Invar and Other Low-Expansion Alloys

In 1896, Charles-Edouard Guillaume of France made an interesting and important discovery that earned him the 1920 Nobel Prize in Physics; his discovery: an iron–nickel alloy that has a very low (near-zero) coefficient of thermal expansion between room temperature and approximately 230⁰C. This material became the forerunner of a family of “low-expansion”(also sometimes called “controlled expansion”) metal alloys. Its composition is 64 wt% Fe–36 wt% Ni, and it has been given the trade-name of “Invar” since the length of a specimen of this material is virtually invariable with changes in temperature. Its coefficient of thermal expansion near room temperature is 1.6 X 10^-6(⁰C)^-1.

One might surmise that this near zero expansion is explained by a symmetrical potential energy versus interatomic distance curve. Such is not so; rather, this behavior relates to the magnetic characteristics of Invar. Both iron and nickel are ferromagnetic materials .A ferromagnetic material may be made to form a permanent and strong magnet; upon heating, this property disappears at a specific temperature, called the “Curie temperature,” which temperature varies from one ferromagnetic material to another. As a specimen of Invar is heated, its tendency to expand is counteracted by a contraction phenomenon that is associated with its ferromagnetic properties (which is termed “magnetostriction”). Above its Curie temperature (approximately Invar expands in a normal manner, and its coefficient of thermal expansion assumes a much greater value. Heat treating and processing of Invar will also affect its thermal expansion characteristics. The lowest values (α) result for specimens quenched from elevated temperatures (near 800⁰C) that are then cold worked. Annealing leads to an increase in α. Other low-expansion alloys have been developed.

Other low-expansion alloys have been developed. One of these is called “Super–Invar” because its thermal expansion coefficient [0.72 X 10^-6(⁰C)^-1] is lower than the value for Invar. However, the temperature range over which its low expansion characteristics persist is relatively narrow. Compositionally, for Super–Invar some of the nickel in Invar is replaced by another ferromagnetic metal, cobalt; Super–Invar contains 63 wt% Fe, 32 wt% Ni, and 5 wt% Co.

Another such alloy, with the trade-name of “Kovar,” has been designed to have expansion characteristics close to those of borosilicate (or Pyrex) glass; when joined to Pyrex and subjected to temperature variations, thermal stresses and possible fracture at the junction are avoided. The composition of Kovar is 54 wt% Fe, 29 wt% Ni, and 17 wt% Co. These low-expansion alloys are employed in applications that require dimensional stability with temperature fluctuations; these include the following:

• Compensating pendulums and balance wheels for mechanical clocks and watches.

• Structural components in optical and laser measuring systems that require dimensional stabilities on the order of a wavelength of light.

• Bimetallic strips that are used to actuate microswitches in water heating systems.

• Shadow masks on cathode ray tubes that are used for television and display screens; higher contrast, improved brightness, and sharper definition are possible using low-expansion materials.

• Vessels and piping for the storage and piping of liquefied natural gas.

Environmental Properties: Invar - Nickel Iron Alloy
Resistance Factors : 1=Poor 5=Excellent
Flammability	5
Fresh Water	5
Organic Solvents	5
Oxidation at 500C	5
Sea Water	5
Strong Acid	4
Strong Alkalis	5

Material	Invar - Nickel Iron Alloy
Property	Minimum Value (S.I.)	Maximum Value (S.I.)	Units (S.I.)	Minimum Value (Imp.)	Maximum Value (Imp.)	Units (Imp.)
Atomic Volume (average)	0.0068	0.0071	m3/kmol	414.961	433.268	in3/kmol
Density	8.1	8.2	Mg/m3	505.667	511.91	lb/ft3
Energy Content	50	200	MJ/kg	5416.93	21667.7	kcal/lb
Bulk Modulus	106	112	GPa	15.374	16.2442	106 psi
Compressive Strength	240	725	MPa	34.8091	105.152	ksi
Ductility	0.06	0.45		0.06	0.45
Elastic Limit	240	725	MPa	34.8091	105.152	ksi
Endurance Limit	185	405	MPa	26.832	58.7402	ksi
Fracture Toughness	120	150	MPa.m1/2	109.206	136.507	ksi.in1/2
Hardness	1200	2400	MPa	174.045	348.091	ksi
Loss Coefficient	0.0003	0.0011		0.0003	0.0011
Modulus of Rupture	240	725	MPa	34.8091	105.152	ksi
Poisson's Ratio	0.28	0.3		0.28	0.3
Shear Modulus	54	58	GPa	7.83204	8.41219	106 psi
Tensile Strength	445	810	MPa	64.5418	117.481	ksi
Young's Modulus	137	145	GPa	19.8702	21.0305	106 psi
Glass Temperature			K			°F
Latent Heat of Fusion	270	290	kJ/kg	116.079	124.677	BTU/lb
Maximum Service Temperature	600	700	K	620.33	800.33	°F
Melting Point	1690	1710	K	2582.33	2618.33	°F
Minimum Service Temperature	0	0	K	-459.67	-459.67	°F
Specific Heat	505	525	J/kg.K	0.390798	0.406276	BTU/lb.F
Thermal Conductivity	12	15	W/m.K	22.4644	28.0805	BTU.ft/h.ft2.F
Thermal Expansion	0.5	2	10-6/K	0.9	3.6	10-6/°F
Breakdown Potential			MV/m			V/mil
Dielectric Constant
Resistivity	75	85	10-8 ohm.m	75	85	10-8 ohm.m

The Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission Report

The Hamoodur Rahman Commission (otherwise known as "Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission"), were an inquiry judicial commission reports on the history of Pakistan's political–military assessed involvement in East-Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. The Commission was set up on July 1972 by the Government of Pakistan and chaired under the Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman.

Constituted "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the atrocities and 1971 war", including the "circumstances in which the commander of the Eastern High Command, surrendered theEastern contingent forces under his command laid down their arms."

The commission's final report was very lengthy and provided evaluated analysis based extensive interviews and testimonies. Its primary conclusion was very critical of the role of Pakistan's military interference and misconduct of politicians as well as intelligence failure of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) permitted the infiltration of Indian agents all along the borders of East Pakistan.

Originally, there were 12 copies of the Report. These were all destroyed; except the one that was handed over to Government who disallowed its publication at the time. In 2000, parts of the commission report was leaked equally to Indian and Pakistani newspapers, Dawn, in its editorial section. The full report was declassified by the government in 2000, with additional reports concerning the year of 1971.

The commission challenged the claims by Bangladesh authorities that 3 million Bengalis had been killed by Pakistan army and 200,000 women were raped. The commission, put the casualty figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties.

Findings:

Volume I of the main report dealt with political background, international relations, and military aspects of the events of 1971. Volume I of the supplementary report discussed political events of 1971, military aspect, surrender in East Pakistan and the moral aspect.

The Report's findings accuse the Pakistani Army of carrying out senseless and wanton arson, killings in the countryside, killing of intellectuals and professionals and burying them in mass graves, killing of Bengali Officers and soldiers on the pretence of quelling their rebellion, killing East Pakistani civilian officers, businessmen and industrialists, raping a large number of East Pakistani women as a deliberate act of revenge, retaliation and torture, and deliberate killing of members of the Hindu minority. The report accused the generals of what it called a premature surrender and said the military's continued involvement in running the government after 1958 was one reason for the corruption and ineffectiveness of senior officers. 'Even responsible service officers,' the report said, 'have asserted before us that because of corruption resulting from such involvement, the lust for wine and women and greed for lands and houses, a large number of senior army officers, particularly those occupying the highest positions, had lost not only their will to fight but also their professional competence. The report said Pakistan's military ruler at the time, General Yahya Khan, who stepped down after Pakistan's defeat in December 1971, 'permitted and even instigated' the surrender, and it recommended that he be publicly tried along with other senior military colleagues.

The report accused General Yahya Khan, of being a womanizer and an alcoholic. According to the report "Firm and proper action would not only satisfy the nation's demand for punishment where it is deserved, but would also ensure against any future recurrence of the kind of shameful conduct displayed during the 1971 war".

Download Report :

http://www.bangla2000.com/bangladesh/Independence-War/Report-Hamoodur-Rahman/default.shtm
http://img.dunyanews.tv/images/docss/hamoodur_rahman_commission_report.pdf

Aluminum for Integrated Circuit Interconnects

Aluminum for Integrated Circuit Interconnects:
From Materials Science and Engineering By William D. Callister, Jr. (Very good Book)

The heart of all computers and other electronic devices is the integrated circuit (or IC).Each integrated circuit chip is a thin square wafer having dimensions on the order of 6 mm by 6 mm by 0.4 mm; furthermore, literally millions of interconnected electronic components and circuits are embedded in one of the chip faces. The base material for ICs is silicon, to which has been added very specific and extremely minute and controlled concentrations of impurities that are confined to very small and localized regions. For some ICs, the impurities are added using high-temperature diffusion heat treatments.

