Fuad Kavur (born 1955 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a British opera and film director and producer.
Kavur came to London in 1963 when his uncle, Kemal N. Kavur, was the Turkish ambassador to the Court of St. James. He comes from a family of diplomats: one paternal uncle, Kemal N. Kavur, served as ambassador to Finland, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland; another, Sadi Kavur, was ambassador to Yugoslavia, Sweden and Portugal.
Fuad went to the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, and later studied International Relations at University College London. However, straight after university, Kavur went into arts. In 1973, he directed the British premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera Der Prozeß, based on Franz Kafka's novel, The Trial, at Bloomsbury Theatre, attended by the composer. Fuad then worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as assistant to John Copley. From 1977, Fuad was an assistant to Peter Ustinov on opera productions at the Paris Opera, Hamburg State Opera, La Scala (Milan), the Mozarteum Salzburg and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 1978, Fuad directed the revival of Wagner's Ring Cycle at Washington's Seattle Opera in a production originally created by George London (1975). However, both the filming and screening of Memed My Hawk was (and still is) banned in Turkey by the government as "communist propaganda". Fuad was a company director of Peter Ustinov Productions from 1982 to 1992. In 2001, he was the executive producer of Atatürk, a television documentary on Kemal Atatürk, narrated by Donald Sinden. Since 2017 Kavur has been preparing a feature film, ATATURK .
In July 2013, Kavur assembled a group of artists & writers, 30 in all, to sign an open letter addressed to the Turkish Prime Minister, , criticising his handling of the Gezi Park Protests in June, which left 8 people dead, 11 blinded and 8,000 injured. The signatories included Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, David Lynch, Sir Ben Kingsley, James Fox, Sir Tom Stoppard, Christopher Hampton, Lord Fellowes, Frederic Raphael, Edna O'Brien, Rachel Johnson, Christopher Shinn, Branko Lustig, Vilmos Zsigmond and Atatürk's biographer Andrew Mango. The letter was published as a full page advertisement in the London broadsheet, The Times, on 24 July 2013 and led to the Prime Minister Erdogan threatening to sue The Times and the signatories.<ref name = "Hurriyet1" />
In May 2022, TURKISH STORIES, a collection of short stories by Kavur, was published by Curzon Books.
Kavur came to London in 1963 when his uncle, Kemal N. Kavur, was the Turkish ambassador to the Court of St. James. He comes from a family of diplomats: one paternal uncle, Kemal N. Kavur, served as ambassador to Finland, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland; another, Sadi Kavur, was ambassador to Yugoslavia, Sweden and Portugal.
Fuad went to the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, and later studied International Relations at University College London. However, straight after university, Kavur went into arts. In 1973, he directed the British premiere of Gottfried von Einem's opera Der Prozeß, based on Franz Kafka's novel, The Trial, at Bloomsbury Theatre, attended by the composer. Fuad then worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as assistant to John Copley. From 1977, Fuad was an assistant to Peter Ustinov on opera productions at the Paris Opera, Hamburg State Opera, La Scala (Milan), the Mozarteum Salzburg and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 1978, Fuad directed the revival of Wagner's Ring Cycle at Washington's Seattle Opera in a production originally created by George London (1975). However, both the filming and screening of Memed My Hawk was (and still is) banned in Turkey by the government as "communist propaganda". Fuad was a company director of Peter Ustinov Productions from 1982 to 1992. In 2001, he was the executive producer of Atatürk, a television documentary on Kemal Atatürk, narrated by Donald Sinden. Since 2017 Kavur has been preparing a feature film, ATATURK .
