query: Nepal is the 93rd largest country by mass.

pos: Nepal fi     Nepal ( -LSB- Nepālhelp = no -RSB- -RCB- -RCB- -LSB- neˈpal -RSB- ) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal , is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia . Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises , 13 sub-metropolises , 246 municipal councils and 481 villages . It has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area . Bordering China in the north and India in the south , east , and west , it is the largest sovereign Himalayan state . Nepal does not border Bangladesh , which is located within only 27 km ( 17 mi ) of its southeastern tip . Neither does it border Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between . Nepal has a diverse geography , including fertile plains , subalpine forested hills , and eight of the world 's ten tallest mountains , including Mount Everest , the highest point on Earth . Kathmandu is the nation 's capital and largest city . It is a multiethnic nation with Nepali as the official language .   The territory of Nepal has a recorded history since the Neolithic age . The name `` Nepal '' is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age , the era which founded Hinduism , the predominant religion of the country . In the middle of the first millennium BCE , Gautama Buddha , the founder of Buddhism , was born in southern Nepal . Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet . The Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilisation . It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala . The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley 's traders . The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture . By the 18th century , the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal . The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire , under its Rana dynasty of premiers . The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India . In the 20th century , Nepal ended its isolation and forged strong ties with regional powers . Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 , but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005 . The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008 , ending the reign of the world 's last Hindu monarchy .   Modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic . It has seven states . Nepal is a developing nation , ranking 144th on the Human Development Index ( HDI ) in 2016 . The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic . It also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty . Despite these challenges , Nepal is making steady progress , with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022 . Nepal also has a vast potential to generate hydropower for export .   Nepal 's foreign relations expanded after the Anglo-Nepal Treaty of 1923 , which was recognised by the League of Nations . After a Soviet veto in 1949 , Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955 . Friendship treaties were signed with the Dominion of India in 1950 and the People 's Republic of China in 1960 . Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC ) , of which it is a founding member . Nepal is also a member of the Non Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative . The military of Nepal is the fifth largest in South Asia and is notable for its Gurkha history , particularly during the world wars , and has been a significant contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations .

neg: Nepa Kingdom Nepa ( also known as Nipa , Neepa ) was a mountainous kingdom mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata . Its modern equivalent is identified as Nepal , a country located in the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas .

neg: Langtang National Park The Langtang National Park is the fourth national park in Nepal and was established in 1976 as the first Himalayan national park . The protected area exceeds an altitudinal range of 6450 m and covers an area of 1710 km2 in the Nuwakot , Rasuwa and Sindhulpalchok districts of the central Himalayan region encompassing 26 Village Development Committees . It is linked with the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve in Tibet . The high altitude sacred lake of Gosainkunda falls within the park . The Gosainkunda lake ( 4300 m ) and the Dorje Lakpa range ( 6988 m ) bisect the park from east -- west to south -- east . The summit of Langtang Lirung ( 7245 m ) is the highest point in the park .   The northern and eastern border of the national park coincide with the international border to Tibet . The western boundary follows the rivers Bhote Kosi and Trisuli . The southern border lies 32 km north of the Kathmandu Valley .   This protected area represents both Indo-Malayan and Palearctic ecozones .

neg: Geology of Nepal The geology of Nepal is dominated by the Himalaya , the highest , youngest and a very highly active mountain range . Himalaya is a type locality for the study of on-going continent-continent collision tectonics . The Himalayan arc extends about 2400 km from Nanga Parbat ( 8,138 m ) by the Indus River in northern Pakistan eastward to Namche Barwa ( 7,756 m ) by the gorge of the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra in eastern Tibet . About 800 km of this extent is in Nepal ; the remainder includes Bhutan and parts of Pakistan , India , and China .   Since 55 Ma the Himalayan orogeny beginning with the collision of Indian subcontinent and Eurasia at the Paleocene/Eocene epoch , has thickened the Indian crust to its present thickness of 70 km . The northwest tip of India after colliding with Asia seems to have met along the full length of the suture by about 40 Ma .   Immediately prior to the onset of the Indo-Asian collision , the northern boundary of the Indian shield was likely a thinned continental margin on which Proterozoic clastic sediments and the Cambrian ± Eocene Tethyan shelf sequence were deposited .

neg: Mahottari District Mahottari District ( -LSB- : ne : महोत्तरी जिल्ला , महोत्तरी जिल्ला -RSB- , ) , a part of Province No. 2 , is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal . The district , with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters , covers an area of 1,002 km ² and had a population of 553,481 in 2001 and 627,580 in 2011 .   Its headquarters is located in Jaleshwar , a neighbouring town of the historical city of Janakpur . The name Jaleshwar means the ` God in Water ' . One can find a famous temple of Lord Shiva in Water there . Jaleshwar lies at a few kilometres distance from the Nepal-India border and has a majority of Maithili people .  In janakpur zone there are two districts ; mahottari and dhanusha and both are in a distance of 1 hour .

neg: Gandaki River The Gandaki River ( also known as the Narayani in southern Nepal and the Gandak in India ) is one of the major rivers of Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India . In Nepal the river is notable for its deep gorge through the Himalayas and its enormous hydroelectric potential . It has a total catchment area of 46300 km2 , most of it in Nepal . The basin also contains three of the world 's 14 mountains over 8000 m , Dhaulagiri , Manaslu and Annapurna I. Dhaulagiri is the highest point of the Gandaki basin . It lies between the similar Kosi system to the east and the Karnali ( Ghaghara ) system to the west .

neg: 1505 Lo Mustang earthquake The 1505 Lo Mustang earthquake occurred on 6 June and had an estimated magnitude between 8.2 and 8.8 making it one of the largest earthquakes in Nepalese history . The earthquake killed an approximate 30 percent of the Nepalese population at the time .

neg: List of universities and colleges in Nepal This is a list of universities and colleges / campus in Nepal . Prior to the establishment of the first college in the country , Tri-Chandra College in 1918 , higher education in Nepal was nonexistent . Until 1985 , Tribhuvan University had remained the one and the only university in Nepal . In the early 1980s , His Majesty 's Government developed the concept of a multi-university system for the country . One important assumption behind the concept was that each new university should have a distinctive nature , content and function of its own .   The first new university that was established was Mahendra Sanskrit University . The inception of this university was soon followed by Kathmandu University in 1990 , Purbanchal and Pokhara Universities in 1995 and 1996 respectively . Many schools and colleges are run by private initiatives but none of the universities in Nepal are private .

neg: Madhesh Madhesh is a province and an autonomous state in the Terai belt of Nepal . The native Nepalese people who have cultural and demographic connections to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh across the borders in India are called Madhesi people . The indigenous inhabitants of the Terai are Tharu people who consider themselves to be Madhesi people .   The eastern part of the Nepal Terai along with northern parts in Bihar is part of the cultural Mithila region .

neg: United Mission to Nepal The United Mission to Nepal ( UNM ) was established in 1954 as a co-operative missionary endeavour between the people of Nepal and a number of Christian groups working along the border in India . The mission has grown to include a large group of Christian organisations from 18 countries in four different continents , who seek to `` serve the people of Nepal , particularly those who live in poverty . . inspired by the love and teachings of Jesus Christ . ''   Several remarkable coincidences led to the formation of the United Mission to Nepal . During the 1951 revolution fighting had taken place just over the border from Raxaul and wounded combatants from both sides were treated at Duncan Hospital . As a result of this service , Dr Trevor Strong and Ernest Oliver were invited to visit Kathmandu after the revolution . They walked for several days and whilst in Kathmandu had an interview with B.P. Koirala , the Home Minister in His Majesty 's Government of Nepal ( HMGN ) , to explore the possibility of mission work . They were told that medical and educational work would be welcome , but open preaching prohibited . ( Pritchard 1973:91 ) These discussions dovetailed with a separate approach by the authorities in Tansen , a large hill-town half way between Nautanwa and Pokhara , to American missionaries Bob and Bethel Fleming and Carl and Betty Friedericks ( representing Methodist and Presbyterian missions ) . Contact had been made as a result of ornithological trips into Nepal in October 1949 and the winter of 1951 -- 52 during which medical assistance had been given to the people of Tansen . Eventually a letter came from S.K. Dikshit in the Department of Foreign Affairs , permitting a hospital in Tansen and clinics in Kathmandu . ( Lindell 1979 : 140-142 )   Lindell rightly refers to the foundation of UMN as `` some of the finest missionary statesmanship that has been exercised in the modern missionary movement ... the mistakes seen in India and other countries resulting from competition and independent action by denominational and separate organisations should not be repeated in Nepal . '' ( 1979:143 ) Methodist Bishop J.W. Pickett circulated an invitation letter from HMGN to other missions associated with the NBF in conjunction with the National Christian Council ( NCC ) of India with a view to `` establishing a Christian mission in Nepal on the widest possible cooperative basis , a combined interdenominational and international approach . '' ( Lindell 1979:144 ) The NCC endorsed this and the United Christian Mission to Nepal was founded in Nagpur in March 1954 .   There were eight founding missions . Bishop Pickett was the founding President of the Board and Ernest Oliver the first Executive Secretary . The Flemings had already commenced medical work in Kathmandu in January 1954 , and the Friedericks began medical work in Tansen in June 1954 , but the work quickly expanded and diversified into other areas , such as education and development of hydropower . The activities of the UMN have been clearly defined in five-yearly agreements , in the past with HMGN , and now with the Government of Nepal . There have always been clear prohibitions on proselytising , but the Christian nature of UMN and the personal faith of its workers is known and accepted . `` The Mission takes the terms seriously ... and has learned that its stay in Nepal rests on a mixture of invitation , permission and mutual agreement ; that it is temporary ... that it is in partnership with Nepali society . '' ( Lindell 1979:200 )

