JULY 29

 International Tiger Day

     International Tiger Day also known as Global Tiger Day, is celebrated annually on July 29. This day raises awareness about tiger conservation. Tigers play a vital role in maintaining the balance of our ecosystems. As top predators, they help control the populations of other animals, ensuring the health and diversity of their habitats. However, tigers are an endangered species, which means they are at risk of becoming extinct.

     There are six subspecies of tigers --- Bengal, Siberian, Sumatran, Malayan, Indochinese and South China. There are currently fewer than 4,000 tigers left in the wild due to habitat loss, poaching and illegal wildlife trade. International Tiger Day draws attention to tiger's plight.

Wild Cat Facts:

* Tigers are the largest cats in the world, with 

   some males weighing over 270 kg.

* A tiger's roar can be heard from up to 3 km  

  away.

* Tigers have stripes on their fur that act as 

   camouflage in the wild. Each tiger has a unique 

   stripe pattern on its fur and no two tigers have 

   the same pattern.

* Tigers have a powerful body and can swim long 

   distances. They are excellent swimmers and 

   enjoy bathing in water to cool down.

* Tigers are excellent hunters. They are incredibly 

   fast and can run at speeds of 64 km per hour. 

   They can also leap up to 10 m in one jump!

* Tigers are solitary animals and prefer to live and 

   hunt alone.

* Tigers have retractable claws that they use for 

   climbing trees and catching prey.

* Tigers are carnivores, meaning they eat meat, 

  and their diet consists primarily of large 

  ungulates such as deer and boars.

WHEEL OF WONDER

 Giant wheel 

     IT was George W Gale Ferris, a mechanical engineer by profession, who built the world’s first giant vertical wheel for the purpose of providing rides for entertainment. Such wheels are called Ferris wheels after their inventor. 

     The very first Ferris wheel was erected at the World’s Columbian Exposition, which was held in Chicago in 1893 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in America. George Ferris had to use all his powers of persuasion to get permission from the directors of the fair to erect the wheel. The directors thought it was a wild idea that would fail and give the fair a bad name. But at the same time they wanted to showcase a feat of engineering or architecture that would rival the Eiffel Tower, which was built for the World’s Fair of 1889, in Paris. So finally Ferris got the nod. 

     As it turned out, the giant wheel became the chief attraction of the fair. From the day of its inauguration on 21 June 1893, the rich and the famous and dignitaries from all walks of life queued up patiently each evening for the thrill and the privilege of being wheeled high into the air (the wheel had a diameter of 76 metres) for a breathtaking view of the city below. The wheel had 36 cars and each of them could seat 60 people, so there were 2,160 riders at any given time. While the women squealed and sometimes screamed in terror as the wheel slowly began its rotation, the men puffed at cigars and sipped champagne to cover their nervousness. But to Ferris’ credit, the wheel never gave any trouble and no one was ever hurt. It worked flawlessly till the end of the fair in November, raking in huge profits for all those associated with it. 

     Today, no country fair is complete without a Ferris wheel or a ‘giant wheel’ as we call it in India.

SMELL OF RAIN

Petrichor

     After rainfall, the  distinctive aroma is released from the soil.

     Despite being an unwelcome form of weather by many, rain is an essential event for sustaining life on Earth. Communities throughout history have always welcomed rainfall as an aid to their growing crops – and scientists think it’s for this reason that so many still enjoy the smell that follows the rain. This is called petrichor. 

     The raindrops themselves aren’t responsible for the scent that fills the air after it starts to rain. Rather, the water droplets cause various fragrant compounds to be released from the soil. As raindrops scatter over dry earth, the water traps tiny bubbles of air at the ground’s surface. These droplets then splatter, bursting the bubbles from the loose soil and carrying plant oils and other natural chemicals upwards into the air in an aerosol form.

STORMY SCENT

     Rain isn’t the only weather event that’s responsible for natural and distinctive smells. Thunderstorms produce a different scent that’s caused by a disturbance in the atmosphere. When lightning strikes through the atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen molecules split and combine with each other to form nitric oxide and single oxygen atoms.

     These oxygen atoms then react with oxygen molecules in the air, making ozone (O₃). Ozone is a less stable molecule compared to oxygen’s elemental form (O₂). During a storm, air sinks to form downdrafts and pushes ozone lower into the atmosphere where we can smell it. It has a metallic scent, which makes it possible to identify when rain is soon to fall.

THE APPEARANCE AND THE REAL

 What makes a balloon fly?

     There was once a little black boy who had seen all his relatives and family suffer because of racial discrimination.

     Once, he went to a country fair and stood near a balloon man with lots of different coloured balloons. The man was evidently a good salesman because he allowed a red balloon to break loose and soar up high in the sky, thereby attracting a crowd of perspective young customers. 

     Then, he released a blue balloon, then a yellow one and a white one. They all went soaring up in the sky until they all disappeared. 

     The little black boy stood looking at the black balloon for a long time, and then asked, "Sir, will the black balloon also be able to fly as high as the other balloons?"

     The salesman said, "Yes, surely my dear. It is not the appearance but what is inside the balloons that makes them fly high." 

     

     It is what you are that makes you reach your destination in life and not how you are. 

SEASONAL WIND

Monsoon

     The word “monsoon” is from the Arabic word "mausim", meaning season of winds, which is often applied to the seasonal reversals of the wind direction along the shores of the Indian Ocean and surrounding regions, especially in the Arabian Sea.

     Monsoon is a seasonal wind, which changes direction twice in a year, producing weather changes mainly in India and Southeast Asia. It blows from southwest to northeast from April to October and from the northeast to the southeast and southwest from October to April. This phenomenon is similar to land and sea breezes, but on a larger scale and affecting a vast area.

