1951, Scholefield became a journalist on The Cape Times and The Cape Argus.

Scholefield was one of a group of journalists and writers who left South Africa in the sixties to escape the rigid apartheid of the Prime Minister, Dr. Verwoerd.

With his first wife Patricia, he lived in Spain writing short stories for America, Canada and London. The marriage broke up in 1960 and in 1962 he married the Australian journalist and novelist Anthea Goddard and settled in London. He worked in the London bureau of the Sydney Morning Herald twice, in 1954 and 1960. Then as Defence Correspondent of The Scotsman. After his first marriage broke up his second wife encouraged him to leave journalism to write novels.

Scholefield's first novel A View of Vultures was published in 1966. In addition to his novels, Scholefield has written a non-fiction history of three African monarchies, The Dark Kingdoms. In the late 1960s his book Great Elephant was optioned by the American producer Jud Kinberg and sold on to CBS New York for which Scholefield did the first and second draft screenplays. He has written three dramas for South African Broadcasting (SABC) and a stage adaptation of Treasure Island.

In 1981 Scholefield's novel Venom was made into a film starring Klaus Kinski, Nicol Williamson and Oliver Reed.

Works
Macrae and Silver
Dirty Weekend Macmillan (1990)
Thief Taker Macmillan (1991)
Never Die in January Macmillan (1992)
Threats & Menaces Macmillan (1993)
Don't Be a Nice Girl Macmillan (1994)
Night Moves Macmillan (1996)
Dr. Anne Vernon
Burn Out Headline (1994)
Buried Treasure Headline (1995)
Bad Timing Headline (1997)
Novels
A View of Vultures Heinemann (1966)
Great Elephant Heinemann (1967)
The Eagles of Malice Heinemann (1968)
Wild Dog Running Heinemann (1970)
The Young Masters Heinemann (1972)
The Hammer of God Heinemann (1973)
Lion in the Evening Heinemann (1974)
The Alpha Raid Heinemann (1976)
Venom Heinemann (1977)
Point of Honour Heinemann (1979)
Berlin Blind Heinemann (1980)
The Stone Flower Hamish Hamilton (1982)
The Sea Cave Hamish Hamilton (1983)
Fire in the Ice Hamish Hamilton (1984)
King of the Golden Valley Hamish Hamilton (1985)
The Last Safari Hamish Hamilton (1987)
The Lost Giants Hamish Hamilton (1989)
Loyalties Chapmans (1991)
Night Child Chapmans (1992)
The Drowning Mark Macmillan (1997)

Writing as Lee Jordan
Cat's Eyes Hodder & Stoughton (1981 with Anthea Goddard)
Criss Cross Coronet (1983)
The Deadly Side of the Square Macmillan (1988)
The Toy Cupboard Macmillan (1989)
Chain Reaction Macmillan (1989)

History
The Dark Kingdoms Heinemann (1975)

TV Serials
River Horse Lake (1983)
Sea Tiger (1985) SABC

Screenplays
Great Elephant (1961 CBS)
My Friend Angelo (1990) SABC

Stage Adaptations
Treasure Island (1978)

References

External links
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/alan-scholefield/

South African male novelists
1931 births
2017 deaths
University of Cape Town alumni
Writers from Cape Town
The Sydney Morning Herald people

Alan Scholefield


Ants Kurvits or Hans Kurvits (14 May 1887 – 27 December 1943) was an Estonian military commander, reaching rank of major general. He participated in the Estonian War of Independence and later became the founder and long-time leader of the Estonian Border Guard. Kurvits also served briefly as Minister of War.

Early life
Ants Kurvits was born on 14 May 1887 in Mihkli-Aadu farm in Äksi, Tartu County, Estonia, then part of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. He was the fifth child in the family. Kurvits received his early education in Hugo Treffner Gymnasium. After graduating in 1911, he went to the University of Tartu, where he studied law until the breakout of World War I in 1914.

