The term Arihanta is made up of Ari, meaning enemies, and hant, meaning destroyer. Consequently, Arihanta means destroyer of enemies. In this case the term enemies refers to passions such as anger, greed, ego, and deceit which are internal enemies, because they defile the true nature of the soul. A soul can only reach the state of Arihanta by overcoming …
Read More »What are aphids?
Have you ever heard your parents complaining about greenfly on the roses or other plants in your garden? Well, the proper name for greenfly is aphids. They are insects, and can be very harmful to plants if they are not dealt with because they suck out the sap from the stem of the plant and make it grow stunted or …
Read More »What are amphibians?
Amphibians are creatures which can live both in the water and on land, and some examples of these are newts and salamanders, frogs and toads. In water, the amphibians can both walk and swim, but they tend to move quite slowly on land unless, like frogs, they can jump. Their skin is soft and damp, unlike snakes whose skin is …
Read More »What are ‘first serve’ and ‘second serve’ in tennis?
In tennis, there is a specified boundary marked on the court behind which the ball should fall as a player serves. So, if the ball hits the net and falls back to the server’s court or goes beyond the marked boundary on the opponent’s court, it is a wrong serve. As a rule, a player is allowed to serve again …
Read More »Were dinosaurs venomous?
Some of the dinosaurs were able to deliver venom. It appears from fossil teeth and jaws of the dinosaurs that some dinosaurs had small venomous compys. In Jurassic Park (If read/seen), you’ll remember the venom-spraying dinosaurs and small venomous compys. Now there are spitting cobras and snakes as well as gila monsters and beaded lizards with venom.
Read More »Was Justice Mukherjee Commission set up by the BJP government?
The formation of Mukherjee Commission was not a political decision, for a start. This inquiry came into existence following an order of the Calcutta High Court in 1998. The court also framed the scope of its inquiry. The ruling from the bench of Chief Justice Prabha Shankar Mishra came after the government counsel repeated the official Government of India’s view …
Read More »Utsav Sharma – A Hero or Villain?
Two days after Utsav Sharma, 30, attacked Dr Rajesh Talwar, social networking sites have received sharp reactions over the act with many users calling him a ‘hero’ and others denouncing his act. Sharma had attacked former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in a similar fashion in February 2010. One user, Himanshu Agarwal, on Facebook community page ‘Utsav Sharma – Hero or …
Read More »The Silk Route runs through Central Asia. What was it first used for?
From the 1st century BC until the development of a sea route in the 1600s, traders and merchants traveled the perilous Silk Road to bring silks and other precious goods from China to Europe.
Read More »The longest vehicle in the world
Perhaps you thought that some of the huge tractor trailers on the road today were the longest ones manufactured. But the longest of those measures only about 151/2 metres. Imagine, if you can, more than elevan of those long tractor trailors, one behind the other, and you will come up with the longest vehicle in the world. This is the …
Read More »The busiest airport in the world
Perhaps you thought it was John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Most people think so! But the busiest airport in the entire world is Chicago International Airport, also called, O’Hare Field. At O’Hare, planes take off and land every 42.5 second round the clock. That means 85 take offs and landings every hour, 2,036 every day, 14,255 every …
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