World Heritage Sites in India

• Agra Fort (1983)
• Ajanta Caves (1983)
• Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989)
• Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004)
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004)
• Churches and Convents of Goa (1986)
• Elephanta Caves (1987)
• Ellora Caves (1983)
• Fatehpur Sikri (1986)
• Great Living Chola Temples (1987)
• Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)
• Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984)
• Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987)
• Humayun's Tomb, Delhi (1993)
• Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)
• Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002)
• Mountain Railways of India (1999)
• Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993)
• Red Fort Complex (2007)
• Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003)
• Sun Temple, Konârak (1984)
• Taj Mahal (1983)
• The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010)

Natural

• Kaziranga National Park (1985)
• Keoladeo National Park (1985)
• Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (1985)
• Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks (1988)
• Sundarbans National Park (1987)

ORGANIZATIONS ESTABLISHED IN ANDHRA PRADESH

A P State Agro-Industries Development Corporation - 1968
A P State Co-operative Marketing Federation- 1957
A P State Seeds Development Corporation - 1976
A P State Warehousing Corporation - 1958
Department of Marketing - 1962
The Federation of Sericulturists and Silks Weaver's Co-Op Societies - 1975
The Hyderabad Agricultural Co-Operative Association Ltd (HACA) - 1949
A P Commission for Backward classes - 1994
A P State Civil Supplies Corporation - 1974
A P State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission - 1986
A P E P D C L - 2000
A P Genco - 1999
A P Transco - 1999
A P Administrative Tribunal - 1989
A P Press Academy - 1996
AP Vigilance Commission - 1964
Institution Of A P Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta - 1983
A P State Housing Corporation Ltd - 1979
A P Handicrafts Development Corporation - 1982
A P Industrial Development Corporation - 1960
A P Mineral Development Corporation - 1961
A P Trade Promotion Corporation - 1970
A P State Irrigation Development Corporation - 1974
Directorate of Andhra Pradesh Engineering Research Laboratories - 1945
Water and Land Management Training And Research Institute - 1983
AP State Labour Welfare Board - 1988
A P State Minorities Finance Corporation Limited - 1985
A P State Wakf Board - 1955
Andhra Pradesh Industrial Technical Consultancy Organisation Ltd - 1976
A P Beverages Corporation Limited - 1986
Directorate of A P Open School Society - 1991
A P S W R E I Society - 1983
A P Scheduled Castes Co-operative Finance Corporation - 1974
A P Scheduled Tribes Co-operative Finance Corporation - 1976
A P T W R E I Society - 1998
Girijan Co-operative Corporation Ltd - 1956
A P State Road Transport Corporation - 1932
A P State Social Welfare Board - 1954
A P Vikalangula Co-operative Corporation - 1981
A P Women's Co-operative Finance Corporation - 1975
Andhra Pradesh Foods - 1974
Commissionerate of Disabled Welfare - 1983

UN Agencies and their Headquarters

1.The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) - UNDP is the UN‘s global development network advocating change and connecting countries to share knowledge and resources which helps build a better life in countries across the globe. Presently it has offices in 166 member countries. UNDP is headquartered at New York, US.
2.The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – UNICEF was initially set up in 1946 as an emergency fund to provide post-war relief to children in different countries. Today, as a children’s fund, UNICEF concentrates its activities on providing assistance to children and mothers in developing countries, aiming at improving their quality of life. UNICEF is headquartered at New York, US.
3.The United Nations Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) – UNESCO was founded on 16 November 1945 to assist developing countries in their educational projects, to help the countries in scientific development and to build cultural understanding between the nations. UNESCO is headquartered at Paris, France.
4.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) – IMF is an international organisation having 184 member countries. It was established in 1945 to promote international monetary co-operation and exchange stability between nations which in turn would promote economic growth and increase employment opportunities. IMF also provides temporary financial assistance to its member countries to ease their balance of payment. IMF is headquartered at Washington DC, US.
5.The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, commonly known as the World Bank) – The ‘World Bank’ was formed after the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, but begun operations in 1946. It aims at providing financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the World. Presently World Bank has 184 member countries and is headquartered at Washinton DC, US.
6.The World Trade Organisation (WTO) – WTO was formed as an international trade body to replace General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) in 1995. WTO is the only international body dealing with rules of trade between the countries to help producers of goods and services, exporters and importers conduct their business. It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland. Cape Verde has been the most recent member of the WTO since 23 July 2008.
For the entire list of members go to
7.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – IAEA was set up in 1957. It is presently headquartered at Vienna, Austria.
8.The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) – FAO was set up in 1945. It is presently headquartered at Rome, Italy.
9.The World Health Organisation (WHO) – W.H.O was set up in 1946. It is presently headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.
10.The International Finance Corporation (IFC) – IFC is an affiliate of the World Bank, and was set up in 1956. It is headquartered at Washinton DC, US.
11.The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – ITU was set up in 1932. It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.
12.The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) – ICAO was set up in 1944. It is headquartered at Montreal, Canada.
13.The Universal Postal Union (UPU) – UPU was set up in 1875. It is headquartered at Berne, Switzerland.
14.The International Labor Organisation (ILO) – ILO was set uo in 1919. It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.
15.The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – IMO was set up in 1948. It is head quarter.

INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES AND THEIR HEADQUARTERS
1.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) – It is headquartered at Manila, Phillipines.
2.The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) – It is headquartered at Jakarta, Indonesia.
3.The European Union (EU) – It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.
4.The INTERPOL – It is headquartered at Lyon, France
5.The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.
6.The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – It is headquartered at Vienna, Austria.
7.The Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) – It is headquartered at Kuwait.
8.The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) – It is headquartered at Kathmandu, Nepal.
9.The Red Cross – It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.

Disputed Areas of the World

Abu Musa : Iran & UAE
Aksai Chin : India & China
Vozrozhdeniya Island : Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Senkakku : Japan & China
Spratly Islands : China , Malaysia , Philippines and Vietnam
Bassas da India : France & Madagaskar
Bakassi : Nigeria & Cameroon
Chagos Archipelago
Hala'ib Triangle : Sudan & Egypt
Kuril Islands : Russia & Japan
Paracel Islands: China, Taiwan & Vietnam
Preah Vihear Temple : Thailand & Cambodia
Sabah : Malaysia, Indonesia & Phillipines
Shatt al-Arab : Iran & Irak

Abu Musa : Iran & UAE
Abu Musa is a 12-km² island in the eastern Persian Gulf, part of a six-island archipelago near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. The island is administered by Iran as part of the Iranian province of Hormozgan, but is also claimed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Aksai Chin : India & China
Aksai Chin, is a disputed region located in the northwestern region of the Tibetan Plateau just below the western Kunlun Mountains. It is administered by China , however, claimed by India as a part of its state of Jammu and Kashmir. The region contains the lake Aksayqin Hu and the river Aksayqin He. Aksai Chin is one of the two main border disputes between China and India, the other being the dispute over Arunachal Pradesh, which is administered by India and claimed by China as South Tibet. India claims Aksai Chin as the eastern-most part of the Jammu and Kashmir state. The line that separates Indian-administered areas of Kashmir from the Aksayqin is known as the Line of Actual Control . Aksai Chin is a vast high-altitude desert of salt that reaches heights up to 5,000 metres. It covers an area of 42,685 square kilometres of the disputed territory. Geographically part of the Tibetan Plateau, Aksai Chin is referred to as the Soda Plain. The region is almost uninhabited, has no permanent settlements, and receives little precipitation as the Himalayan and other mountains block the rains from the Indian monsoon.

