Sina Bank

Sina Bank (Persian: بانک سینا‎‎) is a private Iranian banking establishment offering retail, commercial and investment banking services. The company was established in 1985 as a part of the government's privatization of the banking system.

While established in Tehran, the bank operated throughout the nation with 1998 employees and 253 branches.

Sina Bank is listed under the Tehran Stock Exchange and is currently one of eight private banks in Iran. The bank is currently the 64th largest company in Iran. In 2007, Sina Bank had initial equity capital of 10 Billion IRR.

Operations

The bank was established in 1985 as the Bonyad Finance and Credit Company. The company was the first credit establishment in the Iranian financial sector. In 2007, the company was privatized, and in 2009 was listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

The bank currently operates throughout the country, housing a total of 253 branches. In 2010, the bank came under European Union sanctions against Iranian banking institutions.

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that creates credit by lending money to a borrower, thereby creating a corresponding deposit on the bank's balance sheet. Lending activities can be performed either directly or indirectly through capital markets. Due to their importance in the financial system and influence on national economies, banks are highly regulated in most countries. Most nations have institutionalized a system known as fractional reserve banking under which banks hold liquid assets equal to only a portion of their current liabilities. In addition to other regulations intended to ensure liquidity, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirements based on an international set of capital standards, known as the Basel Accords.

Banking in its modern sense evolved in the 14th century in the rich cities of Renaissance Italy but in many ways was a continuation of ideas and concepts of credit and lending that had their roots in the ancient world. In the history of banking, a number of banking dynasties — notably, the Medicis, the Fuggers, the Welsers, the Berenbergs and the Rothschilds — have played a central role over many centuries. The oldest existing retail bank is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, while the oldest existing merchant bank is Berenberg Bank.

Rampart (fortification)

A rampart in fortification architecture is a length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth or masonry or a combination of the two.

Early fortifications

Many types of early fortification, from prehistory through to the Early Middle Ages, employed earth ramparts usually in combination with external ditches to defend the outer perimeter of a fortified site or settlement.Hillforts, ringforts or "raths" and ringworks all made use of ditch and rampart defences, and of course they are the characteristic feature of circular ramparts. The ramparts could be reinforced and raised in height by the use of palisades. This type of arrangement was a feature of the motte and bailey castle of northern Europe in the early medieval period.

Types of rampart

The composition and design of ramparts varied from the simple mounds of earth and stone, known as dump ramparts, to more complex earth and timber defences (box ramparts and timberlaced ramparts), as well as ramparts with stone revetments. One particular type, common in Central Europe, used earth, stone and timber posts to form a Pfostenschlitzmauer or "post-slot wall". Vitrified ramparts were composed of stone that was subsequently fired, possibly to increase its strength.

Bank (card game)

Bank, also known also as "Polish Bank" or "Russian Bank," is the name of a comparing card game. The game requires a standard 52-card deck and five or six players.

Rules

At the start of the game, each player contributes an arranged stake to the pool. The dealer gives three cards to each player and turns up another; if this is not lower than an eight (ace is lowest), the dealer continues turning up cards until such a card is exposed. The player on the dealer's left, without touching or looking at the three cards received, can bet the amount of the pool, or any part of it, that among those cards is one that is higher (of the same suit) than the turn-up. If the player wins, the player takes the amount from the pool; if the player loses, the player pays that amount to the pool. Each player does the same in turn, the dealer last. Whenever the pool is exhausted, a fresh stake is put into the pool. After a round is over the deal passes. No player may touch any cards received until making a bet; the penalty is a fine to the pool of twice the stake, and the loss of the right to bet during that round.

Sina

Sina may refer to:

Sina and the Eel

Sina and the Eel is a myth of origins in Samoan mythology, which explains the origins of the first coconut tree.

In the Samoan language the legend is called Sina ma le Tuna. Tuna is the Samoan word for 'eel'.

The story is also well known throughout Polynesia including Tonga, Fiji and Māori in New Zealand.

Different versions of the legend are told in different countries in Oceania. The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) has many uses and is an important source of food. It is also used for making coconut oil, baskets, sennit rope used in traditional Samoan house building, weaving and for the building of small traditional houses or fale. The dried meat of the coconut or copra has been an important export product and a source of income throughout the Pacific.

The legend of Sina and the Eel is associated with other figures in Polynesian mythology such as Hina, Tinilau, Tagaloa and Nafanua.

Sina is also the name of various female figures in Polynesian mythology. The word sina also means 'white' or silver haired (grey haired in age) in the Samoan language. There is also an old Samoan song called Soufuna Sina based on a Sina legend.

Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or simply Sinai (/ˈsaɪnaɪ/;Arabic: سيناء‎ Sīnāʼ ; Egyptian Arabic: سينا Sīna, IPA: [ˈsiːnæ]; Hebrew: סיני‎ Sinai) is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about 60,000 km² (23,000 sq mi) in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia, as opposed to Africa, serving as a land bridge between two continents. The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypt's 27 governorates (with three more straddling the Suez Canal area), and has a population of approximately 1,400,000 people. In addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it as Arḍ ul-Fairūz (أرض الفيروز "the land of turquoise"). The ancient Egyptians called it Mafkat, or "land of the green minerals".