GlobGlacier Project:

Since glaciers are among the most reliable indicators of climate change and because they can have a major influence on water availability, knowledge of the recent changes and future behaviour is of great interest for climate scientists and governing bodies. Recently there was an intense public debate on how rapidly the Himalayan glaciers are retreating. This was for the first time a climate report "Mistake" was followed by the thousands of articles attacking the IPCC for incorrectly publishing information on the glaciers melting in the Himalayas by 2035.

Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) has called for the systematic monitoring of glaciers by satellites in support of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

What is GlobGlacier?In 2007, ESA started the GlobGlacier project as a major effort to develop and apply existing methodologies to monitor glaciers and contribute to a global glacier inventory using satellite observations. GlobGlacier, part of ESA's 'Data User Element', is adding about 20,000 of the estimated 160,000 glaciers worldwide to this inventory to allow their histories to be adequately tracked.

The GlobGlacier projects attempts to establish a service for glacier monitoring from space, which aims at establishing a global picture of glaciers and ice caps, and their role as Essential Climate Variables.

The GlobGlacier project will attempt to establish a service for glacier monitoring from space that is based on user requirements and builds upon, complements and strengthens the existing network for global glacier monitoring (GTN-G). The project will help to establish a global picture of glaciers and ice caps, and their role as Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) as defined in the GCOS implementation plan for the UNFCCC (GIP, 2004). With this respect, the most requested issue is to complete the world glacier inventory (WGI) from the 1970s by producing glacier outlines in regions where actually is nothing and to complement the point information already stored in the WGI by 2D information to allow change assessment. Moreover, GlobGlacier will integrate satellite data from various sensors to create value added products for a wide range of user communities. A close cooperation with major user groups (e.g. WGMS) and related projects (e.g. GLIMS) will ensure a maximum benefit of the generated products from a global perspective.

European Space Research Institute, Department of Geography University of Zurich, GAMMA Remote Sensing Research and Consulting AG, Environmental Monitoring and Earth Observation are some of the partners in the GlobGlacier Consortium.

Kashmir is one of the selected regions where little information is available on overall glacier extent or changes. GlobGlacier is creating inventory data for more than 1000 glaciers in this region.What is this Inventory?
The inventory combines information on glacier outlines based on archived satellite data from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (tm) and the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instruments with topographic information from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and the Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) from ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer).

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Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI)

What is SEBI?


· Securities and Exchange Board of India = SEBI
· It regulates both the primary and secondary markets. (explained in my previous article)
· It protects the interests of the investors in securities
· It promotes the development of the securities market.
· SEBI was established in 1988 but was given statutory powers in 1992, and started working effectively since 1993.
Why did the government create SEBI?

As you know that in India, the Government won’t do any major reform or action unless the things get messed up really bad. The same was the case why SEBI was given the power to control both primary and secondary market because they were in complete mess. So lets first see, what was the problems in primary and secondary markets before SEBI came in picture.

The problems in Primary market before SEBI came

· primary market was extremely restrictive regulations on the issuers enforced by the Controller of Capital Issues (CCI)
Now lets assume I'm the big businessman.
· Primary market is where i issue my security for the first time.
· I can't fix the prices of my shares, as I like, because i've to follow the rules made by CCI.
· but that dude always underprice my issues.
· When I put my equity shares for the first time in Primary market = this is IPO (initial public offering)
· but now as you know that I can't fix high prices for my IPO due to CCI dude.
· so my IPO is very cheap.
· so lots of people will send application to buy it because its cheap (= over subscription)
· so i'll have to give the IPO shares via lottery only to a few people.
· but those who get my cheap IPO via lottery will immediately go to secondary market and sell it at higher price.
· = I lost money (that I could have made if CCI dude allowed me to sell my IPO @ higer price.)
· and those lucky dudes who won the lottery made money without really doing anything.
· As you can see, all this is not good for industrial Development.