neg: Bhutan News Service Bhutan News Service , abbreviated as BNS , is the first news agency of Bhutan . It is run as an independent news agency by Bhutanese refugee journalists since 2004 from Kathmandu , the capital city of Nepal . This is , probably , first of its kind considering a very few refugee media or journalism in exile . The agency is solely operated by refugees who are mostly born or brought up in refugee camps and without previous media experiences .   When over 100,000 of Bhutanese refugees started taking shelter in UN-administered refugee camps of Jhapa and Morang districts in eastern part of Nepal , there was a need of a vocal media in the refugee community . Several attempts were made by persons of various backgrounds to keep the journalism works going . However , survival of those media was not easy due to lack of funding , and they died one after the other .   The Bhutan News Service was founded in 2004 by a small group of Bhutanese refugee youths , who during the time believed that journalism was a noble means to keep community informed and continue advocating the refugee issue . Most of the exiled publications were shut down , in particular following crunch financial assistance and or due to lack of human resources to continue volunteering without anything in return . Therefore , the news service emerged in as an alternative means to replace most of those publications , if not all . Initially , the works were limited to simply blogging . From 2006 , BNS went online through its own news portal .   ″ APFA initiated a joint effort for press freedom and called on two other media organizations working for press freedom in Bhutan and operating in exile . Thus a conference was held in eastern Nepal making a historic declaration vowing to expedite fight for press freedom . The first media conference adopted `` Declaration Dé Exile '' . The declaration also accepted the APFA proposal to accept Bhutan News Service as the common and first news agency of Bhutan , but operating from exile . ″   Currently , around two dozens of reporters and over half a dozen of editors from various countries contribute for the news service on voluntary basis . The news agency has not been legally registered since Nepalese laws do not entertain registration of any entity owned and run by foreign nationals in Nepalese soil .   ″ Unfortunately , we are not a registered entity yet . While most of our members were based in the capital city of Nepal for years , we made several attempts to get it registered in Nepal , but to no avail . We are , however , in the course of getting it registered preferably in USA since most of our members are based there and a vast majority of the Bhutanese have gotten resettled in the same place . ″

neg: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral, Kathmandu The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral is the name given to a religious building located in the city of Kathmandu , capital of the Asian country of Nepal .   It began as the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption which was dedicated by Cardinal Jozef Tomko , prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , on 15 August 1995 . The church is located on the outskirts of Lalitpur in Kathmandu . The parish of St. Mary of the Assumption has 2,290 Catholics . The pastor of the cathedral is the father Silas Bogati .   On May 23 , 2009 , the day the Parliament elected the prime minister , a bomb attack damaged the Cathedral of the Assumption , the only place of Catholic worship allowed in the country . The explosion , caused by a bomb placed under a seat among the faithful , left three dead and 13 wounded .   The temple follows the Roman or Latin rite and functions as the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal ( Vicariatus Apostolicus Nepalianus ) which was raised to its current status by Pope Benedict XVI through the bull `` Ad aptius consulendum ''

neg: Tamang people The Tamang ( Devnagari : तामाङ ; tāmāng ) , or Murmi , are the indigenous inhabitants of the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India , their ancestral land is called Tamsaling . They are the aborigines of Yambu , or Kathmandu Valley , who had self-rule and autonomous roughly 2 centuries before present , systematically displaced during the expansion period of Gorkha Kingdom and this continues to the present day , the Central Development Region , Nepal remains where 70 % of the population reside . The traditionally Buddhist Tamang are the largest Tibeto-Burman ethnic group within Nepal , constituting 5.6 % of the national population of over 1.3 million in 2001 , increasing to 1,539,830 as of 2011 census , yet contested . Tamang are also a significant minority in Sikkim and Darjeeling District of West Bengal of India as permanent settlers ; their languages are fifth most spoken in Nepal ( note all Tamang languages are not mutually intelligible ) . They were one of the aborigines who were least affected by Nepalisation . Peculiar to Tamang people are complex marriage restrictions within the community .

neg: Rastriya Samachar Samiti The Rastriya Samachar Samiti ( RSS ; राष्ट्रिय समाचार समिती translation : National News Agency ) , having nationwide network , is the largest and longest serving news agency in Nepal . It was established in 2018 BS ( 1961 ) under the Rastriya Samachar Samiti Act , 2019 BS , merging two privately owned news agencies with a view to facilitating newspapers and broadcast media . With the development of news media in Nepal , subscribers of RSS have so far reached more than 100 newspapers , radios , online media , and televisions . A pool of permanent and stringer reporters scattering throughout the country contribute to the news service and photo file every day .

neg: Kalapani territory See Cellular Jail for the prison associated with the Indian freedom movement   Kalapani ( Hindi/Nepali : कालापानी ) is a disputed territory between India and Nepal administered however as part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state of India . The origin of Mahakali River ( Sharda River in India ) it is situated on the Kailash Manasarovar route , at an altitude of 3600 meters . It is said that the Great Sage Vyasa meditated at this place , giving the region its name - Vyas Valley , locally called '' `` Byans Valley '' '' . A pool by the temple of the Goddess Kali is considered to by some to be the source of the Kali River . A verdant valley covered with Pine , Bhojpatra and Juniper trees , it offers stunning views of some of the lesser known peaks like Om Parvat in the Central Himalayas . Lipulekh Pass leading into Tibet is 17 kilometers from Kalapani .   Although claimed by Nepal as part of Darchula District , Kalapani is controlled by India 's Indo-Tibetan border security forces since the 1962 border war with China . Nepal claims that the river to the west of Kalapani is main Kali , hence it belongs to Nepal . But India claims that ridgeline to the east of Kalapani is the border , hence the Kalapani area belongs to India . The Kalapani area borders the Nepalese zone of Mahakali and the Indian state of Uttarakhand . The Sugauli Treaty signed by Nepal and British India in 1816 locates the Kali River as Nepal 's western boundary with India and makes no mention of ridgelines . Subsequent maps drawn by British surveyors show the source of the boundary river at different places . This discrepancy in locating the source of the river led to boundary disputes between India and Nepal , with each country producing maps supporting their own claims . The Kalapani River runs through an area that includes a disputed area of about 400 km ² around the source of the river although the exact size of the disputed area varies from source to source .

neg: Transport in Nepal Nepal is a landlocked Himalayan country where transportation is difficult due to mountainous terrain . Nevertheless , there are some transport medium like road transportation and water transportation . Being a landlocked hilly country , road transportation is the only way to make easy travelling in Nepal . However , cable transport is an emerging transport mode in Nepal . Manakamana Cable Car and Chandragiri Cable Car are two cable transport providers in Nepal .

neg: Bhojpur, Nepal Bhojpur Municipality is a town in Eastern Nepal . It was established on 18 May 2014 merging the existing Bhaisipankha , Bokhim , Bhojpur , Taksar Village Development Committees It is the district headquarters of Bhojpur district , a hilly/mountainous district in Kosi Zone . At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5823 people living in 1199 households .   Bhojpur bazaar is home to many Newar businessmen as well as skilled Newar craftsmen , and is famous for its metalwork , particularly khukuri knives . Other major towns in the district include Dingla to the north , Ghoretar to the south , and Taksar near the airstrip , from where flights connect to Biratnagar and Kathmandu . A road is currently under construction to link Bhojpur bazaar with Hile , Dhankuta , Dharan , and the rest of Nepal 's North-South Koshi Highway .   Historically it is a part of Majh Kirat ( middle Kirat / Khambuwan ) , and used to be called `` east number 4 '' . Middle Kirat consists mainly of Bhojpur and Khotang districts , the traditional home of kirat Rai people , an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal . In addition to Rais , other ethnic groups include Magars , Gurungs , and Tamangs , as well as castes like Chhetris , Bahuns , and Dalits .   Bhojpur was recently the site of a major incident involving Maoist rebels and the Nepali national security forces on March 3 , 2004 . An estimated 1,500 Maoists attacked the camps of the security forces at the district headquarters . This incident was the most serious one since the Maoists called off the cease-fire on August 24 , 2003 . 32 security personnel were killed ( both army and police ) , as well as 42 Maoists rebels , including some women . The telephone tower and the buildings of the District Administrative Office were completely destroyed , while those buildings housing the District Land Revenue Office , Rashtriya Banijya Bank and some private houses were partially destroyed .   Tensions between Maoists and security forces emerged in February 2001 when the Bhojpur VDC headquarters were destroyed . The Khumbuwan Liberation Front ( KLF ) , destroyed the 250-kilowatt micro-hydropower project built by the Chinese on the Pikhuwa river on January 26 , 2002 . On April 18 , 2002 , a group of 50-60 rebels destroyed the airport tower by breaking through the gate of the tower , setting it ablaze by pouring kerosene , and destroying important devices by hurling a powerful bomb . Several minor skirmishes had also occurred in northern areas of the district , leading up to the deadly clash in March 2004 .