     The southwest monsoon first hits the Western Ghats of Kerala, making it the first state in India to get rains. The northeast or retreating monsoon pours over the East coast of India. India is heavily dependent on the monsoon for its agricultural production.

     No other country receives as much rain as India does during the monsoons. Unfortunately we have not yet learnt how to collect this vast quantity of water efficiently and much of it runs back into the seas. As a result if the monsoon fails in any year, many parts of the country have no reserves of water to fall back on and drought descends on the land.

     The scientific measurement of rainfall in India began in 1875, when the Indian Meteorological Department was set up. The rainfall measured is that which falls on the plains. Rainfall over hilly and mountainous regions and over the oceans is still not adequately measured.

     The first observatory in the country to record rainfall was Madras Observatory in 1793. The next to do so were the observatories at Colaba Mumbai in 1826 and Shimla in 1841.

LIGHT FIDELITY

 Li-Fi

     Li-Fi, short for Light Fidelity is a wireless communication technology similar to Wi-Fi. Li-Fi uses the visible light spectrum with the help of special LED bulbs for data transmission, while Wi-Fi uses radio waves.

     Professor Harold Haas from the University of Edinburgh introduced Li-Fi to the world in 2011. Since then, companies have been developing the technology.

How does Li-Fi work?

We all know that binary information is made up of 1's and 0's. Some may consider switching on the LED light as 1 and switching it off as 0. Flicking the light on and off at an imperceptibly fast speed will cause the data to transform into binary code, transmit in the form of light and then turn to data again in our computers or mobiles.

What are the advantages of Li-Fi?

As Li-Fi uses light, it can function without causing electromagnetic interference. Hence it is useful in electromagnetic sensitive areas like aircraft, hospitals or at nuclear power plants. Another advantage is that Li-Fi is 100 times faster than Wi-Fi with speeds of up to 100 Gbps.

What are the disadvantages of Li-Fi?

Li-Fi may be fast but it depends on light visibility, therefore if the path of light is blocked by an opaque surface then the connection will be cut-off. In other words Li-Fi can be used in one room only as light cannot travel through walls. But on the plus side, it is more secure. Also the installation costs are on the higher side although maintenance costs are lower than that of Wi-Fi.

     

LOKAMANYA

 Bal Gangadhar Tilak

(23 Jul 1856 ~ 1 Aug 1920)

     Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born at Mumbai and grew up in Ratnagiri until age 10, when his father, educator and noted grammarian, took a job in Pune. At Deccan College he earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and Sanskrit. He then studied law, receiving degree in 1879 from University of Bombay.

     He started teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune. He developed the institution into a university college after founding Deccan Education Society in 1884, which aimed at educating the masses, especially in English language. He and his associates considered English to be a powerful force for dissemination of liberal & democratic ideals.

     The life members of the society were expected to follow an ideal of selfless service, but when he learned that some members were keeping outside earnings for themselves, he resigned. He turned to task of awakening political consciousness through two weekly newspapers he owned and edited: "Kesari" published in Marathi and "The Mahratta", published in English

     Through those newspapers he became widely known for bitter criticisms of British rule and of those moderate nationalists who advocated social reforms along Western lines and political reforms along constitutional lines. He believed that social reform would only divert energy away from political struggle for independence.

     He sought to widen popularity of the nationalist movement by introducing Hindu religious symbolism and by invoking popular traditions of Maratha struggle against Muslim rule. He organised two important festivals, Ganesh Chaturthi in 1893 and Shivaji Jayanti in 1895.

     His activities brought conflict with  British government, which prosecuted him for sedition and sent him to jail in 1897. The trial and sentence earned him the title Lokamanya. He was released after 18 months.

     When Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, partitioned Bengal in 1905, Tilak strongly supported Bengali demand for annulment of partition and advocated a boycott of British goods, which soon became a movement that swept the nation. The following year he set forth a program of passive resistance, known as the Tenets of the New Party, that he hoped would destroy British rule and prepare the people for sacrifice in order to gain independence.

     His approach was strong fare for the moderate Indian National Congress. He aimed at swarajya (independence), not piecemeal reforms & attempted to persuade Congress to adopt his militant program. He clashed with the moderates during the party’s session at Surat in 1907 that resulted in the party split.

     Taking advantage of the division, the government again prosecuted Tilak on a charge of sedition and inciting terrorism and deported him to Mandalay, Burma, to serve a 6-year prison sentence. Here he wrote his magnum opus: Gita Rahasya.

     Earlier, in 1893, he had published The Orion; or, Researches into the Antiquity of the Vedas and a decade later, The Arctic Home in the Vedas. Both works were intended to promote Hindu culture as the successor to Vedic religion.

     On release in 1914, on eve of World War I, he again plunged into politics. He launched Home Rule League with rousing slogan 'Swarajya is my birthright and I shall have it' (Annie Besant also established an organisation with the same name at same time).

     In 1916 he rejoined Congress and signed historic Lucknow Pact, a Hindu-Muslim accord, with Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He visited England in 1918 as president of Indian Home Rule League. He realised that Labour Party was a growing force in British politics, and established firm relationships with its leaders.

     He returned home in late 1919 to attend the meeting of Congress Party at Amritsar. He advised delegates to follow policy of 'responsive cooperation' in carrying out the reforms, which introduced a certain degree of Indian participation in regional government. 

     He and Lala Lajpat Rai were instrumental in founding of All India Trade Union Congress. AITUC itself was part of the workmen struggle to demand a 10-hour working day and dearness allowance that brought together a wide spectrum of workers.

     He died before he could give the new reforms a decisive direction. In tributes, Gandhi called him 'Maker of Modern India' and Nehru described him as 'Father of the Indian Revolution'.

Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak will be always remembered as a scholar, mathematician, writer, editor, journalist, and most important as a freedom fighter.