Kabir The Weaver Poet

Kabir was one of the greatest poets and saint of our country. His dohas  or two-line verses are read and sung even today.   Kabir was born in a Hindu family but was brought up by profession. He wove and sold cloth in the market. But he has not interested in making money. He was kind and wanted to help others.         

               Kabir was against the useless customs of society and religion. He taught bhakti or true love and devotion to God. He was against the caste system and tried to unite Hindus and Muslims.   
       When kabir died, Hindus and Muslims could not decide who should perform the last rites. It is said that when the sheet covering his body was lifted, people saw flowers instead of his body.

The One- Horned Rhino

Many majestic animals on this earth are in grave danger due to the greed of man- be it the elephant for its ivory tusks, the tiger for its skin and claws, or the rhinoceros for its horn.

          The Indian one - horned rhinoceros is one such animal that is slow disappearing. This rhino that was once found throughout the entire stretch of the Indo - Gangetic Plain is today reduced to very few numbers due to excessive poaching. Today, only about 2,000 Indian one - horned rhinos live in the wild, 1,200 of which are found in Assam alone.
The Indian one - horned rhino is the largest of the Asian rhinos. That is why it is also called the 'great one - horned rhino'. The uniqueness of the Indian rhino is its single horn, in contrast to the African rhinos that have two horns. Indian rhinos are brownish - grey in colour and are hairless.they live in tall grasslands and forest near rivers, but due to the loss of their habitat they often stray into cultivated land.   The word rhinoceros means ‘nose-horn'. The animal is so named because of the single large horn that grows at the tip of its nose. The horn is typically 20-61 cm long, and weighs upto three kg. The rhino uses this horn for defence and for uprooting bushes and small trees. The hide ( skin ) of this massive creature is very thick and tough and it functions as a protective shield.
          A rhino is a good swimmer and can run at a speed of 55 km per  hour. Its diet mainly consists of grasses , but the rhino is also known to eat leaves, fruits, branches of shrubs and trees and submerged and floating aquatic plants. It has an excellent sense of hearing and smell but a relatively poor eyesight. Although a rhino is a good - tempered animal, it is a fearful opponent when wounded.
The Kaziranga  National Park, Manas National Park, Pobitora reserve forest, Orang National Park and the Laokhowa reserve forest in Assam, India and the Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal are homes of this endangered animal. The Kanziranga National Park is the biggest success story of rhinoceros conservation.

The Fjords Of Norway

During the last Ice Age, Norway was covered with mighty glaciers. These ice rivers moved slowly to the sea, scraping away the rock to produce steep-sides, immensely deep, U - shaped valleys.
          A fjord is often only 18 m or so deep at its mouth, but near the head of the valley it may be ten times deeper.     

       When the ice melted about 10,000 years ago, the sea filled up the valleys, which the Norwegians named 'fjords'.       

 

     There are fjords in Canada, New Zealand and Chile, but the greatest are in Norway. The fjords of Norway were formed by glaciers gouging out deep, U-shaped valleys as they slid towards the sea.
     
          The west coast is slashed by these long, narrow, sea- filled channels, The fjords are very  beautiful , although also bleak, lonely and threatening.    

    The Sognefjord in Norway is the second longest fjord in the world at 127 miles . The longest , named Scoresby Sund, lies in Greenland, extends 217 miles inland and is 4,900 feet deep. Scoresby Sund is one of the deepest fjords in the world.

         The Naeroyfjord is one of the world's most beautiful and dramatic fjords. In 2005, it was included on UNESCO's World Heritage List. This 18 kilometre long fjord is only 500 metres wide in some parts. It is a branch of the Sognefjord.

         

Geirangerfjord is one of the most beautiful and mysterious of the Norwegian fjords. Streaming into it down sheer rock walls are many waterfalls, such as the Bridal Veil and the Seven Sisters. At its head is the village of Geiranger, reached only by a road that twists 1,000 m down the mountainside.

Colin O'Brady

American professional endurance athlete and adventure Colin Timothy O'Brady just became the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided. He achieved this incredible feat on 26 December 2018.