neg: Nepal Oil Corporation Nepal Oil Corporation Limited ( NOC ) is a state owned trading enterprise of Nepal that imports , stores and distributes various petroleum products in the country . It was established on 1970 by the Government of Nepal under the `` Company Act , 2021 ( 1964 ) '' . The government owns 98.36 % of its share and rest is contributed by four other state owned enterprises : Rastriya Beema Sansthan , National Trading Ltd. , Nepal Bank Ltd. and Rastriya Banijya Bank .   In the very beginning , the trading activities of NOC were started by storing two products in two drums under the leadership of the late Mr. Subarna Bikram Thapa appointed by Government of Nepal . His persistent endeavor to develop NOC resulted in more than 30,000 kilolitres ( kL ) of storage facilities for petroleum products in different development regions of Nepal .   Nepal , being one of the land locked countries of south Asia , has to depend on India for the supply and distribution of various petroleum products as the eastern , southern and western part of the country is attached with India . The prospect of crude oil exploration in Nepal has not yet been proven a feasible one , so the entire national demand is met by import alone . From the very beginning of NOC 's trading activities , a special and long-term supply arrangement has existed with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. ( IOC ) , a leading national oil company of India , having more than 55 % of the market share .   NOC , headquartered in Kathmandu , has over the years expanded and now has five regional offices , branch offices , fuel depots , and aviation fuel depots , with total existing storage capacity of 71,558 kilolitres ( kL ) and employing 508 permanent and other contract work force .   The highest policy making and controlling body of NOC is its Board of Directors . The Board is represented by all the shareholders .   Currently the Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) of NOC is the Managing Director who has the overall responsibility for day-to-day operations besides the Member-Secretary of NOC Board . Basically , the operations of NOC are coordinated under two broad categories of Marketing and Finance cum administration , each headed by Deputy Managing Director .

neg: Gardi, Nepal Gardi was a village development committee in Chitwan District in the Narayani Zone of mid-southern Nepal before merging into Madi Municipality . At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 9544 people living in 1620 individual households . Sitalpur is the largest village inside Gardi .   Someswor Higher Secondary School is the highest ranked education institution in Gardi with several lower secondary and primary schools . Baruwa is the largest market place , second largest in Madi after Basantapur bazar . Riu , Chitai , Bhutyaha , Dangre , Marath rivers are some of the famous rivers ( Khola खोला in Nepali ) of Gardi .

neg: List of companies of Guatemala Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west , the Pacific Ocean to the southwest , Belize to the northeast , the Caribbean to the east , Honduras to the east and El Salvador to the southeast . With an estimated population of around 15.8 million , it is the most populated state in Central America . A representative democracy , Guatemala 's capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción , also known as Guatemala City .   Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) in purchasing power parity ( PPP ) in 2010 was estimated at $ 70.15 billion USD . The service sector is the largest component of GDP at 63 % , followed by the industry sector at 23.8 % and the agriculture sector at 13.2 % ( 2010 est. ) . Mines produce gold , silver , zinc , cobalt and nickel . The agricultural sector accounts for about two-fifths of exports , and half of the labor force . Organic coffee , sugar , textiles , fresh vegetables , and bananas are the country 's main exports . Inflation was 3.9 % in 2010 .

neg: Stateless nation Stateless nation is a political term for ethnic/national minority that does not possess its own state and is not the majority population in any nation state . The term implies that the group `` should have '' such a state . Members of stateless ethnic groups may be citizens/nationals of the country in which they live , or they may be denied citizenship by that country . Stateless nations are usually not represented as a nation in international sports such as FIFA , Olympics or in international communities such as the United Nations . Nations without state are classified as fourth world nations . Some of the stateless nations have a great heritage and a long tradition of statehood in the past and some were always a stateless nation , which was dominated by another nation for a large part of its history .   Stateless nations either are dispersed across a number of states ( for example , the Yoruba people are found in the African states of Nigeria , Benin and Togo ) or form the native population of a province within a larger state ( such as the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region within the People 's Republic of China ) . Some stateless nations historically had a state , which was absorbed by another ; for example , Tibet 's declaration of independence in 1913 was not recognized , and it was invaded in 1951 by the People 's Republic of China which claims that Tibet is an integral part of China , while the Tibetan government-in-exile maintains that Tibet is an independent state under unlawful occupation . Some ethnic groups were once a stateless nation that later became a nation state ( for example , the nations of the Balkans such as the Croats , Serbs , Bosniaks , Slovenes , Montenegrins , Kosovars and Macedonians were once part of a multinational state of Yugoslavia . Since the breakup of Yugoslavia many nation states were formed ) .   Stateless nations can have large population . For example , The Tamils are a stateless nation in South Asia with a population of more than 70 million . They form one of the largest ethnic groups in South India . Governments may respond differently on stateless nations in their states . For example , the suppression of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka led to one of the longest and most violent separatist conflict between 1983 and 2009 . However , a similar ethnic conflict was absent among Tamils in India during this period , because they were peacefully integrated into the federal structure of India . Multiple stateless nations can reside in the same region . For example , Catalans , Basques , Aragonese , Galicians , Asturians , Valencians , Andalusians in Iberian Peninsula or the Brahui , Santhals and Balochs in South Asia .   The Romani people are another stateless people . They may be a special case being distributed among numerous countries with no clear homeland ; as a traditionally `` nomadic '' people , the Romani/Roma are a classical `` stateless nation '' without aspiration to sovereign territory . As not all states are nation states , there are a number of ethnic groups who live in a multinational state without being considered `` stateless nations '' .


query: Minneapolis is a little bit north of the Mississippi River's confluence with the Minnesota River.

pos: Minneapolis Minneapolis ( -LSB- mɪniˈæpəlɪs -RSB- ) is the county seat of Hennepin County , and the larger of the Twin Cities , the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States . As of 2015 , Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota and 46th-largest in the United States with a population of 410,939 . Minneapolis and Saint Paul anchor the second-largest economic center in the Midwest , after Chicago .   Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River , just north of the river 's confluence with the Minnesota River , and adjoins Saint Paul , the state 's capital . The city is abundantly rich in water , with thirteen lakes , wetlands , the Mississippi River , creeks and waterfalls , many connected by parkways in the Chain of Lakes and the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway . It was once the world 's flour milling capital and a hub for timber . The city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Chicago and Seattle , with Minneapolis proper containing America 's fifth-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies . As an integral link to the global economy , Minneapolis is categorized as a global city . Noted for its strong music and performing arts scenes , Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub . Reflecting the region 's status as an epicenter of folk , funk , and alternative rock music , the city served as the launching pad for several of the 20th century 's most influential musicians , including Bob Dylan and Prince .   The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag , the city 's first schoolteacher , who combined mni , a Dakota Sioux word for water , and polis , the Greek word for city .

neg: North River (Hudson River) North River is an alternate name for the southernmost portion of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City and northeastern New Jersey in the United States . The colonial name for the entire Hudson was given to it by the Dutch in the early seventeenth century , the term fell out of general use for most of the river 's 300 + mile course during the early 1900s . However it still retains currency as an alternate or additional name among local mariners and others as well as appearing on some nautical charts and maps . The term is used for infrastructure on and under the river , such as the North River piers , North River Tunnels , and the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant .   At different times `` North River '' has referred to the entire Hudson ; the approximate 160-mile portion of the Hudson below its confluence with the Mohawk River , which is under tidal influence ; the portion of it running between Manhattan and New Jersey ; and just the short length flowing between Lower Manhattan and Hudson County , New Jersey . Its history is strongly connected to New York Harbor 's shipping industry , which shifted primarily to Port Newark in the mid-20th century due to the construction of the Holland Tunnel and other river crossings and the advent of containerization .   The names for the lower portion of the river appear to have remained interchangeable for centuries . In 1909 , construction of two tunnel projects was under way : one was called the North River Tunnels , the other , the Hudson Tubes . That year the Hudson-Fulton Celebration was held , commemorating Henry Hudson , the first European to record navigating the river , and Robert Fulton , the first man to use a paddle steamer in America , after their invention by the Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans in 1774 , named the North River Steamboat , to sail up it , leading to controversy over what the waterway should be called .

neg: North Cormorant River The North Cormorant River is a 39.1 mi tributary of the Blackduck River of Minnesota in the United States . It joins the Blackduck River shortly upstream of that river 's mouth at Red Lake , the largest natural lake entirely within Minnesota .

