keralapages

Picture courtesy Google images In 1959 in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, a rhinoceros won the most votes in a local council election and made history. In Sao Paulo, corruption was rampant at that time. People were unhappy with the accumulating sewage, rising inflation, and shortage of basic food items such as meat and beans. As a protest to this, 200,000 ballots were printed and distributed under the name of Cacareco, a 5-year-old rhinoceros which was brought from the Rio de Janeiro Zoo to the recently inaugurated Sao Paulo Zoo, by a group of young men saying, " better to choose a rhinoceros than an Ass." Even though electoral officials refused to recognize the candidacy of Cacareco, she got more votes than any other candidate. Cacareco, not only won but also set a record with more than 100,000 votes. In Brazil's history, to that date, it was the highest vote lead for a local Council candidate. ...

Picture courtesy  Mercedes-Benz  website Mercedes-Benz, one of the largest manufacturers of premium passenger cars, and NVIDIA, the global leader in accelerated computing, plan to enter into a cooperation to create a revolutionary in-vehicle computing system and AI computing infrastructure. Starting in 2024, this will be rolled out across the fleet of next-generation Mercedes-Benz vehicles, enabling them with upgradable automated driving functions. Working together, the companies plan to develop the most sophisticated and advanced computing architecture ever deployed in an automobile. The new software-defined architecture will be built on NVIDIA DRIVETM platform and will be standard in Mercedes-Benz’ next-generation fleet, enabling state-of-the-art automated driving functionalities. A primary feature will be the ability to automate driving of regular routes from address to address. In addition, there will be numerous future safety and convenience applications. Customers will ...

തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിൽ ചരിത്ര വിജയം നേടിയ കാണ്ടാമൃഗം   picture courtesy Google images 1959-ൽ ബ്രസീലിലെ ഏറ്റവും വലിയ നഗരമായ സാവോ പോളോയിയിൽ നടന്ന തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിലാണ്  കാക്കറെക്കോ എന്ന കാണ്ടാമൃഗത്തെ വോട്ടർമാർ മൃഗീയ ഭൂരിപക്ഷത്തോടെ വിജയിപ്പിച്ചത്. റിയോ ഡി ജനീറോയുടെ മൃഗശാലയിൽ നിന്ന് ആയിടയ്ക്ക് ഉദ്ഘാടനം ചെയ്ത സാവോ പോളോ മൃഗശാലയിലേക്ക് കൊണ്ട് വന്ന പ്രാദേശിക താരമായ കാക്കറെക്കോ എന്ന 5 വയസ്സുള്ള കാണ്ടാമൃഗമായിരുന്നു പ്രാദേശിക തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിൽ വിജയിച്ചു ചരിത്രത്തിൽ ഇടം നേടിയത്. സാവോ പോളോയിയിൽ അക്കാലത്ത്‌ അഴിമതി വ്യാപകമായിരുന്നു, മാലിന്യങ്ങൾ ശേഖരിക്കപ്പെടാതെ കുന്നുകൂടി, മലിനജലം കവിഞ്ഞൊഴുകി, പണപ്പെരുപ്പം വർദ്ധിച്ചു, അടിസ്ഥാന ഭക്ഷ്യവസ്തുക്കളായ മാംസം, ബീൻസ് എന്നിവയ്‌ക്ക്‌ ദൗർലഭ്യം നേരിട്ടു . ഇതിൽ നിരാശരായ പ്രദേശ വാസികൾ “കഴുതയേക്കാൾ കാണ്ടാമൃഗത്തെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുന്നതാണ് നല്ലത്” എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു കാക്കറെക്കോയുടെ പേരിനൊപ്പം 200,000 ബാലറ്റുകൾ അച്ചടിച്ച് വിതരണം ചെയ്തു. തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ് ദിവസം, കാക്കറെക്കോ വിജയിച്ചെന്ന് മാത്രമല്ല, ഒരു ലക്ഷത്തിലധികം വോട്ടുകൾ നേടി റെക്കോഡ് ഇട്ടു. ബ്രസീലിന്റെ അത് വരെയുള്ള ചരിത്രത്തിൽ ഒരു പ്രാദ...

