Mali

Coordinates: 17°N 4°W / 17°N 4°W / 17; -4

Mali (ⁱ/ˈmɑːli/; French: [maˈli]), officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali), is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economy centers on agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the international poverty line of $1.25 (U.S.) a day. A majority of the population (55%) are non-denominational Muslims.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, and art. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.

Admiral T

Admiral T, whose real name is Christy Campbell, is a French singer of reggae-dancehall music. Besides Francky Vincent, he is one of the most popular and successful Guadeloupean singers. He is also a designer and the creator of the clothing trademark WOK LINE.

Biography

Born in 1981 on the French island of Guadeloupe, he was one of two children. At the age of 6, he joined the dancehall group Karukera Sound System; he left the group in 1992 to start a solo career; releasing his first album Mozaïk Kréyòl. During the sneak preview of Sean Paul at Bercy Stadium in 2004, Admiral T outperformed himself and drew much attention.Universal Music Group's delegates who attended this concert decided to sign Admiral T and re-released his album on Universal Records, featuring artists like Wyclef Jean or French rapper Rohff. Admiral T's album became a hit throughout the West Indies, France and Europe.

In 2005, Admiral T starred in Guadeloupean director Jean-Claude Barny's the film Nèg Maron. The following year, he released his second album, Toucher L'Horizon, which also gained popular and commercial success and got awarded a Césaire of Music Award in October 2006. Admiral T spent much of 2007 in France, London and the Caribbean on his "Fòs A Péyi La" Tour (from his title song duet with Kassav'). Admiral T also wan a Skyrock Music Award in December 2007 and a Virgin music Award in February 2008. He launched his own clothing line WOK LINE and made a new tour in Africa during 2008. The following year, Admiral T performed in Germany at Summerjam, Europe's biggest reggae festival and at Dominica's World Creole Music Festival. On 19 April 2010, he released his 3rd album : Instinct Admiral, comprising featurings of Machel Montano, Busy Signal, La Fouine, Médine, Young Chang MC, Lieutenant, Patrick Saint-Éloi, Fanny J and Awa Imani. Besides his solo career, Admiral T is also the producer of the newcomer reggae-dancehall singer Wyckyd J.

Malad

Malad is a suburb located in the northern part of Mumbai. It is among the Western Suburbs of Mumbai. Malad has a railway station on the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, lying between Kandivali station to the north and Goregaon station to the south. The railway tracks of the Western Line divide Malad into Malad(West) and Malad(East).

Until the mid-20th Century, Malad was a sparsely populated suburb cut across by creeks and mangroves. Since the late 20th Century, Malad has become an attractive residential area for white-collar middle-class population from different communities. There were also some small industrial estates. These two developments resulted in the growth of large slums too. Beginning in the early 2000s, Malad witnessed a process of gentrification, with the emergence of large commercial complexes, shopping malls, gated communities, and the large-scale demolition and relocation of slums. Today, Malad is often promoted as "Mumbai's fastest growing suburb".

History

Countdown

A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the term "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and even "E-minus" for events that involve spacecraft that are already in space, where the "T" could stand for "Test" or "Time", and the "E" stands for "Encounter", as with a comet or some other space object. Other events for which countdowns are commonly used include the detonation of an explosive, the start of a race, the start of the New Year, or any anxiously anticipated event. An early use of a countdown once signaled the start of a Cambridge University rowing race. The first known association with rockets was in the 1929 German science fiction movie Die Frau im Mond (English: Woman in the Moon) written by Thea von Harbou and directed by Fritz Lang in an attempt to increase the drama of the launch sequence of the story's lunar-bound rocket.

Rocketry

A countdown is a carefully devised set of procedures ending with the ignition of a rocket's engine. Depending on the type of vehicle used, countdowns can start from 72 to 96 hours before launch time.