neg: Roads and freeways in metropolitan Detroit The roads and freeways in metropolitan Detroit comprise the main thoroughfares in the region . The freeways consist of an advanced network of interconnecting freeways which include Interstate highways . The Metro Detroit region 's extensive toll-free freeway system , together with its status as a major port city , provide advantages to its location as a global business center . There are no toll roads in Michigan .   Detroiters may refer to freeways by the formal name more often where one has been designated rather than route number . Other freeways without formal names are known by the number such as I‑275 and M‑59 . M‑53 , while not officially designated may be locally referred to by its name `` Van Dyke '' . Detroit area freeways are typically sunken below ground level to permit local traffic to pass over the freeway and for appearance .   Following a historic fire in 1805 , Judge Augustus B. Woodward devised a plan similar to Pierre Charles L'Enfant 's design for Washington , D.C. . Detroit 's monumental avenues and traffic circles fan out in a baroque styled radial fashion from Grand Circus Park in the heart of the city 's theater district , which facilitates traffic patterns along the city 's tree-lined boulevards and parks . The ` Woodward plan ' proposed a system of hexagonal street blocks , with the Grand Circus at its center . Wide avenues , alternatively 200 ft and 120 ft , would emanate from large circular plazas like spokes from the hub of a wheel . As the city grew these would spread in all directions from the banks of the Detroit River . When Woodward presented his proposal , Detroit had fewer than 1,000 residents . Elements of the plan were implemented . Most prominent of these are the five main `` spokes '' of Woodward , Michigan , Gratiot , Grand River and Jefferson Avenues .   The Mile Road System in Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan facilitates ease of navigation in the region . It was established as a way to delineate east -- west roads through the Detroit area and the surrounding rural rim . The Mile Road system , and its most famous road , 8 Mile Road , came about largely as a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785 , which established the basis for the Public Land Survey System in which land throughout the Northwest Territory was surveyed and divided into survey townships by reference to a baseline ( east -- west line ) and meridian ( north -- south line ) . In Southeast Michigan , many roads would be developed parallel to the base line and the meridian , and many of the east -- west roads would be incorporated into the Mile Road System .   The Mile Road System extended easterly into Detroit , but is interrupted , because much of Detroit 's early settlements and farms were based on early French land grants that were aligned northwest-to-southeast with frontage along the Detroit River and on later development along roads running into downtown Detroit in a star pattern , such as Woodward , Jefferson , Grand River , Gratiot , and Michigan Avenues , developed by Augustus Woodward in imitation of Washington , D.C. 's system . As Detroit grew , several Mile Roads were given new names within the city borders , while some roads incorporated as part of the Mile Road System have traditionally been known by their non-mile names . It is unclear if they ever bore mile numbers formally .   The baseline used in the survey of Michigan lands runs along 8 Mile Road , which is approximately eight miles directly north of the junction of Woodward Avenue and Michigan Avenue in downtown Detroit . As a result , the direct east -- west portion of Michigan Avenue , and M‑153 ( Ford Road ) west of Wyoming Avenue , forms the `` zero mile '' baseline for this mile road system .   The precise point of origin is located in Campus Martius Park , marked by a medallion embedded in the stone walkway . It is situated in the western point of the diamond surrounding Woodward Fountain , just in front of the Fountain Bistro .

neg: Midtown, Minneapolis Midtown is a loosely defined region in south Minneapolis , Minnesota . There are no hard-set boundaries to the midtown area , but it is generally agreed to include the area in the vicinity of Lake Street between Interstate 35W and Hiawatha Avenue . Lake Street is the border between the Phillips and Powderhorn communities of Minneapolis . Lake Street/Midtown LRT Station , with service on the METRO Blue Line , is located on the eastern edge of the area .   The midtown area was historically known as being somewhat of a run-down area . However , in the past decade or two , there has been a large revitalization effort along Lake Street , driven largely by an insurgence of new Latino and Northeast African businesses .   Near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Lake Street is the Midtown Exchange building , which was a Sears department store and mail-order catalog facility until the company closed it in 1994 . After sitting vacant for a decade , the building was fully redeveloped . It features office space , residential units , and the Midtown Global Market , a large marketplace featuring an ethnically diverse variety of restaurants , grocers , and retailers .   Other indoor markets that have opened in the midtown area include the Mercado Central ( at Bloomington Ave and Lake St ) , which houses numerous Latino businesses , and the Lake Plaza ( at 3rd Ave and Lake St ) , which houses Somali and Latino businesses . As of January 2009 , a new market has opened in the former True Value Hardware site at the Hi-Lake Shopping Center ( 21st Ave and Lake St ) , housing Somali businesses .   At 22nd Ave and Lake Street ( in the parking lot of Anishinabe Academy School ) the Midtown Farmers ' Market operates on Tuesdays and Saturdays from late spring to early autumn .   Many places and groups use the `` midtown '' descriptor in their names . Examples include :  The Midtown Greenway , a major bicycling and walking trail paralleling Lake Street  The Midtown Exchange and the Midtown Global Market  The Midtown Freewheel Bike Center , a bike shop on the Midtown Greenway  The Midtown YWCA ( Lake Street and 22nd Ave )  The Lake Street/Midtown light rail station on the METRO Blue Line  The Sheraton Minneapolis Midtown Hotel  The Midtown Church Project , a church plant utilizing principles of self-organization and community development

neg: History of Minneapolis Minneapolis is the largest city by population in the U.S. state of Minnesota , and the county seat of Hennepin County . The origin and growth of the city was spurred by the proximity of Fort Snelling , the first major United States military presence in the area , and by its location on Saint Anthony Falls , which provided power for sawmills and flour mills .   Fort Snelling was established in 1819 , at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers , and soldiers began using the falls for waterpower . When land became available for settlement , two towns were founded on either side of the falls : Saint Anthony , on the east side , and Minneapolis , on the west side . The two towns later merged into one city in 1872 . Early development focused on sawmills , but flour mills eventually became the dominant industry . This industrial development fueled the development of railroads and banks , as well as the foundation of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange . Through innovations in milling techniques , Minneapolis became a world-leading center of flour production , earning the name `` Mill City '' . As the city grew , the culture developed through its churches , arts institutions , the University of Minnesota , and a famous park system designed by Theodore Wirth .   Although the sawmills and the flour mills are long gone , Minneapolis remains a regional center in banking and industry . The two largest milling companies , General Mills and the Pillsbury Company , now merged under the General Mills name , still remain prominent in the Twin Cities area . The city has rediscovered the riverfront , which now hosts parkland , the Mill City Museum , and the Guthrie Theater .

neg: Arts Midwest Arts Midwest , headquartered in Minneapolis , Minnesota , is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations created to `` encourage development of the arts and to support arts programs on a regional basis . '' Arts Midwest 's mission is to `` promote creativity , nurture cultural leadership , and engage people in meaningful arts experiences , bringing vitality to Midwest communities and enriching people 's lives . '' Arts Midwest is primarily funded by the National Endowment for the Arts ( NEA ) , and is charged with supporting artists and arts organizations , and providing assistance to its nine member states of Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Michigan , Minnesota , North Dakota , Ohio , South Dakota , and Wisconsin .

neg: U.S. Route 63 in Minnesota U.S. Route 63 ( US 63 ) is a highway in southeastern Minnesota that runs from the Minnesota-Iowa border south of Spring Valley to the Mississippi River at Red Wing . It connects the cities of Spring Valley , Stewartville , Rochester , and Lake City .   The route in Minnesota is 96 mi in length .

neg: Grand Rapids, Minnesota Grand Rapids is a city in Itasca County , Minnesota , United States . The population was 10,869 at the 2010 census . It is the county seat of Itasca County .   The city of Grand Rapids is named for the 3.5 mi long local rapids in the Mississippi River , which was the uppermost limit of practical steamboat travel during the late 19th century . Today , those rapids are hidden underneath the dam of the Blandin Paper Mill .

neg: Illinois Illinois ( -LSB- ɪlᵻˈnɔɪ -RSB- ) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States , achieving statehood in 1818 . It is the 6th-most populous state and 25th-largest state in terms of land area , and is noted as a microcosm of the entire country . The word `` Illinois '' comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word . With Chicago in the northeast , small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois , and natural resources like coal , timber , and petroleum in the south , Illinois has a diverse economic base and is a major transportation hub . The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes , via the Saint Lawrence Seaway , to the Atlantic Ocean , as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River , via the Illinois Waterway . For decades , O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world 's busiest airports . Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics .   Although today the state 's largest population center is around Chicago in the northern part of the state , the state 's European population grew first in the west , with French Canadian colonists who settled along the Mississippi River in the 17th and 18th century , and gave the area the name , `` Pays des Illinois '' or Illinois Country a region that was known as part of New France . After the American Revolutionary War established the United States , American settlers began arriving crossing the Appalachians barrier range in the 1810s via the gaps of the Allegheny to boat building centers in Pittsburgh , from Cumberland , Maryland via the Cumberland Narrows pass to outfit in Brownsville , Pennsylvania , from North Carolina and Virginia via the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky and Tennessee , all on the Ohio River .   With the War of 1812 , the growth of Illinois slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier . After the war 's end , the federal government re-established forts such as Fort Dearborn ( in 1816 -- now the site is within Chicago ) and army patrols west of the Mississippi diminished the threat from Amerindian raids , so settlers were able to move into all of Illinois from the eastern and southern emigrant trails .   Mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration -- by the 1810s , the Eastern U.S. had exhausted most timber stands close to the established cities creating a hard felt first energy crisis by the late-1790s , and after 1818 , the industrial revolution was being fueled by new canals such as the Lehigh Canal feeding the furnaces of the rapidly industrializing east coast . Also in 1818 , Illinois achieved statehood and its growth , as yet untroubled by the speed of as yet unrefined railway technology , would be fueled by the new religion of industrialized forward thinking .   After construction of the Erie Canal with increasing traffic and trade through the Great Lakes , Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River , at one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan . John Deere 's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois ' rich prairie into some of the world 's most productive and valuable farmlands , attracting new immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden . Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s , and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois , as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets . Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other mid-western states from the tyranny of water transport ; no longer was a location near a river or canal a need to ship bulk goods .   By 1900 , the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants , from Eastern and Southern Europe . Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars . The Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago , who created the city 's famous jazz and blues cultures .   Three U.S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois : Abraham Lincoln , Ulysses S. Grant , and most recently Barack Obama . Additionally , Ronald Reagan , whose political career was based in California , was the only U.S. president born and raised in Illinois . Today , Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state nickname `` The Land of Lincoln , '' which has been displayed on its license plates since 1954 . The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the state capital of Springfield , and the Barack Obama Presidential Center will be completed in Chicago by 2020 .

