16 airports that boast of amazing records

There are some interesting airports around the world. Take for example the Paro International Airport in Bhutan where only eight pilots are certified to land planes, or an airport where the plane's runway intersects a busy highway.

Fascinated? Read on to find out more about the amazing records of these 16 airports across the world...

Most international passengers

Airport: London Heathrow Airport

Location: Hillingdon, Greater London, United Kingdom

The airport has seen 6.65 crore or (66.47 million) passengers annually.

World's closest

Airport: Papa Westray and Westray Airport, neighbouring islands in the Scottish Orkney

Location: Scotland

Papa Westray Airport is best known for being one of the two airports joined by the shortest scheduled flight in the world, a leg of Loganair's inter-island service, to Westray Airport.

The distance is 2.8 km and the scheduled flight time including taxiing is two minutes.

World's busiest

Airport: Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States

The airport has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998, and by number of landings and take-offs since 2005, according to Wikipedia.

It states that Hartsfield-Jackson held its ranking as the world's busiest airport in 2012, both in passengers and number of flights, by accommodating 95 million passengers (more than 260,000 passengers daily) and 950,119 flights.

Many of the nearly one million flights are domestic flights from within the United States.

World's shortest runway

Airport: Juancho E.Yrausquin Airport

Location: Island of Saba, Netherlands Antilles

The only airport on the island, has a runway of just 400 metres. The short runway created a risk for landing and take-off. Due to the shorter runway only small planes can operate here.

The airport is flanked by hills on one side and sea starts where the runway ends.

Highest in the world

Airport: Daocheng Yading Airport

Location: Tibet

At 4,411 metres above sea level, Daocheng Yading is the world's highest civilian airport, surpassing Tibet’s Qamdo Bamda Airport - the previous record holder.

Lowest in the world

Airport: Bar Yehuda Airfield

Location: Israel

Located at 1,240 ft below mean sea level, Bar Yehuda Airfield is an hour and a half drive from Jerusalem.

It is used as an alternate airport for charter and sightseeing flights.

Largest airport building

Airport: Dubai International Airport

Location: Dubai

Upon its opening in October 2008, Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport became the second largest building building in the world by the floor space.

It has 12.76 million sq ft of floor space, second to China’s New Century Global Centre, a multipurpose building in Chengdu.

Busiest cargo airport

Airport: Hong Kong International Airport

Location: Hong Kong

The airport handles 40.62 lakh (4.06 million) metric tonnes of cargo annually. It is also one of the hubs for Oneworld alliance and Asia Pacific cargo hubs for UPS Airlines.

World's most isolated airport

Airport: Mataveri International Airport

Location: Easter Island

Mataveri International Airport is 3,759 kilometres from Santiago, Chile. The airport was once designated as an abort site for the U.S. Space Shuttle when polar orbital flights from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California were planned, according to Wikipedia.

Largest in the world

Airport: King Fahd International Airport

Location: Saudi Arabia

It is the world's largest airport in terms of land area and occupies 780 square kilometres.

Most runways in a single airport

Airport: Chicago O'Hare International Airport

Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Chicago O'Hare International has eight runways. Earlier, the airport shared the crown with Dallas Fort Worth International as each has seven runways. In October 2013, O'Hare added its eight runway.

Scariest in the world

Airport: Paro Airport

Location: Bhutan

With surrounding peaks as high as 18,000 ft it is considered one of the world's most challenging airports, and only eight pilots in the world are certified to land at the airport, according to Wikipedia.

It further states that flights at Paro are allowed under visual meteorological conditions only and are restricted to daylight hours from sunrise to sunset.

Longest non-stop flights

Airport: Dallas-Fort Worth and Sydney

Location: US and Australia

The longest non-stop flight used to between Singapore and the US but in December last year it was discontinued. Currently, Qantas Flight 7 or QF 7, is the longest flight in the world.

The journey takes 15 hours 25 minutes and covers a distance of 13,804 kilometres.

