Articles - Page 267 of 538 - Young World Club

Designed to stun

Get set to tour these six vibrant houses of Parliament. Match the country with its Parliament house.

A civic building is a central landmark in the business centre of a town or city. It is the pride of the district and fosters a strong local, regional and national identity. It also provides public services and has a positive impact on a neighborhood. Civic buildings include parliaments.

Today, let’s take a look at the world’s ten most striking government buildings.

Parliament House, Sri Lanka:

It is an asymmetric group of colonnaded pavilions with striking copper roofs ‘floating’ on a man-made lake. The site was originally a marsh and was dredged to form a small island to support the structures and a wide shore with dense tree cover.

Parliament House, Bangladesh: This magnificent group of buildings in Dhaka is set on an artificial lake. The main building is in fact not a single monument but comprises eight closely connected concrete and limestone blocks including a prayer hall and passageways using sunlight to an optimum.

Parliament House, Germany: The earlier neo-Baroque styled building was torched by Hitler and it was later in the 90’s that the werecked site was finally refurbished as offices. The Red Army graffiti has been preserved and visitors can walk around the steel and glass dome interiors.

Parliament House, Finland: Although it is a modern democratic country, yet its parliament house is designed in a classical way. Set on the Aracadia Hills, this imposing structure looks formidable. However, its interiors are colourful and the parliamentary chamber, is a circular, top-lit space adorned with statues representing Finnish virtues.

Parliament House, China: For the 10th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, the Communist Party included the Great Hall of the People, as one of the 10 buildings they had ordered as a part of its celebration. This structure is a fine example of Chinese neo-Classicism with an enormous building and a floor area bigger than that of the Forbidden City. The State banquet hall is designed to accommodate 5,000 diners at a single sitting and the Great Auditorium, can house 10,000 delegates.

Parliament House, Romania: One of the world’s biggest and heaviest buildings, this structure was dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s dream. These vast marble halls house the Senate and Chamber of Deputies as well as museums, a conference centre and eight underground levels including secret escape tunnels.

Now that you know all about these parliaments why not play a small game?

Laughing colours of nature

Look around you and see the wonder of nature as it unfolds every day. It’s beauty never fails to astound you. Can you solve this crossword? It’s all about nature.

“In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather’s fine…” go the words a song sung in the early 1970s. Though sung so long ago the words still hold true. Just like the beauty of summer.

Try this crossword. If you like nature then this is for you.

Music maker

Discover riveting facts and listen to some lively tunes — the recorder is an interesting instrument indeed.

What is a recorder? How does it sound? Scroll through these slides to find out more about the musical instrument that is invariably associated with music education. Don’t forget to answer the quiz at the end!

Audio: Avehi Vivek

Lockdown lament

After a farce of a summer vacation, we are ‘back-to-school’ again. Whatever that means! Summer vacation has just been a vicious work cycle.

Trust grownups to take the fun out of everything. You like Anime, and suddenly you find yourself learning Japanese. You make yourself a snack and you’re signed up for an online cooking class (What’s the point? you can’t taste everyone else’s cake).But, this is the final straw, peeps! They’ve ruined screen time for all of us. That’s right, screen time, the one thing we all had to do during this never-ending lockdown, has been snatched away from us and turned into something ugly. Online school.

After what was the worst summer in the history of forever, where nothing summer-like was done, my school reopened this week. As a virtual school. If you ask me, that doesn’t make ANY sense. How can they reopen school after a summer break if we didn’t even have a summer break? It’s just not fair.

Check out this slider to find out everything I have to deal with, now that “school” is back on, after a horrible summer break. If you can call it that, thanks to this COVID-19 lockdown.

For a better tomorrow

Although there has been an easing down in the lockdown rules in many places, researchers are still working hard to find a treatment. Learn more…

If you have been following the news lately about the happenings around the world the biggest topic of conversation is coronavirus. After many months of being in lockdown and quarantine, many countries and cities are easing down on the lockdown rules. While some countries have managed to flatten the curve, some continue to be hotspots for the virus.

