Tag: Formula One

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-51

About: the world this week, 12 December to 18 December 2021, tearing tornadoes, F-1 racing, a new Miss Universe cat-walks, an ancient Temple shines, a hero flies away, and an animal shows off its thousand legs.

Everywhere

Amercia’s Tearing Tornadoes

We have, during the course of our life, torn paper, clothes, or many other things on numerous occasions, and rightfully or wrongfully worn deliberately torn jeans as well. Now Nature is doing about the same, with 30 tornadoes tearing through and ripping apart six states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee, of the United States (US). This happened last Friday and Saturday. The pictures of the devastation-before and after-showed shreds and tatters like pieces of clothing, the mangled remains of houses, cars, railway carriages, and residential communities. More than 70 people have died in the mayhem caused by the tornadoes.

“It’s changed the landscape, here in Mayfield (one of the affected areas),” said an Official. “We’re seeing destruction that none of us have ever seen before”.

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud. They can have wind speeds between 180 and 480 km per hour. Tornadoes occur most frequently in North America, particularly in central and southeastern regions of the US colloquially known as ‘tornado alley’; the US and Canada have by far the most tornadoes of any countries in the world.

Formula -1 Motor Racing: New Formulas

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a Formula One (F-1) motor racing event that takes place every year on the Yas Marina Circuit located on the Yas Island of United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Grand Prix launch was first announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F-1 Festival in the UAE and the first race took place on 1 November 2009.

This year’s Abu Dhabi F-1 Championship has a new winner. Belgian-Dutch Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing-Honda won the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career. Four-time defending and seven-time champion British, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished runner-up. Mercedes won the Constructors’ Championship for the eighth consecutive season. But there was a controversy on the conduct of the race and decisions made by the Race Director.

Let’s take a ‘pit stop’, and get familiar with a few F-1 terms, before we drive on.

Pole Position: is the most favourable place for a car to start the race, situated on the inside of the front row. It’s a place that has to be earned, going to the driver with the best qualifying time.

Pit Stop: This is a permitted stop during the race to change tyres. Current F-1 regulations dictate that a F-1 Driver has to make at least one pit stop, of the about 3 allowed stops. This is because at least two different tyre compounds have to be used during a race. The harder tyre, referred to as the ‘prime’ tyre is more durable but gives less grip, and the softer tyre referred to as the ‘option’ tyre gives more grip but is less durable. And the racing team has to be smart to use pit stops to the advantage of the Driver in the hot seat and the race track.

Safety Car (SC): In F-1, if an accident or lousy weather prevents normal racing – a caution period – from continuing safely, the Race Director will call for a ‘safety car’ period, which would see marshals wave yellow flags and hold ‘SC’ boards. The SC limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack during the period and enables the clearance of any obstruction under safe conditions, especially for marshals. The SC which generally consists of an aptly modified high-performance production car that enters the track ahead of the leader. Depending on the regulations in effect, competitors are not normally allowed to pass the safety car or other competitors during a caution period, and the safety car leads the field at a pre-determined safe speed, which may vary by series and circuit. At the end of the caution period, the safety car leaves the track and the competitors resume normal racing.

Now, over to the controversy.

Verstappen took the pole position in Abu Dhabi, ahead of Hamilton, ‘earning it’ on performances over the week. During the race, Hamilton had a better start and took the lead into the first turn. At turn six, Verstappen attempted to pass, forcing Hamilton to evade by going off the track. Emerging from the corner still in the lead, Hamilton was instructed to give up the advantage he had gained. The pair settled in their positions until the first round of pit stops, with Hamilton gradually extending his lead. Later, a virtual safety car period allowed Verstappen to change tyres without losing track position; however, despite the tyre advantage Verstappen was unable to challenge Hamilton. With seven laps remaining, the safety car was brought out again for a crash involving another car. Red Bull used the opportunity to give Verstappen a fresh set of soft tyres, while Hamilton, still on his now-quite-old hard compound tyres, was not pitted. The Race Director took the decision to allow the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to un-lap themselves before restarting the race with only one lap remaining. Upon the restart, Verstappen quickly passed Hamilton and held him off for the remainder of the lap to win the race and the championship. Mercedes immediately lodged two separate protests against the race’s result. Both protests were rejected, and Mercedes said it intended to appeal the decision, but later announced that it has decided against it, ‘in the spirit of the game’. The winner takes it all!

Motor Racing happens in the circuit and off the circuit as well. And all the while, the mind races tirelessly in many lanes.