200 വർഷം മുന്പ് ആളുകൾ ഒറ്റരാത്രികൊണ്ട് ഉപേക്ഷിച്ച ഗ്രാമം.  രാജസ്ഥാൻ മരുഭൂമിയിലെ ജയ്‌സാൽമീറിന്റെ പടിഞ്ഞാറ് ഭാഗത്തായി സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്ന ഗ്രാമമാണ് കുൽധാര. 1,500 ൽ അധികം ആളുകളും 400 ഓളം വീടുകളും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന ഇവിടം ഇപ്പോൾ വിജനമായതും ഉപേക്ഷിക്കപ്പെട്ടതുമായ ഒരു പ്രേതഗ്രാമമാണ്.                                                                Picture courtesy Pinterest   ഏകദേശം 200 വർഷം മുന്പ് കുൽധാര പാലിവാൾ ബ്രാഹ്മണരുടെ  ഗ്രാ മമായിരിന്നു. അക്കാലത്ത് ജയ്‌സാൽമീറിന്റെ ദിവാൻ (മന്ത്രി) ആയിരുന്നു സലിംസിംഗ് ക്രൂരതയ്‍ക്കും അശാസ്ത്രീയമായ നികുതി പിരിവുകൾക്കും കുപ്രശസ്തനായിരുന്നു. കുൽധാര ഗ്രാമത്തലവന്റെ ഇളയമകളുടെ സൗന്ദര്യത്തിൽ ഭ്രമിച്ച ജയ്‌സാൽമീറിന്റെ ദിവാൻ, സലിം സിംഗ് പലരീതിയിലും അവളെ തന്റെ പാട്ടിലാക്കാൻ ശ്രമിച്ചെങ്കിലും നടന്നില്ല. അവസാനം അവളെ വിവാഹം കഴിച്ചു തരാൻ ഗ്രാമതലവനെ നിരന്തരമായി നിർബന്ധിച്ചു. വഴങ്ങുന്നില്ലാ എന്നുമനസിലാക്കി യ ...

A village which was abandoned overnight by its people 200 years ago.  Kuldhara is a village that lies to the west of the desert town of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Once inhabited by more than 1,500 people and around 400 houses, it is now a deserted and abandoned ghost village.                                                                                  Picture courtesy Pinterest About 200 years ago, Kuldhara was home to the Paliwal Brahmins. At that time Salim Singh was the Diwan (Minister) of Jaisalmer. He was known for his debauchery and unscrupulous tax-collecting methods. His evil eyes fell on the young daughter of the village chief. Wanting to marry her, he forced the village chief to marry off his daughter. He gave him a deadline for ...

The Baobab Tree- Trees that can store around  1, 20,000 litres of water in its trunk  The Baobab is popularly known as upside-down tree because when the tree is bare of its leaves, the branches look like roots, giving it the appearance as if someone has uprooted the tree and re-planted it upside down.                                                                             National tree of Madagascar There are nine different species of baobab trees. Two species are native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Six species are found in Madagascar and one native to Australia. The species found in Southern Africa is of the genus "Adansonia Digitata”. Baobab is the National tree of Madagascar.  The Tree of Life  The native people of Africa and ...

The Bird of Paradise Flower                                                                                                                                             Picture courtesy Google image The bird of paradise Flower (Strelitzia reginae) is a native of south Africa. They are called so, as their flowers resemble a bird. The long, stalked flowers are exceedingly beautiful. It comes out from the green boat shaped secondary leaf (Bracts) that is outlined with red colour. Numerous petals of the flour are brilliant orange in colour and are pointed upward. There is also an...

Flowers that Resemble Lips    Picture courtesy Google image Psychortia Elata, popularly known as.”hot lips” or “hooker’s lips.” is a very unique type of plant with its flowers resembling a beautiful set of lips. Contrary to popular beliefs, the hooker’s lips aren’t actually flowers. The “red lips” are actually bracts which form prior to the appearance of the flower blossoms. The unique shape and color of the temporary bracts are a way of attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to pollinate the flowers.  These tropical trees rarely exceed 3 meters in height and are found in the tropical forests of Central and South America, especially in areas like Columbia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama. Unfortunately, the plant is severely endangered due to habitat destruction and globalization.  This plant is from the Psychotria genus in the family Rubiaceae, which contains about 1900 different species. It grows where the soil is rich and humid from leaf litter. Growing this in y...