In July 2013, Kavur assembled a group of artists & writers, 30 in all, to sign an open letter addressed to the Turkish Prime Minister, , criticising his handling of the Gezi Park Protests in June, which left 8 people dead, 11 blinded and 8,000 injured. The signatories included Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, David Lynch, Sir Ben Kingsley, James Fox, Sir Tom Stoppard, Christopher Hampton, Lord Fellowes, Frederic Raphael, Edna O'Brien, Rachel Johnson, Christopher Shinn, Branko Lustig, Vilmos Zsigmond and Atatürk's biographer Andrew Mango. The letter was published as a full page advertisement in the London broadsheet, The Times, on 24 July 2013 and led to the Prime Minister Erdogan threatening to sue The Times and the signatories.<ref name = "Hurriyet1" />
In May 2022, TURKISH STORIES, a collection of short stories by Kavur, was published by Curzon Books.
Joginder Singh Vedanti (; 23 April 1940 - 15 May 2021) was a Sikh scholar who served as the jathedar of the Akal Takht from 2000 to 2008.
Early life and family
Joginder Singh was born and raised in Talwandi Khurd, Punjab, to Nahar Singh and Nihal Kaur in 23 April 1940. He had three brothers and two sisters. For a few months, Vedanti learnt gurmat from Jathedar Gurdial Singh in Talwandi Kurd before going to Giani Gurbachan Singh Bhindranwale at Gurdwara Bhora Sahib in Boparai Kalan. He went to Bhinder Kalan in Moga and learnt from Bhindranwale as a student of Damdami Taksal for about five years.
Vedanti married Harbhajan Kaur in 1967. They had two children, Amandeep Kaur and a son who died two month after birth.
Jathedar of the Akal Takht (2000-2008)
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) appointed Vedanti as the Jathedar of the Akal Takht on 28 March 2000.
Dasam Granth
The Institute of Sikh Studies in Chandigarh adopted a resolution in April 2000 stating "except for the well-known bani of the Guru included in it, sakat, vaishnav and brahmanical scholars have composed the bulk of the Dasam Granth." In May 2000, Vedanti issued a hukamnama directing Sikh scholars not to publicly comment on the text.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
In 2004, Vedanti issued a hukamnama declaring the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as an anti-Sikh organisation and instructing Sikhs to refrain from associating with it. The hukamnama also advised Sikhs not to be associate with its affiliate Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. The hukamnama had a significant impact on the RSS, which repeatedly pressured the Bharatiya Janata Party to end its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal unless the hukamnama was revoked.
Bill C-38
In 2005, Vedanti called on six visiting Canadian Sikh MPs to vote against Bill C-38, which aimed to legalising same-sex marriage across Canada. He expressed disappointment that Ontario Liberal MP Navdeep Bains spoke out against him, while the other MPs listened respectfully. He deemed the Bill as against the Sikh code and "the laws of nature."
Dera Sacha Sauda
Vedanti strongly opposed the "dera" culture, particularly Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa. He believed that the main issue with these organisations was that individuals were given divine status and held in higher regard than the Guru Granth Sahib. Vedanti and other critics argue that these deras can mislead people and create divisions within the Sikh community. Prior to the 2007 elections, Vedanti issued a hukamnama against the politically influential Dera Sacha Sauda. He also issued an ultimatum to the Government of Punjab to arrest Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Resignation as jathedar
On 5 August 2008, Vedanti resigned citing personal reasons. His resignation letter, which Vedanti claimed he had been pressured to write was accepted by the SGPC on 6 August 2008 in Kurukshetra.
Death
Due to a heart attack, Vedanti passed away on 15 May 2021 in Amritsar. Condolences were offered from across the political spectrum, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who described Vedanti as "scholarly and humble".
Early life and family
Joginder Singh was born and raised in Talwandi Khurd, Punjab, to Nahar Singh and Nihal Kaur in 23 April 1940. He had three brothers and two sisters. For a few months, Vedanti learnt gurmat from Jathedar Gurdial Singh in Talwandi Kurd before going to Giani Gurbachan Singh Bhindranwale at Gurdwara Bhora Sahib in Boparai Kalan. He went to Bhinder Kalan in Moga and learnt from Bhindranwale as a student of Damdami Taksal for about five years.