Vozrozhdeniya Island : Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Vozrozhdeniya Island, is a former island, now a peninsula, in the Aral Sea. It became a peninsula in 2002, due to ongoing shrinkage of the Aral Sea.It is now shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Located in the central Aral Sea, Vozrozhdeniya Island was one of the main laboratories and testing sites for the Soviet Union government’s Microbiological Warfare Group. In 1948, a top-secret Soviet bioweapons laboratory was established here. Word of the island's danger was further spread by Soviet defectors, including Ken Alibek, the former head of the Soviet Union's bioweapons program. It was here, according to just released documents, that anthrax spores and bubonic plague bacilli were made into weapons and stored. The main town on the island was Kantubek, which lies in ruins today, but once had approximately 1,500 inhabitants.

Senkakku : Japan & China
The Senkaku Islands also known as Diaoyutai Islands or the Pinnacle Islands, are a group of disputed, uninhabited islands currently controlled by Japan, but also claimed by the Republic of China (as part of Toucheng Township in Yilan County, Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China. The islands are located northeast of Taiwan, due west of Okinawa, and due north of the end of the Ryukyu Islands in the East China Sea. Their status has emerged as a major issue in foreign relations between the People's Republic of China and Japan and between Japan and the Republic of China. Japanese government regards these islands as a part of Okinawa prefecture. While the complexity of the PRC-ROC relation has affected efforts to demonstrate Chinese sovereignty over the islands, both governments agree that the islands are part of Taiwan province.

Spratly Islands : China , Malaysia , Philippines and Vietnam
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 650 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea between the Philippines and Vietnam. They comprise less than five square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 400,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys, as they are called, are part of the three archipelagos of the South China Sea, comprising more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which so complicates geography, governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant oil and gas. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Brunei has established a fishing zone that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim.

Bassas da India : France & Madagaskar
Bassas da India is an uninhabited, roughly circular atoll about 10 km in diameter, which corresponds to a total size (including lagoon) of 80 km². It is located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about half-way between Madagascar (which is 385 km to the east) and Mozambique, and 110 km northwest of Europa Island. It rises steeply from the seabed 3000 m below. The reef rim averages around 100 m across and completely encloses a shallow lagoon that has a maximum depth of 15 m. Its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 123,700 km² is contiguous with that of Europa Island.

Bakassi : Nigeria & Cameroon
Bakassi is the peninsular extension of the African territory of Calabar into the Atlantic Ocean. It is currently ruled by Cameroon following the transfer of sovereignty from neighbouring Nigeria as a result of a judgment by the International Court of Justice. On 22 November 2007, the Nigerian Senate rejected the transfer, since the Green Tree Agreement ceding the area to Cameroon was contrary to Section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution. Regardless, the territory was formally transferred to Cameroon on August 14, 2008.

Chagos Archipelago : UK , Mauritius & Seychelles
The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 individual tropical islands roughly in the centre of the Indian Ocean. The Chagos lies about 500 km (300 miles) due south of the Maldives, its nearest neighbour, 1600 km (1000 miles) southwest of India, half way between Tanzania and Java. The Chagos group is a combination of different coralline structures topping a submarine ridge running southwards across the centre of the Indian Ocean, formed by volcanoes above the Réunion hotspot. Unlike in the Maldives there is not a clearly discernible pattern of arrayed atolls, which makes the whole archipelago look somewhat chaotic. Most of the coralline structures of the Chagos are submerged reefs. Officially part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Chagos were home to the Chagossians for more than a century and a half until the United Kingdom and the United States expelled them in the 1960s in order to allow the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands. The deal was sanctioned by the then British Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey.

Hala'ib Triangle : Sudan & Egypt
The Hala'ib Triangle is an area of land measuring 20,580 km² located on the Red Sea's African coast, between the political borders of Egypt (at the 22nd circle of latitude - as per the 1899 treaty) and the administrative boundary (as per the 1902 treaty) . The major town in this area is Hala'ib. The only other populated place is Abu Ramad, 30 km northwest of Hala'ib town on the Red Sea coast. Alshalateen is an Egyptian town just on the northern administrative boundary. The closest Sudanese town south of the disputed area is Osief (Marsa Osief), located 26 km south of the 22nd circle of latitude, the political borders line claimed by Egypt.

Kuril Islands : Russia & Japan
Matua Island as seen from Raikoke.The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, is a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately 1,300 km (700 miles) northeast from Hokkaido, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands in total and many more minor rocks. All of the islands are under Russian jurisdiction, although the southernmost four are claimed by Japan as part of their territory.

Paracel Islands: China, Taiwan & Vietnam
The Paracel Islands consist of over 30 islets, sandbanks or reefs, occupy about 15,000 km2 of the ocean surface, and located in the South China Sea, also known as East Vietnam Sea or East Sea. Turtles live on the islands, and seabirds have left nests and guano deposits, but there are no permanent human residents except for a small number of troops. The archipelago is approximately equidistant from the coastlines of Vietnam and China, and about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines. The islands comprise of two main groups. The Amphitrite group is in the northeast and the Crescent group is in the west, and about 70 km from one another. Subject to hot and humid climate, with abundant rainfall and frequent typhoons, the archipelago is surrounded by productive fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves. Notably, up until the early 18th century, the present-day Spratly Islands were still delineated as part of the Paracel archipelago, and that the sovereignty over the islands has been inflaming the century-old dispute.

Preah Vihear Temple : Thailand & Cambodia
The Preah Vihear Temple or Prasat Preah Vihear is a Khmer temple situated atop a 525-metre (1,720 ft) cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, in the Preah Vihear province of northern Cambodia and near the border of the Kantharalak district (amphoe) in the Sisaket province of northeastern Thailand. In 1962, following a significant dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over ownership of the temple, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague awarded the ownership to Cambodia.

Sabah : Malaysia, Indonesia & Phillipines
Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo . It is the second largest state in Malaysia after Sarawak, which it borders on its south-west. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. In spite of its status as a Malaysian state, Sabah remains a disputed territory; the Philippines has a dormant claim over much of the eastern part of the territory. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton. Sabah is known as "Sabah, negeri di bawah bayu", which means "Sabah, the land below the winds", because of its location just south of the typhoon-prone region around the Philippines.

Shatt al-Arab : Iran & Irak
The Shatt al-Arab is a river in Southwest Asia of some 200 kilometres in length, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the border between Iraq and Iran down to the mouth of the river as it discharges into the Persian Gulf. It varies in width from about 232 metres at Basra to 800 metres (2,600 ft) at its mouth. It is thought that the waterway formed relatively recently in geologic time, with the Tigris and Euphrates originally emptying into the Persian Gulf via a channel further to the west. The Karun river, a tributary which joins the waterway from the Iranian side, deposits large amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable. The area is judged to hold the largest date palm forest in the world. In the mid-1970s, the region included 17 to 18 million date palms, an estimated one-fifth of the world's 90 million palm trees. But by 2002, war, salt, and pests had wiped out more than 14 million of the palms, including around 9 million in Iraq and 5 million in Iran. Many of the remaining 3 to 4 million trees are in poor condition.

