According to the report, ‘All India installed capacity (in MW) of power stations’ published on 31st March 2020, India’s installed utility-scale hydroelectric capacity was 46,000 MW. This accounted for 12.3% of its total utility power generation capacity.

In the future, it is estimated that India’s hydroelectric potential shall reach up to 148,701 MW. Furthermore, it is said that an additional 6,780 MW from smaller hydro schemes which have capacities of less than 25 MW can be deemed as exploitable.

Apart from this, a total of 56 sites for pumped storage schemes with an aggregate installed capacity of 94,000 MW have also been identified.

There are over 228,450 known species of flora and fauna in the oceans. It is also believed that there may be as many as 2 million species yet to be discovered!

Diving underwater to study the existence of these species has become one of the most popular adventure tourism activities over the years. 

As you descend below the surface, you are overcome with a deep sense of euphoria, a discovery of freedom and tranquility and the genuinely marvelous underwater species!

Fast forward to the Roman Empire; a thin layer of wax was applied to a wooden surface and scribes were carved into wax with metal or bone styluses. In parts of Asia, thin brushes were used for painting, calligraphy and writing, using ink made from indigo or berries, and mixed with oil or water.

Early inventors found the hollow channel of a bird’s feather as a natural ink reserve. That’s how the quill pen came into being. The tail feathers of geese were considered most adaptable. The word, “pen” is derived from the Latin word for feather, “penna.” Inventors used their ingenuity to produce a man-made pen that would hold more ink, reducing the need for constant dipping into the ink well. Since the seventh century, the quill pen has been used to write historical documents as the Magna Carta. It was after nearly a thousand years of using quill pens that the fountain pen was evolved.

But early fountain pens had some serious drawbacks. The ink used took a long time to dry, it leaked and smeared easily. So a Hungarian, Laszlo Biro set out to re-invent the pen. He fitted a tiny ball in the pen’s tip that was free to turn in a socket. As the pen moved along the paper, the ball rotated, picking up ink from the ink cartridge and transferring it to the paper. His efforts produced what we today know as ballpoints!

Today, the ball pen has become the most popular writing instrument in the world. Over myriads of inventions, tests and failed attempts, the design was finally perfected and began dominating the market in the 1950s.

Today’s ships are larger than ever before, with an estimated 35,000 commercial ships in the world with a gross tonnage of more than 1000 tons. Bulkers that carry goods such as ores and grains, have a deadweight of over 200,000 tons. Larger than these are tankers, which transport oil, gas and chemicals. Smaller tankers weigh about 10,000 tons, but there are Ultra-Large Crude Carriers (ULCCs) or super-tankers, with a deadweight exceeding 500,000 tons and lengths close to 500 metres.

And this phenomenon has always scared us. Gods and supernatural powers across religions and mythologies deify the storm. Zeus, Tlaloc, Thor and Indra are only a few Gods who brought rain, storm and war. Indra is the Hindu god of war, storm and rain; and the Thunderbolt, or Vajra, is his attribute.

Scientists, have especially been fascinated by lightning and thunder. It was in 1752 that Benjamin Franklin famously flew a kite during a thunderstorm. Franklin succeeded in keeping his soggy kite afloat, proving that lightning is electrical in nature.

But what about land artillery?

In the same war, trench warfare had led to a stalemate along the western front. The emphasis was on sieges rather than on manoeuvring and formations. Vehicles referred to as ‘land ships’ were being developed in the United Kingdom to achieve a breakthrough. To maintain secrecy, the workers of the company that built these vehicles were told that they were working on water-carriers for Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq.

This is the origin of the word ‘tank,’ for that is what the vehicle involved was. It was put together by the British, starting from an American tractor. They gave it caterpillar tracks, a feature they already used in gun tractors. They equipped it with weapons mounted in turrets and enclosed it in armour to protect it against bullets. The tank has been one of the best solutions to the problem an army faces of needing to advance even when under fire. The Assyrians once used movable barriers for their archers. The Romans used towers equipped with catapults. These were shielded structures that moved on wheels. Metal-plated wagons mounted on wheels were used in parts of Europe during the Middle Ages.

There are wordless instrumentals that soothe the mind and a starburst of lyrics accompanying orthodox beats in rap. The range truly is astronomical, if you think about all the different kinds of instruments used or the different languages used.