The problems in secondary market before SEBI came


Secondary market = where you trade the securities that you purchased from primary market.
For general understanding- the stock markets = secondary market = where you sell/buy shares.
So lets see the

problems of Stock markets before SEBI came


· first organized stock exchange was established in 1875 in Bombay (now Mumbai)
· there were almost 20 regional stock exchanges in 1992,
· but trading was concentrated in Bombay Stock Exchange and it enjoyed a monopoly
· Users from outside Bombay found it extremely difficult to trade in BSE due to poor technology and high cost of telecommunications. (they didn’t have internet or cellphones with free incoming calls in 1992!)
· BSE imposed a high entry barrier, so that competition among brokers was absent.
· That’s why services provided by the brokers were, thus, extremely inefficient and costly. (its same like Indian railway’s stinking toilets- you can’t complain because railway don’t have much competition.)
Specific problems in Share market before 1992

“open outcry” system

· means trading used to take place in trading ring where non-brokers were not allowed in.
· These traders will shout the prices like we've in vegetable markets.
· There wasn't any mechanism to verify the prices at which trading actually took place.
· So, brokers used to charge prices to the investors (buyers and sellers of securities) that were usually different from the actual prices
· =brokers used to report higher than actual prices for buy orders and lower than actual prices for sell orders).
· If investors (buyers or sellers) demanded a more accurate price, orders often got cancelled (for example, the broker could simply claim that such a favourable price was not obtained in the market).
The settlement system

· payment of money and delivery of securities after trade by the brokers to both parties (buyer and seller of shares)
· it favored the brokers and was to the disadvantage of the investors.
· the settlement was “futures-style” and was on a fortnightly basis.
· means that trading done during a fortnight would be settled at the end of the fortnight.
· system of badla =enabled the brokers to carry forward their liability (of money or securities) to next settlement.
· so, brokers could postpone settlement almost indefinitely, if the prices were not favorable to them.
· This led to a high degree of risks. Large-scale problems arising out of failure to make payment or deliver shares, would lead to closure of BSE for days together,
· this used to recur at the rate of almost once every other year.

“bad delivery” of Shares

· Even after you buy the shares and get the paper in your hands- you had to send the shares to the registrar of the company to register the ownership of that share in your name.
· At this stage, the problem of bad delivery arose due to a number of problems
· if the signature of the seller did not match with the one maintained with the registrar, the shares were sent back.
Reasons for inaccurate signature

· The seller of the shares, who probably purchased the shares years back, might unwillingly sign in a different manner.
· But in many cases, manipulations by unscrupulous operators were responsible.
· counterfeit shares (wherein any signature were put by the counterfeiter),
· Engineering bad deliveries by selling party’s brokers or by the companies themselves to delay settlement in order to support price manipulation.
· The time lag between buying shares and getting it registered in the name of the buyer used to take anything between 1-3 months if everything was alright.
· The time lag normally went up to six months on an average in case of bad delivery.

Anyways so above were the problems with primary + secondary market so Govt. made a law to give powers to SEBI to control them both. And so CCI was abolished.

NSE (National stock exchange) was established to end the monopoly of Bombay Stock Exchange.

NSE (National stock exchange)

· NSE was a new exchange promoted and owned by public sector financial institutions (like IDBI, UTI, LIC, GIC, IFCI, etc.) and banks.
· NSE is professionally-managed (as opposed to the other exchanges that are managed by brokers or members still today)

You saw the problems of BSE ago, and to curb them,
NSE came with 4 innovations



Computerized trading

· First, physical, floor-based, brokers-dominated trading outside the eyes of the investors was replaced by anonymous, computerized order matching system
· where trading is done in front of the investors.
· The order-matching system is characterized by strict price-time priority,
· wherein an order is executed according to the price parameters set by the investors.
· The OTCEI, which was set up in 1992, was the first computerised exchange in India.
· NSE started operations in 1994 with electronic trading, while all other exchanges introduced electronic trading subsequently.
· By March 31, 1999, all the 23 stock exchanges in the country had computerised on-line screen based trading.
Satellite communication

· to spread the reach of the exchange to all over the country was attempted successfully, for the first time, by NSE.
· This was in stark contrast to the other exchanges which till then had the reach limited to their cities of operation for over a century.

