tigers in the wild in Tripura

Confirming government information wrong that there are no tigers in the wild in Tripura, villagers in the state found two tiger cubs in a forest, officials said on Saturday. "When villagers went to a forest on Friday to collect wood at Harina in southern Tripura, 140 km south of here, they found the

two tiger cubs and later handed them over to forest officials," a forest department official told reporters.

Quoting the villagers, the official said : "A tigress was protecting her cubs under a tree. Seeing the villagers she ran away leaving the cubs."
The cubs are believed to be 13 to 15 days old.The forest official said that as per the latest (in 2002) tiger census there are no tigers in the northeastern state that borders the Chittagong hill tracts (CHT) of southeast Bangladesh.

The official said they would hand over the cubs to the Sepahijala Zoo in western Tripura. The Sepahijala Zoo was categorized by the Central Zoo Authority as one of the 22 large zoos in India.The Sepahijala sanctuary and zoo have more than 46 species of wild animals kept for their conservation, protection and breeding.
The sanctuary has also been tagged as the national park for clouded leopards.

The Boa Constrictors

Boa Constrictors are one of the largest snakes in the world, along with the Reticulated Python and Anaconda. 
Boas are non-poisonous but just as deadly. They ambush their prey, which means that they will hide and wait for
something yummy to go by and then do a surprise attack. They use their flicking tongue to pick up the scent. 
Just as their name suggests, they will coil their bodies around the prey and with each breath of the prey they will
constrict, or squeeze, their coils just a little tighter until the animal can no longer breath. Their prey consists of
birds, lizards, frogs and small mammals. Larger Boas will even eat monkeys, pigs or deer.


Although they are not considered Pit Vipers, some Boas have heat-sensitive scales around their mouths that help them
find prey in the dark.
These snakes live in hot, tropical places and can be found both on the ground and in trees.
Boas give birth to live young, which means that they develop completely inside their mother. Once they are born they
are on their own and know pretty much all they have to know about finding food and hiding.
Boas are said to be the most beautifully colored of all snakes.


Boa constrictors are solitary animals, and will only associate with con specifics to mate.
They are nocturnal, however they may bask during the day when night-time temperatures are too low.
As semi-arboreal snakes, young boa constrictor individuals may climb into trees and shrubs to forage,
however they become mostly terrestrial as they become older and heavier.[12] Boa constrictors will strike when
threatened, and will bite in defense. This bite can be painful, especially from large snakes, but is rarely dangerous.
However, care must be taken to ensure that infection doesn't result from the injury. Specimens from Central America
are more irascible, hissing loudly and striking repeatedly when disturbed, while those from South America tame down more

readily. Like all snakes, Boa constrictors that are in a shed cycle will be more unpredictable. This is because the
substance that lubricates between the old skin and the new will make the eyes appear "milky" or "opaque", and as such
the snake cannot see very well. This will cause it to be more defensive than it may be otherwise.

chicken biodegradable plastics

New research suggests that chicken feathers could be used to produce eco-friendly, biodegradable plastics.

Scientists have described a key step toward using the billions of pounds of waste chicken feathers produced each year to make one of the more important kinds of plastic.


"Others have tried to develop thermoplastics from feathers," said Yiqi Yang, who reported on the research. "But none of them perform well when wet. Using this technique, we believe we're the first to demonstrate that we can make chicken-feather-based thermoplastics stable in water while still maintaining strong mechanical properties."

One major goal is to use agricultural waste and other renewable resources to make bioplastics that have an additional advantage of being biodegradable once discarded into the environment.

Chicken feathers are an excellent prospect, Yang explained, because they are inexpensive and abundant.

Yang, an authority on biomaterials and biofibers in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln explained that chicken feathers are made mainly of keratin, a tough protein also found in hair, hoofs, horns, and wool that can lend strength and durability to plastics.


To develop the new water-resistant thermoplastic, Yang and colleagues processed chicken feathers with chemicals, including methyl acrylate, a colorless liquid found in nail polish that undergoes polymerization — that's the process used in producing plastics in which molecules link together one by one into huge chains.

