Fact Junction

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

13 Places You Should Visit In India Before You Visit Their Counterparts Abroad

Indians are travelling like never before and going to countries all over the world. But a lot of us seem to forget that what we seek abroad, we can find as easily in our own country. This doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t travel abroad, but it does mean that one should travel within India and witness all its marvels before we step out into the world. So here are a few places you should visit in India before you visit their counterparts abroad.

1. Before you get lost in the beauty of Switzerland,

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Find your piece of paradise in Kashmir.

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2. Before you get drenched at the Niagara Falls,

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Get drenched at the Chitrakoot Falls in Chhattisgarh.

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3. Before you surf the sands of the Sahara,

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Tame the dunes of the Thar.

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4. Before you visit the Bonneville Salt Flats in America,

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Visit the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.

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5. Before you take a trip to Madagascar,

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Take a trip to the Andamans.

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6. Before you chill on the beaches of Brazil,

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Give the beaches of Goa a chance.

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7. Before you go “Woah” about the bridges in Taiwan,

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Go “Hoodi-Baba” at Howrah Bridge in Kolkata.

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8. Before you feast your eyes on the flowers in Antelope Valley in the U.S.A,

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Drink in the colours of the Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand.

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9. Before you hear the roar of the African Lion,

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Be awed by the majesty of the Royal Bengal Tiger.

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10. If it’s French architecture you crave, why go all the way to Saigon in Vietnam,

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When you can see it all in Pondicherry in India?

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11. Before taking a stroll in a Japanese flower garden,

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Take a romantic walk in Nainital.

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12. Before you get dwarfed by the statue of “Christ The Redeemer” in Brazil,

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Get dwarfed by Saint Thiruvalluvar’s statue in Kanyakumari.

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13. And before you take selfies at the Arc de Triomphe in France,

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Feel proud and take one at India Gate in New Delhi.

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“Your vision becomes clear when you look inside your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” - Carl Jung

Friday, May 2, 2014

The Seven Wonders of the World The Ancient and Modern 7 Wonders of the World

The Seven Wonders of the World has historically been a listing of seven sites known to the Ancient Greeks as the most notable locales in their known world.

Since then, many have developed lists of the "modern" Seven Wonders of the World. The only list that really stands out and has stood the test of time for more than a decade is the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, developed by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The Original Seven Wonders of the World

The Colossus of Rhodes
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Seven Wonders of the Modern World

Channel Tunnel
CN Tower
Empire State Building
Golden Gate Bridge
Itaipu Dam
Netherlands North Sea Protection Works
Panama Canal

Natural Wonders of the World

In 1997, CNN announced a listing of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World...

Grand Canyon
The Great Barrier Reef
The Harbor at Rio de Janeiro
Mt. Everest
Northern Lights
Paricutin Volcano
Victoria Falls

The "New" Seven Wonders of the World

On July 7, 2007 (7-7-07) an organization announced a "new" set of the Seven Wonders of the World based on online voting from around the world...

Chichen Itza, Mexico - Mayan City
Christ Redeemer, Brazil - Large Statue
The Great Wall, China
Machu Picchu, Peru
Petra, Jordan - Ancient City
The Roman Colosseum, Italy
The Taj Mahal, India

If you would like to know what I think the current Seven Wonders of the World are, see my listing of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Principality of Sealand- The Principality of Sealand off the British Coast is Not Independent

Paddy Roy Bates is putting his non-country of the Principality of Sealand up for sale after a 40-year struggle for independence. The Principality of Sealand, located on an abandoned World War II anti-aircraft platform seven miles (11 km) off the English coast, claims that it is a legitimate independent country but that's quite doubtful.

In January 2007, the Bates family announced that they were wanting to move on from the challenge of Sealand and placed the tower up for sale. According to media reports, they hope to receive bids in the eight figure range. It remains to be seen who would want to buy a platform that is not a country by any stretch of the imagination.

History

In 1967, retired British Army major Paddy Roy Bates occupied the abandoned Rough's Tower in the North Sea, northeast of London and opposite the mouth of the Orwell River and Felixstowe. He and his wife discussed independence with British attorneys and subsequently declared independence for the Principality of Sealand on September 2, 1976. Bates called himself Prince Roy and named his wife Princess Joan. They began issuing coins, passports, and stamps for their new country.