Career

On 1 November 1914, Kurvits joined the Imperial Russian Army. In 1915, after passing a short officer course in Vladimir Military School in St Petersburg, he was promoted to the rank of ensign. In the First World War he participated in fighting on the Polish front, becoming company commander by 1917. With the formation of Estonian national units, Kurvits was assigned to the 1st Estonian Infantry Regiment on 8 July 1917, first as company and later as battalion commander. In February 1918, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

On 16 November 1918, after the end of the Imperial German Occupation in Estonia, Kurvits became commander of the Estonian Defence League in Tartu County. On 25 December, he started forming the Viljandi Volunteer Battalion. On 5 February 1919, Kurvits was assigned to head the 2nd Infantry Regiment, which he led during fighting on the Petseri front. Briefly in late 1919 and early 1920, while major fighting was ongoing, he served as garrison commander of Narva and aide to the commander of the 1st division. After the end of the war, Kurvits served as commander of the 2nd and later the 7th infantry regiments until his retirement in October 1921.

On 1 November 1922, Kurvits was recalled to service and made head of the newly forming Estonian Border Guard, becoming its first commander. In 1924, he briefly served as Minister of War in the government of Friedrich Akel. After that he returned to head the Border Guard, holding this position up to 1939. In February 1928, he was promoted to colonel, and in February 1932 to major general. As head of the border guard, Kurvits made official visits to Latvia, Finland and Poland. Head of Border Guard was subordinate to the High Commander of the defence forces, holding rights equal to a division commander.

By May 1923, the Border Guard had taken over from Defense Forces guarding of the whole Estonian border. Border Guard guarded 1,159 km of sea border at north and west, 276 km of Soviet border at east and 365 km of Latvia border at south. During period of 1923–1939 the Border Guard exposed 4,491 cases of smuggling and caught 4,651 illegal border crossers. While subordinate to the Minister of Internal Affairs, border guards were all professional military personnel. General Kurvits retired on 22 December 1939.

Death
After the start of Soviet Occupation in 1940, Kurvits's family lost their flat in Tallinn and moved back to Mihkli-Aadu farm. On 14 June 1941, Kurvits and his wife Anna were deported as part of first Soviet mass deportation from the Baltic states. Kurvits was moved to Kirov prison camp in Sosva, Sverdlovsk oblast. On 27 December 1943, he died in Soviet imprisonment.

Honors
During his lifetime Kurvits received numerous awards from Estonia, Russian Empire, Latvia, Finland and Poland, including Estonian Cross of Liberty 1st grade 2nd class, Russian Order of St. George 4th class and Latvian Order of Lāčplēsis 3rd class.

In May 2012, a new multi-purpose ship of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board EML Kindral Kurvits (PVL-101), was named after General Kurvits.

Personal life
Kurvits married with his wife Anna Ariva on 26 December 1917. They had three daughters. After Kurvits became head of the border guard, his family moved to Tallinn, where they lived up to Soviet Occupation period. The home farm at Mihkli-Aadu remained the family's summer home.

See also
Estonian Border Guard
Estonian War of Independence

References

1887 births
1943 deaths
People from Tartu Parish
People from Kreis Dorpat
Defence Ministers of Estonia
Estonian major generals
Imperial Russian Army officers
Russian military personnel of World War I
Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence
Recipients of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia)
Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class I
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class
Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class
Estonian people who died in prison custody
Estonian people who died in Soviet detention
People who died in the Gulag

Ants Kurvits


FC Olimpia Volgograd () is a Russian football team from the large city of Volgograd. They are the second- or third-largest club in the city after the famous Rotor Volgograd.

History
From their founding in 1989 until 1997, the club participated in various youth leagues. Some time between 1993 and 1994 the Volgograd native Leonid Slutsky, future coach of the Russian national team, joined the training staff. Among the Olimpia youth players developed under Slutsky were Denis Kolodin, Roman Adamov, Andrei Bochkov, Maksim Burchenko and Aleksei Zhdanov, all of whom went on to play in the Russian Premier League. As this group of players graduated from the youth team, they and Olimpia joined first the senior Amateur Football League in 1998 and, after winning the South Zone in 1999, the professional Second Division. Slutsky stayed with the club until 2001 when he left for Uralan Elista. The squad he left at Olimpia narrowly missed promotion to the second tier three times, with successive 3rd, 3rd and 2nd-place finishes in their zone.

Olimpia continued to play professionally until 2008, though their fortunes faded after Slutsky's players left. Before the 2009 season their professional license was taken over by the new club FC Volgograd. This was meant to allow FC to assume the name and identity of Rotor who were suffering off-field troubles, but Rotor survived and ended up playing simultaneously with the new FC in 2009, while Olimpia dropped into the Volgograd Oblast Championship. They stayed there until 2011, winning the title in 2010. With confusion ongoing over the future of the Rotor name and club, Olimpia were allowed to resume their place in the Second Division in 2012 and managed a 4th-place finish in 2013/14. However, following Rotor's decision to enter the fourth-level Amateur Football League for 2015, Olimpia once again withdrew from the national pyramid and entered the Volgograd Oblast championship.