Awards give in India

Bharat Ratna Award

India has produced a legacy of brave hearts since times immemorial. Probably there is not enough space to measure their sacrifices. However, we cannot close our eyes to those people who have made our country proud by excelling in their own fields and bringing us international recognition. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order.
The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state emblem and motto. It was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. This design was altered after a year.

Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Award
(Reverse Side)

The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many dignitaries, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career has received this coveted award.
In fact, our former President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed honour (1997). There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only. The award has been awarded to a naturalized Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980) and to two non-Indians – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990). It is also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year. The last time this award was given was in 2008, to Bhimsen Joshi.

Padma Awards

Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants. The recommendations for Padma Awards are received from the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, Central Ministries/Departments, Institutions of Excellence, etc. which are considered by an Awards Committee. On the basis of the recommendations of the Awards Committee, and after approval of the Home Minister, Prime Minister and President, the Padma Awards are announced on the eve of the Republic Day.
View the list of Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri Awardees.

Padma Vibhushan Award:

Padma Bhushan Award:

Padma Shri Award:

Gallantry Awards

The art of appreciating the brave and gallant is not new. They form one of the most important constituents of a nation’s stability. History defines gallantry as commanded respect and appreciation. The concept of emancipation of the brave is cognizant in our Epics too. In the Mahabharata, the merit of dying as a martyr in the cause of Dharma is all along appreciated as the easiest way to heaven. In fact, any kind of death on the battlefield was considered glorious.
Whether being the appointed head of a clan, raised memorials in honour of the martyrs/brave souls or granted titles, robe of honour, cash awards or medals etc., recognition of bravery has always been a very prestigious affair. The conclusion of British Rule in India saw the end of the old institution of British honours and awards. Independent India saw the introduction of awards such as Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Shaurya Chakra etc.

Param Vir Chakra (PVC)

This is the highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour in the presence of the enemy. Introduced on 26th January 1950, this award may be given posthumously. Literally, Param Vir Chakra means 'Wheel (or Cross) of the Ultimate Brave'. In Sanskrit, ‘Param’ means Ultimate, ‘Vir’ (Pronounced veer) means Brave and ‘Chakra’ means Wheel. The PVC is the equivalent award of the Medal of Honour in the United States, and the Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom.

Ashok Chakra

The Ashok Chakra series of awards are open to civilians also. Recommendations received in respect of civilians from the State Governments/Union territory Administra-tions and Ministries/Departments of the Central Government are processed by the Ministry of Defence for the consideration of the Central Honours and Awards Committee chaired by the Defence Minister. These awards are biannual and are given on the Republic Day and Independence Day.

Shaurya Chakra

This is awarded for gallantry other than in the face of the enemy. This award may be granted to civilians or to military personnel and may be awarded posthumously.

Bravery Awards

The national awards for bravery was started in 1957 by the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) to recognise and honour children who have performed outstanding deeds of bravery and selfless sacrifice. Every year the ICCW confers these awards to children below 16years of age.
Applications for these awards are acknowledged from Central/State government departments, Panchayats, Zila Parishads, school authorities as well as state and Union Territory councils for child welfare.
The selection is made by a committee constituted by the ICCW, comprising of representatives from the Secretariats of the President and the Vice-President, various ministries, as well as the Central Social Welfare Board, police, All India Radio, Doordarshan and leading NGOs such as the National Bal Bhavan, SOS, Children's Villages of India, R K Mission and experienced ICCW members.
The awards are announced on November 14 (Children's Day) and the Prime Minister presents the awards on the eve of Republic Day. The awardees receive a medal, certificate and cash as a token of their indispensable courage.
In addition to this, some of them are also granted financial assistance to complete their schooling (ICCW's sponsorship programme) and professional courses such as medical and engineering (under the Indira Gandhi scholarship scheme). Assistance is also provided to some till they complete their graduation.

Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards

The Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of awards are given for courage and promptitude under circumstances of great danger to the life or bodily injury of the rescuer, displayed in an act or a series of acts of humane nature, in saving life from drowning, fire, rescue operations in mines, etc. Recommendations for Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are received from the State Government/Union Territory, Administrations and Ministries /Departments of the Government of India.

World Heritage Sites in India

Agra Fort , Uttar Pradesh ;

Ajanta Caves , Maharashtra ;

Airavatesvara Temple, (Great Living Chola Temples), Tamil Nadu ;

Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, Gujarat ;

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Maharashtra ;

Churches and Convents of Goa ;

Elephanta Caves , Maharashtra ;

Ellora Caves, Maharashtra ;

Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh ;

Brihadeeswarar Temple, (Great Living Chola Temples), Tamil Nadu ;

Group of Monuments at Hampi , Karnataka ;

Group of Monuments at Mahabalip

uram, Tamil Nadu ;

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka ;

Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple, (Great Living Chola Temples), Tamil Nadu ;

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi ; Kaziranga National Park, Assam ;

Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan;

Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Madhya Pradesh ;

Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bihar ;

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam ;

Mountain Railways of India ;

Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Park, Uttaranchal ;

Qutub Minar and its monuments, Delhi ;

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh ;

Red Fort, New Delhi ;

Konark Sun Temple, Orissa ;

Sundarbans National Park, West Bengal ;

Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh

Kiran Kumar Reddy new CM of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah on November 24 stepped down after 14-and-a-half months in office citing “advanced age and work pressure” and Speaker of the Assembly Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy was chosen by the AICC leadership to succeed him.

Fifty-year-old Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy will be sworn in as the 16th Chief Minister by Governor E.S.L Naraimhan at Raj Bhavan at 12.14 p.m. on November 25. The Governor earlier accepted Mr. Rosaiah's resignation and requested him to continue in office till the formation of a new government.

On a day of swift developments, Mr. Rosaiah declared his intention to quit at a press conference in the Secretariat from where he drove to the Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation. Mr. Rosaiah succeeded Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on September 3, 2009 after the latter was killed in a helicopter crash.

ANDHRA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTERS LIST

India at a glance

A blend of the traditional and the modern, India is one of the oldest civilizations and the world's largest democracy. It is home to 1 billion-plus people professing various faiths and speaking in different tongues. But what binds them together is a sense of 'Indianness' which is hard to define, but could be sensed instinctively amid all this mind-boggling diversity. A vibrant multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-faith society, India is seen by many as a model pluralistic society based on its twin ethos of tolerance and mutual respect. Comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories, India is home to all major religions of the world. But the state makes no distinction between them, allowing each Indian citizen constitutional guarantees to pursue freedom in the broadest sense - freedom of expression and freedom to pursue the religion of one's choice.

This dazzling diversity has spawned a unique composite culture and created an unmatched reservoir of talent and enterprise in the country. People are India's greatest resource and strength. And it can be seen in all-encompassing socio-economic progress this nation has made during the last 61 years of its independence. The world has taken note and has been generous with its praise of the India Growth Story. Small wonder, India is now seen as an emerging Asian power and an important participant in the ongoing search for global solutions to global problems ranging from terrorism and poverty eradication to climate change and energy security.

India has become self-sufficient in agricultural production and is now the tenth industrialised country in the world. It is the sixth nation to have gone into outer space, not to militarise it, but to create a better life for its people. Anybody coming to India for the first time or wishing to know it better will be struck by its sheer size and diversity. The country is spread over an area of 32,87,2631 square km, extending from the snow-covered Himalayan heights to the tropical rain forests of the south. As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bound by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.

