Annual general meeting

An annual general meeting (commonly abbreviated as AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization.

These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders.

These meetings may be required by law or by the constitution, charter, or by-laws governing the body. The meetings are held to conduct business on behalf of the organization or company.

Purpose

An organization may conduct its business at the annual general meeting. The business may include electing a board of directors, making important decisions regarding the organization, and informing the members of previous and future activities. At this meeting, the shareholders and partners may receive copies of the company's accounts, review fiscal information for the past year, and ask any questions regarding the directions the business will take in the future.

At the annual general meeting, the president or chairman of the organization presides over the meeting and may give an overall status of the organization. The secretary prepares the minutes and may be asked to read important papers. The treasurer may present a financial report. Other officers, the board of directors, and committees may give their reports. Attending this meeting are the members or the shareholders of the organization, depending on the type of organization.

Mass meeting

In parliamentary law, a mass meeting is a type of deliberative assembly, which in a publicized or selectively distributed notice known as the call of the meeting - has been announced:

Participants

To the extent that persons in the invited category are clearly identifiable - as, for example, registered voters of a particular political party, or residents of a certain area - only such persons have the right to make motions, to speak, and to vote at the meeting, and none others need be admitted if the sponsors so choose. Attendees at a mass meeting are there under the implied understanding that the sponsors (who have engaged the hall and assumed the expenses of promoting the meeting) have the right to have the proceedings confined to the overall object they have announced. The assembled group of persons who are attending has the right to determine the action to be taken in pursuit of the stated object. "Membership" consists of all persons in the invited category who attend. If no qualification was placed in the call of the meeting, anyone who attends is regarded as a member and has the same rights as members in other assemblies - to make motions, to speak in debate, and to vote.

Extraordinary general meeting

An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body, which occurs at an irregular time. The term is usually used where the group would ordinarily hold an annual general meeting (AGM), but where an issue arises which requires the input of the entire membership and is too serious or urgent to wait until the next AGM. Members and/or shareholders must be informed of the purpose of the EGM so that they may attend in a position where they can discuss and exercise intelligent judgment, otherwise any resolutions passed are invalid.

Procedure: Before the EGM the board of the organisation will have agreed upon one or more resolutions that will be put to the shareholders or members for approval at the EGM. The wording of the resolution is sent to the shareholders with a note about its importance. The theory is that the board has a better knowledge of the situation, and the resolution is in effect their ideal solution, but it may not be in the interests of individual shareholders. Usually the chairman of the EGM reads out and recommends the resolution to those present for approval, takes questions about the resolution from those present, supervises the vote and declares the result. The rules for conducting an EGM and the options for altering a resolution at an EGM or for taking proxy votes will vary from one organisation to another.

Government of China

All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among several bodies:

This article is about the formal administrative structure of the state, its branches, departments and their responsibilities. Most, but not all, positions of significant power in the state structure and in the military are occupied by members of the Communist Party of China which is controlled by the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, a group of 4 to 9 people who make all decisions of national significance. As the role of the military is to enforce these decisions, the support of the PLA is important in maintaining Party rule.

Power is concentrated in the Paramount Leader, currently Xi Jinping, who heads the three most important political and state offices: He is General Secretary of the Communist Party and of the Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission and also the President of the People's Republic of China. Recently, experts have observed growing limitations to the Paramount Leader's de facto control over the government.

General officer

A general officer is an officer of high rank in the army, and in some nations' air forces or marines.

The term "general" is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of captain general, which rank was taken from Middle French capitaine général. The adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction.

Today, the title of "General" is known in some countries as a four-star rank. However different countries use different systems of stars for senior ranks. It has a NATO code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies.

General officer ranks

The various grades of general officer are at the top of the military rank structure. Lower-ranking officers in land-centric military forces are typically known as field officers or field-grade officers, and below them are company-grade officers.