neg: Minneapolis Central Library Minneapolis Central Library , located at 300 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis , Minnesota , United States , is the largest library of the Hennepin County Library public library system . It bills itself as having `` the third largest per capita public library collection of any major city in America with a collection of more than 2.4 million items -- including books , DVDs , music , government documents . '' The 353,000 square foot building with two levels of underground parking was designed by César Pelli and opened on May 20 , 2006 . It has over 300 free Internet computers for use by the public , an 8,140 square-foot atrium , an 18,560 square-foot `` green '' roof planted with low-growing ground cover designed to `` be sun - and drought-resistant '' , and a host of energy-efficiency measures .

neg: Mendota, Minnesota Mendota is a city in Dakota County , Minnesota , United States . The name is derived from the Dakota language , meaning `` mouth or junction of one river with another . The population was 198 at the 2010 census .

neg: Elk River (Minnesota) The Elk River is an 84.0 mi river in east-central Minnesota in the United States . It is a tributary of the Mississippi River , draining a watershed of 630 sqmi .

neg: Little Cannon River (Cannon River) The Little Cannon River is a 30.6 mi river of Minnesota in the United States . It flows into the Cannon River at the city of Cannon Falls .

neg: Redeye River The Redeye River is a tributary of the Leaf River , 73 miles ( 117 km ) long , in central Minnesota in the United States . Via the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers , it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River , draining an area of 222 square miles ( 575 km ² ) in a rural region . The river 's name comes from the Native Americans of the area , who saw many red-eye fish in the river .

neg: Cannon River (Minnesota) The Cannon River flows 112 mi from Lake Tetonka near Waterville , Minnesota to Red Wing in the U.S. state of Minnesota , where it joins the Mississippi River . It drains a watershed approximately 1460 square miles ( 3,780 km ² ) in size .   The Cannon River has few rapids , but some can be difficult ( Class II ) . Some have claimed lives , as has the confluence with the Little Cannon River in Cannon Falls . Canoes traversing the river must portage several dams ; the low header dams are more dangerous than they appear to novices . Downed trees and logjams are extreme hazards in high water , as are low bridges . The river varies in width from 50 to 200 feet ( 15 to 60 m ) .

neg: Brainerd, Minnesota Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County , Minnesota , United States . Its population was 13,592 as of the 2010 census . It is the county seat of Crow Wing County , and is one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota . Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence with the Crow Wing River , having been founded as a site for a railroad crossing above said confluence . Brainerd is the principal city of the Brainerd Micropolitan Area , a micropolitan area covering Cass and Crow Wing counties and with a combined population of 91,067 as of the 2010 census . The Brainerd area serves as a major tourist destination for Minnesota , and Baxter is a regional retail center .   Brainerd is the home to one of five medevac helicopter flight stations in the state for `` AirCare , '' operated by North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale , a Level 1 Trauma Center . This station covers the central part of Minnesota . The city is also known for the Brainerd International Raceway , which hosts races frequently throughout the year and has a national drag racing meet annually in August .

neg: Little Two River The Little Two River is a 15.9 mi tributary of the Mississippi River in Morrison County , Minnesota , United States .

neg: Stone Arch Bridge (Minneapolis) The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis , Minnesota . It is the only arched bridge made of stone on the entire length of Mississippi River , and also the second oldest next to Eads Bridge . The bridge was built to connect the railway system to the new Union Depot , which at that time was planned to be built between Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue . The bridge was completed on 1883 , costing an amazing sum of $ 650,000 during the time ( $ today ) . 117 Portland Avenue is the general address of the historic complex .   For a time , the bridge was dubbed `` Hill 's Folly '' until the value of Hill 's new bridge as a passenger rail link became evident .   Positioned between the 3rd Avenue Bridge and the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge , the Stone Arch Bridge was built in 1883 by railroad tycoon James J. Hill for his Great Northern Railway , and accessed the former passenger station located about a mile to the west , on the west bank of the river . The structure is now used as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge . It is an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark , and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 as a part of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District , ( District # 71000438 ) .

neg: Rainy River (Minnesota–Ontario) The Rainy River ( French : Rivière à la Pluie ; Ojibwe : Gojiji-ziibi ) is a river , approximately 137 km long , which forms part of the Canada -- United States border separating northern Minnesota and Northwestern Ontario .   The river issues from the west side of Rainy Lake ( French : lac à la Pluie ; Ojibwe : Gojiji-zaaga ` igan ) and flows generally west-northwest , between International Falls , Minnesota , and Fort Frances , Ontario , and between Baudette , Minnesota , and Rainy River , Ontario . It enters the southern end of Lake of the Woods approximately 19 km northwest of Baudette and Rainy River . It is used for hydroelectricity at International Falls . The river shares its name with the town of Rainy River , Ontario , and Rainy Lake . In addition , it shares its Ojibwe name with the Couchiching First Nation and Koochiching County , Minnesota . The drainage basin of the river stretches east to the height of land about 100 km west of Lake Superior , where it was the southeast corner of the huge tract of land granted to the Hudson 's Bay Company in 1670 . It ultimately drains through the Winnipeg River , Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River into Hudson Bay .   The Baudette-Rainy River International Bridge and the Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge both cross the Rainy River .   The Ontario and Rainy River Railway , opened in 1901 and now part of Canadian National , follows the river on the Canadian side .   The river was the site of the short story `` On the Rainy River '' in Tim O'Brien 's novel The Things They Carried .

neg: Loon River The Loon River is a river that forms part of the Canada -- United States border between Minnesota and Ontario .


query: Richard Branson's Virgin brand did not grow rapidly during the 1980s.

pos: Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson ( born 18 July 1950 ) is an English business magnate , investor and philanthropist . He founded the Virgin Group , which controls more than 400 companies .   Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age . At the age of sixteen his first business venture was a magazine called Student . In 1970 , he set up a mail-order record business . In 1972 , he opened a chain of record stores , Virgin Records , later known as Virgin Megastores . Branson 's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s , as he set up Virgin Atlantic airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label .   In March 2000 , Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for `` services to entrepreneurship '' . For his work in retail , music and transport ( with interests in land , air , sea and space travel ) , his taste for adventure , and for his humanitarian work , he became one of the most prominent figures in British culture . In 2002 he was named in the BBC 's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons . In January 2016 , Forbes listed Branson 's estimated net worth at $ 5.2 billion .

neg: Virgin Films Virgin Films was a film production company of the early 1980s best known for making 1984 ( 1984 ) . It was part of the Virgin Group and was headed by Al Clark . Nik Powell worked for the company before going over to Palace Films .

neg: Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc ( also known as M&S ) is a major British multinational retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster , London . It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index .   It specialises in the selling of clothing , home products and luxury food products . M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds . The company also began to sell branded goods like Kellogg 's Corn Flakes in November 2008 . M&S currently has 959 stores across the U.K including 615 that only sell food products .   In 1998 , the company became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over # 1 billion , although subsequently it went into a sudden slump , which took the company , its shareholders , who included hundreds of thousands of small investors , and nearly all retail analysts and business journalists , by surprise . In November 2009 , it was announced that Marc Bolland , formerly of Morrisons , would take over as chief executive from executive chairman Stuart Rose in early 2010 ; Rose remained in the role of non-executive chairman until he was replaced by Robert Swannell in January 2011 .   M&S have 852 stores throughout the UK , as well as many international stores ; 52 stores in India , 48 stores in Turkey , 37 in Russia , 27 in Greece , 17 in Ireland , 14 in France , 11 in Poland , 6 in Hungary and Finland and 5 in Spain .   In recent years its clothing sales have fallen whilst food sales have increased after the axing of `` St. Michael 's '' naming for their own brand .

