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7 yr-old Charlie’s Fundraising for Haiti
Target: £500.00
Raised so far: £206,906.64
The amount raised by a kid, for Haiti, was at the time this post was written. The amount would be more when you read this post. You can see the latest amount here.
Charlie Simpson, a 7 year-old kid who wanted to do a Sponsored Bike Ride for Haiti because "… there was a big earthquake and loads of people have lost their lives. I want to make some money to buy food, water and tents for everyone in Haiti…" Charlie wanted to raise £500 but more than 400 fold amount will make it easy for UNICEF in its effort to help children in Haiti.
I am going to cycle around South Park as many times as possible…. (at least 10 laps, I hope!). Please can you sponsor me and all your money will go to UNICEF who are collecting for Haiti.
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Green rice – Soak to eat
The rice I am talking is not ‘green’ in color but is green in terms of saving the environment.Agricultural scientists in India claim that they have developed a variety of rice that doesn’t require cooking. The soft rice is invented in Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, India.
The rice, named Aghoni Bora, looks similar to other varieties but it can simply be soaked in cold water for about forty-five minutes before it can be eaten.
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Burj Dubai (Burj Khalifa) and records
The Burj Dubai (Burj Khalifa) tower officially opened its doors on January 4, 2010, six years after the commencement of construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The tower previously known as Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa in honor of the current President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa.
Some of the records made by the $4.1 billion, half-mile-high skyscraper are: - Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: Taipei 101 – 509.2 m (1,671 ft))
- Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m (2,121 ft))
- Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m (2,063 ft))
- Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previous record: CN Tower – 553.3 m (1,815 ft))
- Building with most floors: 160 (previous record: both 1 and 2 World Trade Center – 110)
- World’s highest elevator installation
- World’s fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previous record: Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previous record: Taipei 101 – 449.2 m (1,474 ft))
- Highest vertical concrete pumping (for any construction): 606 m (1,988 ft) (previous record: Riva del Garda Hydroelectric Power Plant – 532 m (1,745 ft))
- The first world’s tallest structure in history to include residential space
- Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
- World’s highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
- Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
- Tallest service elevator in the world
- World’s highest installation of an aluminum and glass façade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)
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11-year-old singer released an album
A child singer, Smita Pradhan, has released a musical album named “Smita” for Nepali children. Her effort is appreciable in the Nepalese music industry that is mostly targeted to the adult audiance . The album contains six tracks.Musician Chetan Sapkota has composed the music in the songs written by Arati Thapa Shrestha, Navaraj Basnet, Tara and Chetan himself.
On February this year, another 12-year-old child singer, Nirajan KC, organized a musical program in Kathmandu to show his talent and announce the formation of a Fund to collect funds for the education of unprivileged children. He handed over Rs. 15,000, collected from the concert for the education of 10 children.
These kids are the future of the country! All the best with their musical journey! (Source: The Himalayan Times daily and filmykhabar)
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Two Nepali students came first in an International Competition
Two Nepali students came in first place in a watercraft race in the 15th International competition for Science, Mathematics, Astronomy and Computer Science (QUANTA 2009) held in Lucknow (India) from 14th to 17th November 2009. Rishav Khanal and Nagendra Ghimire, O-Level students of Budhanilkantha School came in first place in a watercraft race with their "Missile Boat".
The competition is a unique race designed to test the ingenuity, assembly skills, and understanding of practical problems of the participants. The participants had to bring a working model of a battery powered craft, 12 inches by 8 inches, designed to cross 25 m length of water in the competition.
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Unfriend – Oxford Word of the Year 2009
Facebook doesn’t have an “unfriend” button. That didn’t stop the New Oxford American Dictionary to name it the word of the year 2009. The meaning of the word is to click ‘Remove Friend’ button in Facebook or any other social networking site. Here is the Oxford definition:unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.