          Born on 16 March 1985, O' Brady holds three world records:
          In 2016 he set the Explores Grand Slam ( Last Degree) and seven Summit speed record.
          He became the fastest person to complete the adventures challenges in 139 days and 131 days respectively.
          In the Summer of 2018, O'Brady set the speed record for the 50 US High points in 21 days.
          The 33- year-old skied 932 miles across the southern continent in 54 days without getting resupplied - which required him to carry everything he'd need throughout the journey on a sled . Everyone  who tried to accomplish feat before O'Brady either gave up or died.

          When he started his journey , his sled weighed 400 pounds- it contained a tent, sleeping bag, cameras, a satellite phone, and 30 pounds of fuel for cooking. Most of the sled's weight, however, came from 220 pounds of food - enough to help  O'Brady survive for more than two months.
          And what did he eat along the trip - oatmeal, freeze-dried meals, soup, and special "Colin Bars" that his sponsor, Standard process Supplements, made for him.

• O'Brady is a former professional triathlete. He represented the United States on the ITU Triathlon World Cup circuit, racing in 25 countries on six continents from 2009-2015.

• He is the world's first person to Snapchat from the summit of Mount Everest.

Sea lion

A California sea lion peers out from a restraint nicknamed "The Squeeze" near Oregon City,Ore., as it is prepared for transport by truck to the Pacific Ocean about 130 miles away.

The male sea lion was released south of Newport, Ore., in a program designed to reduce the threat to wild winter steelhead and spring Chinook salmon in the Willamette River. Oregon wildlife officials have started killing sea lions that threaten a fragile run of winter steelhead in the Willamette River.

          The state Department of Fish and Wildlife obtained a federal permit in November to kill up to 93 California sea lions per year bellow Willamette Falls south of Portland.

Barking rodent

The capybara,also known as carpincho or water hog,is the largest living rodent , weighing up to 80kg in the wild and even more in captivity. This sole member of the Hydrochoeridae family is a close relative of the guinea pig and the rock cavy.It is native to the savannas and dense forests across South America, except Chile.
This semi-aquatic mammal lives near water bodies. When it senses danger, it gallops to the closest deep one, jumps into it and disappeares , to resurface far away from the predator. It can sleep in water too, with just its eyes and nostrils above the water. It has slightly webbed toes- three on the rear feet and four on the front. It is agile on land also. The herbivore's teeth grow continuously.

It wears them down by grazing on grasses and aquatic and other plants. It also eats its own faeces in the morning , when it is rich in protein and vitamins. This social animal has a variety of calls, including barks, whistles and whines.
The capybara is quite adaptive but since it does not have fat reserves or a thick coat (it doesn't have down hair either), it cannot endure harsh cold climates. Though it is often hunted for its meat and pelt, it is still not a threatened species.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

          The Leaning tower of Pisa, Italy, is famous simply because it leans! It is actually the bell tower of the cathedral of the city Pisa. Although it was designed to stand straight, the tower began leaning to the south - west soon after the onset of construction in 1173.
          Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Pisans were almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence.
In 1272, construction resumed. In an effort to compensate for the tilt the engineers built higher floors with one side taller than the other. This made the tower begin to lean on the other direction. Because of this the tower is actually curved! The reason of leaning is that the tower is built on unsuitable ground for such a heavy and tall building. It is only about two meters above sea level and built on a riverbed.

          The underlying ground is made up of uneven layers of sand and clay. Because of the fact that the layers are not even, as the ground has compressed, it has sunk more in some places than in others.
          The tower has eight storeys, including the chamber for the bells. Inside the tower there are seven bells.
          Engineers expect that the famous structure will remain stable for at least another 200 years. By then the technology could be far more advanced to preserve the tower for another more years.

Highest battlefield in the world :

The Siachen glacier, in northern Kashmir, is regarded as the world's highest battlefield. India and Pakistan both claim the area and have thousands of soldiers stationed there. However, the real enemy here is the harsh weather and terrain. Soldiers are posted at altitudes that range from 13,000-22,000ft (4,000-6,700m).

    At this altitude, they are higher than climbers standing at the summits of the tallest mountains in Africa, North America, Australia, Europe and Antarctica.
Since the start of the conflict between India and Pakistan in April 1984, the maximum deaths occurred not due to the firing of bullets but from freezing temperatures, falls into crevasses or from being swept away by avalanches.