Professional managers

· the traditional exchanges were and still are managed by the member brokers.
· This gave rise to many malpractices, a conflict of interest being the most important one. Since the brokers themselves were in charge of enforcement of rules and regulations, they never took a decision in favour of the investors that went against their interest.
· This gave rise to a conflict of interest between the members as brokers and members as responsible for enforcement of rules and regulations.
· NSE avoided this problem right from beginning because it was set up as a limited liability company with brokers as franchisees.
· This led to a situation where brokers were not held responsible for enforcement of rules and regulations, and
· those who were entrusted with enforcement (professional managers) were not brokers.
· As a result, NSE’s staff is free of pressures from brokers and is better able to perform regulatory and enforcement functions.

Weekly settlement

· If you buy shares from me, you’ve to give me the money in 1 week and I’ve to give you the shares in the same 1 week.
· the traditional practice of fortnightly settlement cycle + system of badla that allowed extension of even this fortnightly cycle was replaced by a strict weekly settlement cycle without badla.

Result-BSE Is busted

· Equity trading at NSE commenced in November 1994.
· Within one year of operation, NSE surpassed the BSE in terms of turnover.
· BSE was working since 1875, with monopoly now it had to face competition with N.S.E
· So in March 1995, BSE also adopted similar innovation to keep up in the race.

All this, lead to 5 good things Stock markets


Improved Transparency:

Investors can see with their own eyes the prices that are currently being quoted in the market, and choose to trade or not.
Anonymity= no cartels

· The electronic trading platform makes trading completely anonymous.
· Traditionally, lack of anonymity in trading in the floor-based system
· gave rise to cartels (of brokers) and made price manipulation easy. NSE
· was a break from this tradition as well and removed much of the scope for
· price manipulation.
More brokers = competition =good for clients

· NSE throws open the business of stock broking to all and everyone (subject to fulfillment of certain criteria).
· In contrast, BSE restricted new entry into the brokerage business until NSE came into picture.
· Now More than a thousand brokers entered the market with the NSE leading to steep increase in competition and the consequent fall in the brokerages* by a very substantial amount.
· This led to a drastic fall in transaction costs. (*the broker’s Commission)
No more bad delivery

Automation of the trading system eliminated all the problems associated with manual trading (e.g., bad delivery/ signature etc.)
Investors outside Mumbai can earn money

· Investors from all over the country have got access to an exchange on same terms and conditions as investors within Mumbai for the first time.
· Earlier, Bombay stock exchange was the pre-dominant one in the country,
· but investors outside the city found it extremely difficult and costly to do business in the exchange. (no cellphones with free incoming!)
· Thus, true to its name, NSE turned out to be the first national stock exchange.
· This benefited the investors from outside Mumbai more than perhaps the investors within the city.


National Securities Clearing Corporation Limited (NSCCL)

· It’s a subsidiary of N.S.E, to prevent the counter party risk. (established in August 1995)
· counter-party risk means the risk that one of the two parties in a transaction may fail to honour their commitment to pay cash [buyer] or stock [seller] on the scheduled settlement date
· For every trade (buy or sell) done on the NSE, NSCCL becomes the counter-party.
· means, the seller sells the securities to the NSCCL, and the buyer buys from the
· NSCCL.
· Even if a brokerage firm fails to make payment (or deliver securities), NSCCL makes the payment (or deliver securities).
· This has almost eliminated counter-party risk and contained the recurrence of payment crises that characterised Indian stock markets for almost a century.
Demat account


· You read above, how the ‘bad delivery of shares’ was engineering by the brokers.+ the menace of counterfeit shares.
· To curb this problem, SEBI came up with the novel idea that is ‘Dematerialization of share holding’
· This means, you’ve to get a Demat account in the bank and
· when you buy shares, you don’t get a ‘piece of paper’. That share gets automatically credited to your demat account. and when you sell it, it automatically gets deducted from your account.
· In November 1996, the National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL), the first depository in India, was established For this purpose.
· SEBI played an active role in gradual shifting from physical certificates to dematerialised holding by introducing a mandatory element in the process.
· Currently almost cent percent trading and settlement are done in a dematerialised environment. another advantage - since you don't have the shares in 'material' (physical form) = no one can steal it from you / burn it down.