Many researchers and doctors from across the globe are still hard at work trying to find a vaccine for COVID-19. While they do, you have to remember to do your part in keeping safe.

There are a few things to keep in mind. Make a note of these key points.

Here’s a game to acknowledge the hard work of people who are trying to find a treatment for the virus and also those in the frontlines helping those affected.

Can you spot the differences?

Bracing for impact

As super cyclone Amphan is all set to make landfall, find out a little more about this fascinating yet devastating weather phenomenon.

Stories set in stone

Here are some of India’s most famous ruins. Unscramble the puzzles to find out how many of them do you know.

Not always is beauty found in all that which is complete. Sometimes, it can also be seen and experienced in things that are incomplete or broken. Some of the most mysterious ruins in India bear testimony to this. Here are a few of them.

Try your hand at this shuffle puzzle to see if you can put the pictures in order.

Kachari ruins, Dimapur, Nagaland

Kachari Ruins or The Dimasa Kachari Ruins are a series of mushroom-domed pillars. They were created by the Dimasa Kachari Kingdoms that ruled there before Ahom invasion during the 13th century. The purpose and origin of the pillars are mysterious. While a few of them stand in full glory, others have crumbled. It is also believed that a game similar to chess was played here with the mushroom-shaped domes.

Somapura Mahavihara ruins, Paharpur, Bangladesh

An eighth-century Buddhist monastery in Paharpur, Naogaon District, Bangladesh, it is one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in the Indian subcontinent, with the complex itself covering more than 20 acres, almost a million square feet (85,000 sq. meters). While no specific reason for the vihara being in a state of ruins has been mentioned, according to scholar Sukumar Dutt, “The ruins of the temple and monasteries at Pāhāpur do not bear any evident marks of large-scale destruction. The downfall of the establishment, by desertion or destruction, must have been sometime in the midst of the widespread unrest and displacement of population consequent on the Muslim invasion.”

Bhangarh Fort, Rajasthan

Bhangarh is a city that was built in 1613 and is famous for its historic ruins within the Bhangarh Fort. It is situated in the Alwar district in Rajasthan. During the rule of Bhagwant Das, the town was established as the residence of his second son Madho Singh, the younger brother of the general of Emperor Akbar, Man Singh I. The ruins are full of mystery: from myths about an old sage cursing the city, to a tantrik’s failed attempt to marry Bhangarh’s princess Ratnavati.

Kakanmath temple, Shihoniya, Madhya Pradesh

A ruined 11th-century Shiva temple located at Sihoniya in Madhya Pradesh, it was built by the Kachchhapaghata ruler Kirttiraja. Originally, the site had a temple complex, with a central temple surrounded by four subsidiary shrines. Now, only the ruins of the central temple stand — its outer walls, balconies and a part of its spire have fallen. It is speculated that the damage probably happened during an earthquake. The temple is classified as a Monument of National Importance by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Hampi ruins, Karnataka

On the banks of the Tungabhadra River in Karnataka, lie the ruins of Hampi, where the capital of the Vijayanagara kingdom once stood. From 1336 to its fall in 1565, when it was attacked by Muslim invaders from the North, this was the Hindu capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Besides the magnificent Virupaksha Temple, the ruins are home to several fascinating structures including the Lotus Mahal, the Stepped Tank, and the iconic stone chariot, among others. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.

Trick or treat!

Change the mood in the house a little with a fun trick that is sure to make your parents’ eye pop! Learn how to do it…

Nothing like a harmless prank to perk up everybody’s mood. And the bonus is you get to employ your creative skills as well! Here’s a simple one you can try.

Time is all you need!

Time, time, time. Time, is something we all use during our day, everyday. Watch this video to learn a little bit about it…

$Time is all you need!$