This process resulted in films of what Yang's group terms "feather-g-poly(methyl acrylate)" plastic. It had excellent properties as a thermoplastic, was substantially stronger and more resistant to tearing than plastics made from soy protein or starch, and as a first among chicken-feather plastics had good resistance to water.

The new method was presented at the 241st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

the animals swim massive distances

The sharks live their lives largely out of the sight. Little is known about where they go and what they do when they aren't in shallow-water feeding groups like the ones in Mexican waters. Satellite tags, which beam back information about animals' whereabouts, have given some hints, said Robert Hueter, the director of the shark research center at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida.

Hueter, de la Parra and their colleagues have tracked 42 whale sharks from the Yucatan area with satellite tags since 2003. They've found that the animals swim massive distances. One female turned up in the Southern Hemisphere halfway between Brazil and Africa. She'd traveled a minimum of 4,500 miles (7,242 kilometers) in 150 days, not including vertical distance diving or any curves on her route.

"We're working on the hypothesis that they are going down there to give birth to their pups, at least that's one place that they're going," Hueter told LiveScience. The theory is consistent with observations of small whale sharks in the area, he said, but so far the team hasn't seen another female take the same journey.

The whale sharks also take deep dives. The deepest observed dive, Hueter said, was 6,325 feet (1,928 meters) below the ocean surface – more than a mile and a quarter. The sharks make these dives in a long, slow glide, Hueter said, leading researchers to speculate that it's a way for the animals to cover long distances without expending much energy.


Reproduction riddle
The reason for the deep-sea excursions isn't the only whale shark mystery. No one knows anything about how the animals breed, said Jennifer Schmidt, a biologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied the genetics of the animals. One of her studies suggests that female whale sharks may save up sperm from a single mating to fertilize multiple pregnancies, but whale shark courtship has never been observed.

"The genetics tell us that there seems to be a large degree of migration and interbreeding between animals around the world," Schmidt told LiveScience. "There must be a place where adult males and females meet to breed, but we don't know where that place is."

Most feeding aggregations seen around the world are made up of adolescent males, Hueter said. The sharks that feed in Mexico are a slightly more inclusive slice of whale shark life, with more adults and females present. Still, the sex ratio is 2.6 males to every female, and no one knows why.


Diving for clues
Nonetheless, studies of the Yucatan feeding frenzies have answered some questions about whale sharks. For one: What do they eat? The sharks are drawn to the site by an upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water that leads to plankton blooms. Plankton is the main source of sustenance for these filter-feeding sharks. In particular, the afuera area – so named because it is "outside" the Mexican government's official protected zone for the sharks – is a spawning spot for a type of tuna called the little tunny. The fish probably spawn at night, Schmidt said, and their eggs rise to the surface in the morning.

Next, she said, "the sharks come in and literally swim at surface level with their mouths wide open just vacuuming in the eggs."

Because the sharks feed at the surface, researchers have been able to figure out how they eat, as well as how much. It turns out that whale sharks have a unique filtration system: Their mouths are equipped with pads that "look like scouring pads from your kitchen," said Philip Motta, a biologist at the University of South Florida who has studied the afuera whale sharks' feeding behavior.

As the sharks swim along, water probably hits these pads at an angle, Motta told LiveScience. The water continues through, but the plankton get deflected toward the back of the throat. The set-up probably prevents the filtering pads from getting clogged, Motta said.

"There's no other fish that has anything like this," he said.

For all their size (they can grow to more than 40 feet, or 12 meters, in length) whale sharks don't eat as many calories as might be expected. According to research by Motta and colleagues published last year in the journal Zoology, a 20-foot (6.2 meter) whale shark is estimated to consume 6,721 calories (28,121 kilojoules) per day. In comparison, a moderately active human man should consume around 2,500 calories per day.


