Sunday, October 31, 2010

A few Facts about India!


India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
 
When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
 
The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.

The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.

Chess was invented in India.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.

The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

India is the largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.

The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.

The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world (Source: Gemological Institute of America).

The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.


Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.
India exports software to 90 countries.

The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.

Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.

There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.

Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively

The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.

Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.

Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

Ice Road!


Ice road

Ice roads (ice crossings, ice bridges) are frozen, human-made structures on the surface of bays, rivers, lakes, or seas in the far north. They link dry land, frozen waterways, portages and winter roads, and are usually remade each winter. Ice roads allow temporary transport to areas with no permanent road access. Seen in isolated regions of northern Canada, Alaska's Bush, northern Scandinavia and Russia, they reduce the cost of materials that otherwise would ship as expensive air freight, and they allow movement of large or heavy objects for which air freight is impractical.
Ice roads differ from winter roads in that they are built primarily across frozen waterways. Ice roads may be winter substitutes for summer ferry service. Ferry service and an ice crossing may operate yearly at the same time for several weeks.
(Another meaning of ice bridge is a natural ice road or a structure formed during glaciation. These were used in prehistoric migration.)




Function

Because ice roads are flat, devoid of trees, rocks and other obstacles, they have a smooth driving surface. The roads from Yellowknife to Port Radium by John Denison, a pioneer of ice roads in the Canadian Arctic 1950s-1970s, were largely plowed across frozen lakes, with a short overland portage between the shoreline of one lake and the next. Similar to ice roads, ice runways are common in the Polar Regions and include the blue ice runways. Ice is used as an emergency landing surface.

In general, these roads occur (often with human assistance) in areas where construction of year-round roads is expensive due to boggy muskeg land. When frozen in winter, these obstacles are easier to cross. Ice roads such as the stretch between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada provide an almost level driving surface with few detours several months of the year.

Ice roads and winter roads are used where year-round roads are expensive or impractical. When frozen in winter, the waterway crossings can be built up with auger holes to flood and thicken the crossing. Clearing snow (which insulates and warms) makes ice thicker, more quickly. These seasonal links last anywhere from a few weeks to several months before they become impassable.

After an ice road is plowed across a lake, the ice there gets much thicker than the surrounding lake ice, because the snow cover is swept off — exposing the road directly to subfreezing air (temperatures as low as −60 °F (−51 °C)). When a lake thaws in the spring, the ice under the road is the last to melt, and in the summer, traces of the roads can still be seen from overhead in a bush plane, as bare strips remain on the lake floor where the ice blocked light and prevented plants and algae from growing.

Ice road South of Pevek along ocean.
Driving

While easier to drive across in the winter than land, roads over water present a great danger to anyone using them. Speeds are typically limited to 15 mph (24 km/h) to prevent a truck's weight from causing waves under the surface. These waves can damage the road, or dislodge the ice from the shoreline and create a hazard. Another hazard on large lakes is the pressure ridge, a break in the ice created by the expansion and contraction of the surface ice over time due to heat.

The roads are normally the domain of large trucks (e.g. tractor-trailer units), although lighter automobiles, such as pickup trucks, are occasionally seen, as are snowmobiles.
Use of ice as the main construction material allows unusual construction techniques: for example, to make a ramp to get the road over a step such as the shore of a lake, lake water is pumped out and mixed with snow to make slush, which is formed into the shape of the ramp, which in the intense cold quickly freezes hard. To resurface a worn and damaged road surface, it is flooded with shallow water, which quickly freezes hard.
Ice road in Kupol, Russia.


Around the world

Antarctica

The McMurdo-South Pole highway is approximately 900-miles (1450 km) long and links the United States' McMurdo Station on the coast to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It was constructed by leveling snow and filling in crevasses, but is not paved. There are flags to mark the route.
A nice view of Mt. Eribus from the ice road, McMurdo Station, an island just off the coast of Antarctica

Canada

Winter roads and ice roads in Canada are found primarily in Northern parts of some provinces, as well as the sparsely-populated northern territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In Nunavut, while there are a number of permanent roads within the territory, the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road, linking Nunavut to Tibbitt Lake in the Northwest Territories, forms the territory's only road access to the rest of North America's road network.

Winter roads in the Northwest Territories, most notably the Tuktoyaktuk Winter Road, link various isolated communities and mineral exploration sites to the territory's highway network.

Winter roads may also be found in the sparsely populated northernmost regions of some Canadian provinces. Most communities north of Ontario's Albany River are served by winter roads. Most of these roads in Northwestern Ontario are linked to the Northern Ontario Resource Trail, a permanent gravel road which extends northerly from the end of Highway 599 at Pickle Lake, the northernmost community in the province with year-round highway access. In Northeastern Ontario, some communities are linked to Moosonee, a town that itself has rail access but no road access to the south.
Canada's ice roads were prominently featured in the History Channel show Ice Road Truckers.
Winter road in northern British Columbia, Canada


Estonia

The Estonian Road Administration is responsible for managing ice roads in winter. An ice road may be opened when ice thickness is at least 22 cm (8.7 in) along the entire route. An ice road to Piirissaar Island in Lake Peipsi is opened in most years, while colder winters permit opening official ice roads on the Baltic Sea between mainland Estonia and the islands of Hiiumaa, Vormsi, Muhu and Kihnu, between the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa and also between Haapsalu and Noarootsi. The limitations for ice road traffic include:

Weight limit depending on conditions, mostly 2 t (2.0 LT; 2.2 ST) to 2.5 t (2.5 LT; 2.8 ST)

Vehicles travelling in the same direction must be at least 250 m (820 ft) apart.