GEOGRAPHY:
Location: India, with an area of 3.3 million sq. km, is a subcontinent. The peninsula is separated from mainland Asia by the Himalayas. The country lies between 8° 4' and 37° 6' north of the Equator and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean to the south.

The mainland comprises four regions, namely the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region, and the southern peninsula.

The Himalayas form the highest mountain range in the world, extending 2,500 km over northern India. Bound by the Indus river in the west and the Brahmaputra in the east, the three parallel ranges, the Himadri, Himachal and Shivaliks have deep canyons gorged by the rivers flowing into the Gangetic plain.

Indian Standard Time GMT + 05:30

Area 3.3 Million sq. km

Telephone Country Code +91

Border: Countries Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west; China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north; Myanmar to the east; and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea, formed by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

Coastline: 7,516.6 km encompassing the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Climate: The climate of India can broadly be classified as a tropical one. But, in spite of much of the northern part of India lying beyond the tropical zone, the entire country has a tropical climate marked by relatively high temperatures and dry winters. There are four seasons:
Winter (December-February)
Summer (March-June)
South-west monsoon season (June-September)
Post monsoon season (October-November)

River Systems


The rivers may be classified as follows: (a) the Himalayan, (b) the Deccan, (c) the coastal and (d) the rivers of the inland drainage basin. The Himalayan rivers are generally snow-fed and flow throughout the year. During the monsoon months (June to September), the Himalayas receive very heavy rainfall and the rivers carry the maximum amount of water, causing frequent floods. The Deccan rivers are generally rain-fed and, therefore, fluctuate greatly in volume. A very large number of them are non-perennial. The coastal rivers, specially on the west coast, are short and have limited catchment areas. Most of these are non-perennial as well. The rivers on the inland drainage basin are few and ephemeral. They drain towards individual basins or salt lakes like the Sambhar or are lost in the sands, having no outlet to the sea.

Natural Resources: Coal, iron ore, manganese ore, mica, bauxite, petroleum, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, magnesite, limestone, arable land, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite, phosphorite, steatite, fluorite, etc.

Natural Hazards: Monsoon floods, flash floods, earthquakes, droughts, and landslides.

PEOPLE:

India is a country with probably the largest and most diverse mixture of races. All five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people of India, who are mainly a mixed race.

The people of India belong to diverse ethnic groups. At various periods of India's long history, successive waves of settlers and invaders, including the Aryans, Parthians, Greeks and Central Asians, came into the country and merged with the local population. This explains the variety of racial types, cultures and languages in India.

Nationality: Indian

POPULATION
India’s population as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million males and 496.4 million females). India accounts for a meagre 2.4 per cent of the world surface area of 135.79 million sq km. Yet, it supports and sustains a whopping 16.7 per cent of the world population.

The population of India, which at the turn of the twentieth century was around 238.4 million, increased to 1,028 million at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

The population of India as recorded at each decennial census from 1901 has grown steadily except for a decrease during 1911-21.


POPULATION DENSITY
One of the important indices of population concentration is the density of population. It is defined as the number of persons per sq km. The population density of India in
2001 was 324 per sq km. The density of population increased in all States and Union Territories between 1991 and 2001. Among major states, West Bengal is still the most thickly populated state with a population density of 903 in 2001. Bihar is now the second highest densely populated state pushing Kerala to the third place. Ranking of the
States and Union Territories by density is shown in table 1.3.

LITERACY
For the purpose of the Census 2001, a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write in any language, is treated as literate. A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not literate. In the censuses prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.

The results of 2001 census reveal that there has been an increase in literacy in the country. The literacy rate in the country is 64.84 per cent, 75.26 for males and
53.67 for females.

Population Growth Rate: The average annual exponential growth rate stands at 1.93 per cent during 1991-2001.

Birth Rate: The Crude Birth Rate according to the 2001 census is 24.8

Death Rate: The Crude Death Rate according to the 2001 census is 8.9

Life Expectancy Rate: 63.9 years (Males); 66.9 years (Females) (As of Sep 2005)

Languages
India has about 15 major languages and 844 different dialects. Hindi, spoken by about 45 per cent of the population, is the national language. English has also been retained as a language for official communication.


GOVERNMENT


Country Name: Republic of India; Bharat Ganrajya

Government Type: Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of Government.

Capital: New Delhi

Administrative Divisions: 28 States and 7 Union Territories.

Independence: August 15, 1947 (From British Colonial Rule)

Constitution: The Constitution of India came into force on 26th January 1950.

Legal System: The Constitution of India is the source of the legal system in the Country.

Executive Branch: The President of India is the head of the state, while the Prime Minister is the head of the government, and runs it with the support of the council of ministers, who form the cabinet.

Legislative Branch: The Indian legislature is a bi-cameral one, comprising the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States).

Judicial Branch: The Supreme Court of India is the apex body of the Indian legal system, followed by other High Courts and subordinate courts.

National Flag : The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron at the top, white in the middle, and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. At the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel, which is a representation of the Ashoka Chakra at Sarnath.

National Days: 26th January (Republic Day)
15th August (Independence Day)
2nd October (Gandhi Jayanti; Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday)

Religions: According to the 2001 census, out of the total population of 1.028 million in the country, Hindus constituted the majority with 80.5%, Muslims came second at 13.4%, followed by Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and others.

Hinduism: The Hindu religion had its origin in the concepts of the early Aryans who came to India more than 4,000 years ago. It is not merely a religion but also a philosophy and a way of life. It does not originate in the teachings of any one prophet or holy book. It respects other religions, and does not attempt to seek converts. It teaches the immortality of the human soul, and three principal paths to ultimate union of the individual soul with the all pervasive spirit.

The essence of the Hindu faith is embodied in the Bhagavad Gita, a philosophical poem that never ceases to surprise readers with new insights into life and man's fate in the world. "He who considers this(self) as a slayer or he who thinks that this(self) is slain, neither knows the Truth. For it does not slay, nor is it slain. This (self) is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient, it is never destroyed even when the body is destroyed," says a verse in the Gita.

Jainism and Buddhism: In the sixth century before Christ, Mahavira propagated Jainism. His message was asceticism, austerity and non-violence.

At about the same time, Buddhism came into being. Gautama Buddha, a prince, renounced the world and gained enlightenment. He preached that "nirvana" was to be attained through the conquest of self. Buddha's teachings in time spread to China and some other countries of South-East Asia.

Islam: Arab traders brought Islam to South India in the seventh century. After them came the Afghans and the Mughals. Akbar, seen as the most enlightened Mughal emperor, almost succeeded in founding a new religion Din-e-Elahi, based on a blend of different religions including Hinduism and Islam, but it failed to find many adherents.

Islam has flourished in India through the centuries. Muslim citizens have occupied some of the highest positions in the country since independence in 1947. India today is the second largest Muslim country in the world, next only to Indonesia.

Sikhism: Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism in the 15th century, stressed the unity of God and the brotherhood of man. Sikhism, with its affirmation of God as the one supreme truth and its ideals of discipline and spiritual striving, soon won many followers. It was perhaps possible only in this hospitable land that two religions as diverse as Hinduism and Islam could come together in a third, namely Sikhism.