Vedanti married Harbhajan Kaur in 1967. They had two children, Amandeep Kaur and a son who died two month after birth.
Jathedar of the Akal Takht (2000-2008)
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) appointed Vedanti as the Jathedar of the Akal Takht on 28 March 2000.
Dasam Granth
The Institute of Sikh Studies in Chandigarh adopted a resolution in April 2000 stating "except for the well-known bani of the Guru included in it, sakat, vaishnav and brahmanical scholars have composed the bulk of the Dasam Granth." In May 2000, Vedanti issued a hukamnama directing Sikh scholars not to publicly comment on the text.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
In 2004, Vedanti issued a hukamnama declaring the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as an anti-Sikh organisation and instructing Sikhs to refrain from associating with it. The hukamnama also advised Sikhs not to be associate with its affiliate Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. The hukamnama had a significant impact on the RSS, which repeatedly pressured the Bharatiya Janata Party to end its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal unless the hukamnama was revoked.
Bill C-38
In 2005, Vedanti called on six visiting Canadian Sikh MPs to vote against Bill C-38, which aimed to legalising same-sex marriage across Canada. He expressed disappointment that Ontario Liberal MP Navdeep Bains spoke out against him, while the other MPs listened respectfully. He deemed the Bill as against the Sikh code and "the laws of nature."
Dera Sacha Sauda
Vedanti strongly opposed the "dera" culture, particularly Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa. He believed that the main issue with these organisations was that individuals were given divine status and held in higher regard than the Guru Granth Sahib. Vedanti and other critics argue that these deras can mislead people and create divisions within the Sikh community. Prior to the 2007 elections, Vedanti issued a hukamnama against the politically influential Dera Sacha Sauda. He also issued an ultimatum to the Government of Punjab to arrest Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Resignation as jathedar
On 5 August 2008, Vedanti resigned citing personal reasons. His resignation letter, which Vedanti claimed he had been pressured to write was accepted by the SGPC on 6 August 2008 in Kurukshetra.
Death
Due to a heart attack, Vedanti passed away on 15 May 2021 in Amritsar. Condolences were offered from across the political spectrum, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who described Vedanti as "scholarly and humble".
Notarize is a Boston, Massachusetts-based company that provides remote online notarization, e-signature, and eClosing services. The company was founded in 2015.
History
Notarize was founded in April 2015 in Boston, MA by Pat Kinsel. Kinsel was inspired to start Notarize when he had difficulty notarizing documents when selling his prior startup, Spindle, to Twitter.
By June 2017, the company had reportedly done 10,000 notarizations worldwide. In July 2017, the company completed the United States' first online mortgage closing, with United Wholesale Mortgage, Stewart Title, and Freddie Mac.
In October 2019, the company partnered with online startup Trust & Will to create the United States' first system to execute fully digital online wills and trust documents in Nevada and Indiana.
In October 2020, Notarize signed a deal with document management company Adobe to integrate Notarize's remote online notarization (RON) capability into the Adobe Sign e-signature platform. The company also announced its partnership with Ellie Mae's Encompass and Zillow's Dotloop. The service's usage was propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, Notarize's online notary video service was used by Pennsylvania postal worker Richard Hopkins for a sworn affidavit alleging voter fraud, a claim that was later recanted. In December, Fortune reported that the company would make a good acquisition target, due to a 2020 trend of acquisitions of companies that allow contracts to be completed over the cloud using computers.
The company announced a $130M Series D Financing in March 2021. Investors included independent growth fund Capital G, Citi, Wells Fargo, and others. Previous investors in the company include the National Association of Realtors, Realogy, Lennar, and others.
In May 2021, the company announced that Roger Ferguson had joined its board of directors.
In October 2021, Notarize was recognized by Forbes as a Next Billion Dollar Startup.
Services
Notarize offers online notary services through an app and web site that sets up a secure video chat with a licensed notary public. The app includes computer imaging technology and a software-based forensic analysis to authenticate the user's identity. Notarize's platform requires consumers to pass an identity verification process in compliance with the notary's state law.