Recommended travelling speeds are under 25 km/h (16 mph) or between 40–70 km/h (25–43 mph). It is advised to avoid the range of 25 and 40 km/h (16 and 25 mph) due to danger of creating resonance in the ice layer (i.e. vehicle speed and water wave speed being the same or nearly, resulting in a big wave building up and breaking the ice).

Seat belts must not be fastened due to danger of drowning if the ice breaks.

The vehicle must not be stopped.

Vehicles are allowed to enter the ice road in three minute intervals.

Ice roads may only be used in daylight.
Ice road to Hiiumaa island, Estonia
Heinlaid seen from the ice road

The freezing of the seas between the Estonian mainland and the islands has had historical significance, as during the middle ages these occurrences have been used by armies to invade the islands as they could simply walk across the sea.


Finland

The Finnish Road Administration maintains some ice roads during winters. These roads are considered as public roads when they are open. The longest 7 km (4.3 mi) road crosses Lake Pielinen.[2] Ice must be at least 40 cm (16 in) thick before the road may be opened. The following limits apply to ice roads:

Weight limit 3 t (3.0 LT; 3.3 ST) (may be raised if ice is thick enough).

Speed limit 50 km/h (31 mph).
Minimum space of 50 m (164 ft) between cars traveling in the same direction.

Overtaking is prohibited.

Stopping is prohibited.

On the severest winters ice roads have been privately constructed from the mainland of Finland to Åland and elsewhere in the Archipelago; using these is unlikely to be within any insurance policy.

Norway

Over the Tana River there are usually two ice roads from December to April. These roads have a weight limit of 2 t (2.0 LT; 2.2 ST), but few other limitations. There are numerous ice roads over frozen rivers elsewhere in Norway.

Sweden

In the northern part of Sweden are many ice roads. Vägverket maintains them, but some private ice roads also exist. Ice roads are usually put in when ice thickness exceeds 20 cm (7.9 in). The limitations for ice road traffic normally include:

A speed limit of 30 km/h (19 mph).

Prohibition to stop or park on the ice.
Minimum distance of 50 m (160 ft) between vehicles.

Restrictions for axle, bogie and gross weight.
The longest ice road 15 km (9.3 mi) in Sweden is in the Luleå Archipelago, Bothnian Bay (in the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia). It starts in the port of Hindersöstallarna and connects the islands Hindersön, Stor-Brändön, and Långön with the mainland. The ice roads in Luleå are usually open from January to April and have a weight restriction of 2 t (2.0 LT; 2.2 ST) to 4 t (3.9 LT; 4.4 ST).

There are several ice roads across the lake Storsjön. The roads are usually open from January to April and have a weight restriction of 2 t (2.0 LT; 2.2 ST) to 4 t (3.9 LT; 4.4 ST).
The southernmost ice road in Sweden is on lake Hjälmaren, to the island Vinön.[3] Due to poor ice it is not open every season.
Ice Road to Norderön, Sweden

Russia

An example of an ice road was the Road of Life across the frozen Lake Ladoga, which provided the only access to the besieged city of Leningrad in the winter months during World War II.
Ice road between Pevek and Kupol, Russia.
At Lake Ladoga entrance
Ladoga entrance, frozen
Ice road on Baikal, Russia
The Coldest City on the Earth, at Lake Yakutsk Republic of Sakha, Russia
Airport, Yakutsk Republic of Sakha, Russia

United States

There is an ice road in the United States on Lake Superior, linking the city of Bayfield, Wisconsin on the mainland with La Pointe, Wisconsin on Madeline Island . The road is about 2 miles long and is used for several weeks in the year as replacement for the summer ferry service. When the ice is too thin to allow the construction of the road, but too thick to allow ferry service, a type of hovercraft is used to transport school children from the island to and from the mainland.

In Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, there is an ice road over the Arctic Ocean about 25 miles long and its maximum speed is 10 mph. It is used a few months during winter to serve an oilfield site on the ocean. Another ice road in Alaska is the ice road from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Point Thomson, Alaska. The ice road is 70 miles long and is on the Beaufort Sea; this ice road is mainly used by semi-trucks to deliver loads to serve the Point Thomson area.

There is a seasonal ice road constructed from the Kuparuk oil field to the Alpine oil field, which is roadless in the summer months. This road also connects to the village of Nuiqsut, on the banks of the Colville River. This road is roughly 30 miles long and is used to resupply Alpine with critical supplies for operations as well as to transport drilling rigs.
Ice Road Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Word Of The Day!

caterwaul
\ KAT-uhr-wawl \  , intransitive verb;
1. To make a harsh cry.
2. To have a noisy argument.
noun:
1. A shrill, discordant sound.

Samsung I9200 Galaxy S2

Now take this with a pinch of salt as a new phone render has been leaked purportedly known as I9200 Galaxy S2, successor of Galaxy S. The rumored details suggest that the I9200 is expected sometime in the beginning of 2011 carrying some meaty specs like a 4.3-inch 1280×720 Super AMOLED 2 screen, 2GHz CPU with 1GB RAM and 4GB ROM, 8MP camera with full HD video recording, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n, A-GPS, 32GB internal memory, microSD card slot, 3.5mm audio jack and few sensors along with a gyroscope.
What more do you want?

The perfect love!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Word of the Day!

trepidation
\ trep-uh-DAY-shuhn \  , noun;
1. [Archaic] An involuntary trembling; quaking; quivering.
2. A state of dread or alarm; nervous agitation; apprehension; fright.

Incredible India!