Most cars on the runway

Airport: Gibraltar International Airport

Location: Gibraltar

Being a tiny peninsula of only 6.8 square kilometres, there’s a lack of flat space on it. The territory’s airport therefore has a busy road bisecting the runway. Residents take this road to enter the neighbouring country, Spain.

The airport handles about 30 planes in a week and the road closes every time a plane has to land or take off.

Most expensive

Airport: Hong Kong International Airport

Location: Hong Kong

The airport is one of the world’s most expensive transport infrastructures. It was constructed at a cost of $20 billion.

Coldest in the world

Airport: Ice Runway

Location: McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

The Ice Runway is the principal runway for the US Antarctic Program. The annual sea-ice runway for wheeled aircraft is constructed at the start of each season and is used until early December when the sea ice begins to break up, according to Wikipedia.

The best airports in India

Airports in India have been spending huge money to upgrade their existing infrastructure. Recently, Mumbai airport operator GVK spent Rs 5,500 crore on just one terminal - T2.

In 2010, Delhi’s T3 terminal opened up after five years of development and spending of Rs 12,700 crore, according to media reports.

With airports in India seeing unprecedented developments, which have caught fancy of the fliers? Which offer the best services and are overall the best.

Ahmedabad International Airport

Rank: 9

Code: AMD

City: Ahmedabad

Kolkata International Airport

Rank: 8

Code: CCU

City: Kolkata

Goa International Airport

Rank: 7

Code: GOI

City: Goa

Amritsar Raja Sansi Int'l Airport

Rank: 6

Code: ATQ

City: Amritsar

Chennai International Airport

Rank: 5

Code: MAA

City: Chennai

Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport

Rank: 4

Code: BOM

City: Mumbai

Bengaluru Int'l Airport

Rank: 3

Code: BLR

City: Bangalore

Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi Int'l Airport

Rank: 2

Code: HYD

City: Hyderabad

Delhi Indira Gandhi Int'l Airport

Rank: 1

Code: DEL

City: Delhi

23 Stupid Things That Indian Ads Teach Us

Life is all about signs. Some see them & some don't. This well-researched, compiled & analyzed study shows us just how lesson-worthy our adverts are. And how sometimes, we are totally missing the point. 

1. You can't eat chocolate unless you use all your 10 fingers & your entire face.

2. Girls want to achieve a hell of a lot of things, especially while they're on their periods.

3.  Gone are the days when moms hated washing your dirty clothes. Now moms just laaaaav it!

4. Mother daughter bonding is at its strongest while they both flaunt their hair or discuss effective shampoos.

5. Who said swapping phones can lead to confusion, loss of energy, time & can be really pissing off?  In fact, it strengthens bonds & cements mutual understanding between people. Now who would have thought that!

6. Every car is No.1, every goddamn car. So people, go buy all them cars.

7. Experts love their lab coats. They wear it all the fucking time. Because your trust is directly proportional to their lab coats.

8. One does not simply be happy with white teeth when you can have extra-white teeth.

9. You will impress the CEOs of this world if you apply skin whitening cream. CV? What is a CV? Qualification, go away!

10. Now why would a girl love a man with intelligence, wits & charm? Why? She would only respond to his deo. That's just human nature, you know!

11. Having pan masala can make you buy cars, buildings, palaces & even countries.

12. Relief people! Our celebs are as normal as us! Kareena has serious dandruff issues, Katrina has dry hair problem, Shilpa has hairfall problems and Priyanka has oily skin. Joy to the world!

13. Your toothpaste has nothing except salt in it. You are brushing your teeth with nothing but salt. Salt is all you got.

14. Thums Up is always out of stock & you have to pull off weird stunts to get your hands on it. Because who wants to just walk up to the nearby store & ask for it?

15.  If your daughter is not ready to get married, take her to a jewellery store & that's all she'll want to do.

16. Always remember to close your door while brushing your teeth. Because curious TV reporters & their camera crews love storming into people's bathrooms at any given time.