One important step in the IC fabrication process is the deposition of very thin and narrow conducting circuit paths to facilitate the passage of current from one device to another; these paths are called “interconnects,” and several are shown in Figure 1 (left), a scanning electron micrograph of an IC chip. Of course the material to be used for interconnects must have a high electrical conductivity— a metal, since, of all materials, metals have the highest conductivities. Table 1 cites values for silver, copper, gold, and aluminum, the most conductive metals.

Metal (Symbol)	Electrical Conductivity (Ω-mt)-1(@ room Temp)
Silver(Ag)	6.8 X  107
Copper (Cu)	6.0 X  107
Gold (Au)	4.3 X  107
Aluminum (Al)	3.8 X  107

On the basis of these conductivities, and discounting material cost, Ag is the metal of choice, followed by Cu, Au, and Al. Once these interconnects have been deposited, it is still necessary to subject the IC chip to other heat treatments, which may run as high as 500 ^oC. If, during these treatments, there is significant diffusion of the interconnect metal into the silicon, the electrical functionality of the IC will be destroyed. Thus, since the extent of diffusion is dependent on the magnitude of the diffusion coefficient, it is necessary to select an interconnect metal that has a small value of D in silicon. 

Figure 2. plots the logarithm of D versus 1/T for the diffusion, into silicon, of copper, gold, silver, and aluminum. Also, a dashed vertical line has been constructed at 500 ^oC, from which values of D, for the four metals are noted at this temperature. Here it may be seen that the diffusion coefficient for aluminum in silicon (2.5 X 10²¹ m²/s) is at least four orders of magnitude (i.e., a factor of 10⁴) lower than the values for the other three metals. Aluminum is indeed used for interconnects in some integrated circuits; even though its electrical conductivity is slightly lower than the values for silver, copper, and gold, its extremely low diffusion coefficient makes it the material of choice for this application. An aluminum-copper-silicon alloy (Al-4 wt% Cu-1.5 wt% Si) is sometimes also used for interconnects; it not only bonds easily to the surface of the chip, but is also more corrosion resistant than pure aluminum. More recently, copper interconnects have also been used. However, it is first necessary to deposit a very thin layer of tantalum or tantalum nitride beneath the copper, which acts as a barrier to deter diffusion of Cu into the silicon.

Lead-Free Solders

Lead-Free Solders:
From Materials Science and Engineering By William D. Callister, Jr. (Very good Book)

Solders are metal alloys that are used to bond or join two or more components (usually other metal alloys). They are used extensively in the electronics industry to physically hold assemblies together; furthermore, they must allow expansion and contraction of the various components, must transmit electrical signals, and also dissipate any heat that is generated. The bonding action is accomplished by melting the solder material, allowing it to flow among and make contact with the components to be joined (which do not melt), and, finally, upon solidification, forming a physical bond with all of these components.

In the past, the vast majority of solders have been lead-tin alloys. These materials are reliable, inexpensive, and have relatively low melting temperatures. The most common lead–tin solder has a composition of 63 wt% Sn–37 wt% Pb.

According to the lead–tin phase diagram, Figure 9.8, this composition is near the eutectic and has melting temperature of about 180⁰ C, the lowest temperature possible with the existence of a liquid phase (at equilibrium) for the lead–tin system. It follows that this alloy is often called a “eutectic lead-tin solder.”

Unfortunately, lead is a mildly toxic metal, and there is serious concern about the environmental impact of discarded lead-containing products that can leach into groundwater from landfills or pollute the air if incinerated. Consequently, in some countries legislation has been enacted that bans the use of lead-containing solders. This has forced the development of lead-free solders that, among other things, must have relatively low melting temperatures (or temperature ranges). Some of these are ternary alloys (i.e., composed of three metals), to include tin–silver–copper and tin–silver–bismuth solders. The compositions of several lead-free solders are listed in Table 1(given below).