Christianity: Christianity reached India not long after Christ's own lifetime, with the arrival of St. Thomas, the Apostle. The Syrian Christian Church in southern India traces its roots to the visit of St. Thomas. With the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in 1542, the Roman Catholic faith was established in India. Today, Christians of several denominations practice their faith freely.

Zoroastrianism: In the days of the old Persian empire, Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in West Asia. In the form of Mithraism, it spread over vast areas of the Roman Empire, as far as Britain.

After the Islamic conquest of Iran, a few intrepid Zoroastrians left their homeland and sought refuge in India. The first group is said to have reached Diu in about 766 A.D.

Their total world population probably does not exceed 130,000. With the exception of some 10,000 in Iran, almost all of them live in India. The vast majority of Parsis are concentrated in Mumbai. The Parsis excel in industry and commerce, and contribute richly to the intellectual and artistic life of the nation.

Judaism: The Jewish contact with the Malabar coast in Kerala, dates back to 973 BC when King Solomon's merchant fleet began trading for spices and other fabled treasures. Scholars say that the Jews first settled in Cranganore, soon after the Babylonian conquest of Judea in 586 BC. The immigrants were well received and a Hindu king granted to Joseph Rabban, a Jewish leader, a title and a principality.


National Symbols


STATE EMBLEM
The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
In the state emblem, adopted by the Government of India on 26 January 1950, only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears in relief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left and the outlines of other wheels on extreme right and left. The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted. The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning 'Truth Alone Triumphs', are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.


NATIONAL ANTHEM
The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Kolkata Session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas.

(As published in Volume Eight of Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, Popular Edition 1972)
Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.
Tava shubha name jage,
Tava shubha asisa mange,
Gahe tava jaya gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!

Playing time of the full version of the national anthem is approximately 52
seconds.
A short version consisting of the first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approximately 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions.

The following is Rabindranath Tagore’s English rendering of the anthem :
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India’s destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

NATIONAL SONG
The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress.

The following is the text of its first stanza :Vande Mataram!
Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam,
Shasyashyamalam, Mataram!
Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim,
Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,
Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim,
Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!

The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose is :
I bow to thee, Mother,
richly-watered, richly-fruited,
cool with the winds of the south,
dark with the crops of the harvests,
The Mother!
Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,
her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.

NATIONAL CALENDAR

The national calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days, was adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes: (i) Gazette of India, (ii) news broadcast by All India Radio, (iii) calendars issued by the Government of India and (iv) Government communications addressed to members of the public.
Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar, 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in
leap year.

NATIONAL ANIMAL
The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, a striped animal is the national animal of India. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength,
ability and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India. Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region, and also in neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.


NATIONAL BIRD
The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus, the national bird of India, is a colourful, swansized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green tail of around 200 elongated feathers. The female is brownish, slightly smaller than the male and lacks the tail.


NATIONAL FLOWER
Lotus (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn) is the National Flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India, and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial.


NATIONAL TREE
The Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) is the National Tree of India. This huge tree towers over its neighbours and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres.


NATIONAL FRUIT
Mango (Manigifera indica) is the National fruit of India. Mango is one of the most widely grown fruits of the tropical countries. In India, mango is cultivated almost in
all parts, with the exception of hilly areas. Mango is a rich source of Vitamins A, C and D. In India, we have hundreds of varieties of mangoes. They are of different
sizes, shapes and colours.


FLORA
With a wide range of climatic conditions from the torrid to the arctic, India has a rich and varied vegetation, which only a few countries of comparable size possess. India can be divided into eight distinct-floristic-regions, namely, the western Himalayas, the eastern Himalayas, Assam, the Indus plain, the Ganga plain, the Deccan, Malabar and the Andamans.
The Western Himalayan region extends from Kashmir to Kumaon. Its temperate zone is rich in forests of chir, pine, other conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees.
Higher up, forests of deodar, blue pine, spruce and silver fir occur. The alpine zone extends from the upper limit of the temperate zone of about 4,750 metres or even higher. The characteristic trees of this zone are high-level silver fir, silver birch and junipers. The eastern Himalayan region extends from Sikkim eastwards and embraces Darjeeling, Kurseong and the adjacent tract. The temperate zone has forests of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder and birch. Many conifers, junipers and dwarf willows also occur here. The Assam region comprises the Brahamaputra and the Surma valleys with evergreen forests, occasional thick clumps of bamboos and tall grasses. The Indus plain region comprises the plains of Punjab, western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. It is dry and hot and supports natural vegetation. The Ganga plain region covers the area which is alluvial plain and is under cultivation for wheat, sugarcane and rice. Only small areas support forests of widely differing types.

The Deccan region comprises the entire table land of the Indian Peninsula and supports vegetation of various kinds from scrub jungles to mixed deciduous forests.

The Malabar region covers the excessively humid belt of mountain country parallel to the west coast of the Peninsula. Besides being rich in forest vegetation, this region produces important commercial corps, such as coconut, betelnut, pepper, coffee and tea, rubber and cashewnut. The Andaman region abounds in evergreen, mangrove, beach and diluvial forests. The Himalayan region extending from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh through Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Meghalaya and Nagaland and the Deccan Peninsula is rich in endemic flora, with a large number of plants which are not found elsewhere.

India is rich in flora. Available data place India in the tenth position in the world and fourth in Asia in plant diversity. From about 70 per cent geographical area surveyed so far, over 46,000 species of plants have been described by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata. The vascular flora, which forms the conspicuous vegetation cover, comprises 15,000 species. The flora of the country is being studied by BSI and its nine circle/field offices located throughout the country along with certain universities and research institutions.

Ethno-botanical study deals with the utilisation of plants and plant products by ethnic races. A scientific study of such plants has been made by BSI. A number of detailed ethno-botanical explorations have been conducted in different tribal areas of the country. More than 800 plant species of ethno-botanical interest have been collected and identified at different centres.

Owing to destruction of forests for agricultural, industrial and urban development, several Indian plants are facing extinction. About 1,336 plant species are considered vulnerable and endangered. About 20 species of higher plants are categorised as possibly extinct as these have not been sighted during the last 6-10 decades. BSI brings out an inventory of endangered plants in the form of a publication titled Red Data Book.

FAUNA
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with its headquarters in Kolkata and 16 regional stations, is responsible for surveying the faunal resources of India. Possessing a tremendous diversity of climate and physical conditions, India has great variety of fauna numbering over 89,000 species. Of these, protista number 2,577, mollusca 5,070, anthropoda 68,389, amphibia 209, mammalia 390, reptilia 456, members of protochordata 119, pisces 2,546, aves 1,232 and other invertebrates 8,329.

The mammals include the majestic elephant, the gaur or Indian bison–the largest of existing bovines, the great Indian rhinoceros, the gigantic wild sheep of the Himalayas, the swamp deer, the thamin spotted deer, nilgai, the four-horned antelope, the Indian antelope or black-buck – the only representatives of these genera. Among the cats, the tiger and lion are the most magnificent of all; other splendid creatures such as the clouded leopard, the snow leopard, the marbled cat, etc., are also found.

Many other species of mammals are remarkable for their beauty, colouring, grace and uniqueness. Several birds, like pheasants, geese, ducks, mynahs, parakeets, pigeons, cranes, hornbills and sunbirds inhabit forests and wetlands.

