Ecopetrol

Ecopetrol, formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos S.A. (English: Colombian Petroleum Co. Not to be confused with the US owned and operated Colombian Petroleum Co. (COLPET) and sister company South American Gulf Oil Co. (SAGOC) dating to the 1930s which were taken over by the state owned Ecopetrol in the 1970s) is the largest and primary petroleum company in Colombia. As a result of its continuous growth, Ecopetrol forms part of the Fortune Global 500 and is ranked 303, it belongs to the group of the 25 largest petroleum companies in the world, and it is one of the four principal petroleum companies in Latin America.

History

Even though there were attempts as early as 1941 for the Colombian government to legally take over the Tropical Oil Co., it wasn't until the legal end of the contract of the Concesión De Mares expired that a transfer of ownership could take place. The reversion of "De Mares Concession" ("Concesión De Mares") to the Colombian State on 25 August 1951 gave way to the Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos, which had been created in 1948 by means of Law 165 of that same year. The growing company assumed the reverted assets of the Tropical Oil Co. that began oil activities in 1921 in Colombia with the implementation of the Cira-Infantas Field in the Middle Magdalena River Valley, located some 300 kilometers northeast of Bogotá. Ecopetrol undertook activities in the oil chain as a state-owned industrial and commercial company in charge of administrating the nations hydrocarbon resources, and grew as other concessions reverted and became part of its operation. The nationalization of Ecopetrol was not smooth and met with some opposition and skepticism as to how the company, if held nationally could in fact be able to keep up with the complex and expensive operations without outside expertise in the changing international market. A call for nationalization was nevertheless made.

S660A

In its United Kingdom Tax Bulletin 64 (April 2003), the Inland Revenue (now HM Revenue and Customs) announced new guidance on the "settlements legislation". This is a body of law which seeks to prevent someone (known as the "settlor") from avoiding tax by reclassifying income as belonging to someone else (known as the beneficiary). The income is then taxed at the beneficiary’s lower rate although the settlor continues to benefit from it. The legislation targets spouses and also parents seeking to divert income via their minor children.

The section of the legislation is 660A of the UK Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. Using the revised (April 2003) interpretation of s.660A, UK HMRC have been targeting businesses set up by spouses where they are aware that income is split between the spouses, and only one of them directly generates that income. In theory s.660A can apply to partnerships as well as limited companies, this has yet to be tested in the UK courts. In 2007 the interpretation was finally rejected by the Law Lords, resulting in the government proposing new leglisation to tackle the perceived abuse.

S-45A

S-45A was an American satellite, which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. The satellite was intended to operate in a highly elliptical orbit, from which it was to have provided data on the shape of the ionosphere, and on the Earth's magnetic field. It was part of the Explorer programme, and would have been designated Explorer 12 had it reached orbit. It was the second of two identical satellites to be launched; the first, S-45, had also been lost in a launch failure, earlier in the year.

S-45A was launched aboard a Juno II rocket, serial number AM-19G. It was the final flight of the Juno II. The launch took place from Launch Complex 26B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 19:48:05 UTC on 24 May 1961. The system which was intended to ignite the second stage malfunctioned, and as a result that stage failed to ignite. The rocket failed to achieve orbit.

References

1N400x general-purpose diodes

The 1N4001 series (or 1N4000 series) is a family of popular 1.0 A (ampere) general-purpose silicon rectifier diodes commonly used in AC adapters for common household appliances. Blocking voltage varies from 50 to 1000 volts. This diode is made in an axial-lead DO-41 plastic package.

The 1N5400 series is a similarly popular series for higher current applications, up to 3 A. These diodes are typically available in the larger DO-201AD axial package to dissipate heat better.

Overview

These are fairly low-speed rectifier diodes, being inefficient for square waves of more than 15 kHz. The series was second sourced by many manufacturers. The 1N4000 series were in the Motorola Silicon Rectifier Handbook in 1966, as replacements for 1N2609 through 1N2617. The 1N5400 series were announced in Electrical Design News in 1968, along with the now lesser known 1.5 A 1N5391 series.

These devices are widely used and recommended.

The table below shows the maximum repetitive reverse blocking voltages of each of the members of the 1N4000 and 1N5400 series.