Millenium Park Bus Depot - World's Largest Bus Depot

A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop. It may be intended as a terminal station for a number of routes, or as a transfer station where the routes continue. The largest bus station in the world is Millennium Park Bus Depot in Delhi, India

The depot is comprehensive in all respects, with parking space for around 1,000 buses, five workshop-cum-bus scanning centres, seven dormitories for Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) officers, night stay for 500 persons, eight washing pits, four underground tanks for washing buses and two CNG filling stations, among other facilities. Officials said the depot was constructed within a very short period at a cost of Rs 61 crore and can be called the greenest depot in the country.

The Millennium Park depot has overtaken the Central Bus Station, located in Tel Aviv (Israel), which is spread over 57 acres and can accommodate 800 buses.

Jaivana - World's Largest Cannon

The Jaivana cannon is the world's biggest wheeled cannon ever made. It is located at the Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur. It was cast in 1720, during the reign of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur.

Jaivan rests on a high 4 wheeled carriage. The front wheels are 2.74 m in diameter and the rear wheels are 1.37 m in diameter.

The length of the barrel of the cannon is 20 feet 2 inches and it weighs 50 tons. The circumference near the tip of the barrel is 7 feet 4 inches and that of the rear is 9 feet 4 inches. The barrel has floral design. An elephant rests on the tip of the barrel and a pair of peacocks are carved in the centre. A pair of ducks also decorates the rear of the barrel. The diameter of the bore of the barrel is 11 inches and the thickness of the barrel at the tip is 8-1/2 inches. The thickness gradually increases as one moves towards the rear of the barrel. The two thick rings on the barrel were used for lifting it with the help of a crane which, though incomplete, is still lying in Jaigarh. A 776 mm long elevating screw was used for raising and lowering the barrel. Reportedly, it took four elephants to swivel it around on its axis.

About 100 kg of gun powder fired a shot ball weighing 50 kg.

The uses and range of the cannon and cannonballs vary over different sources. Some say the Jaivana Cannon was only fired once by the Maharajah Jai Singh, as a test-fire in 1720. Others say that it was fired many times, indicated by the fire marks on the inside of the barrel. The most exaggerated myth claims that the it had a range of 40 km with the Maharajah's test fire, other sources say it is 35, 22 and 11 km, although the exact range could perhaps never be determined without adequate scientific computation. Most sources agree that it was fired in the direction of Chaksu, where the impact was said to be so colossal that it formed a depression that has since formed a pond. Cannons always had a water tank beside them, for the gunner to jump into to avoid the massive shock wave. Jaivan's gunner is said to have died on the spot on firing the cannon, before he could jump into water.

Bharatnatyam - World's Oldest & Most Popular Classical Dance

Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form originating in Tamil Nadu, India. One of the oldest of the classical dance forms in India, it is also known as the fifth Veda. It started as a temple dance tradition called Dasiyattam (the dance of the maid-servants) 2000 years ago and is perhaps the most advanced and evolved dance form of all the classical Indian dance forms.

Bharatanatyam is usually accompanied by the classical music. It has its inspirations from the sculptures of the ancient temple of Chidambaram. Bharatanatyam comes from the words Bhava (Expression), Raga (Music), Tala (Rhythm) and Natya (Classic Indian Musical Theatre). In this dance form the dancers make considerable use of hand-and-eye movements to express different emotions. Today, it is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by many dancers all over the world.

Bharatanatyam is considered to be a fire-dance — the mystic manifestation of the metaphysical element of fire in the human body. It is one of the five major styles (one for each element) that include Odissi (element of water), Mohiniattam (element of air), Kuchipudi (element of earth) and Kathakali (element of sky). The movements of an authentic Bharatanatyam dancer resemble the movements of a dancing flame. Contemporary Bharatanatyam is rarely practiced as Natya Yoga, a sacred meditational tradition, except by a few orthodox schools. It is a solo, lasya (feminine) type of dance, which is tender & erotic.

There are a number of musicians and instrumentalist who provide the musical accompaniment. Typically there is one or more vocalist, a person reciting the dance syllables, and a mridangam. Additionally, one usually finds violin, vina (saraswati vina), or venu (bamboo flute). There is also a thallam (manjira) which is usually played by the person reciting the dance syllables.

E.Krishna Iyer was one of those who raised the social status of Bharatanatyam and greatly popularized it. Rukmini Devi Arundale was instrumental in bringing it to the attention of the West.

At present, Bharatanatyam recitals are usually not performed inside the temple shrine but outside it, and even outside the temple compounds at various festivals. Most contemporary performances are given on the stage with a live ensemble. In popular culture, the adapted, or "semi-classical", Bharatanatyam has been exposed largely through depiction in popular movies and TV programs.

The most intriguing aspect of this dance is that its root deep into the religious and rich mythological heritage of India. Bharatnatyam, though underwent through a lot of changes has still retained its ancient quintessence. The technique, costume, style nad theme of the dance tell apart it from the other classical dances of India.

Bharatnatyam dance is renowned for its grace, purity, tenderness and sculpturesque poses.

