The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons. Under the terms of the treaty, each party was limited to two ABM complexes, each of, to be limited to 100 anti-ballistic missiles. Signed in 1972, it was in force for the next 30 years. In 1997, five years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, four former Soviet republics agreed with the United States to succeed the USSR's role in the treaty. In June 2002 the United States withdrew from the treaty. Throughout the late 1950s and into the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union had been developing missile systems with the ability to shoot down incoming ICBM warheads. During this period, the US considered the defense of the US as part of reducing the overall damage inflicted in a full nuclear exchange; as part of this defense and the US established the North American Air Defense Command.

By the early 1950s, US research on the Nike Zeus missile system had developed to the point where small improvements would allow it to be used as the basis of an operational ABM system. Work started on a short-range, high-speed counterpart known as Sprint to provide defense for the ABM sites themselves. By the mid-1960s, both systems showed enough promise to start development of base selection for a limited ABM system dubbed Sentinel. In 1967, the US announced that Sentinel itself would be scaled down to the smaller and less expensive Safeguard. Soviet doctrine called for development of its own ABM system and return to strategic parity with the US; this was achieved with the operational deployment of the A-35 ABM system and its successors, which remain operational to this day. The development of multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle systems allowed a single ICBM to deliver as many as ten separate warheads at a time. An ABM defense system could be overwhelmed with the sheer number of warheads.

Upgrading it to counter the additional warheads would be economically unfeasible: The defenders required one rocket per incoming warhead, whereas the attackers could place 10 warheads on a single missile at a reasonable cost. To further protect against ABM systems, the Soviet MIRV missiles were equipped with decoys; these decoys would appear as warheads to an ABM requiring engagement of five times as many targets and rendering defense less effective. The United States first proposed an anti-ballistic missile treaty at the 1967 Glassboro Summit Conference during discussions between U. S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union Alexei Kosygin. McNamara argued both that ballistic missile defense could provoke an arms race, that it might provoke a first-strike against the nation fielding the defense. Kosygin rejected this reasoning, they were trying to minimize the number of nuclear missiles in the world. Following the proposal of the Sentinel and Safeguard decisions on American ABM systems, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks began in November 1969.

By 1972 an agreement had been reached to limit strategic defensive systems. Each country was allowed two sites at which it could base a defensive system, one for the capital and one for ICBM silos; the treaty was signed during the 1972 Moscow Summit on 26 May by the President of the United States, Richard Nixon and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev. The 1974 Protocol reduced the number of sites to one per party because neither country had developed a second site; the sites were Moscow for the USSR and the North Dakota Safeguard Complex for the US, under construction. The Treaty limited only ABMs capable of defending against "strategic ballistic missiles", without attempting to define "strategic", it was understood that both ICBMs and SLBMs are "strategic". Neither country intended to stop the development of counter-tactical ABMs; the topic became disputable as soon as most potent counter-tactical ABMs started to be capable of shooting down SLBMs both sides continued counter-tactical ABM development.

On 23 March 1983, Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, a research program into ballistic missile defense which would be "consistent with our obligations under the ABM Treaty". Reagan was wary of mutual deterrence with what he had called an "Evil Empire", wanted to escape the traditional confines of mutual assured destruction; the project was a blow to Yuri Andropov's so-called "peace offensive". Andropov said that "It is time stopped thinking up one option after another in search of the best way of unleashing nuclear war in the hope of winning it. To do this is not just irresponsible, it is madness". Regardless of the opposition, Reagan gave every indication that SDI would not be used as a bargaining chip and that the United States would do all in its power to build the system; the Soviets were threatened because the Americans might have been able to make a nuclear first strike possible. In The Nuclear Predicament, Beckman claims that one of the central goals of Soviet diplomacy was to terminate SDI.

A surprise attack from the Americans would destroy much of the Soviet ICBM fleet, allowing SDI to defeat a "ragged" Soviet retaliatory response. Furthermore, if the Soviets chose to enter this new arms race, they would further cripple their economy; the Soviets could not afford to ignore Reagan's new endeavor

The Pleasant Grove Town Hall is a historic former city hall in Pleasant Grove, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is located at 107 South 100 East, within the Pleasant Grove Historic District, was built in 1887. In 1985 it was the second oldest and the best preserved public building in Pleasant Grove, is one of about a dozen well-preserved buildings constructed of locally quarried soft, tufa rock in the town. Although built as a town hall, it was used for other purposes including, from 1962, as town library, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places June 27, 1985. National Register of Historic Places listings in Utah County, Utah Media related to Pleasant Grove Town Hall at Wikimedia Commons

Elumalai is a Panchayat town in the district of Madurai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Named Aezhumalai, the town is located near Usilampatti, Madurai and Peraiyur in the Western ghats, it has religious sites, including the Vasi Malayan, Sadayandi Kovil, Shri Thiruvenkatanatha Swami, Badrakali Amman, Sandana Mariyamman and Maathanthira Shri Subramania temples, as well as a mosque and church. September sees the celebration of the Vasimalayan festival; every Saturday, free food is provided by the Vasimalayan Temple. The government runs a girls school. A private high school operates there; the Bharathiyar Matric Higher Secondary School, Shri vishwa vidhyalaya primary school. In addition, many primary schools serve surrounding villages. Thiruvalluvar Group of Institutions are Situated near by 4km in Soolapuram/Mallapuram As of the 2001 India census, Elumalai had a population of 14,030. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. 10% of the population are under 6 years of age. Elumalai has an average literacy rate of 56%, lower than the national average of 59.5%.

Male literacy is 67% and female literacy is 45%. Tamil film personality Kalaignanam, a writer, producer and lyricist was born in 1930 In Elumalai, his father was a Panchayat Board clerk. The town is famous for Sathuragiri Hill close to Saptur; the Seven hills provide an abundant variety of flora. In addition, the Elumalai Vasimalayan mountain serves as a boundary between the Madurai and Theni districts. Madurai Airport Tuticorin Airport Cochin Intl Airport Coimbatore Airport Tiruchirappalli Airport