17. Always keep your toilets squeaky clean unless you want a surprise toilet-check from your friendly  neighbourhood reporter & his crew. Also avoid looking like a Grizzly bear at all times.

18. Salman Khan can go all the way to the Swiss Alps wearing just a warmer and chappals. Dabang x 2400000000

19. You & your neighbour could have lots of things to fight about. But the greatest battle will be to out-do each other's super-whitest-white detergent.

20. If a stranger on a bench offers you chocolate, please don't question him. Take it & eat it. Maybe it's spiked but you never know.

21. The length of a car is measured by the number of 'A's in its name. Not baaaaaaaaaaaad.

22. SUVs are only meant to be driven on bad roads, high mountains and through deep water. And you better drive it like you're about to kill the big machine. Refrain from normal roads because then the car will run normally, nothing like you planned.

23. And lastly, parents can't enter their kids' electric bubbles unless they O-D on ice tea & remix.

The world's oldest clove tree

By Simon WorrallTernate, Indonesia

Continue reading the main story

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Indonesia's "Spice Islands" produced more nutmeg, mace, pepper and cloves than anywhere else in the world and on the island of Ternate, one particular tree has an extraordinary history.

"Bule, Bule," shout the children excitedly, as our jeep threads its way up a steep road on the side of the volcano. "White man, White man."

I am on Ternate, one of Indonesia's fabled Spice Islands.

The midday call to prayer mingles with the mosquito-whine of motorcycles. Above us, smoke seeps from the side of Gamalama, the pyramid-shaped volcano that dominates the island.

It had erupted only a month earlier, sending a tongue of molten lava pouring down the mountain into the sea. This part of the world is not called "The Ring of Fire" for nothing.

I am searching for the world's oldest clove tree. Why it is called Afo, no one knows. Neither is it exactly certain when Afo was planted. But estimates suggest it is between 350 and 400 years old.

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For millennia, Ternate and the neighbouring island of Tidore were the world's only source of those fragrant, twig-like herbs that love to hide at the back of our kitchen cupboards.

Cloves from Ternate were traded by Arab seafarers along the maritime Silk Route as far afield as the Middle East, Europe and China.

A Han dynasty ruler from the 3rd Century BC insisted that anyone addressing him chew cloves to sweeten their breath. Their origin was a fiercely-guarded secret until the Portuguese and Spanish burst into the Java Sea in the 16th Century.

Our hip, young Indonesian driver is clearly baffled as to why anyone should want to see an old tree.

And he clearly has no idea where Afo is. At a roadside stall selling everything from basketballs to fruit, we stop to ask directions.

The stallholder points back down the hill. With great difficulty, and reeking brake pads, we turn round and drive back down the volcano.

After a few hundred yards, we spot a signboard pointing to some steps cut into the hillside.

The path winds upwards through groves of clove trees and bamboo.

Afo survived the destruction of clove trees in the 1700s

We are at nearly 1,800m (6,000ft) above sea level. Below us, through the foliage, I can just make out the sea and, beyond it, the island of Tidore.

Huffing and puffing up one last flight of steps I find myself under a tree that was probably here when Shakespeare was alive.

Afo was once 40 metres tall and four metres round. Sadly, today, all that remains is a massive stump and some bare branches.

A few years ago, villagers hungry for firewood even attacked Afo with machetes. A brick wall now surrounds it.

If the Dutch had had their way, Afo would not have survived at all.

The Netherlands United East India Company, or Voc, was the world's first multinational corporation.

Continue reading the main story

Find out more...

• Cloves are the dried flower buds of a tree belonging to the Myrtaceae family
• The trees can grow up to 12m high
• Cloves are used in cooking, either whole or in a ground form
• They are also used in some cigarettes, incense and perfume

• BBC Food - Clove recipes

And just as corporations today seek to monopolise plant genes in the developing world, the Voc set about seizing total control of spice production.

