Languanologue # 6

Today we have the second list of he largest language families in terms of number of languages are the following. Some families are controversial, and in many the language count varies between researchers:

1. Niger-Congo (1532 languages)

2. Austronesian (1257 languages)

3. Trans–New Guinea (477 languages)

4. Sino-Tibetan (449 languages)

5. Indo-European (439 languages)

6. Afro-Asiatic (374 languages)

7. Nilo-Saharan (205 languages) [controversial]

8. Pama-Nyungan (178 languages)

9. Oto-Manguean (177 languages) {controversial]

10. Austro-Asiatic (169 languages)

Languanologue # 5

Today we have a list of the top ten families with wide recognition, in terms of numbers of native speakers as a proportion of world population, listed with their core geographic areas:

1. Indo-European Languages - 46% (Europe, Southwest to South Asia, America, Oceania)

2. Sino-Tibetan Languages - 21% (East Asia)

3. Niger-Congo Languages - 6.4% (Sub Saharan Africa)

4. Afro-Asiatic Languages - 6% (North Africa, Southwest Asia)

5. Austronesian languages - 5.9% (Oceania, Madagascar, maritime Southeast Asia)

6. Dravidian languages - 3.7% (South Asia)

7. Altaic languages - 2.3% (Central Asia, Northern Asia, Anatolia, Siberia)

8. Japonic languages - 2.1% (Japan)

9. Austro-Asiatic languages - 1.7% (mainland Southeast Asia)

10. Tai-Kadai languages - 1.3% (Southeast Asia)

Languanologue # 3

Today we will have a list of the 5 most-widely spoken languages in the world sorted by the number of countries in which the language is spoken. I will consider the languages only if it has been deemed to be spoken in a country if it is the official language of that country or is spoken natively as a first language by a majority of that country's inhabitants.

1. English - English dominates this list and can is also said to be a global language, spoken in about 57 countries all over the world.

2. French - It is spoken in 31 countries, mostly in European and African countries.

3. Spanish - It is spoken in 26 countries and comes in as 3rd in our list, mostly spoken in European and SOuth American countries.

4. Arabic - Spoken in 24 Middle East and African countries.

5. Russian - It is spoken in 11 countries and comes in our list at number 5.

Tomorrow we will go deep down, opening more of the pages of Factorium's "The Languanologue"!!

Languanologue # 2

Today, continuing our Languanologue series, we have the remainder of the list of 20-widely spoken languages around the world. We will continue the list from the number 6, as we saw the top 5 languages yesterday.

6. Arabic - 265 Million speakers

7. Malay - 250 Million speakers

8. Portuguese - 240 Million speakers

9. Bengali - 193 Million speakers

10. Russian - 144 Million speakers

11. Japanese - 122 Million speakers

12. German - 101 Million speakers

13. Punjabi - 89 Million speakers

14. Javanese - 75.5 Million speakers

15. Telugu - 70 Million speakers

16. Marathi - 68 Million speakers

17. Vietnamese - 67.4 Million speakers

18. Korean - 67 Million speakers

19. Tamil - 66 Million speakers

20. Italian - 65.5 Million speakers

All data for the last 2 days' facts was world according to the Ethonologue, a widely cited reference for languages around the world.

Languanologue # 1

In this broad 15 day series, we will focus on statistics with Language, the spoken form of conversation ubiquitous among Mankind. Today we will see about the most spoken languages in the world.

1. Mandarin - 1,205 Million speakers, also Mandarin is spoken by at least 5 % of 5 countries' population natively.

2. Spanish - 429 Million speakers, spoken widely in about 25 countries.

3. English - 428 Million speakers, considered the global language as it is spoken ubiquitously around the world.

4. Hindi - 382 Million speakers, spoken dominantly in India, it is also spoken in parts of 7 other countries.

5. French - 300 Million speakers in about 40 countries.

Tomorrow we will have a list of other languages included in the top-20 list.