neg: City Life (magazine) City Life was a Manchester-based news , arts and listings magazine that was published between December 1983 and December 2005 . It was a distinctive blend of radical politics and coverage of the increasingly exciting Manchester youth culture scene of the early 1980s , coinciding with the rise of Factory Records and The Haçienda .   The magazine was started by a small group of former Manchester University students , Ed Glinert , Chris Paul and Andy Spinoza , on a shoestring budget in a run-down building in Portland Street in the city centre .   Glinert ran spiky and revelatory news stories about city politics and the great and good . Spinoza edited the arts and features and contributed a wide range of interviews and criticism . Paul was production editor and edited the sports section .   When launched in 1983 , the magazine was in a strong tradition of ` alternative ' Manchester publications which included ( in reverse chronology ) , City Fun , Manchester Flash , New Manchester Review and Mole Express , all of whose approach was to publish political and cultural content not reflected in the mainstream media of the city .   Despite City Life 's shoestring beginnings , it developed rapidly in professionalism and grew in prominence and influence in Manchester and beyond . Its life can be divided into two distinct periods , the first being the period 1983-89 when it was run as a workers ' co-operative which grew from the initial founding trio to 16 staff at its peak .   There is a consensus that this ` independent ' period was when the title had a rawer and radical edge than under its later ownership . Its political stories caused consternation and complaints - there were numerous spats with councils , quangos and occasionally blank spaces where legal injunctions had caused stories to be pulled just prior to printing .   Similarly , its arts writing can be seen as a vibrant record of a ground-level cultural renaissance taking place with the opening of new facilities as the Hacienda ( 1982 ) , the Green Room performance venue ( 1984 ) and the Cornerhouse visual arts centre ( 1985 ) ; this upsurge was typified by the imaginative re-using of old and vacant city centre buildings for arts and leisure , and can be seen as a key building block of what was later hailed as the physical regeneration of Manchester city centre through widespread commercial investment and property development .   In 1989 , it was bought by the Guardian Media Group ( GMG ) , publishers of The Guardian and The Manchester Evening News . GMG changed the style of the magazine , focusing more on listings and interviews , and branching out into publishing guide books and sponsoring events such as the City Life Food and Drink Festival and the City Life Comedian of the Year competition .   City Life formed a loose association in 1984/5 with some other regional listings magazines including Due South Magazine ( Southampton ) , Venue ( Bristol ) , Coaster ( Bournemouth ) , and The List ( Glasgow and Edinburgh ) . Of these only Venue and The List survive , having been continually published since 1982 and 1985 respectively .   In November 2005 it was announced that City Life was to close a solus publication , with the edition published on 7 December being the final one .   City Life now lives on as a 20-page supplement every Friday within the Manchester Evening News and continues to be the most read Whats On guide on the North of England ( 333k readers . Source : JICREG April 2014 ) . Its website http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/ regularly generates over a million page views every month from more than 250k unique users ( Source : Omniture September 2014 )   CityLife 's sister title ` CityLife Extra ' is a Free solus publication delivered every Thursday to 16k City Centre apartments and a further 6k copies handed out with the Manchester Evening News . Over half of its 64 pages are devoted to `` Urban Life '' , advertising property for sale in the city .

neg: Infinity Records Infinity Records was a short-lived subsidiary of MCA Records established in New York City in 1978 . The label was conceived by MCA president Sidney Sheinberg as a way for the Los Angeles-based entertainment conglomerate to improve its presence on the East Coast . Ron Alexenberg , who had previously been the head of the Epic Records division of CBS Records ( now part of Sony Music Entertainment ) was hired as CEO .   The biggest hit the Infinity label had was `` Escape '' by Rupert Holmes , which was number 1 at the end of 1979 . Other acts that had chart entries on Infinity included Dobie Gray , Hot Chocolate , New England , Orleans and Spyro Gyra . Under the distribution of MCA , the Infinity Records label released titles in the US , Canada , the UK , Japan and parts of Europe .   Infinity spent lavishly but failed to earn a profit . In addition to developing new talent , Infinity also paid substantial sums to acquire established artists . Most of the established artists were unable to duplicate their previous success .   In October 1979 , Infinity released Pope John Paul II Sings at the Festival of Sacrosong , an album of speeches and songs sung by Pope John Paul II in his native Polish . Due to the tremendous popularity of the new Pope , Infinity thought the record would be a major hit . The company paid a substantial fee ( which went to charity ) to the Catholic Church to obtain exclusive rights to the recording . The album briefly peaked at # 126 on the Billboard 200 albums chart , however , it received poor reviews and was quickly seen as a colossal failure . Most of the one million advance copies of the John Paul II album were returned unsold to the label , producing a huge financial loss . MCA pulled the plug on Infinity Records in November 1979 , and the Infinity catalog was immediately absorbed by the parent company . Rupert Holmes and Spyro Gyra were the only Infinity acts to be retained by MCA , and most of the label 's catalog went out of print .   The collapse of Infinity also coincided with rising costs of manufacturing for vinyl LP records and a huge sales slump for the music industry . Infinity has since become known as one of the most expensive failures in the history of the record business .   There are at least two other smaller record labels that also have used the name Infinity Records . One of these other labels was a subsidiary of Festival Records , which for many years was Australia 's leading independent record company , but is now also defunct . Other companies with the Infinity Records name do not have an affiliation with MCA .

neg: Filofax Filofax is a company based in the UK that produces a range of well-known personal organiser wallets . The organisers are traditionally leather bound and have a six-ring loose-leaf binder system . The design originated at Lefax , a United States company based in Philadelphia who exported products into the UK . The company also markets a range of personal leather goods and luggage under the `` Filofax '' brand .   These organisers are available in over fifteen countries in the following sizes : A4 , A5 , Slimline , Personal , Pocket , Mini , Compact and Pocket Slimline .   The name originates from an abbreviation of the phrase `` file of facts '' . This name for the product was first coined when the UK company was founded in 1921 . The popularity of the Filofax personal organiser grew enormously during the early 1980s due to its association with Yuppie Culture , where it was regarded as a `` must-have '' accessory , in the days before electronic organisers .   The company was known as Norman & Hill until the mid-1980s when it renamed itself after its most popular product . For much of its life it was based in South Woodford , East London . In the early 1980s it moved to Barkingside , Essex . It was bought by David Collischon . In the early 1990s it moved its offices back to London and subcontracted its warehouse operation to Crick in Northamptonshire .   Famous devotees of the Filofax products include Lord Lichfield and Len Deighton .   Filofax is part of the UK-based Letts Group . In 2006 , Phoenix Equity Partners led a secondary buy out of the business . The deal provided an exit for private equity firm Dunedin Capital Partners . In 2012 the company was acquired by HSGP Investments .

neg: American Viscose Corporation American Viscose Corporation was an American division of the British firm Courtaulds , which manufactured rayon and other synthetic fibres . Established in 1909 , it became the largest supplier of rayon and the first company to make artificial silk in the United States .   American Viscose had plants at Marcus Hook , Pennsylvania ( established 1910 ) , Roanoke , Virginia ( 1916 ) , Lewistown , Pennsylvania ( 1920 ) , Parkersburg , West Virginia ( 1927 ) , Meadville , Pennsylvania ( 1929 ) , Nitro , West Virginia , and Front Royal , Virginia ( 1940 ) . After a 1946 merger with Sylvania Industrial Corporation ( not to be confused with lighting and electronics manufacturer Sylvania ) , it gained a plant at Fredericksburg , Virginia .   The company changed names and ownership several times . It was founded as a division of Courtaulds and began production as `` The Viscose Company '' in 1910 . In 1937 it changed to `` American Viscose Corporation '' . In 1941 the company was sold off by order of the British government in order to raise money for purchase of munitions and other supplies from the Americans . The company passed into the control of the Monsanto Corporation after the war . ( Courtaulds resumed manufacture of rayon in the United States in 1952 ) . In 1963 it was purchased by FMC Corporation , which sold off the division in 1976 to its employees . It was then renamed Avtex Fibers .   In 1974 , two years before FMC Corporation sold off the division to its employees , the plant in Parkersburg , WV was closed .   In 1980 Avtex Fibers closed their plant in Nitro , West Virginia that manufactured rayon staple . In 1983 , Avtex Fibers was the largest US manufacturer of rayon fiber , as well as operating plants that made polyester and acetate yarn .   Certain of its closed plants have become Superfund pollution cleanup sites . The former plant site at Front Royal , Virginia was used for manufacturing from 1940 until 1989 , when the plant was closed after being cited for more than 2,000 environmental violations over five years , including emissions of polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs ) into the nearby Shenandoah River . The plant was demolished in 1997 , and is currently being restored by FMC in conjunction with the United States Environmental Protection Agency .   The company made rayon fiber for fabric and also rayon cord for reinforcement of pneumatic automobile tires . Declining sales and high internal costs caused Avtex to close its rayon operations in 1988 , briefly restarting to produce fiber for the aerospace industry , and then permanently closing in 1990 for economic and environmental reasons .

neg: Europa (oil company) Europa was a New Zealand-owned oil company that was operated by the Todd family in New Zealand , in competition with overseas firms such as Texaco ( now Caltex in NZ ) , Plume ( now Mobil ) , Shell ( now Z Energy ) and Atlantic ( now Mobil ) .   Starting in Dunedin ( where the Todd family was based ) , in 1931 Charles Todd decided to import his own petrol . From 1933 the Europa brand of cheap imported petrol from the Soviet Union was sold through a chain of service stations across the country , in association with the New Zealand Farmer 's Union and various regional Automobile Associations . Because of price undercutting by the overseas firms , the government introduced regulation of petrol prices from 1933 .   In the early sixties the company was fined a large sum in a Transfer pricing scandal .   In 1972 British Petroleum NZ acquired a 60 % interest in the company .   During this time , the company produced what was an award-winning television advert that featured American rock legend Stevie Ray Vaughan and New Zealand Blues legend Midge Marsden as part of the `` Travellin ' On '' television adverts . The television adverts were shot mainly around the Central North Island of New Zealand during 1988 .   This would be the last major television advert used until 1989 when the Europa brand was replaced with the BP shield .