As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”
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Solar-Car-Kid got insurance
The 16 year-old, Kusal KC, who made headline last week by constructing a solar car, all by himself, is being congratulated and is provided with an insurance by General Insurance Co. Ltd. Nepal. In Nepal, a 16 year old kid is not authorized to get a driving license. One has to be at least 18 years old to drive a vehicle. I don’t know what the Rs. 600,000 car insurance and Rs. 200,000 accident insurance means to Kushal when he can’t drive (source – nayapatrika).
It is good to know that talent is being appreciated by people. He collected Rs. 15,000 during the car show last week. The District Development Committee has decided to give Rs. 50,000 to Kusal. All these helps will go to pay the loan he took while constructing the car. I hope more organizations and individuals will come forward to help and encourage the whizz kid.
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16 year old Kushal made a Solar Car
With skyrocketing gas price, global warming, pollution; solar is the best alternative to fuel the future vehicles.
A 16-year-old, 10 grader, with no formal trainings, surprised everybody in Baglung, Western Nepal, with the successful trial run of a self-made solar vehicle, “Kushal Solar Car”.
Kushal KC of Amrit Adarsha Higher Secondary School built a 3 seat solar car in 42 days. The car has six 20-watt panels in the front, rear and roof of the vehicle to power it while driving. In the absence of sunlight, 20 batteries (18 Amp) power the vehicle. The vehicle can run at a maximum speed of up to 60kmph.
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Is There a Flaw in Archimedes’ Principle? Ask Bhabindra.
Bhabindra Kunwar, a graduate student in Physics in Nepal, claimed that the good old Archimedes’ principle, that almost all kids learn at school, is not true.
Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. (Archimedes’ principle)
Kunwar’s test however show that the weight of the displaced liquid can be more or less or equal to the immersed object. For example, a paper glass with 100 gram water can easily be buoyed by another glass containing 25 gram water. The displaced water in this case would be less than 25 gram to uplift 100 gram object.
Whenever somebody claims that they have discovered something – the first question that comes in my mind is – how could the simple fact be overlooked for such a long time.
I am still with Archimedes but would be the happiest person if Kunwar could prove his inventions in the international arena. All the best Bhabindra! (Read more in Nepali – nayapatrika)
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One leg is enough for Roma Neupane
Roma Neupane from Ithari, Nepal lived with “double discrimination; first, as woman and second, as a handicapped person". Now, she has learned to stand on her own foot (a single foot), dance on it, and fight against discrimination. Yes, one leg is enough for Roma these days.Roma lost her left leg at the age of 8 on a road accident. Dancing was her passion and the lost leg couldn’t stop her. She practiced and took training (1 month long) and danced in many stage programs on her single leg.
That is not all – she learned knitting, sewing and computing (here is the proof). She has established a NGO dedicated for the disabled, she is interested in politics and wants to be a successful leader.
Some five years back in August of 2004 an Israeli ambassador Dan Ben- Eliezer who was impressed by Roma’s dance helped Roma to visit Israel and have an artificial leg.
I wrote about Narsingh Bhandari Magar a few days back. One leg is enough for Narsingh too. He didn’t go to school, didn’t take dance lessons, he doesn’t have a website, but he also dances, supports his family and entertain his fellow villagers. Narsingh and Roma, both handicapped with one missing leg, are successful in their own ways. One has excelled in his village life and other has learned and prepared herself to live in an urban area.
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93 new species found in Nepal
I was talking about one more addition to the 863 species of birds found in Nepal in my previous post. Recently WWF released a news about 350 more species of living things found in the Eastern Himalayas in the past decade in which 93 of them were found in Nepal. Among the 93 species 40 were plants, 36 mammals, 6 fishes, 2 frogs, 9 reptiles. Not all, but 10 were given a Nepali name ‘nepalenses’.In Nepal we don’t do much research (don’t have resources) on these things so I suspect it is only a part of a bigger story. Much of the higher Himalaya is highly inaccessible and they should hold much of the unidentified species. As an example, never finding a giant Yeti can suffice on our ability to find all the unspotted species.