It's impossible to know in advance whether the sharks will stay "afuera" or aggregate inside the protected zone this year, de la Parra said, but the research team plans to continue research on the sharks' genetics, growth and movements. They're also monitoring whether ecotourism affects the sharks' behavior. Numerous boats carry tourists out to feeding aggregations to get close to the sharks, Hueter said, which is good for conservation awareness. However, he said, many sharks already show signs of run-ins with propellers and boats, so ecotourism can be a threat.

Hueter and his Mote Marine Lab team aren't sure if they'll have funding to continue studies in Mexico this summer. They're watching a few remaining satellite tags from previous seasons, Hueter said. They are also monitoring shark populations in the northern Gulf of Mexico, looking for contamination from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It's likely to be tough, Hueter said, but the team hopes to draw blood from swimming whale sharks to check their health. As filter feeders, he said, whale sharks are particularly vulnerable to ocean pollution.

"They can't just keep their mouths closed and swim away and feed somewhere else," Hueter said. "Even if oil is present in microdroplets that have been dispersed, they are processing a lot of volume of water, and even the smallest trace of pollutants can become concentrated on their gills."

dog lost its eye

Sandra said: 'We were both devastated and cried buckets on the night they told us they were going to remove his first eye.

After six years of loyal service, Graham Waspe was devastated when his guide dog Edward was left blind after developing cataracts.
But his devastation turned to joy when his replacement Opal turned out to be a real gem.

Mr Waspe's new dog is not just aiding his owner to carry out everyday tasks, but also helping Edward to get around.

Mr Waspe, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, received his new dog last November after Edward developed the inoperable problem which resulted in him needing both eyes removed.
And the two-year-old bitch has stepped in where Edward left off as they tour their old haunts together.
While Edward is well know across the schools and community groups of Suffolk, Opal is now building his own reputation as their owners give talks about the Guide Dogs charity, training for such special dogs and the incredible ways they help their owners.

Graham said: 'Opal's been great for both of us. I don't know what we'd do without her.'
And his wife Sandra, 58, said that despite the loss of his eyes, Edward still loved nothing more than to be around children, have his tummy tickled and receive lots of attention.
The eight-year-old has been retired for four months but the loss of his eyesight has shown no sign of slowing him down.
'Graham said then "do you think he will ever be happy again?" and then they said they would have to remove the second eye.'
She added: 'He is still very popular - just as much, if not more than before.

'People ask lots of questions about how he copes and he is probably more famous now because even more people stop to talk to him.'
Sandra said Opal had arrived shortly after Edward retired and the two dogs got along fine.
'Opal arrived far quicker than expected because, sadly, a couple of people in the Stowmarket area with fairly young guide dogs had died,' she said. 
'We got Opal on November 12 and she started training with Graham on the 16th and they were qualified in early December.'
Mr Waspe has limited vision in only one of his eyes following two separate incidents earlier in his life and coped without a guide dog until 2004.

As well as carrying out their school visits to raise awareness, the Waspes also do vital fundraising and run a local group.

cat produces can reach an incredible 92 decibels

For cat lovers, there is nothing more soothing than the sound of their pet purring with contentment.
But when Smokey kicks off, it's time to reach for the ear plugs.
The sound she produces can reach an incredible 92 decibels – the same as you'd experience watching a Boeing 737 coming in to land.

Even from five feet away the level is 80 decibels, the same as a car passing 25ft away. Most cats produce around 25 decibels.
Owners Ruth and Mark Adams say the 12-year-old British Shorthair can drown out TV and radio shows and phone conversations with her 'cooing purr' which they describe as 'sounding as if she has a dove stuck in her throat'.

Mrs Adams, from Pitsford, Northampton, said: 'She even manages to purr while she eats. The only time she is quiet is when she is asleep.

'It's either adorable or annoying, depending on what mood you're in. You don't even have to stroke her to start a purring session. Often she'll do it for no reason.'
Guinness World Records said it had a category in place for noisiest cat but no entries yet. A spokesman said: 'If Smokey can purr at over 80dB it would be an astonishing feat.'