In 1652, after displacing the Portuguese and Spanish, the Dutch introduced a policy known as extirpatie: extirpation.

All clove trees not controlled by the Voc were uprooted and burned.

Anyone caught growing, stealing or possessing clove plants without authorisation faced the death penalty.

On the Banda Islands, to the south - the world's only source of nutmeg - the Dutch used Japanese mercenaries to slaughter almost the entire male population.

Like Opec today, the Voc also limited supply to keep prices high. Only 800-1,000 tonnes of cloves were exported per year. The rest of the harvest was burned or dumped in the sea.

Somehow, Afo managed to slip through the net. A rogue clove. A guerrilla plant waging a secret war of resistance.

Afo would eventually bring down the Dutch monopoly on cloves.

In 1770, a Frenchman, appropriately named Poivre, stole some of Afo's seedlings.

This Monsieur Pepper took them to France, then the Seychelles Islands and, eventually, Zanzibar, which is today the world's largest producer of cloves.

As I stand looking up into its branches, I wonder who planted Afo - and kept its location secret all those years.

Or did it just survive because of its remoteness high on the slopes of Gamalama?

Either way, this ancient clove tree remains a symbol of the ultimate folly of empire - and the stubborn refusal of nature to be controlled

11 English Words That Have A Completely Different Meaning In India

11 English Words That Have A Completely Different Meaning In India APRIL 10 , 2014 Sonali Walia Indians are total geniuses. Not only they have an opinion on anything & everything but the way they see & perceive things is also quite unique. For starters, certain words that globally is known for something takes a whole new meaning for Indians. Don't believe us? This list will tell you how certain international words get a desi twist when Indians get to use them.  1. AUTO What the world understands? Auto (n): Def: Working by itself with little or no direct human control. What Indians understand? Auto (n): A rickety ‘threewheeler’ whose driver never agrees to go by meter.   2. CHANGE What the world understands?Change (v): Make or become different. What Indians understand?Change (n):  Chillar.   3. RUBBER What the world understands?Rubber (n): Def: A tough elastic polymeric substance or eraser. What Indians understand? Rubber (n): Scented pieces of eraser ‘rubbad’ lost & bought on daily basis in school. 4. HORN What the world understands?Horn (n): A hard permanent outgrowth, often curved and pointed, found in pairs on the heads of cattle, sheep, goats, giraffes, etc. What Indians understand?Horn (v) : “Gaadi hata b*****d”.   5. LINE What the world understands?Line (n): A straight or curved continuous extent of length without breadth. What Indians understand?Line (v) : A way to approach girls, mostly in a cheesy way, Line maarna. 6. SHOW What the world understands?Show (v): Be, allow, or cause to be visible               (n): stage performance. What Indians understand?Show (v): An act imposed on you while a game of ‘Teen patti.’   7. NACHO What the world understands?Nacho (n): Triangular snacks typically topped with melted cheese & spices. What Indians understand?Nacho (v): Weird movements of hands & legs or any part, also termed as ‘Indi-dance.’     8. TAPE What the world understands?Tape (n): A narrow strip of material, typically used to hold or fasten something. What Indians understand?Tape (v) : An act usually performed by Indian students during exams, be it in school or universities, “Fatafat tape le, maam nahi hai abhi.”   9. PICTURE What the world understands?Picture (n): A painting or drawing. What Indians understand?Picture (v): An act of 3 hour entertainment in a cinema hall, pronounced as ‘picchur.’   10. PASTE What the world understands?Paste (n): A thick, soft, moist substance/ often used as an adhesive especially for sticking papers. What Indians understand?Paste (v): The thing you try to put on your brush in the morning while you are half asleep.   11. ENJOY What the world understands?Enjoy (v): Take delight or pleasure in (an activity or occasion) What Indians understand?Enjoy (v): The joy you experience often termed as ‘Rang raliyan manana or Gulcharey udaana.’