Meanwhile, soon after the race, maybe to enliven his racing spirits, Lewis Hamilton was knighted this week, with Britain’s Prince Charles doing the honours. Henceforth, it will be, Sir Lewis Hamilton.

India’s Meow Comes After 21 Years

India’s ‘cat works’- including the original sound – and the usual cat-walking, won the day at the 70th Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, which culminated this week at The Universe Dome, Eilat, Israel.

Miss India-Universe, Harnaaz Sandhu, 21, was crowned Miss Universe 2021 in a stunning display of presence of mind, beautiful costumes, and among other things, meowing like a cat. The first runner-up was, Miss Paraguay Nadia Ferreira, and the second runner-up, Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane. Andrea Meza, Miss Universe 2020, crowned the new Miss Universe 2021.

That’s an amazing sequence: a 21 year old winning a Beauty Title for her country, after 21 years, in the year 2021. Wish Mathematician Ramanujan (and Hardy) was around to find any fascinating meaning to this number combination.

The last time India won the competition was in the year 2000 when Lara Dutta wore the Miss Universe tiara; and the same year that Priyanka Chopra won the Miss World Title. Sushmitha Sen was the only other Indian-the first ever -to win a Miss Universe Title in 1994; and the year that Aishwarya Rai won the Miss World Title. Those were the days when India won beauty titles on the double. This means Harnaaz Sandhu was just born when the Miss Universe crown was finding head space on Lara Dutta.

Harnaaz was born in Chandigarh in a Punjabi family and schooled at the Shivalik Public School. She started modelling at a young age, gradually walking her way to beauty pageants and won her first Beauty Contest in 2017 as Miss Chandigarh. This was followed by the LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2021 Title. While she was growing in beauty, she has also acted in two Punjabi movies.

After School, Harnaaz Sandhu studied Information Technology to earn a Bachelor’s Degree, and is now pursing her masters in Public Administration. She draws inspiration from her mother, who broke generations of patriarchy to become a successful gynaecologist.

She has a talent for mimicry and can mimic almost anyone, including animals and when during the contest, host Steve Harvey challenged her, she actually meowed like a cat. I could hear my neighbour’s cat (I don’t have one) meow in delight, acknowledging an original.

Harnaaz showed a great sense of style in her choice of outfits. In the finals she wore a silver gown- a sign of victory- inspired by Phulkari motifs, a geometric design unique to Punjab, designed by fashion designer Saisha Shinde. Embellished with sequins, stones, and embroidery, the gown featured a deep V-neck and a thigh-high slit in the centre, which complimented Harnaaz’s hour-glass figure. The winning sparkle was there for all to see through!

Her superb answer to the question of what advice she would give young women on coping with pressures of every day life was, ’to believe in themselves, to understand that they are unique and that is what makes them attractive. Stop comparing yourself with others and instead focus on significant issues affecting the globe’.

This beauty surely has the strength of inner beauty, and the brains. Cats Beware.

Kasi Vishwanath Shines

Varanasi, located on the banks of the River Ganges, in India’s Uttar Pradesh State, is regarded among the holiest of Hindu cities.

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple, in Varanasi’s Vishwanath Gali, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is one of the most famous and important places of worship in the Hindu religion. Varanasi was called Kashi (shining) in ancient times, and hence the temple is called Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

Inside the Temple is the Jyotirlinga, or Jyotirlingam – a devotional representation of the Hindu God Shiva Vishveshvara or Vishwanath- which has a very special and unique significance in the spiritual history of India. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas- the holiest of Shiva Temples in India. The main deity is known by the names Shri Vishwanath and Vishweshwara, literally meaning Lord of the Universe. The Temple is referred to as a central part of worship in the Shaiva philosophy (worship of Lord Shiva) in ancient Hindu scriptures.

The Kasi Vishwanath Temple had been demolished by many Muslim rulers during the numerous invasions of India: the last was by Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal Emperor who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site. The current structure was built on an adjacent site by the Maratha ruler, Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in the year 1780.

Many Indian saints such as, Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Bamakhyapa, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Sathya Sai Baba, Yogiji Maharaj, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Mahant Swami Maharaj, and Gurunanak have been in the Temple, in the past.

A visit to the temple and a bath in the holy River Ganges is one of many methods believed to lead one on a path to ‘moksha’ (liberation from the cycle of life). Thus, Hindus from all over the world try to visit Kasi once in their lifetime. There is also a tradition that one should give up at least one desire, after a pilgrimage to the temple, which would also include a visit to a Temple in Rameswaram (another one of the 12 Jyotirlingas) in Tamil Nadu, South India. People take water samples of the Ganges to pray at the temple and in return, bring back sand from near that temple.