Diana Johnson, of Northampton Cats Protection, who has met Smokey, said: 'I have never heard anything like her purr in my life. It can drown out your conversation.
'It is very unusual and I've never found a cat with a purr that is anywhere near as loud.'
Smokey has become an honorary volunteer for Cat Protection's Northampton branch and is helping to raise awareness of the important cat welfare work they do.

demand for rhinoceros horns

A booming black-market demand for rhinoceros horns is driving a lucrative new wave of high-tech poaching that threatens the fight to save the world's rhino populations from extinction.

The epicenter of the crisis is South Africa, which has lost nearly one rhinoceros a day to poaching this year.

Conservationists fear the problem could spill over into other regions, pushed by a surge in demand for rhino horn in Asia, notably in Vietnam, where it is used as a traditional medicine and sells for tens of thousands of dollars per horn.

South Africa, which is home to more than 70 percent of the world's remaining rhinos, has lost 316 of the animals to poaching this year, up from 122 last year, and a jump from less than 10 each year two decades ago, according to Joseph Okori, African rhino coordinator for the World Wildlife Fund.

"It has been a disastrous year for rhino conservation," Okori said.

He blamed the surge in poaching on "well-organized syndicates" that use helicopters, night vision equipment, veterinary tranquilizers and silencers to hunt their prey at night.

"The criminal syndicates in South Africa operate on very high-tech. They are very well-coordinated," Okori said. "This is not normal poaching."

Conservationists estimate there are around 25,000 rhinos left globally, with three species in Asia and two in Africa.

Asia's rhino populations have already been pushed to the brink of extinction by hunting and deforestation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists both Javan and Sumatran rhinos as critically endangered and Indian rhinos as vulnerable to extinction.

In Africa, conservationists have fought to restore the continent's black and white rhino species, both devastated by hunting in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Thanks to the large-scale creation of national parks and efforts to combat poaching, the southern white rhino, once thought to be extinct, now numbers 17,500 and growing.

Black rhino numbers are also rising and stand at 4,200 — though this is a fraction of the hundreds of thousands thought to have roamed the continent in 1900, the IUCN says.

Irish bulls are getting drunk on moonshine

What happens when a 1700-pound bull has too much to drink and turns nasty?

That has been the problem for Irish vets in recent weeks with reports of drunken bulls surfacing in the Irish Times.

It appears the cheap price of potatoes is the problem, with farmers feeding pulp potatoes to their bulls.

But the bull's stomach ferments the potatoes and turns them into alcohol, leaving the bull drunk on his very own moonshine or poteen.

Meath-based veterinarian Peadar O'Scanaill, told the Times it was becoming a real problem.

"The rumen (stomach) of a bull is a large fermentation vat where the starch of the potatoes mixed with its sugars, turns into alcohol," he said.

"In the first case I dealt with, I was called out when the bull had fallen on his side and was badly bloated. The rumen could not handle the change of diet and normal gas release did not happen," he said.
"He was drunk or very badly hungover or both and I had to put a tube down the nose to release the gas pressure on the rumen."


The second bull had broken into a potato shed and ate all around him and got loaded when a potato stuck in his throat stopping the release of gas. The vet removed the potato and the gas was released.

O'Scanaill warns that farmers have to be careful. "... With potatoes you have to be very careful, as I know," he said.

turtle egg fry

Members of the Rashtriya Parisara Mathu Vanyajeevi Premigala Okoota, Bejai, here who found 31 eggs of sea turtles on the beach off Mulki near here on December 3 handed over the same to the deputy conservator of forest Vijay Kumar. These eggs have been sent to the department's sea turtle egg-rearing centre at Kundapur-Maravanthe, the secretary of the Okkoota stated in a release here on Tuesday.

Vijay Kumar said the numbers of sea turtles in this part of the coast is on the wane and there is a need to conserve them. The sightings of sea turtles are rare in this part of the west coast and the egg-rearing centre will do a good job of taking care of these eggs, he noted. Sea turtles per se are not an endangered species, but it does make sense to preserve and protect them, he felt.