Generic Trademarks

Today is the last day of the Month of April, so it means that we will have our Monthly Report today. The Factorium is going to start another fact series that will span the 7 weeks of my summer holiday and is named Summer Extravaganza. We will see something about it too in today's report. Before that, let us move on today's fact in which we will see some common genericised trademarks. Today, we will have a list with 5 trademarks:

This list contains 10 trademarks that were originally legally protected but have lost their legality as being a common name within that product or service:

1. Aspirin: Aspirin still continues to remain a trademark name for the Bayer company. It has been declared Generic in some countries due to its popularity in the medical sector. As the chemical name acetylsalicylic acid is too difficult to remember, people prefer to say Aspirin.

2. Cellophane: It is still a registered trademark of Innovia Films Limited and was originally a trademark of DuPont and has become generic due to its widespread use.

3. Escalator: It was originally a trademark of Otis Elevator Company but has become Generic due to its huge Popularity and widespread use and the fact that Otis Elevator Company invented the Escalator or the Lift (as it is called generally).

4. Petrol: Carless, Capel and Leonard invented the Trade name 'petrol' for refined petroleum spirit. Since then, it has slowly and steadily become Generic.

5. Yo-Yo: It is still a Papa's Toy Co. Limited Trademark in some countries but has become genericised in many countries, especially USA and India. It is a good example of a Trademark as almost all the small kids refer to the 'Spinning Toy' as a Yo-Yo.

What's Behind the Name? - Country Etymologies

The last batch of lists and the last post in the series 'What's Behind the Name?' is up for today. It is as follows:

1. Sao Tome and Principe: This is the Portuguese word for 'St. Thomas and Prince Islands'. It was named Sao Tome as it was discovered on St. Thomas's Day.

2. Scotland: This word translates to 'Land of the Scots' in Old English. Scot comes from the Old English word 'Scotta'.

3. Sudan: This word comes from the Arabic Term 'Bilad as-Sudan' meaning Land of the Blacks.

4. Togo: From the settlement Togo, currently Togoville. In Ewe, 'to' means 'water' and 'go' means 'shore'.

5. Tonga: This word comes from the Tongan word 'South' or 'Southern' describing the country's location in relation to Samoa.

6. Turkmenistan: This word can be divided into two parts 'Turkmen' and 'Stan'. These words translate in Persian to 'Land of the Turkmen People'.

7. Uzbekistan: This word can be divided into three parts 'Uz', 'Bek' and 'Stan' with 'Uz meaning 'Self'' in Turkic, 'Bek' meaning 'Master' in Sogidan Language and 'Stan' meaning 'Land' in Persian. This translates to The land the Self Masters.

8. Vanuatu: This word is derived from a phrase found in some of the languages of Vanuatu meaning 'Our Land'.

9. Venezuela: This word comes from the Italian word Venezuola meaning 'Little Venice', from the diminutive form of 'Venezia'.

10. Zambia: This country is named after the River Zambezi, which flows through the east of the country and also forms the border with Zimbabwe.

From tomorrow, we begin a weeklong series named 'Big, Bigger, Biggest'.

What's Behind the Name? - Country Etymologies

The list for today is as follows:

1. Kyrgystan: This word is derived from three words- 'Kyrg' meaning 'Forty', 'Yz' meaning 'Tribes and 'Stan; meaning land, thus the Land Of Forty Tribes.

2. Liberia: This word comes from the Latin 'Liber' meaning 'free'. It is so named because the country was established as a homeland for freed (liberated) African-American slaves.

3. Mozambique: This word comes from the name of the Island of Mozambique, which in turn probably comes from the name of a previous Arab ruler, the sheik Mussa Ben Mbiki.

4. Nauru: The name "Nauru" may derive from the Nauruan word Anáoero, which means "I go to the beach". The German settlers called the island Nawodo or Onawero.

5. Phillippines: The word literally means 'Lands of King Phillip'.

6. Poland: This word literally means 'Land of the Polans' or the territory of the tribe of Polans.

7. Qatar: This word is derived from 'Qatara', believed to refer to the Qatari town of Zubara, an important trading port and town in the region in ancient times.

8. Rwanda: This word comes from the name of the Vanyaruanda people, a word of unknown origin, but probably cognate to the name of Rwanda.

9. Samoa: The islands allegedly derive their name from that of a local chieftain, or from an indigenous word meaning 'place of the moa'.