Over the years, the Kasi Vishwanath Temple had literally lost its shine and the locality became wildly crowded and deeply congested with houses and shops making the best of any available area, in and around the Temple.

Then came India’s Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi, having been elected twice to Parliament from the Varanasi ‘Member of Parliament’ Constituency. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor project was conceived in 2019 to connect the iconic temple and the ghats along the River Ganga. And to ensure an easy flowing movement of pilgrims and devotees between the ghats and the temple: earlier, they had to pass through stifling, congested streets. Over 300 properties have been acquired to implement the project with about 1,400 shopkeepers, tenants and homeowners rehabilitated. More than 40 ancient temples were rediscovered during the works, which were restored without any change in the original structure.

The temple area which was only three thousand square feet before the renovation has now grown to about 5 lakh square feet.

The testimony of the success of the project is the fact that there is no litigation pending in any court of the country regarding acquisitions or rehabilitation related to the development of the project.

This week, on 13 December, PM Modi inaugurated the completed works of the first phase and visuals of the ancient Temple were magnificent. “It is a symbol of our spiritual soul, it is a symbol of India’s antiquity and traditions, said the PM.

I’m almost 60, and maybe I should make that trip to Kasi?

Another Hero Flies Away

In last week’s deadly helicopter copter crash, which martyred India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, the lone survivor was Group Captain Varun Singh. And after a final struggle in Hospital he succumbed to wounds sustained in the crash. This wipes out the entire passenger list on that fateful day. Now it’s time the Government gets to the bottom of what caused the crash.

The Land of a Thousand Legs

When it comes to strange animals, there is no country in the world more fascinating than Australia, and throwing-up unique hidden ones ever so often.

Now Scientists in Australia have discovered a millipede with more legs than any known animal. The pale-coloured millipede has more than 1300 legs in an elongated body of about 95 millimetres length. It was found almost 60 metres underground in a mining region in Western Australia and has been named Eumillipes Persephone. In Greek mythology, Persephone is the Queen of the underworld – that’s a well deserved name! The previous record holder was a California millipede with 750 legs.

Millipedes first appeared more than 400 million years ago and there are about 13,000 known species. Most millipedes are blind, colourless and are presumed to live on fungi. They are believed to be the first animals to conquer land. Wow, that’s an awful lot of leg.

More shining stories coming up in the weeks ahead, meow and discover more legs with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2020-44

About: This is what happened this week, in our World.

Wisdom

“Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them.” –Marissa Meyer, CEO, Yahoo!

Everywhere

United States (US)

The ‘red’, Grand Old, Republican Party – Trump-Pence, and the ‘blue’ Democratic Party – Biden-Harris teams are in the throw of the Finals of the US Presidential Election. Early voting is underway and ends on 1st November. Election Day is on 3rd November. Meanwhile, the coronavirus is still a star campaigner growing in momentum across many parts of the US, spreading a message of pandemic mismanagement and a refusal to look at the science of virus things.

Will Joe Biden trump over Donald Trump? I hope it doesn’t end in a ‘well shampooed’ hair-raising photo-finish or a refusal to accept the outcome. We should be knowing next week, by this time.

I’m hoping Joe makes it, with Kamala.

France

Awfully tough and horrific times in France, this time of the year.

On 16th October a 18year old Chechen refugee beheaded a School Teacher, Samuel Paty, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb of Paris. This, days after he had shown images of Prophet Mohammed, alongside other caricatures and cartoons, to his students while teaching and discussing the topic ‘freedom of expression’. He has even asked pupils who feared they might be offended by them to look away if they wanted to.

Is there a better way to teach freedom of expression?

The killer was subsequently gunned down by the Police.

Later, in a similar incident on 29th October a knifeman, shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great), killed three people and injured several others in an attack inside a Church in France’s Nice, on the Cote d’Azur. One of the victims, a woman, was decapitated. The scene was described as a ‘vision of horror’. This time too, the attacker was shot, injured, and taken to hospital. Glad that the Police have acted with superb alacrity and responsibility.

France has a long and cherished tradition of freedom of expression, and there can be no justification for attacking this freedom. French President Emmanuel Macron, enraged by the first incident, said that France will continue to defend the freedom that the School Teacher taught so well, and will bring back secularism; and France will not give up cartoons, drawings, even if others back down.

