September 9th, 2011 
philip.michael 
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Even as India celebrated her hard won freedom on August 15, 1947, Mahatma Gandhi, who had played such a sterling role in the movement, was in Kolkata. Saddened by the Partition of the country, he spent the day fasting and in prayer. This was in stark contrast with the celebrations in Delhi where Nehru gave his Tryst with Destiny’ speech as Indians rejoiced in their new-found Independence.
A cantilever bridge is formed by two projecting beams or trusses joined in the centre by a connecting member and supported on piers and anchored by counter-balancing members. The Quebec Bridge in Canada is considered the world’s largest cantilever bridge. It crosses the lower Saint Lawrence river west of Quebec city The bridge is a riveted steel truss structure and is 987 metres long, 29 metres wide and 104 metres high. It presently accommodates three highway lines, one rail line and one pedestrian walkway. It once carried a streetcar line. Each cantilever span is 170 metres long.
The G-8 (Group of 8 nations) officially came into existence only in 1998 although the concept of major industrial democracies meeting annually to discuss and solve economic and political concerns has existed since 1975. At that time, it was the G-6 (the US; the UK, Japan, Italy, Germany and France) that formed the international community at the first summit in Rambouillet, France. Canada joined in the 1976 summit in Puerto Rico. In 1998, the Birmingham Summit saw full Russian participation. Since 1991, the USSR and then Russia participated in post summit dialogues with the G-7.
The first Disneyland was set up July 15, 1955 in Anaheim, California, USA The opening was attended by 28 154 persons and 90 million people watched it on television. The themepark was the brainchild of Walt Disney famous for his creation of Mickey Mouse and gang. Disney acquired 160 acres of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, south of Los Angeles. Its construction began on July 21, 1954 and cost around million.
Mickey Mouse’s girlfriend, Minnie, made her film debut, along with Mickey, in ‘Steamboat Willie’ on November 18, 1928. That date is recognised as her official birthday. Along with Mickey, who shares her birthday, and Donald Duck, she is one of the only three Disney characters with an officially recognized birthday. A popular character, Minnie did not have her own cartoon series, but appeared in 73 cartoons with Mickey Mouse and Pluto.
‘Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre’ (Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette), an open-air scene of a popular dance garden on the Butte Montmartre — painted in 1876 — is one of the most famous paintings of Pierre Auguste Renoir. ‘Bathers’ (Les Baigneuses), painted in 1918, which is in the collection of The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania is another famous painting by this French painter. He was originally associated with the Impressionist movement and his early works were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life. By the mid-1880s, he had broken with the movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits and figure paintings.
Though pizzas are round in shape, why are they packed in square boxes?
Pizzas, or most things irrespective of their shape, are packed in square boxes because: i) Easy to manufacture square boxes; ii) Easier and speedier handling, packing and unpacking; iii) Wastage during manufacture is less as curving round boxes would result in loss of material on the edges; iv) In storing square boxes in stacks, they occupy optimum space and can be , placed efficiently and v) Carrying and serving a pile of pizzas in square boxes is more easier.
Cheeses can be distinguished based on: i) country of origin; ii) kind of milk used (raw, skimmed or pasteurised); iii) texture (hard, semi-hard, semi-soft or soft) and iv) the animal from which the milk is derived (cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel). As the number of cheese-making countries is very large, the above classification system gives rise to at least a few thousand varieties. The most popular is Cheddar. It’s made from cow’s milk, is hard or semi-hard in texture, and the colour varies from white and pale yellow to yellowish orange.
Loophole comes from the Dutch word ‘liupen’, meaning ‘to peer’. Loopholes were a vertical slit or opening in the wall of a fortification such as a castle, allowing a defender to look out or shoot while remaining protected. Metaphorically, therefore, the word means a gap, omission, and error, ambiguity that one can exploit.