· But things are not that safe and sweet, thanks to IPO scam-Demat Queen Roopal Panchal

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Update on Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)

Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) which are called "an eye in the sky " come under a project, which is a tripartite contract between India, Israel and Russia. The $1.1 billion deal for the three AWACS was signed in 2004.
The first AWACS had come in May 2009. Second comes in March 2010. India has to be delivered a total of 3 AWACS. First AWAC is based at Agra and second also will be based at Agra airbase which is one of the largest in the country and has immense strategic importance.

AWACS have the ability to detect aircraft, cruise missiles and other flying objects at ranges far greater than is possible through existing systems.

They can also collate surface information about troop movements and missile launches even while “listening-in” to highly confidential communications between the enemy’s front line units. Its a potent force multiplier for Indian Air Force.

India is in the elite club of nations - the US, Russia, Britain, Japan, Australia and Turkey - that operate such a sophisticated system. Pakistan too has AWACS but is of a much lower end of the scale in terms of capability.

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Goods and Services Tax (GST)

GST is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services at a national level. Through a tax credit mechanism, this tax is collected on value-added goods and services at each stage of sale or purchase in the supply chain. The system allows the set-off of GST paid on the procurement of goods and services against the GST which is payable on the supply of goods or services. However, the end consumer bears this tax as he is the last person in the supply chain.

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) will integrate State economies and boost overall growth. GST will create a single, unified Indian market to make the economy stronger. The implementation of GST will lead to the abolition of other taxes such as octroi, Central Sales Tax, State-level sales tax, entry tax, stamp duty, telecom licence fees, turnover tax, tax on consumption or sale of electricity, taxes on transportation of goods and services, etc., thus avoiding multiple layers of taxation that currently exist in India.

It is estimated that India will gain $15 billion a year by implementing the Goods and Services Tax as it would promote exports, raise employment and boost growth. It will divide the tax burden equitably between manufacturing and services.

In the GST system, both Central and State taxes will be collected at the point of sale. Both components (the Central and State GST) will be charged on the manufacturing cost. This will benefit individuals as prices are likely to come down. Lower prices will lead to more consumption, thereby helping companies.

Almost 140 countries have already implemented the GST. Most of the countries have a unified GST system. Brazil and Canada follow a dual system where GST is levied by both the Union and the State governments. France was the first country to introduce GST system in 1954.

CGST will include central excise duty, service tax, and additional duties of customs at the central level; and value-added tax, central sales tax, entertainment tax, luxury tax, octroi, lottery taxes, electricity duty, state surcharges related to supply of goods and services and purchase tax at the State level.

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Human Development Index [HDI]

The Human Development Index (HDI) is an index used to rank the countries on the basis of developed, developing, or underdeveloped country based upon human development in that country.

It is being used since 1990. The index was developed in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and India’s Nobel prize Winner Economist Amartya Sen [Noble prize winner of 1998]

It is prepared by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)

It is a composite of 3 factors:

• Life Expectancy at birth or life expectancy at birth also called LEI (Life Expectancy Index)
• Standard of Knowledge & Education : Adult Literacy Rate also called EAI (Education Attainment Index) given 2/3 priority and Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) given 1/3 priority (weight age)
• Standard of living measured by natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita also called SLI (Standard of Living Index)

The latest report is of year 2008. It was a new index was released on December 18, 2008. It was called “statistical update” and it covers the period up to 2006 and was originally published without an accompanying report on human development. The update is relevant due to newly released estimates of purchasing power parities (PPP), implying substantial adjustments for many countries, resulting in changes in HDI values and, in many cases, HDI ranks. Here are the salient features of this report (memorable points):-

1. It was launched in December 2008
2. It includes 177 UN members plus Hong Kong plus Palestinian territories.
3. Countries fall into three broad categories based on their HDI: high, medium and low human development.
4. Iceland is the top of this list with HDI of 0.968.
5. India’s Rank is 134 with HDI of 0.609 [it was 132^th in 2008 with HDI of 0.619]
6. Top 5 countries are Iceland, Norway, Canada, Australia and Ireland
7. Japan Tops the list in Asia (0.956)
8. Libya Tops the list in Africa (0.840)
9. Canada has an Higher HDI (0.967) than USA (0.950)
10. Since 1990, Japan, Norway, Iceland & Canada only have been able to get a top slot in this index

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400 million Dollars World Bank loan for

400 million Dollars World Bank loan for Himachal power plant



The World Bank has approved a USD 400 million loan for the development of a hydropower plant in Himachal Pradesh.