Macron’s war cry on Islamic fundamentalism has infuriated many Islamic countries denouncing it as Islamophobia, and they in turn are going to Town shouting that anything to do with France be banned.

Fanatic elements in any religion cannot be encouraged and France should be given every possible support in dealing with this hydra-headed problem. Religions Leaders should step in to control such radicals living on the fringes of humanity. I believe religion should be strictly kept in the confines of one’s soul, one’s home, and only the best effects should be visible on the outside.

Cartoons are images intended for humour and satire, as a means of communication to convey news, entertainment, and the kind, in a light-hearted manner. It’s best we look at a cartoon as just that, shrug it off with a smile, and not delve too deep into them. Nothing can demean the original, which is forever taken. Why give importance to a cartoon and allow another meaning in a dimension we should not be thinking at all? Why cannot we laugh at ourselves?

Laughter is the best medicine, they say, for many of our ills. When was the last time we enjoyed a Tom & Jerry Cartoon? Imagine if all the Cats meowed endlessly and mice squeaked tirelessly about showing them in caricature? Or, our Politicians -they become famous because of cartooning, didn’t they?

The Vatican City

Last Sunday, Pope Francis announced that Wilton Daniel Gregory, currently the Archbishop of Washington DC, is being elevated to Cardinal, in a list of 13 new Cardinals, all under the age of ‘heavy 80’. With this appointment, Gregory becomes America’s first African American Catholic Cardinal-adding to another of becoming Washington DC’s first African American Archbishop. The primary responsibility of Cardinals is in electing a new Pope, should the present Pope step down or die.

The new Cardinals ‘start getting old’ from 28th November onwards. Cardinals wear the distinctive red vestment to indicate their willingness to sacrifice themselves to the point of shedding ‘their own blood in the service of the Successor of Peter.’

Successor of Peter? Recall, that the primacy of the Pope, also known as Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff, is largely derived from his role as at the Apostolic Successor to Saint Peter, to whom the primacy was conferred by Jesus, giving him the ‘Keys of Heaven’ and the powers of ‘binding and loosing’, naming him as the ‘rock’ upon which the Church would be built.

Pope Francis has been making progressive changes, shaking-up and reinvigorating Christianity. Recently, he approved of same-sex marriages. ‘They are also children of God’, he said. I think that any Religion should constantly evolve, keeping with our better understanding of humanity, without losing sight of core fundamentals. The Pope has listened…and acted. God speaks through him.

Europe

Europe is being demolished and populated by COVID-19 numbers. New cases are a sensation in Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Italy, grappling with positivity rates of between 20% and 31%.

The only way they can be avoided is with aggressive testing, tracing, use of masks, hand hygiene, maintaining of physical distance and avoidance of crowds.

If everyone in the world washed their hands properly, an estimated one million lives would be saved every year, according to researchers in London.

Space

On 26th October NASA revealed that its Stratosphere Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has discovered water in the Clavius Crater of the sunlit parts of the Moon’s Southern Hemisphere. The quantity detected is minuscule – the Sahara Desert contains 100 times the water found by SOFIA – but it is a very significant discovery, which matters a lot in setting up say, a Base on the Moon or as a stop-over for greater and longer Space missions. NASA hopes to put a Man and a Woman on the Moon, in 2024, through its Artemis Mission.

India

Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)

We almost took it for granted, as an Indian, that we could buy land and property anywhere in India. But until the abrogation of Article 370 this was not possible in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Only residents of J&K could buy land on producing a Domicile or Permanent Residency Certificate. Not any longer, and from 26th October the Government has gazetted that any Indian can buy land in J&K just like any other State in India.

This simple notification was long overdue. How about buying a nice little cottage overlooking the Dal Lake? Let’s do it?

Elections

Elections keeping rolling in State after State during the year, that one keeps wondering if Democracy is only about voting and forgetting about whom you voted for.

Democracy can succeed only if there is a constant engagement by the people.

This time it’s Bihar State that is going to the polls to elect a new State Government. Current Chief Minister (CM), Nitish Kumar, has been ruling for three five-year terms and is hoping to make it to a fourth. Isn’t it time to give way to someone else?

Voting started on 28th October in a first of three phases for 243 Assembly Seats. The Second and Third Phases are on 3rd and 7th November respectively. We will know the results on the counting day, 10th November.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Janata Dal(United), JD(U), are together pitted against the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and the Left Parties. Opinion Polls give an edge to the ruling BJP – JD(U) combo.