Rivers and lakes harbour crocodiles and gharials, the latter being the only representative of crocodilian order in the world. The salt water crocodile is found along the eastern coast and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A project for breeding crocodiles which started in 1974, has been instrumental in saving the crocodile from extinction.

The great Himalayan range has a very interesting variety of fauna that includes the wild sheep and goats, markhor, ibex, shrew and tapir. The panda and the snow leopard are found in the upper reaches of the mountains.

The depletion of vegetative cover due to expansion of agriculture, habitat destruction, over-exploitation, pollution, introduction of toxic imbalance in community structure, epidemics, floods, droughts and cyclones, contribute to the loss of flora and fauna. More than 39 species of mammals, 72 species of birds, 17 species of reptiles, three species of amphibians, two species of fish and a large number of butterflies, moth and beetles are considered vulnerable and endangered.

(Source: India 2009, Ministry of Environment, Planning Commission, Ministry of Health, Press Information Bureau, Census of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Union Budget, Reserve Bank of India, India 2005 - A Reference Annual, www.indiainbusiness.nic.in)

HUMAN BODY FACTS

Body Facts

• In one day, a human sheds 10 billion skin flakes. This amounts to approximately two kilograms in a year.

• Every square inch of the human body has about 19,000,000 skin cells.

• Approximately 25% of all scald burns to children are from hot tap water and is associated with more deaths than with any other liquid.

• Forty-one percent of women apply body and hand moisturizer at least three times a day.

• Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.

• The world record for the number of body piercing on one individual is 702, which is held by Canadian Brent Moffat.

• The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches around, and 22 feet long.

• The human body makes anywhere from 1 to 3 pints of saliva every 24 hours.

• The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries.

• The aorta, which is largest artery located in the body, is about the diameter of a garden hose.

• The adult human body requires about 88 pounds of oxygen daily.

• It is very common for babies in New Zealand to sleep on sheepskins. This is to help them gain weight faster, and retain their body heat.

• An average women has 17 square feet of skin. When a women is in her ninth month of pregnancy she has 18.5 square feet of skin.

• The width of your armspan stretched out is the length of your whole body.

• 41% of women apply body or hand moisturizer a minimum three times a day.

• A human's small intestine is 6 meters long.

• There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee. You don't see all of them because most are too fine and light to be noticed.

• Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.

• Dead cells in the body ultimately go to the kidneys for excretion.

• By walking an extra 20 minutes every day, an average person will burn off seven pounds of body fat in an year.

• The human body is 75% water.

Heart Facts

• Women hearts beat faster than men.

• Three years after a person quits smoking, there chance of having a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked before.

• The human heart weighs less than a pound.

• The human heart can create enough pressure that it could squirt blood at a distance of thirty feet.

• The first open heart surgery was performed by Dr. Daniel Hall Williams in 1893.

• Scientists have discovered that the longer the ring finger is in boys the less chance they have of having a heart attack.

• The right lung of a human is larger than the left one. This is because of the space and placement of the heart.

• The human heart beast roughly 35 million times a year.

• Olive oil can help in lowering cholesterol levels and decreasing the risk of heart complications.

• In a lifetime, the heart pumps about one million barrels of blood.

• In 1967, the first successful heart transplant was performed in Cape Town, South Africa.

• People that suffer from gum disease are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack.

• Most heart attacks occur between the hours of 8 and 9 AM.

• The human heart beast roughly 35 million times a year.

• At one time it was thought that the heart controlled a person's emotions.

Brain Facts

• Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men in the United States.

• The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons.

• From all the oxygen that a human breathes, twenty percent goes to the brain.

• People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.

• Once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. The cells will never be replaced.

• It is not possible to tickle yourself. The cerebellum, a part of the brain, warns the rest of the brain that you are about to tickle yourself. Since your brain knows this, it ignores the resulting sensation.

• A women from Berlin Germany has had 3,110 gallstones taken out of her gall bladder.

• In America, the most common mental illness is Anxiety Disorders.

• Your brain is 80% water.

• Your brain is move active and thinks more at night than during the day.

Bones Facts

• The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes bone which is located in the ear.

• There are 54 bones in your hands including the wrists.

• The only bone fully grown at birth is located in the ear.

• The human face is made up of 14 bones.

• The chances of getting a cavity is higher if candy is eaten slowly throughout the day compared to eating it all at once and then brushing your teeth.

• If an identical twin grows up without having a certain tooth, the other twin will most likely also grow up with that tooth missing.

• Humans are born with 300 bones in their body, however when a person reaches adulthood they only have 206 bones. This occurs because many of them join together to make a single bone.

• Gardening is said to be one of the best exercises for maintaining healthy bones.

• Enamel is hardest substance in the human body.

• Although the outsides of a bone are hard, they are generally light and soft inside. They are about 75% water.

• Adult human bones account for 14% of the body's total weight.

• In 2000 babies are born with a tooth that is already visible.

• Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!

• Your thigh bone is stronger than concrete.

• The strongest bone in your body is the femur (thighbone), and it's hollow!

Blood Facts

• Two million red blood cells die every second.

• There are approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body.

• Seven percent of a humans body weight is made up of blood.

• In the early nineteenth century some advertisements claimed that riding the carousel was good for the circulation of blood.

• Each day 400 gallons of recycled blood are pumped through the kidneys.

• By donating just one pint of blood, four lives can be saved.

• Blood is such a good stain that Native Americans used it for paint.

• The kidneys filter over 400 gallons of blood each day.

• The average life span of a single red blood cell is 120 days.

• Blood accounts for about 8% of a human's body weight.

• A woman has approximately 4.5 liters of blood in her body, while men have 5.6 liters.

• Your blood takes a very long trip through your body. If you could stretch out all of a human's blood vessels, they would be about 60,000 miles long. That's enough to go around the world twice.

• Half your body’s red blood cells are replaced every seven days.

• If all the blood vessels in your body were laid end to end, they would reach about 60,000 miles.

Eyes Facts

• We should never put anything in or near our eyes, unless we have a reason to use eye drops. We would only do that if our doctor or parent told us to use them.

• Blinking helps to wash tears over our eyeballs. That keeps them clean and moist. Also, if something is about to hit our eye, we will blink automatically.

• Our body has some natural protection for our eyes. Our eyelashes help to keep dirt out of our eyes. Our eyebrows are made to keep sweat from running into our eyes.

• Our eyes are very important to us, and we must protect them. We don't want dirt, sand, splinters or even fingers to get in our eyes. We don't want our eyes to get scratched or poked. That could damage our sight!

• The study of the iris of the eye is called iridology.

• The shark cornea has been used in eye surgery, since its cornea is similar to a human cornea.

• The number one cause of blindness in adults in the United States is diabetes.

• The eyeball of a human weighs approximately 28 grams.

• The eye of a human can distinguish 500 shades of the gray.

• The cornea is the only living tissue in the human body that does not contain any blood vessels.

• The conjunctiva is a membrane that covers the human eye.

• Sailors once thought that wearing a gold earring would improve their eyesight.

• Research has indicated that a tie that is on too tight cam increase the risk of glaucoma in men.

• People generally read 25% slower from a computer screen compared to paper.

• Men are able to read fine print better than women can.

• In the United States, approximately 25,000 eye injuries occur that result in the person becoming totally blind.