neg: New Order discography The discography of New Order , an English rock band , consists of ten studio albums , twelve compilation albums , three live albums , five extended plays ( EPs ) , thirty-eight singles , twelve video releases , thirty-three music videos and a number of soundtrack appearances . New Order were formed in 1980 by singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner , bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris . The group began life as a continuation of their former incarnation Joy Division . Joy Division had disbanded after the death of the lead singer Ian Curtis . Gillian Gilbert , who was Morris ' girlfriend at the time , soon joined the group and played guitar and keyboards .   Remarkably , New Order 's first eight singles released between 1981 and 1984 were not taken from any album . In most cases they were not even released as a 7-inch , but exclusively available in the radio-unfriendly 12-inch format , an unusual approach for a pop-act in the eighties .   Despite the high anticipation that surrounded the group , their debut single `` Ceremony '' only peaked at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart . The group 's following two singles and their debut album met with similar moderate success . It would not be until the release of their fourth single , `` Blue Monday '' , that New Order would break into the top ten , with the song peaking at number 9 . `` Blue Monday '' became a defining single for the group and caused a sensation , becoming the biggest selling 12-inch single of all time .   New Order , like many other post-punk groups of the period , increasingly utilised keyboards , drum machine and sequencers in their music . As a result they became associated with the synthpop and electronic dance movements of the 1980s . Beginning with Power , Corruption & Lies from 1983 , all of the group 's studio albums reached the top ten in the United Kingdom . The group experienced a lull in popularity in the years 1985 and 1986 but the surprise international popularity of the `` Bizarre Love Triangle '' single re-launched the group across the world . The group cemented their success in 1987 with the single , `` True Faith '' , and the compilation album Substance .   New Order were at the peak of their popularity in the years 1987 to 1993 , with a run of popular singles , including `` Blue Monday 1988 '' , `` Fine Time '' , `` Regret '' , `` World ( The Price of Love ) '' and in 1990 they scored their only number 1 single in the UK with the official England national football team song , `` World in Motion '' . The two albums released during these years , Technique and Republic ; each charted at number 1 in the UK . It was during this successful period that the group 's internal dynamic began to falter . Sumner was not fond of touring , and wanted to take time off from the group and produce a solo album . He formed Electronic with Johnny Marr and the pair released their first single in 1989 . Hook formed his own band , Revenge , in 1989 , while Morris and Gilbert worked together as The Other Two , primarily scoring soundtracks . Of the three side projects , Sumner 's was by far the most successful .   The recording and touring of 1993 's Republic , their first for London Records , was difficult and intra-band tensions were rife . The group went on hiatus until 1998 . In the meantime two compilation albums , The Best of New Order and The Rest of New Order , and several singles were released .   The group reconvened in 1998 for the Reading Festival but did not release new material until 2000 . The group released the album Get Ready in 2001 . It was met with critical warmth , but it was apparent that the group 's popularity had lessened . The lead single from the album , `` Crystal '' , reached the top ten in the UK . The film 24 Hour Party People , a humorous chronicle of their label Factory Records , was released in 2002 . New Order contributed a new song , `` Here to Stay '' , and a re-recording of the Joy Division song `` New Dawn Fades '' with Moby , for the film 's soundtrack . The compilation International and four-disc boxset Retro were released in winter 2002 . New Order followed Get Ready with Waiting for the Sirens ' Call in 2005 . During this period Gilbert stepped down from live performances due to family commitments . Phil Cunningham stepped into her role and in 2005 became an official member of the group .   The group had intended to release a ninth album soon after Waiting for the Sirens ' Call , the majority of which had already been recorded . The lack of enthusiasm inside the group and relative failure of Waiting for the Sirens ' Call stalled their career momentum . In 2007 , Hook decided to leave the group , and stated that he and Sumner had no further plans to work together . Sumner formed Bad Lieutenant with Cunningham , and Hook formed Freebass . Morris continued to work with Sumner and Cunningham . In 2008 , New Order released remastered and expanded editions of their first five albums with the intention of releasing the further three albums in a similar format in future .  In December 2012 it was announced that Lost Sirens would be released in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2013 . Lost Sirens is an eight-track album of tracks left out of Waiting for the Sirens ' Call .  On 22 June 2015 , the band announced they are to release a new album , Music Complete , on 25 September 2015 . The album will be the first without Peter Hook , and was produced mostly by the band themselves , except `` Singularity '' and `` Unlearn This Hatred '' , both produced by Tom Rowlands , while `` Superheated '' features additional production by Stuart Price .   In the US , the band has sold a certified 2 million albums , and in the UK a certified 960,000 albums .

neg: British Overseas Territories The 14 British Overseas Territories ( BOT ) are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom . They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories . These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and , with the exception of Gibraltar , are not part of the European Union . Most of the inhabited territories are internally self-governing , with the UK retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations . The rest are either uninhabited or have a transitory population of military or scientific personnel . They share the British monarch ( Elizabeth II ) as head of state .   The term `` British Overseas Territory '' was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 , replacing the term British Dependent Territory , introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981 . Prior to 1 January 1983 , the territories were officially referred to as British Crown Colonies . With the exceptions of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ( which host only officials and research station staff ) and the British Indian Ocean Territory ( used as a military base ) , the Territories retain permanent civilian populations . Permanent residency for the 7,000 or so civilians living in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia is limited to citizens of the Republic of Cyprus .   Collectively , the Territories encompass a population of about 250,000 people and a land area of about 667018 sqmi . The vast majority of this land area , 660000 sqmi , constitutes the almost uninhabited British Antarctic Territory , while the largest territory by population , Bermuda , accounts for almost a quarter of the total BOT population . At the other end of the scale , three territories have no civilian population ; the Antarctic territory , the British Indian Ocean Territory ( from which the Chagos Islanders were controversially removed ) and South Georgia . Pitcairn Islands , settled by the survivors of the Mutiny on the Bounty , is the smallest settled territory with 49 inhabitants , while the smallest by land area is Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula . The United Kingdom participates in the Antarctic Treaty System and , as part of a mutual agreement , the British Antarctic Territory is recognised by four of the other sovereign nations making claims to Antarctic territory .   Although the Crown dependencies of Jersey , Guernsey and the Isle of Man are also under the sovereignty of the British monarch , they are in a different constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom . The British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are themselves distinct from the Commonwealth realms , a group of 15 independent countries ( and the United Kingdom ) which each also have Elizabeth II as their reigning monarch , and from the Commonwealth of Nations , a voluntary association of 52 countries mostly with historic links to the British Empire ( which also includes all Commonwealth realms ) .   the Minister responsible for the Territories excluding the Falkland Islands , Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas is Baroness Anelay , Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN . The other three territories are the responsibility of Sir Alan Duncan MP , Minister of State for Europe and the Americas .

neg: British Caledonian British Caledonian ( BCal ) was a private , British independent airline , operating out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s . It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlines and was described as the `` Second Force '' in the 1969 Edwards report . It was formed by the UK 's second-largest , independent charter airline Caledonian Airways taking over British United Airways ( BUA ) , then the largest British independent airline and the United Kingdom 's leading independent scheduled carrier .   The BUA takeover enabled Caledonian to realise its long-held ambition to transform itself into a scheduled airline . The merged entity eventually became the UK 's foremost independent , international scheduled airline .   A series of major financial setbacks during the mid-1980s combined with the airline 's inability to grow sufficiently to reach a viable size put the airline at serious risk of collapse . BCal began looking for a merger partner to improve its competitive position . In December 1987 , British Airways ( BA ) gained control of the airline . The Caledonian name and livery was then used to rebrand BA 's Gatwick-based subsidiary British Airtours as Caledonian Airways .

neg: British rock and roll British rock and roll , or sometimes British rock 'n' roll , is a style of popular music based on American rock and roll , which emerged in the late 1950s and was popular until the arrival of beat music in 1962 . It has generally been considered inferior to the American version of the genre , and made little international or lasting impact . However , it was important in establishing British youth and popular music culture and was a key factor in subsequent developments that led to the British Invasion of the mid-1960s . Since the 1960s , some stars of the genre , most notably Cliff Richard , have managed to sustain successful careers and there have been periodic revivals of this form of music .

neg: Admiral Sportswear Admiral Sportswear is a British internationally recognized football , cricket and sportswear brand . It reached the peak of its success in the 1970s and early 1980s through a series of prestigious football team sponsorships .

neg: 1950s American automobile culture 1950s American automobile culture has had an enduring influence on the culture of the United States , as reflected in popular music , major trends from the 1950s and mainstream acceptance of the `` hot rod '' culture . The American manufacturing economy switched from producing war-related items to consumer goods at the end of World War II , and by the end of the 1950s , one in six working Americans were employed either directly or indirectly in the automotive industry . The United States became the world 's largest manufacturer of automobiles , and Henry Ford 's goal of 30 years earlier -- that any man with a good job should be able to afford an automobile -- was achieved . A new generation of service businesses focusing on customers with their automobiles sprang up during the decade , including drive-through or drive-in restaurants and more drive-in theaters ( cinemas ) .   The decade began with 25 million registered automobiles on the road , most of which predated World War II and were in poor condition ; no automobiles or parts were produced during the war owing to rationing and restrictions . By 1950 , most factories had made the transition to a consumer-based economy , and more than 8 million cars were produced that year alone . By 1958 , there were more than 67 million cars registered in the United States , more than twice the number at the start of the decade .   As part of the U.S. national defenses , to support military transport , the National Highway System was expanded with Interstate highways , beginning in 1955 , across many parts of the United States . The wider , multi-lane highways allowed traffic to move at faster speeds , with few or no stoplights on the way . The wide-open spaces along the highways became a basis for numerous billboards showing advertisements .   The dawning of the Space Age and Space Race were reflected in contemporary American automotive styling . Large tailfins , flowing designs reminiscent of rockets , and radio antennas that imitated Sputnik 1 were common , owing to the efforts of design pioneers such as Harley Earl .