In support of The Principality of Sealand's sovereignty, Prince Roy fired warning shots at a buoy repair boat that came close to Sealand. The Prince was charged with unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm by the British government. The Essex court proclaimed that they didn't have jurisdiction over the tower and the British government chose to drop the case due to mockery by the media. That case represents Sealand's entire claim to de facto international recognition as an independent country. (The United Kingdom demolished the only other nearby tower lest others get the idea to also strive for independence.)

Today, only Prince Roy lives on the tower of the The Principality of Sealand at sixty feet above the sea. Princess Joan's arthritis isn't conducive to living on the North Sea and though the royal family's son, Prince Michael takes care of much of the business for Sealand, he also lives onshore. The Bateses all maintain "dual" citizenship in the United Kingdom and Sealand.

In 2000, the The Principality of Sealand came into the news because a company called HavenCo Ltd planned on operating a complex of Internet servers at Sealand, out of the reach of governmental control. HavenCo gave the Bates $250,000 and stock to lease Rough's Tower and the company has the option to purchase Sealand in the future. This transaction was especially satisfying to the Bates as the maintenance and support of Sealand has been quite expensive over the past 40 years.

New Countries of the World- The 34 New Countries Created Since 1990

Since 1990, 34 new countries have been created. The dissolution of the USSR and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s caused the creation of most of the newly independent states.

You probably know about many of these changes but a few of these new countries seemed to slip by almost unnoticed. This comprehensive listing will update you about the countries which have formed since 1990.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Fifteen new countries became independent with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Most of these countries declared independence a few months preceding the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991.

Former Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s into five independent countries.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, February 29, 1992
Croatia, June 25, 1991
Macedonia (officially The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) declared independence on September 8, 1991 but wasn't recognized by the United Nations until 1993 and the United States and Russia in February of 1994
Serbia and Montenegro, (also known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), April 17, 1992 (see below for separate Serbia and Montenegro entries)
Slovenia, June 25, 1991

Other New Countries

Thirteen other countries became independent through a variety of causes.

March 21, 1990 - Namibia became independent of South Africa.
May 22, 1990 - North and South Yemen merged to form a unified Yemen.
October 3, 1990 - East Germany and West Germany merged to form a unified Germanyafter the fall of the Iron Curtain.
September 17, 1991 - The Marshall Islands was part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (administered by the United States) and gained independence as a former colony.
September 17, 1991 - Micronesia, previously known as the Caroline Islands, became independent from the United States.
January 1, 1993 - The Czech Republic and Slovakiabecame independent nations when Czechoslovakia dissolved.
May 25, 1993 - Eritrea was a part of Ethiopia but seceded and gained independence.
October 1, 1994 - Palau was part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (administered by the United States) and gained independence as a former colony.
May 20, 2002 - East Timor (Timor-Leste) declared independence from Portugal in 1975 but did not became independent from Indonesia until 2002.
June 3, 2006 - Montenegro was part of Serbia and Montenegro (also known as Yugoslavia) but gained independence after a referendum.
June 5, 2006 - Serbia became its own entity after Montenegro split.
Febraury 17, 2008 - Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
July 9, 2011 - South Sudan peacefully seceded from Sudan following a January 2011 referendum. Sudan itself was the first to recognize South Sudan and did so one day early, on July 8, 2011.

The World's Smallest Countries -The 17 Small Countries of Less Than 200 Square Miles in Area

This is a comprehensive listing of the world's seventeen independent smallest countries, from smallest to largest. They each contain less than 200 square miles in area. If we combined the land area of these 17 countries, we would have a country just a bit larger than the state Rhode Island. Even tiny Singapore is too big for this list (it's 246 square miles)!