• All babies are colour blind when they are born.

• A human eyeball weighs an ounce.

• If the lens in our eye doesn't work quite right, we can get glasses to help us see. Glasses have lenses in them that work with our eye's own lens to help us see better.

• Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old.

• The reason why your nose gets runny when you are crying is because the tears from the eyes drain into the nose.

• The most common injury caused by cosmetics is to the eye by a mascara wand.

• Some people start to sneeze if they are exposed to sunlight or have a light shined into their eye.

• The highest recorded speed of a sneeze is 165 km per hour.

• It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

• The space between your eyebrows is called the Glabella.

• Inside our eye, at the back, is a part called the "retina." On the retina are cells called "rods" and "cones." These rods and cones help us to see colors and light.

• Just behind the pupil is a lens. It is round and flat. It is thicker toward the middle.

• Over the front of our eye is a clear covering called the "conjunctiva."

• The white part of our eye is called the "sclera." At the front, the sclera becomes clear and is called the "cornea."

• Around the pupil is a colored muscle called the "iris." Our eyes may be BLUE, BROWN, GREEN, GRAY OR BLACK, because that is the color of the iris.

• Our eyes have many parts. The black part on the front of our eye is called the "pupil." It is really a little hole that opens into the back part of our eyes.

• Your eyes blinks over 10,000,000 times a year!

Mouth Facts

• In a month, a fingernail grows an eighth of an inch.

• People whose mouth has a narrow roof are more likely to snore. This is because they have less oxygen going through their nose.

• While sleeping, one man in eight snores, and one in ten grinds his teeth.

• It takes food seven seconds to go from the mouth to the stomach via the esophagus.

Tongue Facts

• Close to fifty percent of the bacteria in the mouth lives on the surface of our tongue.

• There are approximately 9,000 taste buds on the tongue.

• Your tongue has 3,000 taste buds.

• 85% of the population can curl their tongue into a tube.

Hair Facts

• On average, a man spends about five months of his life shaving.

• On average, a hair strand's life span is five and a half years.

• On average redheads have 90,000 hairs. People with black hair have about 110,000 hairs.

• Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body.

• In a lifetime, an average man will shave 20,000 times.

• Humans have about the same number of hair follicles as a chimpanzee has.

• Hair will fall out faster on a person that is on a crash diet.

• The average human head weighs about eight pounds.

• The reason why some people get a cowlick is because the growth of their hair is in a spiral pattern, which causes the hair to either stand straight up, or goes to a certain angle.

• The reason why hair turns gray as we age is because the pigment cells in the hair follicle start to die, which is responsible for producing "melanin" which gives the hair colour.

• The big toe is the foot reflexology pressure point for the head.

• The loss of eyelashes is referred to as madarosis.

• The longest human beard on record is 17.5 feet, held by Hans N. Langseth who was born in Norway in 1846.

• The fastest growing tissue in the human body is hair.

• The average human scalp has 100,000 hairs.

• Hair and fingernails are made from the same substance, keratin.

• Hair is made from the same substance as fingernails.

• Eyebrow hair lasts between 3-5 months before it sheds.

• The first hair dryer was a vacuum cleaner that was used for drying hair.

• A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax.

• Everyday approximately 35 meters of hair fiber is produced on the scalp of an adult.

• Brylcreem, which was created in 1929, was the first man's hair product.

• Ancient Egyptians used to think having facial hair was an indication of personal neglect.

• A survey done by Clairol 10 years ago came up with 46% of men stating that it was okay to color their hair. Now 66% of men admit to coloring their hair.

• A lifespan of an eyelash is approximately 150 days.

Diseases Facts

• People that use mobile phones are 2.5 time more likely to develop cancer in areas of the brain that are adjacent to the ear they use to talk on the mobile phone.

• Over 90% of diseases are caused or complicated by stress.

• Over 436,000 U.S. Troops were exposed to depleted uranium during the first Gulf war.

• On average, 90% of the people that have the disease Lupus are female.

• Many cancer patients that are treated with chemotherapy lose their hair. For some when the hair grows back, it can grow back a different colour, or be curly or straight.

• Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for about 180,000 deaths per year.

• Chances of a women getting breast cancer are increased by excessive use of alcohol.

• A popular superstition is that if you put a piece of bread in a baby's crib, it will keep away diseases.

• A person that is struck by lightning has a greater chance of developing motor neurons disease.

• Every year in the U.S., there are 178,000 new cases of lung cancer.

• Every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.

• Asthma affects one in fifteen children under the age of eighteen.

• Every eleven minutes in the U.S., a woman dies of breast cancer.

• Due to eating habits in the USA, one in three children born in the year 2000 have a chance of getting type II diabetes.

• The oldest known disease in the world is leprosy.

• The number one cause of rabies in the United States are bats.

• Coughing can cause air to move through your windpipe faster than the speed of sound — over a thousand feet per second!

• A headache and inflammatory pain can be reduced by eating 20 tart cherries.

• The incidents of immune system diseases has increased over 200% in the last five years.

• The flu pandemic of 1918 killed over 20 million people.

• Each year in America there are about 300,000 deaths that can be attributed to obesity.

• Every three days a human stomach gets a new lining.

• The first owner of the Marlboro Company, Wayne McLaren, died of lung cancer.

• Soldiers disease is a term for morphine addiction. The Civil War produced over 400,000 morphine addicts.

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a disease caused by ticks.

• A person afflicted with hexadectylism has six fingers or six toes on one or both hands and feet.

• A study indicates that smokers are likely to die on average six and a half years earlier than non-smokers.

• A person who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day will on average lose two teeth every ten years.

• Lady Peseshet is known to be the world's first known female physician. She practiced during the time of the pyramids, which was the fourth dynasty.

• The DNA of humans is closer to a rat than a cat.

• Teenage suicide is the second cause of death in the state of Wisconsin.

• Teenage cosmetic surgeries nearly doubled in the USA between 1996 and 1998.

• Studies indicate that weightlifters working out in blue gyms can handle heavier weights.

• Studies indicate that listening to music is good for digestion.

• Studies indicate that epileptic patients that listen to Mozart's Piano Sonata can dramatically decrease their chance of a seizure.

• Lack of sleep can affect your immune system and reduce your ability to fight infections.

• It takes about three hours for food to be broken down in the human stomach.

• Over 40 million Americans have chronic bad breath.

• Carbon monoxide can kill a person in less than 15 minutes.

• Fourteen people die each day from asthma in the United States.

• Every day the human stomach produces about 2 liters of hydrochloric acid.

• Nearly half of all Americans suffer from symptoms of burnout.In humans, the epidermal layer of skin, which consists of many layers of skin regenerates every 27 days.

• Native Americans used to use pumpkin seeds for medicine.

• In ancient Egypt, doctors used jolts from the electric catfish to reduce the pain of arthritis.

• The lining of the a person's stomach is replaced every 36 hours.

• The purpose of tonsils is to destroy foreign substances that are swallowed or breathed in.

• In the United States, poisoning is the fourth leading cause of death among children.

• The risk of cardiovascular disease is twice as high in women that snore regularly compared to women who do not snore.

• The stomach of an adult can hold 1.5 liters of material.

• The stomach can break down goat's milk faster than the milk of a cow.