External links
  Official website
  Team history at KLISF

Association football clubs established in 1989
Sport in Volgograd
1989 establishments in Russia
Defunct football clubs in Russia

FC Olimpia Volgograd


UGT2B7 (UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase-2B7) is a phase II metabolism isoenzyme found to be active in the liver, kidneys, epithelial cells of the lower gastrointestinal tract and also has been reported in the brain.  In humans, UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase-2B7 is encoded by the UGT2B7 gene.

Function

The UGTs serve a major role in the conjugation and subsequent elimination of potentially toxic xenobiotics and endogenous compounds. UGT2B7 has unique specificity for 3,4-catechol estrogens and estriol, suggesting that it may play an important role in regulating the level and activity of these potent estrogen metabolites.

This enzyme is located on the endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear membranes of cells. Its function is to catalyse the conjugation of a wide variety of lipophilic aglycon substrates with glucuronic acid, using uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid.

Together with UGT2B4, UGT2B7 is capable of glucosidation of hyodesoxycholic acid in the liver, but, unlike the 2B4 isoform, 2B7 is also able to glucuronidate various steroid hormones (androsterone, epitestosterone) and fatty acids. It is also able to conjugate major classes of drugs such as analgesics (morphine), carboxylic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ketoprofen), and anticarcinogens (all-trans retinoic acid). UGT2B7 is the major enzyme isoform responsible for the metabolism of morphine, codeine, norcodeine and other opiates to their corresponding 3- and 6- glucuronides. For example, morphine metabolism produces morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) which has no analgesic effect and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G), which has analgesic effects more potent than morphine. As a consequence, altered UGT2B7 activity can significantly affect both the effectiveness and side-effects of morphine, as well as some related opiate drugs.

Structure

No structure of a full human UGT enzyme has been determined yet, however Miley et al. resolved a partial UGT2B7 structure of the C-terminal portion showing two dimeric domains with Rossman-like folds in complex. The Rossman fold typically binds nucleotide substrates, in this case the UDP-glucuronic acid cofactor involved in glucuronidation by UGT2B7. Generally, the C-terminus of UGT enzymes is highly conserved and binds the UDP-glucuronic acid cofactor, while the N-terminus (not resolved in this structure) is responsible for substrate binding. This first resolved structure indicated that the C-terminus of one of the two dimers projected into the UDP-glucuronic acid binding site of the second dimer, thus rendering the second dimer ineffective.

Further studies have investigated dimerization of UGT enzyme polymorphisms and found both homodimer and heterodimer (with genetic polymorphisms of UGT2B7 or other UGT enzymes such as UGT1A1) formation are possible, with some combinations having an effect on enzyme activity.

Genetic polymorphism
UGT2B7 is considered to be a highly polymorphic gene. Various research efforts have investigated the potential effect of these polymorphic variants on glucuronidation activity of UGT2B7 and especially its clearance of administered drugs, including anticancer therapies. Decreased glucuronidation activity by genetically variant UGT2B7 could lead to increased toxicity due to elevated levels of the drug remaining or accumulating in a patient's organs especially liver, while increased activity could mean lower efficacy of the administered therapy due to lower than expected levels in the body.

One study found that Han Chinese dye-industry workers exposed to benzidine were at higher risk for developing bladder cancer if they had the UGT2B7 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) C802T encoding His268Tyr. The histidine to tyrosine mutation at residue 268 is located in the N-terminal portion of UGT2B7, which binds the xenobiotic substrate as opposed to the C-terminus which binds UDP-glucuronic acid. The speculated mechanism for this increased cancer risk involved increased glucuronidation of benzidine by the mutant UGT2B7 followed by cleavage of the glucuronidated benzidine at urine pH levels, releasing higher concentrations of benzidine in the bladder. Another study looked for a similar association of variant UGT2B7 G900A with the risk of colorectal cancer but found no significant association.

