The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. A modified form of Veena, the instrument was invented in medieval India and flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries and arrived at its present form in 18th-century India, it derives its distinctive timbre and resonance from sympathetic strings, bridge design, a long hollow neck and a gourd-shaped resonance chamber. In appearance, the sitar is similar to the tanpura. Used throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became popularly known in the wider world through the works of Ravi Shankar, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the 1960s, a short-lived trend arose for the use of the sitar in Western popular music, with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as The Beatles, The Doors, The Rolling Stones and others. Sitar originates from the Persian seh + tar meaning "three strings." Veena is the precursor of Sitar. Sitar is said to have been invented, or rather developed from the Veena by Amir Khusrow, a famous Sufi inventor and pioneer of Khyal and Qawwali, during thirteenth century.

A sitar can have 19, 20, or 21 strings. Six or seven of these are played strings which run over curved, raised frets, the remainder are sympathetic strings which run underneath the frets and resonate in sympathy with the played strings; these strings are used to set the mood of a raga at the beginning of a presentation. The frets, which are known as pardā or thaat, are movable; the played strings run to tuning pegs on or near the head of the instrument, while the sympathetic strings, which are a variety of different lengths, pass through small holes in the fretboard to engage with the smaller tuning pegs that run down the instrument's neck. The Gandhaar-pancham sitar has six playable strings, whereas the Kharaj-pancham sitar, invented by legendary Sitar Ratna Ustad Rahimat Khan, founder of Dharwad Gharana of Sitar was used in the Maihar gharana, to which Ravi Shankar belonged, other gharanas such as Bishnupur, has seven. Three of these, called the chikaari provide a drone; the instrument has two bridges: the large bridge for the playing and drone strings and the small bridge for the sympathetic strings.

Its timbre results from the way the strings interact with the sloping bridge. As a string reverberates its length changes as its edge touches the bridge, promoting the creation of overtones and giving the sound its distinctive tone; the maintenance of this specific tone by shaping the bridge is called jawari. Many musicians rely on instrument makers to adjust this; the bridges are fixed to kaddu, at the base of the instrument. Some sitars have the tumbaa, near the top of the hollow neck. Materials used in construction include teak wood or tun wood, a variation of mahogany, for the neck and faceplate, calabash gourds for the resonating chambers; the instrument's bridges are made of deer horn, ebony, or occasionally from camel bone. Synthetic material is now common as well. There are two popular modern styles of sitar offered in a variety of sub-styles and decorative patterns; the two popular styles are the "gayaki style" sitars and the full decorated "instrumental style" sitars. The gayaki style sitar is of seasoned toon wood, with few or no carved decorations.

It has a dark polish. The inlay decorations are of mother of pearl; the number of sympathetic strings is limited to eleven but may extend to thirteen. Jawari grinding styles are different, as is the thickness of the "tabli"; the other type of sitar, the instrumental style, is most made of seasoned toon wood, but sometimes made of teak. It is fitted with a second resonator, a small tumba on the neck; this style is fully decorated, with floral or grape carvings and celluloid inlays with colored and black floral or arabesque patterns. It has thirteen sympathetic strings, it is said that the best Burma teak sitars are made from teak, seasoned for generations. Therefore, instrument builders look for old Burma teak, used in old colonial-style villas as whole trunk columns for their special sitar constructions; the sources of old seasoned wood are a guarded trade secret and sometimes a mystery. There are various additional sub-styles and cross mixes of styles in sitars, according to customer preferences.

Most there are some differences in preferences for the positioning of sympathetic string pegs. Amongst all sitar styles, there are student styles, beginner models, semi-pro styles, pro-models, master models, so on. Prices are determined by the manufacturer's name and not by looks alone or materials used; some sitars by certain manufacturers fetch high collectible prices. Most notable are older Rikhi Ram and older Hiren Roy sitars depending upon which master built the instrument. Though not technically a sitar, the electric sitar is a guitar with a special bridge, known as the "buzz bridge", sympathetic strings, to mimic the sitar, it lacks movable frets. Tuning depends on

Elisabeth Erke is a Norwegian Sami educator and politician. Erke was educated as a teacher at Alta Teacher's College in the 1980s, before continuing her education in special education and coaching, her master's in pedagogy was at the University of Oslo. She began her political activity when, as a teacher student in Alta, she sat on the national board for Norwegian Teacher Students. From 1997 to 2001, she was a deputy representative at the Sami Parliament, at that time, for the Center Party, she transitioned to the AP in 2003. Afterwards, she was elected to the municipal council in Tana, from 2017, she is deputy mayor. From 1998 to 2012 she lived part of her time in Switzerland, she worked in elementary school in Akershus and Tana. She served as principal at the private New School in Oslo. From 2013, she has worked as museum director in the Tana Museum. From 2017, Erke has been a member of the Sámi Parliament of Norway, she was elected from the Eastern constituency. In May 2018, she resigned as plenary leader at the Sami Parliament.

That same year, she joined the Center Party. Elisabeth Erke at Sametinget

The 49th Armored Division —nicknamed the "Lone Star"— was one of two armored divisions in the United States Army National Guard, redesignated from the 36th Infantry Division after World War II, organized and federally recognized on 24 February 1947. A number of the original divisional units received federal recognition from the National Guard Bureau on February 27, 1947, a date used thereafter as the formation's "birthday". In 1947, all four battalions of the 144th Infantry Regiment were placed into the Division as Mechanized infantry units. Beginning in the northern and northeastern areas of the State, there were 111 units in 56 Texas cities by 1952. In September 1961, an executive order alerted the division for mobilization at Dallas due to the 1961 Berlin Crisis. On October 15, 1961, the division entered federal service, it subsequently deployed to Fort Polk, LA; the division was to stay there ten months. In May 1962, the division staged the large-scale Exercise Iron Dragoon, still remembered among National Guard armor exercises.

While at Fort Polk the division's missile unit became the first Army National Guard unit to fire the Honest John nuclear-tipped surface-to-surface missile. The 49th Armored Division reverted to Texas State control in August 1962; the 49th was deactivated in 1968 and re-organized into three separate brigades, the 36th, 71st and 72nd. The division was reactivated on 1 November 1973, with its headquarters at Camp Mabry, Texas. On 18 July 2004 the division was again designated as the 36th Infantry Division. Prior to its redesignation, the 49th was capstoned to the U. S. Army III Corps and stood as the only functional, reserve component, armored division in the United States Army. Division replaced by the 36th Inf. Div. CSM David L Moore CSM Wilfred Martin CSM Jim Merritt CSM Mikeal Graham CSM Don Steelhammer CSM Donnie Strickland CSM Bobby Adams CSM Roger Brownlee CSM Thomas Wiley CSM Nils "Jack" Erickson