The Silk Route is an ancient trade route built in 8th century B.C. linking China with Central Asia and the Mediterranean region. It is 4,000 miles long and originates from Sian. With the Great Wall of China to the northwest, it bypasses the Takia Makan Desert, climbs the Pamirs (mountains), crosses Afghanistan, and goes on to the Levant. It carried goods between the two great civilisations of Rome and China. Silk came westward, while wool, gold, and silver went east. As silk was the major item being transported, it was called the Silk Route.
Which is blink technology?
It’s the contact less payment technology for credit cards. It’s just like a regular credit card in many ways with the account holder’s name and account number on the front of the card. On the reverse is a magnetic strip containing the account information, so the card can be used where regular credit cards can be used. The key difference is inside the card. Embedded within is a small Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) microchip. When the chip is close enough to the right kind of terminal, it can get information from the chip (in this case, account number and name). Instead of swiping the magnetic strip on the card through a standard reader, cardholders simply hold their card a few inches from the blink terminal. The card never leaves the cardholder’s hand.
It was a sand sculpture of a big tent, with a horse carousel, that stood at 28 ft 71/4 inches high. Using about 240 tones of sand, it was created during The South’s Largest Children’s Festival in Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park, US on July 24, 1998 after 100 man-hours by Team Sandtastic. The team’s sculpture entered the Guinness Book of World Records. The tallest indoor sand castle was made at New York State Fairgrounds between August 21 and September 7,1998 with a height of 33 ft 5 inches.
Chancellor is the official title used by people whose civilisations have directly or indirectly risen out of the Roman Empire. The title is borne by officers of various degrees of dignity. The head of government in Germany is also called kanzler (chancellor) but the name of the office today is bundeskanzler (Federal chancellor). This position is equivalent to that of a Prime Minister and is elected by the German Parliament.
New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana. It’s famous for, among other things, its Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. It was founded in 1718 and at this point of time, Philip II, Duke of Orleans (a city in France, about 200 km south-west of Paris) was the ruler of France. In his honour, New Orleans got its name.
During World War I, US soldiers, sweating in their woollen uniforms, noticed the light cotton undershirts worn by European soldiers. Since they were much more comfortable, they quickly became popular among the Americans, and because of their design, they were named T-shirts. During World War II, the T-shirt became standard issue underwear in both the US Army and Navy after WW II, the T-shirt started appearing without a shirt covering it.
The last emperor of China was Henry P’u Yi, pronounced Too yee His name is variously spelled P’u-i, Puyi, Pu-Yi, or Buyi. P’u Yi was a member of the Ch’ing (or Qing) Dynasty — a Manchu. The Manchu were originally nomads from Manchuria, northeast of China. They conquered China in 1644, but kept themselves largely separated from the Chinese. They retained their own language and fashions, lived apart and married other Manchus. For a long time, the Chinese weren’t even permitted to settle in the Manchu homeland.
What do the suffixes gmbh and spa (added to some european companies) stand for?
GmbH stands for Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung in German and SpA stands for Societa per Azioni in Italian. Both are representative of companies with limited liability for stockholders. It is similar to a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the US.
What is the origin of the term ‘hollywood’?
Hollywood is a district of Los Angeles. Due to its fame and identity as a major center of movie studios and stars, ‘Hollywood’ is often used to refer to the American motion picture industry. Daeida Wilcox, who met a woman who spoke of, coined it her country home in Ohio named after a Dutch settlement called Hollywood. She bestowed the name to the family ranch in Southern California. Harvey Wilcox, Daeida’s husband, drew up a grid map for a town, which he filed with the county recorder’s office on February 1, 1887, the first official appearance of the name ‘Hollywood’.
The Cow Parade Festival is the world’s largest public art event showcasing life-size sculptures of cows in different cities. Numerous artists, designers and others are invited to paint their own designs on these sculptures, which/are then displayed in parks, squares and streets. After the event, many of the sculptures are auctioned and a substantial portion of the proceeds goes to charity.
The answer (May 
says the term does not find place in dictionaries yet. However, I’d like to point out that it’s included in the Oxford English Dictionary, 11th edition and gives the meaning as (of Indian origin), ‘a person with a criminal record’.
The
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