Jeanne Louise Calment (French pronunciation: ​[ʒan lwiz kalmɑ̃]; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian who had the longest confirmed human lifespan in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. She lived in Arles, France, for her entire life, outliving both her daughter and grandson by several decades.

Calment at age 20 in 1895

Calment at age 22 in 1897

Calment at age 40 in 1915

Calment celebrating her 121st birthday in 1996

Her lifespan has been thoroughly documented by scientific study. More records have been produced to verify her age than in any other case. She is the only person confirmed to have reached over 120 years of age.

On August 4, 1997, at 22:45 Central European Time, Calment died, aged 122. After her death, then 116-year-old Marie-Louise Meilleur became the oldest recognized living person.

Rain is a form of precipitation in which water falls back to earth as a liquid. Precipitation that occurs in a solid form is snow or hail. There is always some water in the air, but the amount of water the air can hold depends mostly on temperature. Very warm air can contain more water than cooler air. Sudden drops in temperature can force water to fall, or precipitate, out of the air. In fact, this happens every morning when the cooler night air loses some of its moisture as dew.







The Water Cycle

Water moves on the earth in a cycle. The water that falls as rain comes mainly from oceans, but also to a lesser extent from lakes and rivers. Heat from the sun causes water to evaporate, that is, to change phase and become a vapor. The water vapor rises and, as it does, reaches a level in the atmosphere where the temperature is cool enough for it to change back into a liquid. The change of phase from vapor to liquid is called condensation -- the exact same process that causes steam from a hot shower to fog up a cold mirror.

    Water condenses in the air in tiny droplets about 1/100 of a millimeter in diameter, so small they remain aloft as clouds. Usually for rain drops to form there must also be small solid particles suspended in the air. When they are too heavy to remain in the sky, they fall back to earth as rain. The water then runs into lakes, rivers and ultimately the ocean, completing the water cycle.

Measuring Rainfall

Rainfall is typically measured using a rain gauge. Rain gauges are usually about 50 cm tall and are placed on the ground just high enough to avoid splashes. Rain water that is caught in a funnel on top, runs down into a measuring cylinder below – where it can be recorded.




It is expressed as the depth of water that collects on a flat surface, and is routinely measured with an accuracy up to 0.1 mm or 0.01 in. Rain gauges are usually placed at a uniform height above the ground, which may vary depending on the country. 


There are two types of gauge:

1. Storage Rain gauge: These are used to make daily or monthly measurements. 

2. Recording Rain gauges: Can measure the intensity of rainfall using a 'tipping bucket' which will only tip when a certain volume of water is in it. An electrical switch can be used to record the tips.

Rain gauges should be placed in an open area where there are no obstacles, such as building or trees, to block the rain. This is also to prevent the water collected on the roofs of buildings or the leaves of trees from dripping into the rain gauge after a rain, resulting in inaccurate readings.

Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS) (Kannada: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಖಾದಿ ಗ್ರಾಮೊದ್ಯೋಗ ಸಂಯುಕ್ತ ಸಂಘ) is a manufacturing federation located in the Bengeri area of the city of Hubli in the Karnataka, state of India. It is the only unit in India that is authorised to manufacture and supply the Flag of India as per the guidelines of the Flag Code of India



It is the only centre authorised by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) which manufactures the tricolour in conformation with the standards laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

The unit was set up with the assistance of KVIC in 2004 and it got BIS certification in 2006.



Prior to it, Dharwad district was in the picture with regard to the national flag as the Khadi Sangha in Garag village in Dharwad taluk produced the cloth required for the national flag.

Another Khadi Sangha which manufactures similar cloth is the Khadi Sangha at Tulasigere in Bagalkot district which now meets the demand from KKGSS.

There are 100 specialist spinners and 100 weavers employed in making the flag.

The cloth needed for the flag is sourced from KKGSS's unit in Bagalkot and divided into three lots, each of the lots to be dyed with one of the three major colors in the Indian flag.

After dyeing, the cloth is cut in the required size and shape and the blue chakra (wheel) with 24 equally spaced spokes is printed on the white cloth.

Finally, the three pieces are stitched together to make the Indian flag.

About 60 Japanese sewing machines are used to maintain precision while stitching.
Some of the critical confirmation criteria include that the width and length of the entire flag should be in the ratio 2:3 and that the chakra needs to be printed on both the sides of the flag with both of these prints perfectly matched, like two hands joined palm to palm.