Compositions, Solidus Temperatures, and Liquidus Temperatures for Five Lead-Free Solders
Composition(wt%)	SolidusTemp (0C)	Liquidus Tempreture (0C)
52 In/48 Sn*	118	118
57 Bi/43 Sn*	139	139
91.8 Sn/3.4 Ag/4.8 Bi	211	213
95.5 Sn/3.8 Ag/0.7 Cu*	217	217
99.3 Sn/0.7 Cu*	227	227

*The compositions of these alloys are eutectic compositions; therefore, their solidus and liquidus temperatures are identical.Adapted from E. Bastow, “Solder Families and How They Work,”Advanced Materials & Processes,

Vol. 161, No. 12, M.W. Hunt

Of course, melting temperatures (or temperature ranges) are important in the development and selection of these new solder alloys, information that is available from phase diagrams. For example, the tin-bismuth phase diagram is presented in Figure 9.10. Here it may be noted that a eutectic exists at 57 wt% Bi and 139⁰C which are indeed the composition and melting temperature of the Bi–Sn soldier in Table 1.

The Great Indian Christian Society maintained by Hindus, What we get in return? What European\American Christians don't Know?

Saint Thomas Christian In India (Background):
As with early Christianity in the Roman Empire, it is assumed that the initial converts were largely Jewish proselytes among the Cochin Jews who are believed to have arrived in India around 562 BC, after the destruction of the First Temple. Many of these Jews presumably spoke Aramaic like St. Thomas, also a Jew by birth, who is credited by tradition with evangelising India.

A historically more likely claim by Eusebius of Caesarea is that Pantaenus, the head of the Christian exegetical school in Alexandria, Egypt went to India during the reign of the Emperor Commodus and found Christians already living in India using a version of the Gospel of Matthew with "Hebrew letters, a mixture of colture." This is a plausible reference to the earliest Indian churches which are known to have used the Syriac (a dialect of Aramaic) New Testament. Pantaenus' evidence thus indicates that Syriac-speaking Christians had already evangelised parts of India by the late 2nd century.

Thomas the Apostle (called Didymus which means "the twin") was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament. He is informally called doubting Thomas because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told, (in the Gospel of John), followed later by his confession of faith, "My Lord and my God", on seeing Jesus' wounded body.

Thomas is believed to have left northwest India when invasion threatened and traveled by vessel to the Malabar coast, possibly visiting southeast Arabia and Socotra en route, and landing at the former flourishing port of Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor)(c. 51–52 AD) in the company of a Jewish merchant Abbanes (Hebban).

According to tradition, the Apostle reached Muziris, India in AD 52 where there was a Jewish community at the time. He baptized several people (Even before church founders was born), founding what today are known as Saint Thomas Christians or Nasranis. After his death, the reputed relics of Saint Thomas the Apostle were enshrined as far as Mesopotamia in the 3rd century, and later moved to various places. In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Abruzzo in Ortona, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle. He is often regarded as the Patron Saint of India, and the name Thoma remains quite popular among Saint Thomas Christians of India.

He is believed by the St Thomas Christian tradition to have established Ezharappallikal or Seven and half churches in Kerala. These churches are at Kodungallur, Palayoor, Kottakkavu (Paravur), Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kollam and Thiruvithamcode (half church).Remains of some of his buildings, influenced by Greek architecture, indicate that he was a great builder. According to the legend, Thomas was a skilled carpenter and was bidden to build a palace for the king. However, the Apostle decided to teach the king a lesson by devoting the royal grant to acts of charity and thereby laying up treasure for the heavenly abode. 

According to tradition, St. Thomas was killed at Mylapore, near Chennai, in 72 and his body was interred there. Ephrem the Syrian states that the Apostle was martyred in India, and that his relics were taken then to Edessa. This is the earliest known record of his martyrdom.

The accounts of Marco Polo from the 13th century state that the Apostle had an accidental death outside his hermitage in Chennai by a badly aimed arrow of a fowler who not seeing the saint shot at peacocks there. Since at least the 16th century, the St. Thomas Mount has been a common site revered by Hindus, Muslims and Christians of India (After that European/American Church Christian came with there own intolerant brand of Christianity). 

The records of Barbosa from early 16th century inform that the tomb was then maintained by a Muslim who kept a lamp burning there. The San Thome Basilica presently located at the tomb was first built in the 16th century and rebuilt in the 19th.

Few relics are still kept at San Thome Basilica in Mylapore, India. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller and author of Description of the World, popularly known as Il Milione, is reputed to have visited Southern India in 1292. The He also stopped at Quilon (Kollam) on the western Malabar coast of India, where he met Syrian Christians and recorded their tradition of St. Thomas and his tomb on the eastern Coromandel coast of the country. Il Milione, the book he dictated on his return to Europe, was on its publication condemned by the Church as a collection of impious and improbable traveller's tales. It became very popular reading in medieval Europe and inspired Spanish and Portuguese sailors to seek out the fabulous (and possibly Christian) India described in it.