Well, that was the discovery of a group formed by WWF.
The group found that almost three-quarters of the discoveries between 1998 and 2008 were plants, including 21 new orchid species. But it also listed 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, two birds, two mammals and at least 60 new invertebrates. Most of the discoveries have already been reported in peer-reviewed, scientific journals.
If you are interested in reading the full document it can be downloaded in pdf format from panda.org website.
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40 years research – 9 Predictors of long life
Get degree, get married, get a grip, and eat healthy if you want to live longer. The November issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association published the result of a research that started back in 1965. In the article nine factors were identified as good predictors of which 50-plus men would live healthily into their 80s and beyond. The research included nearly 6,000 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii.
Well, getting married and having a degrees might be a bit odd in the list but all other seven indicators are well predictable for living longer.
Men who meet the following criteria are more likely to live longer, according to the study:
- Are married
- Are not overweight
- Have low blood pressure
- Possess a strong grip (indicating overall strength and fitness)
- Have attained a high level of education
- Have low blood sugar
- Avoid heavy drinking
- Do not smoke
- Have a low level of bad cholesterol. -
Kathmandu airport to be jammed with birds?
Do you remember the birdman Gautam Sapkota from my previous post who could mimic 151 different types of birds? The videos were convincing and the guy sure has some talent.The 25-year old now claims that he can call 175 different birds to jam the Kathmandu International Airport. The reason – the government has created hindrance in his quest for the Guinness World Records.
There are so many problems in Nepal that the Nepalese Government can’t hear a plea until somebody chooses a disruptive mean – be it a traffic jam or city closure (popularly called ‘Banda’) to attract its attention. Gautam claims to have repeatedly asked the ministries of foreign affairs, finance and forest. But nobody cared for his plea. Now, according to a National newspaper, he has given a three months ultimatum to the government to write letters to the Guinness World Records officials. With the three month’s preparation he is planning to call unspecified number of crows to jam the air traffic on the only international airport in Nepal.
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Electricity from hair in Nepal – hair solar panel
One of the reason the solar energy has become unaffordable in underdeveloped countries is the cost involved in the purchase of solar panels. Two teens in Nepal, Milan Karki and Harihar Adhikari, have developed a low cost solar panel from human hair. Silicon dioxide, cupreous oxide, copper wire, glass, plywood and black hair is all they required to prepare the solar panel. The 17 year olds doing their 12th, produced 8 volt 18 watts electricity from an assembly of 1/2 kg of hair.They sure made news in National papers in Nepal (Gorkhapatra, Nepal, Weekly news) but it is not clear how practical the electricity is in terms of durability and how they compare with photovoltaic panel. To me it seems too simplistic a method to be overlooked until now. If the invention can add value to the energy sector, the government should fund the research and help it develop as a commercial product.
Watch the video to know more about the ‘invention’ (in Nepali language).
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April Fool Day on Nepali Websites
Nepali people don’t celebrate April Fool’s day traditionally. We have a fun filled day to celebrate which is an equivalent of April Fool day and is called Gaijatra. But due to the influence of the Western world people play pranks in this day. Many websites have post hoax news on this day and some of the ones I could gather are listed below (there are not many and they are NOT sorted according their wit or excellence).
Gaijatra - Nepali version of April Fool's Day
The Himalayan Times, published a news about a blockbuster Indian movie “Ghajini” to be made in Nepali and will be renamed “Gajendra”. Geetha Arts, the same production house that made Ghajini, will be producing Gajendra, but it will be directed by Narayan Puri, a noted Nepalese film director. That was news! until, the newspaper told later that they forgot to tell the readers that it was one of their April fool pranks.
Mysansar blog published a post showing fake screenshots of chat with Paras Shah (former Nepali prince).
Hamroblog had its definition of April Fool’s day in Nepalese context and a story about it.
Kathmandu Dairies had an article about Nepal Drivers To Switch Sides.