CM, Nitish Kumar has governed, and managed the pandemic, reasonably well: comes across as a level-headed Chief Minister. Years ago, he was voted one of the best Chief Ministers of India and even thought of as a best candidate Prime Minister. But, he could do more to develop Bihar faster. I would give him one more term to deliver and, whatever, quit after this period. Make way for more talented people. Moreover, we are tired of the same old faces, aren’t we?

Sport

Cricket

The IPL 2020 Cricket Tournament is still scoring in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Match No 52 will be played this Saturday. After Match No 56 on 3rd November, it will be over to the Qualifiers and Eliminators before the Final, near the middle of November.

Mumbai Indians still lead the points table followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore, and then Delhi Capitals. Chennai Super Kings is well-settled at the bottom of the Table with Sunrisers Hyderabad, ‘keeping close’ company.

KL Rahul of Kings XI has the most runs to his name, 641 in thirteen games, Shekar Dhiwan of Delhi Capitals is the closest with 471 runs. Not far away are, David Warner with 436 runs and Viral Kohli at 424 runs. Rajasthan Royals’ Sanju Samson has hit the highest number of sixes – 26. That’s living up to the ‘power of Samson’, in his name

Motor Racing: Formula One

Six-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has broken Michael Schumacher’s all-time Formula One win record after dominating the Portuguese Grand Prix.

His victory in Portimao, Portugal, was the 92nd of his career, moving past the German’s previous record of 91. Hamilton squandered his lead on the opening lap but after reclaiming it on the 20th lap, he held off all competitors to win the Driver’s Championship.

Lewis Hamilton, of the United Kingdom, competes in Formula One for the Mercedes -AMG Petronas Team. He won his first championship in 2008 while in the McLaren Team before moving to Mercedes. That maiden win was dramatic, making a crucial overtake on the ‘last corner of the last lap in the last race’ of the season to become the then youngest Formula One World Champion in History.

Ever wondered why it is called Formula One? In the beginning when motor car racing was racing to become a sport it was a free-for-all design for the Designer and the Drivers. Then, the Regulators framed a clear set of rules for the design of these cars such as single seating, open wheels, engine power specification, etc. Only cars complying with this ‘formula’ of rules could compete. Somewhere along the road the number One got added, as the sport was the ultimate in car racing. Then it became widely known a Formula One.

With the formula being generated, It begs the question, is there a Formula Two, Three? Yes, with smaller cars and versions, in terms of the power, and the kind.

Potpourri

Taiwan

Taiwan was quick to act when the coronavirus hit the world, and they have the best record in Asia and probably the World, with almost 200 days without a locally transmitted case. What did they do right? In an Island of about 23 million people that had about 553 confirmed cases and only 7 deaths. Their deadly experience with SARS has given them a heads-up start driving them involuntarily into submitting to the strict government directives. They closed borders early, tightly regulated travel, did rigorous contact tracing, enforced technology-driven quarantine and ensured widespread mask wearing.

We have got the experience we never thought we wanted. Should be easy to put ourselves in the shoes of Taiwanese and transplant their mentality to where we live – that’s a good infection to spread, isn’t it?

Enter the Beetle

We have known Superman, Batman, Iron-man; now it’s time to know about a Super Beetle rightly named ‘diabolical ironclad beetle’, biting with the scientific name of ‘Phloeodes diabolicus’. This beetle can survive being run over by a car and is mostly found in the arid western regions of the United States.

The ironclad beetle’s super-toughness lies in its armour. It has two armour like ‘elytron’ (a sheet, cover, protective wing case), that meet at a line, called a suture, running the length of its abdomen. Typically, flying beetles have hardened forewings-elytra-to protect the underlying hindwings, which are used for flight. But the ironclad beetle having lost its ability to fly, its elytra are permanently locked together to provide protection from predators.

The suture acts like a jigsaw puzzle, connecting the beetle’s various exoskeletal blades in the abdomen, which lock to prevent themselves from pulling out. If the suture is broken, another protective mechanism also allows for the blades to deform slowly. That prevents a sudden release of energy, which would otherwise break its neck.

The Beetle can take an applied force of 150 newtons – some 39,000 times its body weight -before its exoskeleton starts to fracture. A car tire would apply force of around 100 newtons if driving over the insect on a dirt surface.

How about a Beetle-Man superhero movie? Anybody dare drive over him?

Until next week with more ‘iron-clad’ stories! Meanwhile, spend the weekend listening to The Beatles we all know so well. ‘Hey Jude, Come Together, I Want To Hold your Hand, Yesterday, Something, In My Life, Love Me Do, While My Guitar Gently Weeps…are some of the best songs strung by them.