The Okkoota stated it would work in close coordination with the forest department in the future to preserve and protect eggs of sea turtles and draw up an action plan in this regard. Awareness would be created among the locals on the need and means to preserve the eggs of sea turtles. The okkoota would also request the state government to set up at least 10 such sea turtle egg rearing centres along the coast from Honnavar to Ullal.

The Okkoota in order to encourage people to preserve the eggs of sea turtles also announced an incentive of Re 1 for every such egg handed over the organization. People who find these eggs may get in touch with the Okkoota at its Kundapur unit on 08254-230406, 230349, 9480807658

studied the wet-dog shake

A team of graduate students at the School of Mechanical Engineering of Georgia Institute of Technology, headed by Andrew Dickerson, studied the wet-dog shake.  Bio-inspired design uses the mechanics of nature to understand and create.  It led this group of students to investigate oscillatory shaking -- the wet-dog shake -- to see if it could be applied to make a more efficient washing machine.

With a high speed video camera, they recorded various mammals shaking off water.  What they discovered was: the bigger the mammal, the shorter the shake.  Grizzly bears and large dogs shake at about 4 Hz, or four shakes per second.  Small animals like mice shake at 27 Hz, or 27 shakes per second. X-ray cinematography was also utilized for a look on the inside.

Video recording showed the shake starts at the head and works down to the tail.  The head can twist more, creating a solid starting point for an energy wave to travel the entire length of the animal's body.  But the skin moves faster than the head or body -- think of a whip.  It is integral to how the animal shakes off water.

Centripetal force is a center-seeking net force that is required to keep moving objects in a circular path.  Think satellites.  The wet-dog shake is centripetal force.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the researchers claim no animals were harmed for this research.  They only had to get them wet.

Will this research lead to better washing machines and other inventions?  Time will tell.

For those curious enough to want to understand the physics of the wet-dog shake, this research will be presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics being held this year at the Long Beach Convention Center in California, November 21 - 23.

Donkey milk

Donkey milk also contains an high amount of lysozyme, which is practically absent in the milk of cows, ewes and goats (Vincenzetti et al., 2007); this enzyme possesses bactericidal properties as it hydrolyzes the polysaccharides of bacterial cell walls and inhibits bacteria development and it is also a good substitute for infants suffering from cow milk allergy.

Every doctors say its not scientifically proved, but every old remedy in India is proven by old ayurvedic scholor maharishi Vagbhatt, If you think that its not proved then why do you follow GITA and follow Hinduism, every doctor is getting commission from the Drug company to prescribe them to patients, Foreign companies is making 100% profits in drugs business in India.

A sum of Rs 100 or even Rs 200 for fresh 50ml of donkey's milk. The age-old business quietly thrives in many parts of this hi-tech city.  It is believed that the milk cures ailments in infants. While doctors agree that it has higher protein content than human milk, they are sceptical about its medicinal properties.  Some families have been surviving on the donkey business for generations now. P Puttaraju says his grandfather started it. Today, Puttaraju is a key dealer operating across Bangalore from Malleswaram dobhi ghat. He also supplies donkeys to other milk dealers.  A majority of his customers are from Madiwala, Dasarahalli, Yelahanka, Seshadripuram, Srirampura, Rajajinagar and Cantonment. "Sometimes, I receive calls at 1am asking if there's immediate stock. Once a family landed here at 6am for two consecutive days with a one-day-old baby. They wanted a 5ml dose to increase the baby's appetite. People take the milk to cure stomach upsets, cough, cold, asthma and control seizures,'' he says.  He has no regular customers or regular timings. Sometimes, there's no business for days together. But the donkeys in his crude office space keep increasing in numbers. Presently, he has 20 donkeys. The latest addition was a white donkey from Kurnool with her two-month infant.  BBMP joint director (animal husbandry) Pervez Ahmed Piran (also a dairy expert) confirms about the value of donkey's milk. "I am not too sure about the popularity of the milk but it is definitely as good as human milk in terms of composition. Good enough to even be used as a substitute,'' he says.  But doctors aren't convinced. "The benefits are not scientifically proven. However, it surely has higher protein content than human milk,''says Dr H Paramesh, paediatric pulmonologist and director, Lakeside Hospital.  "We really get donkey milk? I didn't know about it. If it was so good and so ancient a practice, by now almost all paediatricians in the city would have started rearing donkeys. I can't imagine babies being given donkey milk,''says Dr Meenakshi Bharath, gynaecologist.