neg: Evolution of Management Systems ' A management system is the framework of processes and procedures used to ensure that an organization can fulfill all tasks required to achieve its objectives .   After World War II , the reigning paradigm of product-oriented mass production had reached its peak . Examples of management systems at that time are linear assembly lines , organizational hierarchies of command , product quality control and mass consumption .   Soon afterwards , the Deming-Juran process-quality teachings spearheaded a new quality orientation ( later referred to as Total quality management ) and propelled Japan directly to the post-war process focus ( process quality control , just-in-time , continuous improvement ) . The US responded by a painful and prolonged product-to-process transformation , ultimately leveling the playing field again by the mid 1980s .   At the end of the 1980s , business process reengineering focused on the radical redesign of the production process through the reintegration of task , labor and knowledge . As a result , lean , flexible and streamlined production processes were created , capable of fast response and internet-based integration necessary for the upcoming phase of supply chains - business-to-business ( B2B ) -- as well as demand chains -- business-to-customer ( B2C ) .   In the above three stages of Evolution of Management Systems '' ' , the competitive advantage was derived almost exclusively from the internal resources of the firm . At the end of the 1980s , a radical fourth shift has occurred : the competitive advantage became increasingly derived from the external resources of the firm -- through the extended networks of suppliers and customers .   Figure 1 refers to the basic scheme of production and service delivery process . It represents the traditional linear input-process-output management system . This system has been fixed and unchanging for centuries . The only change has been in terms of changing focus on individual components of the system , emphasizing different parts of this basic scheme .   Although the scheme itself ( inputs → process → outputs ) remains mostly unchallenged , there are some indications that this business model will undergo major restructurings in the future ( in the emerging stages of Evolution of Management Systems ) . It will become disaggregated and distributed , subjected to non-linear modularity and bringing forth new ways of making things and delivering services . Then it will become reintegrated again , tying together globally distributed components into a unified recycling whole .

neg: Virgin Unite Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation , the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group . Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004 , Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin Group and its hundreds of subsidiaries and associated companies to grow the efforts of smaller grassroots charitable organizations . Partnered with more than a dozen charities worldwide the company also provides a resource through the Internet by serving as an online donation centre for those wanting to contribute .   The primary aims of the foundation are to make sustainable change through economic development towards tough social and environmental issues . These include addressing the issue of delivering healthcare to rural parts of Africa . Branson and Virgin underwrite all the operating costs of the organization , so 100 % of contributions can be applied towards causes .

neg: Oracle Media Objects Oracle Media Objects , formerly Oracle Card , was a multi-media software development tool for developing multi-media applications , with similar functionality and appearance to Apple Computer ' HyperCard .   In the early days of HyperCard at least two alternative tools were created outside of Apple , Spinnaker 's Plus and SuperCard . Plus was very much like HyperCard , with the notable distinction of being cross-platform , operating on both Mac OS and Windows . SuperCard was Mac-only at the time , and is still a shipping product .   Plus went on to become more than one product . One variation was WinPlus , which was a Microsoft Windows only version of the program . Another was Oracle Card , distributed by Oracle . First released in 1991 , Oracle Card was essentially a redistribution of the Plus runtime engine along with external libraries for establishing connections to RDBMS engines such as Oracle and DB2 . As such , Oracle Card stacks could execute queries and associate their results with native variables , making Oracle Card one of the first RDBMS application development environments to support cross-platform development .   A few years later , Oracle acquired the Plus source code from Format Verlag and developed it to become Oracle Media Objects ( often referred to by users as OMO ) . OMO did n't last very long , with development ceasing after version 1.1.2 . OMO was used by Oracle to position itself in the video on demand market . At the time , it was thought that the video on demand market was about to become a booming industry , but this never occurred .   Many customers of Oracle that were making large purchases of its core database technology received copies of OMO thrown into the deal . Consequently , an unknown amount of IT development internal to these customers was conducted on the OMO platform . Commercially , there were very few products built using the tool . Amongst these were the `` Our Secret Century '' series of CD-ROMs published by The Voyager Company ( the series was intended to be 12 discs , and 10 did ship before Voyager 's CD-ROM line was acquired by another company , leaving the remaining two discs unfinished ) and Inside Independence Day made by ACES Entertainment .

neg: MFI Group MFI Group Limited was a British furniture retailer , operating under the MFI brand . The company was one of the largest suppliers of kitchens and bedroom furniture in the United Kingdom , and operated mainly in retail parks in out of town locations . Anecdotally it was said at one stage that one in three Sunday lunches in the UK were cooked in an MFI kitchen and 60 % of British children were conceived in an MFI bedroom .   After success in its early decades , it experienced recurring financial problems accompanied by several changes of ownership , and on 26 November 2008 , it was announced that the business had been placed into administration . Merchant Equity Partners , headed by Henry Jackson , was the last company to own it , before it was sold to the management in September 2008 for a `` small profit '' . The business ceased trading by 19 December 2008 after the administrators failed to find a buyer .   It struggled to make profits during the 2000s , as chains such as B&Q and Argos introduced their own furniture lines , and rival chain IKEA ( who arrived in the United Kingdom in the last half of the 1980s ) expanded . Following its closure , the MFI brand was purchased by Victoria Plumb , and was relaunched as an online only retailer on 30 November 2011 only for it to cease trading again in July 2015 .   Following a rebrand in 2015 , Victoria Plumb became VictoriaPlum.com and announced that it was to expand into other home product categories . As part of this expansion , VictoriaPlum.com announced on 17 March 2016 that it was set to revive the MFI brand name , to represent its exclusive collection of low-cost , value-for-money bedroom furniture .

neg: Ford Transcontinental The Ford Transcontinental is a heavy goods vehicle tractor and rigid unit that was manufactured between 1975 and 1984 by Ford Europe in the Netherlands and Britain . A total of 8735 units were produced , 8231 in Amsterdam and another 504 at the Foden VAP in Sandbach , Cheshire UK .   Assembled almost entirely from bought in OEM component parts ( e.g. , cab shell from Berliet , engine from Cummins , transmission from Eaton ) it was introduced to fill a perceived gap in the market in anticipation of the relaxation of weight restrictions on HGVs , and as such had a very strong chassis and heavy duty suspension . The Berliet KB 2400 cab was also used by Renault for their R-series .   Recognizable by its high cab , it was an extremely advanced vehicle for its time offering a high standard of driver comfort and a high power output for its time , courtesy of the well proven 14 litre Cummins engine with typical outputs of 290-350 HP . The engines were originally of the Cummins NTC generation , but were gradually updated to the new `` big-cam '' ( NTE ) generation - a process completed by 1979 . Also , the Ford Transcontinental is noted for having oil and water meters on the dashboard , another example of the unit being ahead of its time .   Sales did not live up to expectations , mainly because the tractor unit with its heavy duty construction was too heavy for the 32 ton weight limit in the UK at the time , although it was a popular vehicle with drivers , particularly those who were engaged on long distance continental work . The model was updated continuously , with much work carried out to lighten the heavy chassis .   Today the Transcontinental is a particularly rare vehicle , much in favour with collectors of vintage commercials , although a few do remain in revenue earning service throughout Europe .

neg: Lenta (retail) Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the country 's second largest hypermarket chain . The company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg .  Founded by Oleg Zherebtsov , Lenta opened its first `` Cash & Carry '' store in St. Petersburg , Russia , in October 1993 . Lenta then registered its trademark in 1994 . And , by 1999 , it opened its first big-box hypermarket format and has expanded ever since . Now Lenta operates 122 hypermarkets in 63 cities across Russia and 27 supermarkets in the Moscow region with a total of approximately 787,807 sq. m. of selling space . The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of 6,200 sq m . The company operates five distribution centres for hypermarkets . The company 's stores base themselves on price-led hypermarkets and supermarket scheme . Lenta employs around 35,100 people .   Lenta 's largest shareholders include TPG Capital , the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and VTB Capital . Global Depository Receipts ( GDRs ) of Lenta Ltd. are listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange .   The parent company of the chain -- Lenta LLC -- 100 % belongs to Lenta LTD , that registered in British Virgin Islands . 41,3 % of shares belong to investment - TPG Capital and `` VTB Capital '' ( 35,5 % and 4 % respectively ) , 15,3 % -- belongs to EBRD , minor shareholders share the rest .  CEO of the chain -- Jan Dunning .

neg: P8 Group The P8 Group brings together senior leaders from some of the world 's largest public pension funds to develop actions relating to global issues and particularly climate change . It is an initiative of the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership ( CPSL ) and HRH Prince of Wales 's Business and Environment Programme ( BEP ) supported by the Environmental Capital Group ( ECG ) and the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation .   The P8 Group involves ten leading global pension funds and sovereign wealth funds , including representatives from Europe , Asia , Australasia and North America . They represent over $ 3 trillion of investment capital and as pension funds have an inherently long term focus .   In November 2007 the first P8 Summit was held . This brought together leaders from eight of the world 's largest public pension funds with key experts including Vice President Al Gore and HRH Prince of Wales . The P8 Summit was a critical start in getting pension funds to lead in the move toward a low carbon economy . Participants agreed to continue working together to address climate change , both within their organizations and as a group to influence policy and markets .   The group , at this point 10 pension funds , met again in July 2008 to further develop their strategy . At this meeting HRH Prince of Wales welcomed their continued `` determination to put substantial money into investments that address climate change . ''   This organisation has now disbanded , and was replaced in 2010 by the P80 Group Foundation .