History
Notarize was founded in April 2015 in Boston, MA by Pat Kinsel. Kinsel was inspired to start Notarize when he had difficulty notarizing documents when selling his prior startup, Spindle, to Twitter.
By June 2017, the company had reportedly done 10,000 notarizations worldwide. In July 2017, the company completed the United States' first online mortgage closing, with United Wholesale Mortgage, Stewart Title, and Freddie Mac.
In October 2019, the company partnered with online startup Trust & Will to create the United States' first system to execute fully digital online wills and trust documents in Nevada and Indiana.
In October 2020, Notarize signed a deal with document management company Adobe to integrate Notarize's remote online notarization (RON) capability into the Adobe Sign e-signature platform. The company also announced its partnership with Ellie Mae's Encompass and Zillow's Dotloop. The service's usage was propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. In November, Notarize's online notary video service was used by Pennsylvania postal worker Richard Hopkins for a sworn affidavit alleging voter fraud, a claim that was later recanted. In December, Fortune reported that the company would make a good acquisition target, due to a 2020 trend of acquisitions of companies that allow contracts to be completed over the cloud using computers.
The company announced a $130M Series D Financing in March 2021. Investors included independent growth fund Capital G, Citi, Wells Fargo, and others. Previous investors in the company include the National Association of Realtors, Realogy, Lennar, and others.
In May 2021, the company announced that Roger Ferguson had joined its board of directors.
In October 2021, Notarize was recognized by Forbes as a Next Billion Dollar Startup.
Services
Notarize offers online notary services through an app and web site that sets up a secure video chat with a licensed notary public. The app includes computer imaging technology and a software-based forensic analysis to authenticate the user's identity. Notarize's platform requires consumers to pass an identity verification process in compliance with the notary's state law.
Eyring Research Institute (ERI) was founded as an American non-profit organization, on September 6, 1972, in Provo, Utah.
Carlyle Harmon established the Eyring Research Institute with Ronald G. Hansen as President. This institute did consulting work in various areas of contract research in cooperation with Brigham Young University. Being asked by BYU to assist them with their patent policy Carlyle Harmon was in a position to make suggestions as to research projects being funded at BYU.
The Utah Supreme Court terminated ERI's tax exempt status in 1979 because the Court found that ERI was not devoted to a charitable purpose. In 1979 about 96% of the ERI's work was for the government including many top-secret projects and the remaining 4% was for private organizations. ERI was given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 31, 1979. Then, ERI was purchased back from the LDS Church beginning on August 1, 1979, creating it as a for-profit entity.
Carlyle Harmon stayed with ERI until 1988, later saying "I was squeezed out of my own Institute. I truly felt like a man without a country."
Cleo Harmon, Carlyle's wife, used to work as the Secretary to the President of ERI.
Further reading
* - Cleo Harmon's possibly self-published history
Carlyle Harmon established the Eyring Research Institute with Ronald G. Hansen as President. This institute did consulting work in various areas of contract research in cooperation with Brigham Young University. Being asked by BYU to assist them with their patent policy Carlyle Harmon was in a position to make suggestions as to research projects being funded at BYU.
The Utah Supreme Court terminated ERI's tax exempt status in 1979 because the Court found that ERI was not devoted to a charitable purpose. In 1979 about 96% of the ERI's work was for the government including many top-secret projects and the remaining 4% was for private organizations. ERI was given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on July 31, 1979. Then, ERI was purchased back from the LDS Church beginning on August 1, 1979, creating it as a for-profit entity.
Carlyle Harmon stayed with ERI until 1988, later saying "I was squeezed out of my own Institute. I truly felt like a man without a country."
Cleo Harmon, Carlyle's wife, used to work as the Secretary to the President of ERI.
Further reading
* - Cleo Harmon's possibly self-published history