• The smoke that is produced by a fire kills more people than a burn does because of carbon monoxide and other dangerous gases.

• It has been medically been proven that laughter is an effective pain killer.

• Influenza caused over twenty-one million deaths in 1918.

• In a year, there are 60,000 trampoline injuries that occur in the U.S.

• Even if you eat food standing on your head, the food will still end up in your stomach.

• A person infected with the SARS virus, has a 95-98% chance of recovery.

• 3000 children die every day in Africa because of malaria.

Pregnancy Facts

• The world's first test tube twins are Stephen and Amanda Mays born June 5, 1981.

• Some people drink the urine of pregnant women to build up their immune system.

• The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.

• Every day, over 1,300 babies are born prematurely in the USA.

• During pregnancy, the average woman's uterus expands up to five hundred times its normal size.

• Changing a cat's litter box can be dangerous to pregnant women, as cat feces sometimes carry a parasite that can cause harm to the developing baby.

• A pregnant woman's dental health can affect her unborn child.

• May babies are on avearge 200 grams heavier than babies born in other months.

• When a women is pregnant, her senses are all heightened.

• Studies show that couples that smoke during the time of conception have a higher chance of having a girl compared to couples that do not smoke.
  

Sex Facts

• There are approximately 100 million acts of sexual intercourse each day.

• The sperm count of an average American male compared to thirty years ago is down thirty percent.
  An adult esophagus can range from 10 to 14 inches in length and is one inch in diameter.

• Men sweat more than women. This is because women can better regulate the amount of water they lose.

• The average amount of time spent kissing for a person in a lifetime is 20,160 minutes.

• The average adult has approximately six pounds of skin.

• Infants spend more time dreaming than adults do.

• In one day, adult lungs move about 10,000 liters of air.

• The condom made originally of linen was invented in the early 1500's. Casanova, the womanizer, used linen condoms.

• Sex burns about 70-120 calories for a 130 pound woman, and 77 to 155 calories for a 170 pound man every hour.

• Impotence is grounds for divorce in 26 U.S. states.

• There are approximately 45 billion fat cells in an average adult.

• Kissing can aid in reducing tooth decay. This is because the extra saliva helps in keeping the mouth clean.

• During the female orgasm, endorphines are released, which are powerful painkillers. So headaches are in fact a bad excuse not to have sex.

• During World War II, condoms were used to cover rifle barrels from being damaged by salt water as the soldiers swam to shore.

• According to psychologists, the shoe and the foot are the most common sources of sexual fetishism in Western society.

• A kiss for one minute can burn 26.

Other Human Body Facts

• The Gastric Flu can cause projectile vomiting.

• The Dutch people are known to be the tallest people in Europe.

• Studies have shown that the scent of Rosemary can help in better mental performance and make individuals feel more alert.

• Some brands of toothpaste contain glycerin or glycerol, which is also an ingredient in antifreeze.

• Soaking beans for twelve hours in water before they are cooked can reduce flatulence caused by beans.

• Scientists say that babies that are breastfed are more likely to be slimmer as adults than those that are not breastfed.

• Scientists have determined that having guilty feelings may actually damage your immune system
  Research has indicated that approximately eleven minutes are cut off the life of an average male smoker from each cigarette smoked.

• People have the tendency to chew the food on the side that they most often use their hand.

• Over 600,000 people died as a result of the Spanish influenza epidemic.

• Only one out of every three people wash their hands when leaving a public bathroom.

• One ragweed plant can release as many as a million grains of pollen in one day.

• One out of 20 people have an extra rib.

• One average, men spend 60 hours a year shaving.

• On average, falling asleep while driving results in 550 accidents per day in the United States.

• On average, a person has two million sweat glands.

• On average, Americans spend 33% of their life sleeping.

• On average a person passes gas 14 times a day.

• On average 1,668 gallons of water are used by each person in the United States daily.

• Nerve impulses for muscle position travel at a speed of up to 390 feet per second.

• Nerve cells can travel as fast as 120 meters per second.

• Mummy powder was once thought to be a cure for all remedies. English men used to carry the powder with them in a tiny bag wherever they went.

• Men in their early twenties shave an average of four times a week.

• Medical research has found substances in mistletoe that can slow down tumor growth.

• Medical reports show that about 18% of the population are prone to sleepwalking.

• Manicuring the nails has been done by people for more than 4,000 years.

• Left-handed people are better at sports that require good spatial judgment and fast reaction, compared to right-handed individuals.

• Ironically, when doctors in Los Angeles, California went on strike in 1976, the daily number of deaths in the city dropped 18%.

• In the United States, 8.5 million cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures were done in the year 2001.

• People with darker skin will not wrinkle as fast as people with lighter skin.

• People with allergies can lower allergy reactions by laughing.

• People who meet their calcium need reduce their risk of developing kidney stones.

• People that smoke have 10 times as many wrinkles as a person that does not smoke.

• People still cut the cheese shortly after death.

• People over the age of fifty will start to lose their dislike for foods that taste bitter.

• People of Ancient China believed that swinging your arms could cure a headache.

• The average weight of a newborn baby is 7 lbs. 6 oz. For a triplet baby it is 3 lbs. 12 oz.

• The average person spends two weeks of their life kissing.

• The average person falls asleep in about 12 to 14 minutes.

• There are approximately one hundred million people in the United States that have a chronic illness.

• There are approximately 60 muscles in the face.

• There are 50% more males that are left handed compared to females.

• There are 400 species of bacteria in the human colon.

• There are 10 million bacteria at the place where you rest your hands at a desk.

• In a lifetime, an average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva.

• In a lifetime, an average driver will release approximately 912 pints of wind inside a car.

• In Canada, men are three times more likely than women to have seen a doctor in the last year.

• In 1832, in Paisley, Scotland the first municipal water filtration works was opened.

• Humans breathe in and out approximately one litre of air in ten seconds.

• Girls have more tastebud than boys.

• From the age of thirty, humans gradually begin to shrink in size.

• Flu shots only work about 70% of the time.

• Gases that build up in your large intestine cause flatulence. It usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes for these gases to pass through your system.

• Fat is important for the development of children and normal growth.

• Every day, the average person swallows about a quart of snot.

• Eighty percent of 10 year old girls in the USA go on a diet.

• Air is passed through the nose at a speed of 100 miles per hour when a person sneezes.

• About twenty-five percent of the population sneeze when they are exposed to light.

• A yawn usually lasts for approximately six seconds.

• Children who are breast fed tend to have an IQ seven points higher than children who are not.

• Children grow faster in the springtime than any other season during the year.

• Eating chocolate three times a month helps people live longer as opposed to people who overeat chocolate or do not eat chocolate at all.

• Constipation is caused when too much water is absorbed in the large intestine and poops become dry.

• A ear trumpet was used before the hearing aid was invented by people who had difficulty hearing.

• The average human dream lasts only 2 to 3 seconds.

• The average person has at least seven dreams a night.

• Bile produced by the liver is responsible for making your feces a brownish, green colour.

• It takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile.

• By the time you are 70 you will have easily drunk over 12,000 gallons of water.

• A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for approximately sixty-nine years.

• The average person walks the equivalent of twice around the world in a lifetime.

• The average person laughs about 15 times a day.

• The vocabulary of the average person consists of 5,000 to 6,000 words.

• About 10% of the world's population is left-handed.