Indian Hindu Kings allows Thomas to live and preach when early Christians in Europe suffered sporadic persecution as the result of local pagan populations putting pressure on the imperial authorities to take action against the Christians in their midst, who were thought to bring misfortune by their refusal to honour the gods. Persecution was on the rise in Asia Minor towards the end of the 1st century.Christianity was as such established in India even before some nations of Europe had been Christianised. Reference (Robert Eric Frykenberg (28 January 2010).Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present, Oxford University Press)

What we get in Return:

Reaction Of Chruch Christinity of Europe:

During the rule of Vasudeva I (A Hindu King), the Kushan emperor, the bones of St. Thomas were transferred from the Mylapore to Edessa. These are generally rejected by various Christian religions as either apocryphal or heretical. The two centuries that lapsed between the life of the apostle and the recording of this work cast doubt on their authenticity (Because It challenged their Intolerant  Racist version of White Christianity which pissed on Jesus' teaching of Nonviolence during two world wars).

Roman Catholicism was first introduced to India by Portuguese, Italian and Irish Jesuits in the 16th century. Evangelical Protestantism was later spread to India by the efforts of British, American, German, Scottish missionaries to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ (Bible: propaganda material of church) among Indians.Most of these Conversions was done by cheating the poor people of these areas. They used abusive word for Hindu gods (with out understanding these concepts ) even today people like Pat Robertson are example of this mindset . Some more examples are given below.

In February 2001, T. John, the Karnataka civil aviation minister and a member of the Orthodox church, described the Gujarat earthquake, which resulted in death of over 20,000 people, as “the punishment of God to the people for ill-treating Christians and minorities in the state.”

John also saw a divine connection between attacks on Christians in Orissa and the cyclone that hit the region in December 1999, killing 10,000 people. This is nothing but vicarious pleasure at the expense of non-Christian Indians.

Many Kerala Christians who joined the Communist Party of India were denied burial services by the church upon their deaths. This can be traumatic for the surviving members because the rest of the community members tend to treat them as outcastes. (Imagine the state of children who are not able to bury their dead father.)

In September 2000 when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in the US on an official visit, Christian fundamentalist John Dayal appeared before the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in Washington DC.

The virulently anti-Hindu “Dayal should have thought of the possibility that the timing of that invitation extended to him by USCIRF was not an accident. It is quite likely it was part of the US State Department’s plan to place the visiting Prime Minister on his defensive and thereby weaken India’s efforts to convey to the American public the destructive consequences of cross-border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan”.

When Nepal was groaning in earthquake, Some Christian Missionaries were shamelessly selling Chruch

1400 souls dead in Nepal and climbing, I wonder how many of those heard the Gospel?

-Joshua Aguilar 

MASSIVE 7.8 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES NEPAL. More signs of the soon return of Jesus Christ.

-Brian E Frazer 

Devastating Nepal earthquake could have been prayed down by acknowledging that Christ is the ruler of God's creation Matt 18:19-20, Rev 3:14

-Charles Boucher Jr. 

Praying for the country of Nepal...may this tragedy be an open door for many to receive the gospel!

-Chris Chadwick 

Praying 4 the lost souls in Nepal. Praying not a single destroyed pagan temple will b rebuilt & the people will repent/receive Christ.

-Tony Miano (@TonyMiano) April 25, 2015

Suffering is a call to conversion: it reminds us of our frailty and vulnerability.

-— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 24, 2015

Church made Christianity an unpopular subject in India because they destroyed our culture mutual of respect and Harmony. Although I do believe there are  many good follower of Christ who know about true nature of Humanity but Church is not certainly one of those.

Some Good view points from west:

The Russian Revolution

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Workers in England and Germany began forming associations to fight for better living and working conditions. They set up funds to help members in times of distress and demanded a reduction of working hours and the right to vote. In Germany, these associations worked closely with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and helped it win parliamentary seats. By 1905, socialists and trade unionists formed a Labour Party in Britain and a Socialist Party in France. However, till 1914, socialists never succeeded in forming a government in Europe. Represented by strong figures in parliamentary politics, their ideas did shape legislation, but governments continued to be run by conservatives, liberals and radicals.