hiding in bushes, avoiding humans

It's hiding in bushes, avoiding humans, yet running close to habitations with dogs - perhaps completely oblivious to the fact that wildlife officials are hot on its trail. This is the first time a wild animal, a female leopard at that, is being tracked in Himachal Pradesh with the help of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

The state wildlife department is monitoring the fully grown leopard on the outskirts of Shimla through the satellite-based system to study the reasons for its straying into human habitation.

"To study its behavioural pattern and reasons for straying into human habitation, we have installed a radio collar on the leopard. This was the first time any wild animal in the state was tracked this way," Chief Wildlife Warden AK Gulati told IANS.

The wildlife wing trapped the leopard last month in Paoba village on the outskirts of Shimla and released it after placing a radio collar around its neck.

"We have noticed that the leopard generally moves within a territory of 16 sq km. A number of villages are located in its territory. Sometimes it comes close to villages probably to hunt stray dogs and livestock. But most of the time, it remains deep inside the jungle. This shows that the prey-predator ratio is quite good there," Gulati said.

Two radio collars, each costing Rs. 200,000, were provided to the wildlife wing by a Pune-based NGO Waghoba Trust. The NGO is tracking a few leopards in Maharashtra using the same technology. The radio collar, weighing 1.5 kg, will remain on the animal's neck for a year, after which its magnetic locks will open and the leopard will be able to free itself.

Sandeep Rattan, a veterinary surgeon who installed the collar, told IANS, "We can retrieve the collar where it falls. After recharging its batteries, it can be installed again on some other animal."

Based on the information provided by the GPS, Rattan went to the forest around Paoba village to study the animal's behavioural pattern. Most of the time, the leopard was just a few feet away from him.

"We have noticed that the leopard mostly stays away from humans. It prefers to hide in bushes and changes its path as it comes closer to the humans," Rattan said.

In most cases, he said, the leopard was found close to villages with a sizeable population of dogs - both domesticated and stray.

Though the leopard is protected under Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, it is occasionally poached for its skin. Sometimes, it's also killed by farmers to protect their livestock.

According to the wildlife department, 186 cases of leopard attacks were reported in the state in 2008-09, an all-time high. The figure was 34 for 2007-08, 38 for 2006-07 and 17 for 2005-06.

Thirteen people, mostly women and children, have been killed by leopards in the past five years.

The situation is most acute in Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi and Kangra districts and parts of Kullu, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan districts.

According to the last census conducted in 2004, the state's leopard population stood at 761.

enjoying a buffer zone for the tigers.

Coming as a major setback to tiger conservation in Madhya Pradesh, the Panna tiger reserve will not have the glory of enjoying a buffer zone for the tigers.

Buffer zones are vital as they allow tigers more space to move freely. The decision by the Chief Minister has come as a shock for many and people are reading between the lines for its inherent meaning.

"Humans are more valuable than tigers. One cannot destroy Panna and let just tigers survive. What will they do with such a buffer zone? That is why there is no need for a buffer zone that can cause problems to Panna. No such buffer zones will be made,"said Shivraj Singh Chouhan the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

The decision has come just weeks after the Pench and Kanha reserves in Maharashtra were given its notified buffer zones.  

In the last decade, Panna has lost 34 tigers, most of them being poached. Under such circumstances ignoring the desperate need of a buffer zone for the tiger reserve has shocked all.