10. San Marino: This country takes its name from Marinus, a legendary Christian Stonemason and the counrty is called Saint Marinus in Italic.

The last batch of 10 countries is up for tomorrow...

What's Behind the Name? - Country Etymologies

When we think of a name, we generally also think of its origin, its etymology. For the next three days, we are going to see similar lists of 10 countries and their name etymologies, totaling to 30 countries. The list for today is as follows:

1. Australia: Comes from Latin 'Terra Australis Incognita' meaning 'Unknown Southern Land'.

2. Bahamas: From Spanish 'Baja Mar' which roughly means "Shallow Sea" or "Low Tide". The islands were named by the Spanish Conquistadors after the waters around them.

3. Cuba: From Taino Indian Cubanacan meaning "centre place". It it also possible that the name comes from the Arabic word "Ka'bah." meaning "Shrine".

4. Dominica: From Medieval Latin "Dies Dominica" meaning "Sunday": the day of the week on which Christopher Columbus first landed on the island.

5. England: Derived from the Old English name Englaland, literally translatable as "land of the Angles".

6. Fiji: From the Tongan name for the islands 'Viti'.

7. Guyana: From the indigenous peoples who called the land "Guiana", meaning "land of many waters", in reference to large number of rivers in the area.

8. Honduras: Christopher Columbus named the country "Honduras", Spanish for "depths", referring to the deep waters off the northern coast.

9. India: Derived from 'Sindhu', the original name of the Indus River which gave its name to the land of Sindh. The word 'Hind' was later applied prior to the separation of India.

10. Jamaica: From Taino/Arawak Indian Xaymaca or Hamaica, "Land of wood and water" or perhaps "Land of springs".

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The last list of 10 companies and their Etymologies is up for today. It is as follows:

1. Volvo: Thus name originates from the Latin word 'Volvo' meaning 'I Roll' referring to a Ball bearing.

2. Wal-Mart: Named after founder Sam Walton. The 'Wal' was taken to make the name look better.

3. Warner Bros.: Named after the Warner Brothers Jack, Sam, Harold and Albert Warner.

4. Wipro: Short Form of Western India Vegetable Products Limited with the 'W' from Western, 'I' from India and 'Pro' from Products.

5. Wrigley Company: This chewing-gum company is named after its founder William Wrigley Jr.

6. WWE: Short Form of World Wrestling Entertainment, which was formerly called World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

7. Xerox: The name is derived from the word Xerogaphy, a word derived from the Greek word 'Xeros' meaning dry and 'Graphos' meaning Writing.

8. Yahoo!: The word Yahoo (Invented by Jonathan Swift) represents a person who is barely human and is repulsive in appearance and is also associated with an expression of joy. The company founders thus named their company Yahoo.

9. Zuse: This pioneering German Computer Company was named after its founder Konrad Zuse.

10. 20th Century Fox: This Film Studio company was named after the merger of William Fox's 'Fox Film' and 'Twentieth Century Pictures'.

So this subseries has now ended. In the past 7 days we have seen the Company Name Etymologies of 70 major companies in India and Around the World. Three more exciting facts remain to be published in the series 'What's Behind the Name?'.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The list for today is:

1. Suzuki: This name originates from that of its founder, Michio Suzuki.

2. Tata Group: This coglomerate named after Legendary Industrialist Jamshedji Tata, considered 'The Father of Indian Industry'.

3. Toshiba: Named after the merger of two companies, Tokyo Denki and Shibaura Seisaku-sho with the 'To' coming from the former and 'Shiba' from the latter.

4. Toyota: Named after its founder Sakichi Toyoda. Initially, this company was called Toyeda, but the company changed its name to Toyota to make it sound better.

5. Unilever: Named after the merger of Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers.

6. Unisys: Short Form of United Information Systems.

7. UUNET: Named from Unix-to-Unix Network, this company was one of the oldest and largest Internet Service Providers.

8. Virgin: According to Richard Branson, the company founder's autobiography, this name was suggested by one of the girls in school.

9. Vodafone: This name can be divided into 3 parts, 'Vo', 'Da' and 'Fone' with the 'Vo' coming from Voice, 'Da' from Data and 'Fone' from Telephone.