Vishwanathan Anand - India's Greatest Sports Personality

Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. He is one of the greatest sports personalities of India. In fact Vishwanathan Anand has received the highest sports award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, as well as the second highest civilian award, the Padma Bibhushan, from the Government of India as recognition of his immense contribution in sports and making India taking pride in his success.

He was born in 1969 in chennai, India. He learnt the game from his mother, susila visawanathan, at the age of six.

He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. With this win, he became the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and Match. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov.

Anand is one of five players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the world number-one for the first time. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months. He has won the annual event Monaco Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championships in years 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2006. He is the only player to have won five titles of the Corus chess tournament. He is also the only player to win the blind and rapid sections of the Amber tournament in the same year (twice: in 1997 and 2005). Anand won three consecutive Advanced Chess tournaments in Leon, Spain, after Garry Kasparov introduced this form of chess in 1998, and is widely recognized as the world's best Advanced Chess player, where humans may consult a computer to aid in their calculation of variations.

His game collection, My Best Games of Chess, was published in the year 1998 and was updated in 2001.

Anand is sometimes known as the 'Tiger of Madras'.

Indian Constitution - World's Largest Written Constitution

India ie. Bharat is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into force on 26th January 1950.

The Constitution of India, the longest and the most exhaustive among constitutions of independent nations in the world.

Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of the government and spells out the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of citizens. Passed by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, it came into effect on 26 January 1950. The date 26 January was chosen to commemorate the declaration of independence of 1930.

It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 395 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 94 amendments, for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version. Besides the English version, there is an official Hindi translation.

B. R. Ambedkar , as chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, was the chief architect of the Indian Constitution.

IGNOU: World's Largest University

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is the world’s largest, with its student base extending to three million, Unesco has said.

“IGNOU is the largest University in the world. Almost three million students in India and 33 other countries study at IGNOU, which is also India’s National Resource Center for Open and Distance Learning and a world leader in distance education,” Unesco said in a positng on its website.

“Enrollments of nearly three million students and networks across the country making the best use of Information Communication Technology (ICT)– IGNOU’s accomplishments are recognized worldwide,” Unesco director general Irina Bokova said.

“With the launch of EduSat (a satellite dedicated to education) in 2004, and the establishment of the Inter-University Consortium, IGNOU has ushered in a new era of technology- enabled education,” the website said.

Through its 21 schools of study, 59 regional centres, 2,300 learner support centres and some 52 overseas centres, the university offers certificate, diploma, degree and doctoral programmes, comprising around 1,500 courses, it said.

It said that the university provides access to sustainable and learner -centred education and training to all through quality, innovative and needs-based programmes at affordable costs, thus reaching out to the disadvantaged and also promotes, coordinates and regulates the standards of education offered through open and distance learning in India.

The website further said that IGNOU’s staff consist of 380 faculty members and academic staff in headquarters and regional centres while some 36,000 counsellors from conventional institutions of higher learning and professionals from different spheres.

More at : IGNOU world’s largest university: Unesco http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/ignou-worlds-largest-university-unesco_100305342.html#ixzz0kjKcP4Fh

World Record for Launching 10 Satellites at one go

It was a red letter day for space history of India on April 28, 2008. After a 52 hours countdown, India’s polar rocket PSLV – C9 placed 10 satellites including the country's remote sensing satellite, into orbit in a single mission.

The ten pack launch of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) saw the 230-tonne Polar Satellite launch Vehicle (PSLV-C9) carry the heaviest luggage--824 kgs--and put into orbit an Indian Mini Satellite and eight foreign nano satellites besides the Cartosat-2A remote sensing satellite.

This is for the first time that ISRO has put ten satellites in orbit in a single launch. This is also PSLV's twelfth successful flight.

It is for the first time in the world that ten satellites were launched in a single mission. Russia had earlier launched eight satellites together.

Besides the 690 kg Indian remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A and the 83 kg Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1), the rest eight Nano Satellites were from abroad. Most of these belonged to Germany and Canada and are aimed at boosting the country’s space research capabilities.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-sets-world-record-launches-10-satellites-at-one-go/articleshow/2989685.cms

DDLJ - World's Longest Running Movie

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) an Indian film which was premiered on 19 October 1995 and was released nationwide on 20 October 1995. It was directed by Aditya Chopra, and stars Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and Amrish Puri.

The movie remains the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema. In 2001, it broke the continuous-exhibition record, established by the movie ‘Sholay’ at Minerva Theatre (5 years: 1975 – 1980). And now as of March 2009, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ has set yet another world records by completing “700 weeks” of continuous play in Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir theater. On October 20th, 2009 the movie completed 15 years of non-stop running. This makes ‘DDLJ’ one of the largest grossers in Indian film history and is still counting!

The film swept that year’s (in which it was released) every major award and picked up every single accolade of consequence, not to mention the unconditional love of movie goers all over and still continues to top the list of “the best Indian romantic film” of all times. Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films. It was also listed among the only two Hindi films in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list.

People come and fall in love with ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ again and again.