Vatican City - 0.2 square miles - The world's smallest state, the Vatican has a population of 770, none of whom are permanent residents. The tiny country which surrounds St. Peter's Basilica is the spiritual center for the world's Roman Catholics (over 1 billion strong). Also known as the Holy See, Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, Italy.
Monaco - 0.7 square miles - The tiny state of Monaco lies along the French Riviera on the French Mediterranean coast near Nice. An impressive 32,000 people live in this state known for its Monte Carlo casinos and Princess Grace. It has been independent off-and-on since the 13th century.
Nauru - 8.5 square miles - The 13,000 residents of the Pacific island Nauru rely on diminishing phosphate deposits. The state became independent in 1968 and was formerly known as Pleasant Island.
Tuvalu - 9 square miles - Tuvalu is composed of 9 coral atolls along a 360 mile chain in Polynesia. They gained independence in 1978. The former Ellice Islands are home to 12,000.
San Marino - 24 square miles - Located on Mt. Titano in north central Italy, San Marino has 29,000 residents. The country claims to be the oldest state in Europe, having been founded in the fourth century.
Liechtenstein - 62 square miles - This microstate of 34,000 is located on the Rhine River between Switzerland and Austria in the Alps.
Marshall Islands - 70 square miles - The atolls (including the world's largest, Kwajalein), reefs, and 34 islands (population 58,000) gained independence in 1986; they were formerly part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (and administered by the United States).
Saint Kitts and Nevis - 104 square miles - This Caribbean country of 39,000 gained independence in 1983. Nevis is the smaller island of the two and is guaranteed the right to secede.
Seychelles - 107 square miles - The 81,000 residents of this Indian Ocean island group have been independent of the United Kingdom since 1976.
Maldives - 115 square miles - Only 200 of the 2000 Indian Ocean islands which make up this country are occupied by 340,000 residents. The islands gained independence from the U.K. in 1965.
Malta - 122 square miles - This island is just south of the Italian island of Sicily. It became independent from the United Kingdom in 1964 and the British military were completely gone by 1979. The population is 400,000.
Grenada - 133 square miles - This Caribbean country (population 90,000) became independent of the U.K. in 1974. It's located quite close to Venezuela.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 150 square miles - 117,000 people live on these Windward Caribbean islands which gained independence from Britain in 1979.
Barbados - 166 square miles - About 280,000 people live on this Caribbean island, the farthest east of the Lesser Antilles. Barbados obtained independence from the U.K. in 1966.
Antigua and Barbuda - 171 square miles - This Caribbean nation of 69,000 has been independent from the United Kingdom since 1981. The three islands which compose this country rely on tourism (as do many of the Caribbean countries and territories).
Andorra - 180 square miles - The independent Principality of Andorra is co-governed by the President of France and the Spain's Bishop of Urgel. With just over 70,000 people, this mountainous tourist destination tucked in the Pyrenees between France and Spain has been independent since 1278.
Palau - 191 square miles - Palau (also known as Belau) was a Trust Territory of Pacific Islands. It was formerly known as the Carolines and is composed of more than 200 islands in the Pacific; the population is about 20,000. It became independent in 1994.

World's Largest Aircraft Could Fly in Early 2015

The Wright Brothers flew their first flight in a 21 ft. airplane over the Outer Banks of North Carolina. About 14 of their planes could fit inside the world's newest, largest aircraft, the Airlander, a 300 ft. zeppelin-shaped, helium-filled vessel.

The U.S. government originally funded the development of the voluminous aircraft, but scraped plans due to budget cuts. The aircraft — built in England — made one flight in Lakehurst, N.J., at McGuire Air Force Base in August 2012.

Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British company, brought the plane back and is reviving the Airlander project. H.A.V. had the plane's parts shipped in 40 huge crate-size boxes to its headquarters in Cardington, England, where zeppelin planes flew the British skies nearly a century ago.

The aircraft can carry a load of 2,700 lbs. for up to 21 days. On shorter flights, it could carry up to 5 tons, according to the BBC. The bubbly ship has three rounded points in the front and propellers on each side. H.A.V intends to fly it again in early 2015 with hopes of making it available for passenger and cargo flights.

If it flies again, the airship would be 24 feet longer than the world's largest plane, the Antonov Mriya, a Russian-Ukrainian cargo plane.

Perhaps more impressive: the Wright Brothers' flight only went 120 ft., or 160 ft. shorter than the length of the Airlander project.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Maldives that will take your breath away..A must visit destination

The island nation of Maldives is everything that it promises to be and more discovers Mridula Dwivedi.

Maldives is a truly stunning collection of islands. In the past it might have been too expensive with only resort islands accessible to the tourists.

But after the opening up of the budget islands many will find it affordable.

We took a Delhi-Mumbai-Kochi flight.

When I was searching for tickets, Male, Port Blair and Lakshadweep, all three were going for the same price.

Without any hesitation I decided to visit Maldives.

So here you have them -- 10 amazing photographs of Maldives!

An ariel view of an island, Maldives

The main airport is close to Male but on a separate island.

So when you land at Male, you take a ferry or a speedboat to go someplace.

Speedboats are really expensive and there are too few ferries to the islands.

We were lucky that more than five people shared the speedboat to Maafushi and it cost us $39 or else the speedboat transfer would have set me back by $200.

While returning I took the early morning local ferry from Maafushi to Male.