Category: India

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Crazy Facts 2020-08-27 18:39:03

South Africa has the most official languages that have equal status, with eleven. Bolivia recognises thirty-seven languages, the most of any country in the world, and India recognises twenty-three. However, Bolivia and India give primacy to Spanish and Hindi respectively, making South Africa the country with the most equally important official languages.

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Mumbai is Testing Traffic Lights That Stay Red if They Detect Honking

Police in Mumbai, Indian are testing red lights that won’t turn green if drivers are laying on their horns. It’s a perfect solution for a busy city where noise pollution is one of its biggest problems, right?

Photo Credit: Needpix

Last year, Indian authorities conducted a trial with sensors attached to traffic light poles that detected street decibel levels. If noise levels registered more than 85 decibels, the traffic lights were set to delay turning green.

Mumbai’s lights, like other Indian cities, displays a timer on each light so drivers can see when it will change.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Police spokesman, Pranay Ashok, told CNN, the trial started with a run at several major intersections for 15 minutes a day. Police hope to roll the system out to the “entire traffic management system.”

A (hilarious) video posted to Twitter showed the effects of rampant noise pollution. In it, police describe the city as “the honking capital of the world.” Explaining what they call “The Punishing Signal,” they advise that if motorists want to keep moving, they should stop laying on the horn.

According to the TomTom Index, Mumbai has a serious problem with traffic congestion, ranking the fourth worst in the world last year.

The amount of congestion in the city translates to a loss of eight days and 17 hours per year for every driver and passenger.

It will be interesting to see if these monitored traffic lights make a difference. There are so many more pleasurable activities to do with that time than sit in traffic and listen to angry horns.

Don’t you agree?

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The Taj Mahal Installed Air Purifiers to Defend Against Choking Smog

Unhealthy air pollution in India has hit record levels, and India’s most iconic and most visited attraction is attempting something to make tourists more comfortable.

One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal sits in Agra in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, around 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of New Delhi. Approximately eight million people tour this UNESCO World Heritage site every year.

 

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According to authorities in Uttar Pradesh, a “private firm” has provided several air purification vans for the city to use wherever and however they want. Officials chose to place two of these vans at the Taj Mahal. Few details on how the vans work or how long they would be there were given.

Bhuvan Prakash Yadav, a representative from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) told CNN, “This is on a trial basis for 10 days, but we are trying to get [the private firm] to continue it for some more time.”

Although the identity of the private firm was never confirmed, ads for telecom giant, Vodafone, are featured on the side of a few of the vans.

According to CNN, Yadav also said that each van is able to purify 1.5 million cubic meters (53 million cubic feet) of air in eight hours. Yet, the vans don’t have sensors, so verification of these numbers isn’t possible.

It may be the vans are more for public relations purposes than actually cleaning air.

India’s high court challenged the government to take better care of the site in 2018. Much recent damage to the Taj Mahal has come from pollution in the air and contamination in the nearby Yamuna River. Since then, crowd control in the form of a visitor time limit and hiked ticket prices have been implemented.

Air pollution has been an ongoing and serious problem in India, home to 22 of the 30 most polluted cities on the planet. New Delhi, India’s capital city is the number one most polluted city in the world. Lately, pollution levels reached a record high of approximately 9x more than the World Health Organization’s recommended “safe” level – the problem is rated “severe.”

Fossil fuel usage, crop burning and vehicle exhaust have all contributed to the problem.

Planes are even getting diverted from landing at New Delhi’s airport. Authorities say control measures are in place, but they will not be enough to stop the damage to Indian property and lives – the damage is already being done.

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A Famous 73-Year-Old YouTuber Who Made Massive Meals for Orphans Has Passed Away

This guy sounded like quite a human being.

The man behind the extremely popular YouTube channel Grandpa Kitchen has sadly passed away at the age of 73.

Narayana Reddy amassed a following of more than 6 million followers on YouTube with his cooking videos. In the videos, Reddy prepared enormous meals for orphans, making him a beloved hero in many circles.

Reddy was a 73-year-old grandfather whose generosity shone through in his how-to cooking tutorials, as he laid out how to make such dishes as pizza, lasagna, donuts, and many other meals. All the proceeds he received from his massively popular videos were donated to charities because Reddy truly tried to help the needy people in his community in India.

Reddy started the YouTube channel in 2017 and shot to incredible popularity in a short amount of time. On his Patreon page, Reddy wrote, ‘We entertain people by cooking food and donate the proceeds to charities. Our goal is to provide basic necessities like food, clothing, school supplies and birthday gifts to the orphans.”

Reddy’s grand-nephew talked about how the YouTube channel got started: “We used to have jobs in the city and would visit him during the holidays and he would always make big meals for us. We then got the idea that we should do the same for the community.” His grand-nephew added that his family will continue the elder Reddy’s work.

Here’s one of Reddy’s cooking tutorials that he became so well known for:

After Reddy’s passing, Grandpa Kitchen posted one final video tribute to the man who gave so much to so many:

He was a great man, and he will be missed by many.

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