Albert Einstein Facts

1. The Pathologist who did Einstein's body autopsy stole his brain and kept it in a jar for 20 years.
2. Einstein's Nobel Prize money went to his ex-wife as divorce settlement.
3. Einstein failed his university entrance exam and had to reapply for it a year later.


4. Einstein had a bad memory. He didn't remember names, dates and phone numbers.


5. Austrian physicist Friedrich Hasenohrl published the equation E=mc² a year before Einstein did.

Rat Poison

Rats can't vomit, that's why they die of rat poison (usually a powerful anticoagulant). 

El Clásico

Biggest footballing rivalry: El Clásico

by APURV THAKUR

With an average television viewership of more than 400 million people worldwide, El Classico is much more than a football game. It is the battle of pride for the two biggest cities of Spain, i.e, Madrid and Barcelona which are the cities respectively having the 2^nd richest (Real Madrid C.F.: $3.44bil.) and 3^rd richest (F.C. Barcelona: $3.2bil.) football club in the world just behind the recently top placed Manchester United ($3.6 bil.). Along with Athletic Bilbao, they are the only two clubs in La Liga to have never been relegated. The El Clasico synchronizes with the heartbeat of their fans with every creative move of the team popping their hearts out. With so many footballing rivalries, this Spanish rivalry is one of the most loved as it involves best player in the world competing with each other. FIFA 2012 team of the year had 10 out of 11 players from Real Madrid and Barcelona alone (5 players each).

Football Club Barcelona was founded in the year 1899 and Real Madrid in 1902 as Madrid Football Club. The history of this rivalry started on political background so that elections to the clubs' presidencies get strongly politicized. The rivalry reflects the political and cultural tensions between Catalans and the Castilians which can be seen as a re-enactment of the Spanish Civil War. The image of the clubs was affected by Ultas group, some of which became Hooligans and were involved in severe riots between the clubs. The rivalry further intensified during 1950’s while signing the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano. Both clubs claimed to own his registration, but after intervention of FIFA, it was decided to share the player for alternate season. But Real Madrid finally signed him after Barcelona’s president somehow backed down, which proved to be the key for Real Madrid’s success.

Alfredo Di Stéfano

Originally El Clasico referred only to those competitions held in the Spanish championship, but nowadays for marketing needs the term has been generalized, and tends to include every single match between the two clubs.

Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned the world’s most marketable player with 83.9% people worldwide knowing him followed by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi with global awareness of 76.1%. With both clubs having the two undisputed best players of the game in the present time the rivalry has further increased but only for the better marketing of the clubs.

As for the face to face record,

 Ø  Real Madrid leads by 91 wins to Barcelona’s 88 with 48 draws in all competitions.

 Ø  Real Madrid has won the Spanish league title 32 times with 10 European Cup/UEFA Champions League making it the most successful club in Europe’s history. 

 Ø  Barcelona has 22 La Liga titles along with 4 UEFA Champions League trophies.

 Ø  Barcelona leads Copa del Rey(King's Cup) titles with 26 trophies compared to Real Madrid’s 19.

 Overall Barcelona has a count of 81 official titles and Real Madrid has 77.

In the past decade Barcelona proved to be a better club but Real Madrid has a rich history and the best counter attacking team in the world which shattered Barcelona’s dream with Catalans taking no silverware last season. Madrid claimed two titles last season. But this evergoing battle is not over yet with the season 2014-15 already started and the people curious for another epic battle of the footballing giants.

To be Truthful is to be Human

To be Truthful is to be Human

by APURV TAHKUR

‘Satyamev Jayate’ meaning Truth Alone Triumphs has become just another verse for the current human society. It is actually a mantra from the ancient Indian scripture, Mundaka Upanishad. Upon independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India and we have failed to follow this simple two-word verse in our hectic lifestyle. Truthfulness is an eternal golden quality found only in the most disciplined, generous and unselfish type of human beings which is now an endangered specie in this modern society. As quoted by Albert Einstein, the great theoretical physicist, “Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either”. This quote implies perfectly to our lives where trust no longer exists as it earlier used to be and everything we do today is for our benefit or simply business.

                                        

                                

The virtue, humanity, is a set of strengths focused on “tending and befriending others.” As per the Vedas and other ancient Hindu scriptures the degradation of mankind and this planet started as soon as Lord Krishna disappeared 5000 years ago after the epic battle of Mahabharata. But we never made an effort to stop the degradation, we just want to be happy alone ignoring others and this theory of ours didn’t actually work. Being human is not as easy as branding “Being Human” by rich and charismatic people like Salman Khan. Being human in actual requires a lot of effort from our side, moral values, patience, courage and self-realization. Lack of these qualities is the sole cause for the rising tensions, stress level and ego amongst us.

We often think how speaking truth can make us a better human? We search for the answer to this, see people around us who don’t speak a lot of truth, often lies and accomplish their task by these lies. And thus we conclude that lies help us accomplish our tasks. But do we realize how short term profit it is to lie? Do we see the after-affects if our lies are caught? Do you think the person we lied to will ever trust us again and what he will tell others about us? And the biggest question arises- Will we ourselves trust these people who lie so often? These questions are what matters in long term and we often ignore them. Such ignorance from truthfulness surely affects our lives in long run. Many great and successful leaders have highlighted that being truthful made them a better human being, the biggest example being Mahatama Gandhi. Speaking truth awakes the sense of humanity within our hearts and also makes us more trustworthy. Oscar Wilde said, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple”, but we know it eventually has to occur someday as truth is eternal and lies are temporary. The more we delay truth with lies, worse are its effects. Thus it is prescribed in all the religious scriptures to always speak truth for the reason that truth may be bitter at the moment it is revealed but it frees our mind thereafter. For lies the theory stands opposite.

Following the path of truth will eventually help us being proud of ourselves, reduce the stress of constantly covering our lie with more lies and purifying ourselves from within. But this path is not easy and thus quoted by Buddha, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting”. So initiating it is important and soon we will realize its importance. Not easy, but to satisfy our material needs we work hard, similarly to satisfy our soul and mind we must initiate and take the path of truth. Surely it will help us prosper in our lives and help us replenish the lost humanity within us and the society.

      

                                       

The "Barkless" Dog

Basenji (pronounced buh-sen-jee) is the African breed of dog that actually doesn't bark, rather makes yodel noise. It can also howl, growl and crow but not bark.


  

Fastest in the Animal Kingdom

The Paragrine Falcon is the fastest member of the animal kingdom with highest measured speed of 389 km/hr (242 mph).

Labrador Retriever origin

Labrador Retrievers were actually originated in Newfoundland (a large island in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Canada) and not Labrador.

http://www.labrador-retriever-guide.com/images/colouredlabs.jpg