A study of erlotinib clearance in non-small cell lung cancer patients showed no statistical significance for SNPs of UGT2B7, which potentially metabolizes erlotinib as indicated by erlotinib inhibition of UGT2B7. An investigation into the clearance of diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that can cause serious drug-induced liver injury, showed that mutant UGT2B7 with the C802T SNP had a 6-fold lower clearance of diclofenac than wild-type UGT2B7, possibly contributing to increased liver toxicity in patients with this mutation. Analysis of genetic polymorphisms of UGT2B7 in anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury (ATLI) found no association between mutations of UGT2B7 and ATLI in the studied population.

UGT2B7 is also known to be involved in the metabolism of opioids via glucuronidation, and a study investigating the effect of polymorphisms on the analgesic efficacy of buprenorphine found that the mutation C802T significantly worsened the analgesic response to buprenorphine after thoracic surgery, particularly at longer time-points (48 hours) where this long-lasting opioid is meant to remain effective. This same variant was found separately to have significant effects on the blood plasma concentration of valproic acid administered to epilepsy patients, which may account for some of the individual variability seen with this narrow-therapeutic window treatment. Both of these cases indicate decreased concentrations of drug compound probably due to increased glucuronidation activity of UGT2B7 with the C802T polymorphism.

Since UGT2B7 is involved in glucuronidation of many xenobiotic compounds, and polymorphisms of UGT2B7 are prevalent, investigation into potential effects of polymorphisms of UGT2B7 on clearance of pharmacologically relevant compounds is often of interest, as shown by the variety of studies undertaken. The UGT2B7 C802T polymorphism, for example, has been noted at 73% prevalence in Asians and 46% prevalence in Caucasians; therefore, effects of this polymorphism could impact a large portion of the population. However, not all studies find significant changes in clearance due to these genetic polymorphisms. It is not always clear if this is due to the particular polymorphism not affecting enzyme activity of UGT2B7, or because the compound of interest is metabolized by various routes that can mask any differences due to changes in UGT2B7 activity.

References

Further reading

External links

Transferases
EC 2.4.1

UGT2B7


Being one of the premier Buddhist schools in the country with a history of more than 125 years founded by Sir Henry Steel Olcot in 1887 as Kandy Buddhist High School.
Several kandyan nobles including Dullawe Adhikaram, Wadugodapitiya Punchirala Korale, T.B. Panabokke and A.D.J. Gunawardena were instrumental in starting a buddhist college in Kandy. It eas decided that a plot of land in front of the Old Palace near the Tooth Relic Temple, adjoining the Natha Devalaya was the best for building the school. But there was an obstacle in that the plot was covered by a Bo tree, held sacred by the Buddhist, which had to be felled for putting up a school building..₰ the load we trust Dharmaraja

බාහිර සබැඳුම්
විද්‍යෘලීය වෙබ් අඩවිය

ධර්මරාජ විද්‍යාලය, මහනුවර


Crêt de la Neige is a  high mountain in the commune of Thoiry. It is the highest peak in the Jura Mountains and the department of Ain in France.

It is in the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park ().

Geography

Crêt de la Neige is between the communes of Lélex (to the northwest) and Thoiry (to the southeast) in the Ain department.

It is found in the Haute Chaîne, the most eastern and highest chain of the French Jura mountains; it is in the Pays de Gex (the Arrondissement of Gex, Ain department), about  to the northwest of the city of Geneva.

The Crêt de la Neige is surrounded by the plain of the Pays de Gex to the east and the Valserine valley (a valley among the Jura mountains formed by the Valserine river) to the west.

From the summit (or near the summit because it is covered with shrubs and trees), it is possible to see Geneva and the Pays de Gex and there is a 360° view over the Lake Geneva, the Valserine valley, La Dôle (a peak of the Jura mountains that is in Switzerland) and the Alps. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Vosges mountains and the Black Forest.

Elevation
In the past, the official elevation given for the Crêt de la Neige was , and so it appears in old maps, only  higher than the near peak of Reculet . But recent studies made by the Institut géographique national (IGN) in Villeurbanne found that the true altitude of the Crêt de la Neige is  above sea level.

Getting there
The easiest route to get to the Crêt de la Neige is from the Tiocan lookout point that is beyond Thoiry.

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Crêt de la Neige in Camp-to-Camp
 Crêt de la Neige in GeoFinder.ch
 Crêt de la Neige at Altituderando.com

Mountains of France
Ain

Crêt de la Neige


Martinez Library is a historic library located in downtown Martinez, California that is part of the Contra Costa County Library system.