Surprisingly, Chouhan's remarks have come at a time when the forest department has got the consent of 45 of the 69 villages in the proposed buffer zone. Sources say, several local political heavyweights and their associates have a stake in mines in the area under the buffer zone and a notification may stop all that.

Could the Chief Minister's decision have more to do with the mining stakes involved?

"The people who are exposing it is because of lack of understanding or they have rights in ways of illegal mining or extracting wood or maybe some other sources," said Shamendra Singh a Former member of the Madhya Pardesh Wildlife Advisory Committee.

Even as the Wildlife Act makes a buffer zone mandatory for every tiger reserve, the Chief Minister vetoing it in Panna has raised several questions. The concern now is that who will prevail finally? Until then, the fate of Panna remains hanging.

country famous people and place

The London University was the first British University to admit women for degree courses.

New York is popularly known as the city of Skyscrapers
Madagascar is popularly known as the Island of Cloves
Thailand is the country known as the Land of White Elephant.
Korea is known as the Land of Morning Calm.
Bhutan is known as the Land of Thunderbolts
Salto Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest waterfalls in the world.
United States Library of Congress in Washington DC is the largest library in the world is the
The author of Harry Potter Books is JK Rowling
Nickname of New York city is Big Apple
Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest President of the USA.
Brazil is the largest coffee growing country in the world.
Verkoyansk in Siberia is the coldest place on the earth.
The length of the English channel is 564 kilometres.
Damascus is the world's oldest known city.
Detroit in the USA is the city which is the world's biggest centre for manufacture of automobiles.
The country which is the largest producer of rubber in the world is Malaysia.
Amazon River carries maximum quantity of water into the sea.
Cuba is known as the Sugar Bowl of the world.
The length of the Suez Canal is 162.5 kilometers.
James Cook discovered Australia.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah was the first Governor General of Pakistan.
Alexander Eiffel was the person who built Eifel Tower.
Rose is the national flower of Britain.
The national flower of Italy is Lily.
World Environment Day is observed on 5th June.
The earlier name of Sri Lanka was Ceylon
United Nations Organization (UNO) was formed in the year 1945.
Admiral Robert E. Peary was the first man to reach North Pole.
The place known as the Roof of the world is Tibet.
The first Pakistani to receive the Nobel Prize was Abdul Salam.

The first woman Prime Minister of Britain was Margaret Thatcher.

Ukraine: Animal massacre feared ahead of Euro 2012

As protests go, this one could hardly be expected to shift world opinion: four activists with their faces painted blue holding a collection of placards outside Berlin's Adlon Hotel.
But organizers of the stunt, timed to coincide with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's first trip to Germany, said that was not their purpose. Instead, they hoped to draw attention to plans by the Ukrainian authorities to slaughter hundreds of thousands of stray animals in preparation for the Euro 2012 European soccer championship.
The organization PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — famous, among other things, for hurling red paint on women in fur coats and interrupting fashion shows — has called for a boycott of the event, for the simple reason that: "The authorities' measures to reduce the [animal] population are anything but humane. The animals are poisoned, shot, or even burned alive."
It's not the first spot of bother for Ukraine in organizing an event that Kiev hoped would bring a flood of attention, if not hard currency, from the scores of international visitors expected to arrive two summers from now.

Ukraine's selection as co-host for the tournament with neighboring Poland was greeted as a major boon for this ex-Soviet eastern European nation, but Europe's governing soccer body, UEFA, had already threatened to strip Ukraine of its host status if it could not meet deadlines to build the needed infrastructure, such as stadiums, airports, roads and hotels.

UEFA recently gave the country's preparations a clean bill of health. Four Ukrainian cities —Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lviv — are set to hold the matches, with Kiev hosting the final.