Each lot shipped is subjected to an inspection by BIS and any issue with a single flag could result in the whole lot being rejected.

The flags are manufactured in nine sizes, with the smallest one being 6 X 4 inches (150 X 100 mm) and the biggest one being 21 X 14 feet (6300 X 4200 mm).

The flag hoisted on Red Fort, Rashtrapathi Bhavan and medium-size government buildings is of the size of 12 ft into 8 ft.



KKGSS's annual turnover is about Rs.1.5 crore ($375,000).The major customers of KKGSS are politicians and people associated with politics. This is because Khadi symbolised self-reliance during the Indian independence movement and was worn by Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders. In the year 2007, KKGSS has sold flags worth Rs.60 lakhs ($150,000).

Pingali Venkayya (2 August 1878 – 4 July 1963)    designed the Indian national flag.
He was an Indian freedom fighter.
 

Adopted : 22 July 1947

During the National conference of the Indian National Congress at Kakinada, Venkayya suggested that India should have a national flag. Gandhi liked this proposal. 

Pingali Venkayya

  
After researching 30 flags, Pingali design a flag that became the forerunner of the Indian national flag.

 
Pingali Venkayya died on 4 July 1963,at Vijayawada in conditions of poverty.

Sri.Pingali Venkayya was recommended for the highest civilian award in India - Bharat Ratna on 18 November 2012 by Government of Andhra Pradesh.

 Doordarshan founded by Government of India in 1959 the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters.

 
The first program telecast on Doordarshan was Krishi Darshan . It commenced on January 26, 1967 and is one of the longest running programs on Indian television.


Hum Log (We People) was Indian television's first soap opera. It began telecast on Doordarshan, India's national network on July 7, 1984, then the only television channel of India, and it quickly became immensely popular. 

The word "Akashvani" was coined by Dr.M.V.Gopalaswamy, a professor of psychology and the principal, Maharaja’s college. 

Mysore was the location of the first private radio broadcasting station in India when Akashavani (voice from the sky) was established in the city on 10 September 1935 by M.V. Gopalaswamy, a professor of psychology, at his house in the Vontikoppal area of Mysore(about 200 yards from AIR’s current location in Mysore), using a 50-watt transmitter.The station was taken over by the princely state of Mysore in 1941 and was moved to Bangalore in 1955.

 In 1957, Akashvani was chosen as the official name of All India Radio (AIR), the radio broadcaster of the Government of India.
The AIR station at Mysore broadcasts an FM radio channel at 100.6 MHz, and Gyan Vani broadcasts on 105.2. BIG FM and Red FM are the two private FM channels operating in the city.
 
Jnanpith Award winner Prof U R Ananthamurthy, who was a student of Dr Gopalaswamy says “He was a man of few words. I remember going and sitting in the parks as a student to listen to music. These were known as radio parks.”

The Mahatma Gandhi Series of banknotes are issued by the Reserve Bank of India as the legal tender of Indian Rupee. As the name suggests, the series is so called because the observe of the banknotes prominently display the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Since its introduction in 1996, this series has replaced all issued banknotes.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the series in 1996 with the ₹10 and ₹500 banknotes. At present, the RBI issues banknotes denominations from ₹5 to ₹1000. Printing of ₹5 notes which had stopped earlier restarted in 2009. ATMs usually dispense ₹100, ₹500, and ₹1000 notes.



The obverse design of this series was based on this photograph of Mahatma Gandhi.

Lord Pethic-Lawrence with Gandhi in 1946

In 1826,  Nicéphore Niépce took what is believed to be the world’s first photograph, titled View from the Window at Le Gras, at his family’s country home Saint-Loup-de-Varennes. Niépce produced his photo—a view of a courtyard and outbuildings seen from the house’s upstairs window—by exposing a bitumen-coated plate in a camera obscura for several hours on his windowsill.

WINNERS:


 

  →  ↓

■Chichen Itza, Mexico ,600 AD  

■Christ the Redeemer, Brazil, Opened October 12, 1931   

■Great Wall of China, China,Since 7th century BC   

■Machu Picchu, Peru. 1450 A       

■Petra, Jordan, 100 BC                    

■Taj Mahal, India, Completed 1648 AD  

■Colosseum, Italy, Completed 80 AD