The loan is to be provided to state-owned power company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN) for developing the plant on the Satluj river which will provide renewable, low carbon energy to the Northern Electricity Grid.



"The 412 MegaWatt Rampur Hydropower Project supports the Government of India's plan to develop hydropower to help meet the country's energy needs and thus provide all its citizens with access to electricity," the Bank said in a statement.



The plant is expected to generate about 1,770 million units of electricity each year, enough to electrify a million household.



The run-of-river plant requires no dam or reservoir for its construction and will not involve any inundation of land; nor will the scheme extract any additional water from the river, as it will reuse the water used by the existing upstream Nathpa Jhakri power plant.



The social and environmental impacts on local communities are thus low compared to other plants of this size, the Bank said.



SJVN is a joint venture between the state government and the centre. The loan is provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and has 20 years to maturity including a five-year grace period.



In keeping with the World Bank's safeguard policies and SJVN's corporate philosophies, effort has been made not just to mitigate any social and environmental impacts of the Rampur Project but to also look for opportunities to improve the lives of people in the project's vicinity, said H K Sharma, chairman and managing director of SJVN.

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EAST-WEST CORRIDOR TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETED BY 2009

The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Thiru T.R. Baalu has said that the East-West Corridor which, passes through the States of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, is likely to be substantially completed by 2009. Speaking at the Parliamentary Consultative Committee Meeting of the Ministry, Thiru T.R. Baalu said that on completion, this Corridor would open up new opportunities for the people residing in these States and lead to all round economic development of these States. The subject of the today’s Consultative Committee Meeting was the progress of work on the East West Corridor.

Thiru Baalu said that the main problems affecting the progress have been the delay in disbursement of compensation for land acquisition in Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. There has also been some delay in Uttar Pradesh due to the condition stipulated by the State Government for providing 10-metre wide strip of land for afforestation before allowing tree-cutting, the Minister said and added that law and order in Assam has also to some extent affected the work in that State. However, assuring the Members, Thiru Baalu said that all these issues are being pursued with the respective State Governments and efforts are being made to speed up the work.

Giving details about the progress of the East-West Corridor, the Minister said that out of the total length of 3,443 kms, widening has already been completed in 765 kms and is in progress in a length of 2,446 kms and the work in a length of 232 kms remains to be awarded. This includes 201 kms in West Bengal from Siliguri on NH-31 to West Bengal/Assam Border where the alignment had to be changed due to Mahananda and Jaldapara Wild Life Sanctuaries and Buxa Tiger Reserve, Thiru Baalu said.

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KHADI AS A GLOBAL BRAND

Three registered brands are being used by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), exclusively for products under the purview of KVI sector: (a) Khadi Brand: Mainly for premium and export oriented products, (b) Sarvodaya Brand: Products for consumption of middle and lower income group & (c) Deshi Aahar: For organic food items.

KVIC takes part in international trade fairs and exhibitions where, branded products, including khadi items, are widely exhibited. Delegations of Export oriented Units/Institutions registered with KVIC/State/Union Territory Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs) are also provided financial assistance to participate in the international exhibitions. During 2006-07, KVIC took part in 5 such exhibitions.

For promotion of export of khadi and village industry products, KVIC provides cash incentives to the registered exporting institutions and individual entrepreneurs at the rate of 5 per cent of the `free on board` (FOB) value of exported items.

KVIC has launched ‘Mission Khadi’ to convert the khadi fabric into ready-made garments of latest designs and the help of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai (Tamilnadu) and NIFT, Kolkata (West Bengal) is being taken for identification and procurement of appropriate machinery for projects under ‘Mission Khadi’, recommendation of expert designers required for the units, training of people engaged in such projects, etc.