Tamara Tarnavska is a former journalist and animal rights activist, who runs one of Kiev's only animal shelters. There, hundreds of homeless dogs and cats, whom Tarnavska says would otherwise be exterminated by city authorities, find refuge.
Her organization, the SOS animals society of Kiev, is spearheading the campaign to inspire fans to boycott the European soccer championship. Already she says the movement has garnered the signature of several celebrities, including George Clooney, Brigit Bardot and Ukrainian world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.
"The idea is not to stop Euro 2012," she said. "Of course we cannot stop the fans. The fans want to see football [soccer], prostitutes in Kiev and vodka — I cannot stop them with the stray animals. But people who really care about the environment, who really care about the lives of others cannot visit Kiev or the other cities at this time."
She continued: "Hundreds of thousands of animals [will be killed across Ukraine in the run-up to the tournament]. The Ukrainian authorities really haven't done anything to take care of the stray animals. No shelters or neutering work. Just catch and kill."
Ukrainian authorities say that they are aware of the issue and will take the necessary measures. They also say that the animal activists are exaggerating the situation. "The problem will be resolved without question," said Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov, whose portfolio consists exclusively in making sure that Ukraine is prepared to host Euro 2012. "There will be enough money to save all the animals." 
But Tarnavska says that so far her official appeals have gone unanswered. What's more, she fears that the money dedicated to preserving the country's animals will disappear down a black hole of corruption, as it has in the past.
At the same time, she also says that she realizes that the boycott is merely a symbolic gesture. "We don't have any other choice. If Ukrainian authorities refuse to listen, this is our only choice," she said.
 

Scientists from Saudi Arabia and China

Scientists from Saudi Arabia and China said on Wednesday that they had completed mapping the genome of the Arabian camel.
It took 20 scientists from Riyadh's King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and China's Shenzhen-based BGI - formerly the Beijing Genomics Institute - more than one year to decode the entire genetic makeup of the single-humped camel, Camelus dromedarius, the omnipresent native of the Arabian peninsula.
"The Arabian camel today enters a highly exclusive club of selected few mammals which have had their full genome sequenced and analysed," the two institutions said in a joint statement.
Sequencing and analysing the entire camel genome, which has "remarkable similarities" to cattle, could lead to a better understanding of the camel's ability to survive in the harsh desert environment, they said.
Unlocking the genetics underpinning the camel's immune system could lead to potential medical discoveries, and the genome data can also help scientists understand better how the mammal produces its highly nutritious and medically valuable milk, they said.
 
"The sequencing of the camel genome achieved by KACST and BGI will contribute greatly to the world-wide genomics and post genomics research," said BGI president Jian Wang.
"We look forward to further expand our understanding of the camel's physiological and biochemical characteristics and to bring it to application for the benefit of mankind," he said.

the tiny monkeys.

An Australian zoo has posted an urgent plea on its Facebook page for help in returning eight stolen endangered monkeys, so small they could fit in a handbag or the palm of your hand.
Symbio Wildlife Park, south of Sydney, said thieves broke into the park on Sunday night and stole a breeding pair of Cotton top Tamarins, their two babies, and four Pygmy marmosets.

"These animals are part of international breeding programmes and are crucial to the survival of the species, there are only 300 Cotton top Tamarins left in the wild, so time is running out," said the zoo's Facebook message.

"These animals need specialised housing and diet to survive, if they are not returned home safely, they may not survive, the whole team at Symbio are extremely worried," it said.
"If you have any information, or know someone who can, please email or call the park, everything will be treated anonymously, all we want is the animals home safe."


The zoo published photographs of the tiny monkeys.

Park director John Radnidge said the thieves cut power to the zoo and cut through three padlocks to gain access to the monkeys.

"On a cold, wet, windy, miserable, rainy night they cut the power to the exhibit, it was very clear these people knew exactly what they were doing. They had probably cased the joint before the attack," Radnidge told local media on Tuesday.

Radnidge said there was no black market in Australia or Asia for the monkeys, unlike Australia's native birds and lizards.

"Cotton-tops and pygmy marmosets are so rare and unusual, those who have them in their possession will be found, I'm sure of that," he said.