History
Starting in the Fall of 1883, the Esse Quam Videre Club organized to establish a free reading room.

Two years later in 1885 the Martinez Free Reading Room and Library Association was formed, operating out of a building owned by Dr. John Strentzel who charged nothing to the Association. Reading at the location was free, but the Association charged dues of 25 cents a month for the privilege to borrow books.

In 1896 Mrs. John Strentzel and her daughter Louisa Strentzel Muir, wife of John Muir, donated land and a new library was built by popular subscription for .

After more than 40 years at that location, voters passed a  bond issue to fund a new library building. The new building was designed in an Art Deco style and completed in 1941.

In November 2008 Measure H was passed narrowly by voters in the city of Martinez to renovate and expand the library. The bond specified a designated children's area, youth recreational opportunities, and improving disabled access.

The  renovation work started in November 2010 and the library continued operating for 25 hours per week in a temporary location in the old train depot near Martinez station. The library continued operating in the interim Depot Library until  when it closed to transition back to the renovated building.

The Martinez Library held the Grand Reopening on Saturday August 20, 2011 with over 1000 visitors entering the library that day. New self-service stations were installed along with new furniture and additional computers.

Modern
The Martinez Library offers a variety of activities and resources for their patrons. Activities vary from story time and lego workshops for children to book clubs for adults.

The library actively seeks to expose patrons to other cultures and has been hosting Chinese Lunar New Year celebration since . Lion dance and other Chinese cultural traditions have been showcased along with crafts.

Lunches were provided to children and teens three days a week in the summer as part of the California Summer Meal Coalition. Many of the families that visited for the program had not been to the library before and had been unaware of the services offered beyond book lending. Library usage increased with the implementation of the program.

Gallery

See also

GoLibrary
National Register of Historic Places listings in Contra Costa County, California

References

External links

National Register of Historic Places in Contra Costa County, California
Martinez, California
Art Deco architecture in California
Library buildings completed in 1941
Link+ libraries
1941 establishments in California

Martinez Library


A handjob is the sexual stimulation of a male penis by another person's hands. It is similar to male masturbation but is done by someone else instead of by one's self. It is usually done by lightly grabbing the middle of the penis with one hand and while grabbing slightly above from the middle towards the testicles then up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, repeatedly stroking the penis until the male reaches orgasm. Stimulation of the scrotum may also be accompanied, such as placing both the index and rude finger against the males testicles then placing your little finger on the tip of his foreskin. It is like fingering which is the sexual stimulation of a female's vulva using the fingers.

Sexual acts
Sexual slang

Handjob


The pygmy slow loris  (Nycticebus pygmaeus) is one of a number of species of slow loris. It is a small nocturnal primate with large eyes. It lives in thick forest and bamboo groves. They are found in Vietnam, Laos, China, Thailand, and parts of Cambodia. Because their habitat is reduced, their status is "vulnerable".

Life style
They have small hands and feet, but an extraordinarily strong grasp. They can hang from branches as they catch their food. Their large eyes help  them find their food.

Their diet consists of insects and soft fruit. They eat gum from trees and  this may help them survive food shortages.

With their small size they weigh between 0.8 to 1 pound in adulthood. Usually once a male has reached maturity, they become territorial and do not tolerate other males. This is why their social life is described as solitary, although they are known to be able to live among females of their species. In captivity the lifespan of the pygmy slow loris may be 20 years.

They produce offspring every 12 to 18 months. The females have gestational periods of about 188 days and have small litters of one or two babies. This species do not share parenting. The offspring stay with their mothers until they reach maturity.

Survival
When the loris feels threatened it has a defense mechanism. It gives off a bad odor. If a predator is not scared away by the smell they produce some kind of toxic secretion from their elbows. If they bite the predator, the poison is passed on.

Despite conservation efforts, they are captured and sold for pets in markets in Vietnam. They have a very cuddly appearance but in no way are suitable to be pets.

References

Other websites
Lincoln Park Zoo  http://www.lpzoo.org/animal/pygmy-slow-loris
Duke Lemur Center http://lemur.duke.edu/discover/meet-thelemurs/pygmy-slow loris/

Lorisoidea
Mammals of Asia

Pygmy slow loris