Zonal Councils – establishment , membership and functions
What are Zonal Councils? Zonal Councils are advisory councils and are made up of the states that have been grouped into five zones to foster cooperation among…
Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)
Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is an atmosphere-ocean coupled phenomenon in the tropical Indian Ocean (like the El Nino is in the tropical Pacific), characterised by a difference…
Earthquake – the pressure release phenomena
What is an earthquake? • An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. • The surface where they slip…
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
What is UNCLOS? The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the…
Clouds – Formation and Appearance
What are clouds? Clouds are the visible aggregate of minute particles of water and/or ice. They form when water vapor condenses. They can grow very tall or…
Comets – structure and naming
What are comets? Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock and ices. The word comet comes from the Latin…
Why British tea planters did not succeed beyond the Darjeeling area?
Though consumption of tea in India has been mentioned in the Ramayana (750-500 BCE) , commercial production of tea did not begin until the arrival of the…
How dew is formed?
What is dew? Condensation of water droplets on the objects at the surface of the earth such as leaves and grasses are called as ‘Dew’. When the…
India in the eighth century
India in the eighth century was marked by the growth of three important political powers in India. These were Gurjara Pratiharas in north India, Palas in eastern…
Vattakirutal – fasting facing north
Tamils who lived 2000 years ago valued good reputation and family honour. They thought that it was better to die than to live in disgrace. The practice…