NATO

Coordinates: 50°52′34″N 4°25′19″E / 50.87611°N 4.42194°E / 50.87611; 4.42194

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO /ˈneɪtoʊ/; 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 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, where the Supreme Allied Commander also resides. Belgium is one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which, Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70 percent of the global total. Members' defense spending is supposed to amount to 2 percent of GDP.

Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi /ˈrʌmənə məhʌˈrɪʃi/ (30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian sage and jivanmukta. He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but was and is most commonly known under the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.

He was born in what is now Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, South India. In 1895 an attraction to the holy hill Arunachala and the 63 Nayanars was aroused in him, and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" in which he became aware of a "current" or "force" (avesam), which he recognised as his true "I" or Self, and which he later identified with Ishvara. This resulted in a state which he later described as "the state of mind of Iswara or the jnani." Six weeks later he left his uncle's home in Madurai, and journeyed to the holy mountain Arunachala, Tiruvannamalai, where he took on the role of a sannyasin and remained for the rest of his life.

He soon attracted devotees who regarded him as an avatar and came to him for darshan ("the sight of God"), and in later years an ashram grew up around him, where visitors received upadesa ("spiritual instruction") by sitting silently in his company and raising their concerns and questions. Since the 1930s his teachings have been popularised in the west, resulting in worldwide recognition as an enlightened being.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti (/ˈdʒɪduː ˌkrɪʃnəˈmɜːrti/; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a speaker and writer on matters that concerned humankind. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher but later rejected this mantle and withdrew from the organisation behind it. His subject matter included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasised that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social.

Krishnamurti was born in British India and in early adolescence, he had a chance encounter with prominent occultist and theosophist Charles Webster Leadbeater in the grounds of the Theosophical Society headquarters at Adyar in Madras. He was subsequently raised under the tutelage of Annie Besant and Leadbeater, leaders of the Society at the time, who believed him to be a "vehicle" for an expected World Teacher. As a young man, he disavowed this idea and dissolved the Order of the Star in the East, an organisation that had been established to support it.

NHS foundation trust

NHS foundation trusts are semi-autonomous organisational units within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local strategic health authority). As of March 2014 there were 147 NHS Foundation Trusts

Inspiration

Alan Milburn's trip in 2001 to the Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón in Spain is thought to have been influential in developing ideas around foundation status. The hospital was built by the Spanish National Health System, but its operational management is contracted out to a private company, and exempt from many of the rules normally imposed on state-owned hospitals, and in particular, the hospital was allowed to negotiate its own contracts with workers. The governance of the hospital includes local government, trade unions, health workers and community groups.

History

Foundation trusts were announced by Health Secretary Alan Milburn in 2002. The first 10 NHS hospitals to become foundation trusts were announced in 2004.Gordon Brown prevented plans by Alan Milburn that they should be financially autonomous in 2002. By the end of 2012, the Monitor website listed 144 Foundation Trusts.

Winchester

Coordinates: 51°03′48″N 1°18′29″W / 51.0632°N 1.308°W / 51.0632; -1.308

Winchester is a city and the county town of Hampshire. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs National Park, along the course of the River Itchen. It is situated 61 miles (98 km) south-west of London and 13.6 miles (21.9 km) from Southampton, its closest city. At the time of the 2011 Census, Winchester had a population of 45,184. The wider City of Winchester district which includes towns such as Alresford and Bishop's Waltham has a population of 116,800

Winchester developed from the Roman town of Venta Belgarum, which in turn developed from an Iron Age oppidum. Winchester's major landmark is Winchester Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, with the distinction of having the longest nave and overall length of all Gothic cathedrals in Europe. The city is home to the University of Winchester and Winchester College, the oldest public school in the United Kingdom still to be using its original buildings.