Lithops – The Living Stone  Lithops are called ‘The Living Stones’ as they look just like stones. This camouflage of Lithops is a way of protecting themselves from grazing animals. Picture Courtesy Google Images They are native to South Africa. Lithops live most of their lives almost completely buried under soil, with only their truncated faces visible. They rarely grow more than 2.5 cm in height.    Picture Courtesy Google Images The leaf has translucent surface and the leaf window is patterned in different shades of brown, grey, or cream, according to the species and local conditions. The Window between the leaves of Lithops allows light to travel to the center of the leaves and aids in photosynthesis.     Picture Courtesy Google Images The flowers of Lithops are yellow, orange or white with a daisy like appearance. Flower in these plants comes out from the narrow slit between leaves. Individual Lithops plants have only one flower per leaf pair.   ...

Mercedes-Benz developed its online sales platform and announced a host of new customer initiatives under the campaign ‘Merc from Home’   Picture courtesy  Google  images World famous luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz further developed its online sales platform in India and announced today a host of new customer initiatives under the campaign ‘Merc from Home’. This campaign aims for a holistic and transparent customer journey offering a hassle free and transparent process to buy a Mercedes from the comfort of their homes. The focus of ‘Merc from Home’ will be on the ease of purchasing a vehicle using digital tools to facilitate the entire process including online payment of products and services. The online interface will be backed by robust backend operations that includes preparation of cars to the documentation process, which will be done with utmost care and in the most transparent manner. All outlets of Mercedes-Benz across India will be connected to the e-commerce portal...

Bird quiz Interesting facts about birds 1.    The only bird that can fly backwards 2.    The Fastest Bird in the World 3.    The largest living bird in  the world 4.    The bird with the largest wingspan 5.    The highest flying bird ever recorded? 6.    Relative to the body size, Which bird has  the biggest egg of any living species? 7.    Which bird is considered as the “world’s most dangerous bird”? 8.    The bird that kick its prey to death 9.    Which is the only known bird to be poisonous? 10.   Which is the only bird known to go into hibernation? 11.   Which is the smallest known living bird in the world? 12.   Which bird is considered as the most intelligent and smartest talking in the world? For answers see the video  

Why are flamingos pink?    Picture courtesy Resmi Varma Actually, flamingos are born with grey feathers, which gradually turn pink. The pink colour of flamingo feathers is caused by the presence of carotenoid pigments found in the algae and crustaceans that make up the diet of a flamingo.                                          Picture courtesy Resmi Varma For a long while, flamingos in zoos kept losing their delicate pink colour and fading to white.Then keepers realised the problem was due to their diet. Flamingos feed on a certain kind of algae and these algae contain certain chemicals called carotenoids that are responsible for the pink. If a flamingo does not get these algae, it does not get the carotenoids and its colour fades. The quantity of carotenoids that flamingos eat determines how pink the bird will be. 

Mercedes-Benz India launches top-end variants of GLE LWB  (long wheelbase)                                                                              picture courtesy Google images German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz on 02 June 2020 launched top-end petrol and diesel variants of its best-selling SUV. The new top-end variants of the GLE LWB (long wheelbase) - 450 4MATIC (petrol) and 400 d 4MATIC (diesel) are powered by BS-VI in-line six-cylinder engines. GLE 450 4MATIC LWB has a power of 367 hp and can accelerate from 0-100 km/hour in 5.7 seconds, while the new GLE 400 d 4MATIC LWB produces an output of 330 hp and can also accelerate from 0-100 km/hour in 5.7 seconds, Mercedes-Benz India said in a statement.              ...

The smallest known living birds in the world Bee Hummingbirds are the smallest known living birds in the world.They are so small that it is often mistaken for a bee or an insect. These birds are mostly between 5 - 6cm in length-including beak and tail; and they weigh between 1.6-1.9g. Females are slightly larger than males. Their eggs are of the size of coffee beans.  Bee Humming birds are endemic to Cuba. Unlike other Hummingbirds, they do not migrate because the climate they live in has no seasonal extremes. However, they do move short distances in search of high quality nectar from flowers during different seasons of the year.                                                                        ...