Which is the biggest state in India? How about the smallest? Get down to the details with this interactive task and map.
India is a country of diversity. Its 28 states and 8 union territories are packed with distinctive features that make the country a vibrant tapestry of arts, culture, geography, history, cuisine, language and so on.
Do you know which is the biggest state in India in terms of area? How about the smallest? This interactive task contains eight states. Can you arrange them based on their size?
Good job! The below graphic shows the entire list of 36 entities (28 states and 8 UTs), from largest to smallest. Move the slider to discover more.
The above map is not drawn to scale. It is meant for representation/educational purposes only.
Limerick, lyrics, and lullaby…Do you all have music in common? Learn more as you solve this crossword.
Music is all about instruments, songs, notes, beats and people. How much do you know? Test yourself as you play this crossword.
Try this Picdoku based on the Indian medallists at the Olympics. Can you solve it?
India had its best outing at the Olympics at Tokyo this year with seven medals in its kitty. Take a look at the winners:
Ravi Kumar Dahiya won a silver medal in the 57 kg category in wrestling.
P.V. Sindhu won the bronze in badminton.
Neeraj Chopra brought home India’s first gold in athletics (javelin throw).
Mirabai Chanu won a silver in the women’s 49 kg category in weightlifting.
Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze in the women’s welterweight category in boxing.
Bajrang Punia won a bronze in the 65-kg weight category in wrestling.
With the bronze, the Indian men’s hockey team ended a 41-year wait for an Olympic medal in the game.
Now here’s a fun game for you based on these sportspeople. This is a picdoku; just is like a sudoku, but with pictures instead of numbers. This game has six of the seven medallists. Can you solve it correctly?
Photos: PTI, AFP, Ritu Raj Konwar, Nagara Gopal and The Hindu Photo Archives
Do you know what is a Bath or a Theatre? Play this word search and get to know more.
Do you love architecture? And would you like to know more about the terms used to define buildings. Then play this word search right away!
Love number games? If yes, try your hand at this puzzle.
Are you a number lover? Then, try this popular game and see if you can ace it. A Sudoku is a 6 x 6 grid consisting of columns, rows and blocks.
Instructions on how to play
The objective of the game is to fill the missing digits into the grid, using digits 1 to 6. In each column, row and block, you can use a digit only once. Drag and drop the numbers (1-6), given beside the grid, in their right places.
Rules
1. Each row will, upon completion, contain all of the digits from 1 to 6.
2. Each column will, upon completion, contain all of the digits from 1 to 6.
3. Each coloured block will, upon completion, contain all of the digits from 1 to 6.
Time to get your grey cells whizzing with this set of questions.
How much do you know of the world around you? Find out with this week’s quiz!
Do you know some snakes can fly? And why are bats the best flyers? Read on to find out more…
All our lives we have grown up knowing that birds are the only creatures who can move up in the air. But there are a host of other animal species in the world who are efficient fliers. Here are three animals who can fly…
Flying with their hands
Bats do something unique — they fly not with their arms but with their hands. A bat’s wing is a miracle of flight engineering, complete with thumb and four fingers and self-tensioning skin in between. No other type of wing gives this level of control. Their innovative wing design allows bats to cover huge distances to feed, fly fast to evade predators and manoeuvre tightly in their crowded caves where hundreds of thousands of baby bats huddle together for warmth.
Snakes up in the air
How scary does that sound? But it’s true that the paradise tree snakes can remain suspended in air. The tropical rainforests of Borneo are home to these reptiles. Even though a snake cannot actually fly, it does something very different. It glides using the speed of the free fall and contorts its bodies to generate lift. By holding on with their tail, these tree snakes can cross a gap with 90% of their body unsupported. Remarkably, just after launch, the snakes throw their ribs forward, flattening their body into a very special shape called an ‘aerofoil’. Only about a metre in length, these snakes are known to cover a distance as long as 100 metres.
The flying cats
In South Africa, the caracal is a cat has the unique ability to catch birds in flight. You could forgive a bird for believing it is safely out of reach but the caracal is perfectly designed to catch it. Its front is smaller and lightweight but its back legs are built like a booster rocket, 30% longer and with twice the muscle mass. This design maximises the caracal’s speed on take-off and, as it leaves the earth, the speed gradually increases.
Discover interesting facts about berries and download your own calendar to keep yourself organised.
Chennai is home to some unique dishes thanks to the influence of communities from around the world. Sample them here.
Chennai’s cuisine is influenced by communities from around the world that call it home. Discover some of them…
Burma
Large-scale emigration of Tamils from Burma (now Myanmar) in the 1960s saw many settle down in Chennai, forming a colony close to the beach in the North of the city. One of the many things they brought with them was Burmese cuisine. To this day, there are street stall and restaurants that serve Burmese food; the most popular being atho (athok or thouk in Burma). It is a salad-like dish with grated vegetables and fried onions tossed in garlic oil, chilli powder, salt, masala powder and lime juice. It is topped with orange noodles and crushed crispy bejo and coriander. Bejo is another Burmese specialty — a fried snack made of rice flour and groundnuts. Other popular Burmese food served in Chennai are mohinga — maida noodles served in a bowl of soup, masala eggs and plantain soup.
Anglo-Indian
Chennai’s vibrant Anglo-Indian community has ensured that dishes like Pork devil fry, Devil’s Chutney and Chicken Ding Ding continue to tease the locals’ taste buds. The cuisine is typically the Indian version of British food made with local ingredients, spices and cooking techniques. In fact, this could very well be the first fusion food ever in the country’s history. Chicken Ding Ding is made with sun-dried meat — probably originated when excess meat was sun-dried and preserved for rainy days. Devil’s Chutney is a sharp-tasting paste of onions, salt, sugar, vinegar and a bit of red chilli powder. Peekingkoy — the Anglicised name of the Peerkangai, (ridge gourd) — served with beef; Bobo Curry, an Anglo-Indian version of the chicken curry; Mulligatawny Soup — a rasam and soup hybrid — are some of the popular dishes.
China
The thriving Chinese community at Kolkata was the first to set up Chinese food stalls over 200 years ago. Eventually, they adapted the food to suit the Indian palate — with the inclusion of Indian vegetables and spices. Thus, Indo-Chinese cuisine was born in its many versions. And the city of Chennai was only happy to add this cuisine to its multicultural culinary offering. Today, popular dishes like the Manchurian and Schezwan — which bears no resemblance to the dishes from China’s Sichuan Province — are served in every restaurant and street food stall in the city.
With innovations like Schezwan dosa, spring roll dosa and chilli idli, even local dishes have not escaped the Chinese influence.
Guess the origin
Based on your reading of the article, can you guess which foreign cuisine these dishes are from or inspired from? Burmese, Sri Lankan, Chinese or Anglo-Indian
Madras, it is said, is an emotion. Chennai is a city. Let’s find out more about this city.