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G8

The Group of Eight (G8, and formerly the G6 or Group of Six and also the G7 or Group of Seven) is a forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of the six richest countries in the world: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In 1976, Canada joined the group (thus creating the G7). In becoming the G8, the group added Russia in 1997.

In addition, the European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair.

Each calendar year, the responsibility of hosting the G8 rotates through the member states in the following order: France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada.


Lately, both France and the United Kingdom have expressed a desire to expand the group to include five developing countries, referred to as the Outreach Five (O5) or the Plus Five: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. These countries have participated as guests in previous meetings, which are sometimes called G8+5.


Group of Eight

---

 Canada

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

 France

President Nicolas Sarkozy

 Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel

 Italy

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi President of the G8 for 2009

 Japan

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

 Russia

President Dmitry Medvedev

 United Kingdom

Prime Minister Gordon Brown

 United States

President Barack Obama

Also represented

 European Union

Commission President José Manuel Barroso

European Council President Fredrik Reinfeldt

 

 

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BRIC

In economics, BRIC (typically rendered as "the BRICs" or "the BRIC countries") is an acronym that refers to the fast-growing developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The acronym was first coined and prominently used by Goldman Sachs in 2001.

The four countries, combined, currently account for more than a quarter of the world's land area and more than 40% of the world's population.

Brazil, Russia, India, and China

---

BRIC

 Brazil

President (head of state and government): Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

 Russia

President (head of state): Dmitry Medvedev

Prime Minister (head of government): Vladimir Putin

 India

President (head of state): Pratibha Patil

Prime Minister (head of government): Manmohan Singh

 China

President (head of state): Hu Jintao

Premier (head of government): Wen Jiabao

 

 

Global giants

Painting BRIC by numbers

Categories	Brazil	Russia	India	China
Area	5th	1st	7th	4th
Population	5th	9th	2nd	1st
Population growth rate	107th	221th	90th	156th
Labour force	5th	6th	2nd	1st
GDP (nominal)	10th	8th	12th	3rd
GDP (PPP)	9th	6th	4th	2nd
GDP (real) growth rate	81th	69th	28th	16th
Exports	21st	11th	23rd	2nd
Imports	27th	17th	16th	3rd
Current account balance	47th	5th	169th	1st
Received FDI	16th	12th	29th	5th
Foreign exchange reserves	7th	3rd	6th	1st
External debt	24th	20th	27th	19th
Public debt	47th	117th	29th	98th
Electricity consumption	10th	3rd	7th	2nd
Number of mobile phones	5th	4th	2nd	1st
Number of internet users	5th	11th	4th	1st
Motor vehicle production	6th	12th	9th	2nd
Military expenditures	14th	8th	9th	2nd
Active troops	14th	5th	3rd	1st
Cultivated land	5th	4th	2nd	3rd
Forest area	2nd	1st	10th	5th
Rail network	10th	2nd	4th	3rd
Road network	4th	8th	2nd	3rd

 

 

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO; pronounced /ˈneɪtoʊ/, NAY-toe);
French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called "the (North) Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949.

The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization Organisation du Traité de l'Atlantique Nord
Flag of NATO[1]
NATO countries shown in blue.
Formation	April 4, 1949
Type	Military alliance
Headquarters	Brussels, Belgium
Membership	28 states[show] Albania Belgium Bulgaria Canada Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States
Official languages	English French[2]
Secretary General	Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee	Giampaolo Di Paola
Website	nato.int

French withdrawal

Map of the NATO air bases in France before Charles de Gaulle's 1966 withdrawal from NATO military integrated command.

 

 

The unity of NATO was breached early in its history, with a crisis occurring during Charles de Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958 onwards. De Gaulle protested at the United States' strong role in the organization and what he perceived as a Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.


In a memorandum sent to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on September 17, 1958, he argued for the creation of a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United States and the United Kingdom, and also for the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably Algeria, where France was waging a counter-insurgency and sought NATO assistance.

Membership

Main article: Members of NATO

Current members     Membership Action Plan       Promised invitation

Intensified Dialogue     Membership not a goal     Undeclared intent

NATO has added new members seven times since first forming in 1949 (the last 2 in 2009).

NATO comprises 28 members: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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