Camouflage

          The colors and markings on the body of some animals match the surroundings in which they live. This makes it difficult to spot them. This art of hiding among the surroundings and not being clearly visible is called camouflage.

Animals use camouflage to hide from their enemies. They can also creep up quietly on their prey without being seen.
          A tiger’s coat has a pattern of dark and light stripes. This makes it hard to spot when it creeps throuhh long grass.
          The leaf-insect has markings on its wings that look just like the veins of a leaf.

The stick insect looks like a thin twig. It is brown in colour and has a stick-like appearance. It can easily hide among the twigs.
          The baby seals are snow white in colour. There fur keeps them worm and hides them in the snow in winter.
          The clever chameleon can change the colour of its skin. This means it can hide in a number of different places.
        The green tree frog’s bright green colour helps them to hide successfully in green trees and grass. This ability.

The Sneaky snake.

Snakes are very good at hiding. Most snakes can camouflage themselves into their environment. That means they have different colors and patterns on their bodies that allow them to blend in with the colors and patterns of things around them. Camouflage helps them hide from their enemies and help them be sneaky when they are trying to capture something to eat. For example, emerald tree boa lives in the jungle. Its green skin makes it nearly invisible among the green leaves of the trees.

Rattle snakes live in rocky, dry places. The patterns of black, tan and brown on their backs help them blend in with their rocky environment. The horned viper lives in the desert. Its skin is the same color as sand where it burrows underground. It is hard to see unless it is moving. Also, some snakes that are harmless look very similar to venomous snakes. The harmless milk snake is colored orange, with yellow and black strips, much like the poisonous coral snake. The enemies of the milk snake mistake it for a coral snake because they look so much alike.

The Hot Air Balloon.

Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier were paper markers in France. But they had been interested in the idea of flying for many years. One night, Joseph was sitting beside the fireplace. He noted some small pieces of slightly burnt paper floating up the chimney. ‘Look at that’, he said to Stephen, ‘the force that is lifting that paper might be used to a lift object too’.
Soon the Montgolfier brother started experimenting with the idea. After carrying out many experiments, they built a huge balloon of linen and paper. On 5 June, 1783, in the village where they lived, they sent up this balloon with the entire village watching on. The balloon rose to a height of 6000 feet and moved slowly and smoothly through the air. It came down one mile from the village.

A month later, they sent up another hot air balloon, this time with a cock, a duck and a sheep in it. The balloon came down after travelling one and half miles. The animals were found safe and sound.
 Sometime later, the brothers announced that they were going to make a balloon for a man to fly in. Thinking that it would be a dangerous experiment to try out, the king of France announced ‘Only criminals will be allowed to go up’. However Pilatre de Rozier, a young physics teacher, came forward. The balloon rose with him to a height of 84 feet and the young man came down unhurt and safe. Thus the world witnessed the first ‘flying-man’. Today hot-air balloons are flown for pleasure all over the world. It is also used fir forecasting the weather and in scientific research.

Deepinder Goyal

Mobile phones and the internet have brought the world within our reach. Every sector is becoming technology driven, especially the food sector. Today you can sit home and order your favourite dish and have it delivered to you within on time. On - demand food delivery apps are now raiding the market. One such online food delivery app is Zomato.

            Zomato was founded by Deepinder Goyal with his friend and colleague from consulting firm Bain & company, Pankaj Chaddah in the year 2008. It was here when he conceived the idea of an online restaurant information service after seeing the demand for paper menu cards among his colleagues. Where he worked as a management consultant.
            Deepinder has an Integrated Master in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Delhi in 2005.He born and raised in Punjab.
Initially, it began its operations under the name, Foodiebay and in November 2010, the brand was renamed as Zomato. At first, people could only see scanned menus and contacts numbers of restaurants, to enable them to order food over the phone. Last year, it entered the food delivery business and table bookings.
            By 2011, Zomato launched in Benguluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The company expanding across geographies by going overseas to the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Qatar, United Kingdom, Philippines and South Africa.
            Two years later in 2013 it began operations in New Zealand, Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia. It currently operates in 24 countries including Portugal, Canada, Lebonan, Ireland, USA and Australia.
      
As of 2018, Morgan Stanley valued Zomato at $2.5 billion.
    The app serves more than 50 million users every month.