The Russian Revolution:

In one of the least industrialised of European states this situation was reversed. Socialists took over the government in Russia through the October Revolution of 1917. The fall of monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October are normally called the Russian Revolution.

How did this come about? What were the social and political conditions in Russia when the revolution occurred?

The Russian Empire in 1914:

In 1914, Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire. Besides the territory around Moscow, the Russian empire included current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. It stretched to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The majority religion was Russian Orthodox Christianity - which had grown out of the Greek Orthodox Church - but the empire also included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Buddhists.

Russian Dynasty Before Revolution:

Nicholas II (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Tsar Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias. Like other Russian Emperors he is commonly known by the monarchical title Tsar (though Russia formally ended the Tsardom in 1721). He is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church and has been referred to as Saint Nicholas the Martyr.

Nicholas was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark). He had five younger siblings: Alexander (1869–1870), George (1871–1899), Xenia (1875–1960), Michael (1878–1918) and Olga (1882–1960). Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexander's death in 1894. He was also very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other.

His paternal grandparents were Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (born Princess Marie of Hesse-Darmstadt). His maternal grandparents were King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. Nicholas was of primarily German, as well as Russian and Danish descent.

Nicholas was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mother's siblings included Kings Frederik VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece as well as the United Kingdom's Queen Alexandra (consort of King Edward VII). Nicholas, his wife, Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Nicholas was also a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Constantine I of Greece. While not first cousins, Nicholas and Kaiser Wilhelm II were second cousins, once removed, as each descended from King Frederick William III of Prussia, as well as third cousins, as they were both great-great-grandsons of Tsar Paul I of Russia. Nicholas and his wife, Alexandra, were also second cousins, as both descended from Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse and his wife, Wilhelmine of Baden.

Nicholas II ruled from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Political enemies nicknamed him Nicholas the Bloody because of the Khodynka Tragedy, anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, his violent suppression of the 1905 Revolution, his execution of political opponents and his perceived responsibility for the Russo-Japanese War.

 Nicholas II; his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna; his son, Alexei Nikolaevich; his four daughters, Olga Nikolaevna, Tatiana Nikolaevna, Maria Nikolaevna and Anastasia Nikolaevna; the family's medical doctor, Evgeny Botkin; the Emperor's footman, Alexei Trupp; the Empress' maidservant, Anna Demidova; and the family's cook, Ivan Kharitonov, were executed in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918.

This led to the canonisation of Nicholas II, his wife the Empress Alexandra and their children as passion bearers, a title commemorating believers who face death in a Christ-like manner, on 15 August 2000 by the Russian Orthodox Church within Russia and, in 1981, as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, located in New York City.

Empress Alexandra , Wife of Nicholas II

Alexandra Feodorovna (6 June 1872 – 17 July 1918), was Empress consort of Russia as the spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire. Born as Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, she was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Upon being received into the Russian Orthodox Church, she was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna and in 2000 she was canonized as Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer. Alexandra was also a maternal great-aunt of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and first cousin twice-removed to his wife Queen Elizabeth II.

Alexandra is best remembered as the last Tsaritsa of Russia, as one of the most famous royal carriers of the haemophilia disease, and for her support of autocratic control over the country. Her friendship with the Russian mystic and holy man, Grigori Rasputin, was also an important factor in her life.

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin  21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 – 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916) was a Russian peasant, mystical faith healer and a trusted friend to the family of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. He became an influential figure in Saint Petersburg, especially after August 1915 when Nicholas took command of the army at the front.

There is much uncertainty over Rasputin's life and the degree of influence he exerted over the shy and irresolute Tsar and Alexandra Feodorovna, his nervous and depressed wife. Accounts are often based on dubious memoirs, hearsay and legend.Before 1915, however, Rasputin's sway was sporadic rather than permanent.While his influence and position may have been exaggerated—he had become synonymous with power, debauchery and lust—historians agree that his presence played a significant role in the increasing unpopularity of the Imperial couple.

Rasputin is connected with the downfall of the Russian monarchy; his disappearance would strengthen the throne. Rasputin was murdered by Felix Yusupov (the only niece of the Tsar) as he was seen by both the left and right to be the root cause of Russia's despair during World War I.

Reference: 
NCERT Text book India and the Contempoarary World-I class-9
History.com
http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item107422.html
http://www.reformation.org/russian-branch-of-british-secret-service.html
http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-202/lecture-19#transcript