10. Volkswagen: This name translates to 'People's Car' in German with 'Volk' meaning people and 'Wagen' meaning 'Car'.

The last and final batch of 10 names and their etymologies is up for tomorrow....

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The list for today is as follows:

1. Qantas: Short form which originated from its original name Queensland And Northen Territoy Aerial Services.

2. Reebok: This preseny day name originates from Rhebok, an African Antelope.

3. Samsung: The word Samsing means 'Three Stars' in Korean.

4. Sanyo: The word Sanyo means 'Three Seas' in Japanese.

5. SAS Airlines: Short form of 'Scandinavian Airlines System'.

6. Saudi Aramco: The name Aramco was derived when California Arabian Standard Oil Company changed its name to 'Arabian American Oil Company' (Aramco from Arabian American Oil) and as the Saudi Government purchased the company in 1980, the name got changed to Saudi Aramco.

7. SEAT: Short form of 'Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo' meaning Spanish Corporation of Touring Cars.

8. Siemens: This present company name is the name of its founder Werner von Siemens, who founded the company in 1847.

9. Skype: The original concept for this name was Sky-Peer-to-Peer, which morphed into Skyper and then into Skype.

10. Sony: This present company name comes from the Lain word 'Sonus' meaning sound and 'Sonny', a word used by the Americans to refer to a bright youngester. It was also chosen as it could be pronounced in many different languages.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

The list for today is as follows:

1. Maggi: this Old-Days food company was named after its founder Julius Maggi. Altough it was taken over by Nestle, the brand name is still in use today.

2. Mattel: Portmanteau of the names of the founders Harold Mattson and Elliot Handler with the 'Matt' coming from 'Mattson' and 'El' from 'Elliot'.

3. McDonald's: Named after the fonder brothers Dic and Mac McDonald.

4. Microsoft: This name was coined by Bill Gates to represent a company devoted to Microcomputer Software. The 'Micro' from Microcomputers and 'Soft' from Software.

5. Mitsubishi: The name Mitsubishi translates to 2 parts with 'Mitsu' meaning Three and 'Hishi' (Later changed to Bishi) meaning Diamond Shape (referring to the rhombus shape). Hence the Three Diamond Logo.

6. Nikon: The present day name is a Short Form of the original name of the company which was Nippon Kogaku meaning 'Japanese Opticals'. The 'Ni' comes from Nippon (Official name of Japan) and 'Kon' comes from Kogaku.

7. Nokia: The present day name cme into place after the Finnish City Nokia, where the company first started as a wood-pump mill.

8. Oracle: Formerly Relational Software Inc., the company changed it's name to Oracle, which was the codename of a CIA Project.

9. Pepsi: Named from the digestive enzyme Pepsin.

10. Pixar: A portmanteau of Pixel and The company's co-founder's name Alvy Ray Smith. The 'Pix' comes from Pixel and the 'Ar' comes from The initials A and R in 'Alvy Ray' respectively.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

Today's list of 10 companies and the etymology of their names is as follows:

1. Hyundai: The name connotes the sense of 'Modernity' in Korean.

2. IBM: First named by Thomas John Watson Sr. and the present name is a short from of International Business Machines.

3. ICICI: Short Form of Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India.

4. Intel: Short Form of Integrated Electronics with the 'Int' from Integrated and 'El' from Electronics.

5. Infosys: Short Form for Information Systems with the 'Info' from Information and 'Sys' from System.

6. KFC: Short Form of the original name Kentucky Fried Chicken. The previous name was replaced with KFC to avoid the unhealthy connonations of the word 'Fried'.

7. Kia Motors: The name 'Kia' literally means 'Rising From Asia' in the Hanja Language.

8. Lego: It is the combination of the Danish word 'Leg Godt' which means 'Play Well'.

9. Lenovo: Portmanteau of words 'Le' (derived from previous name Legend) and 'Novo' which translates to 'New' in Latin.

10. L Oreal: This present day name originated from 'Aureole', which was the name given to an innovative hair-colour formula developed by Eugene Schuller, A French Chemist.

What's Behind the Name? - Company Etymologies

Here is the list for today featuring Company Names and their Etymologies:

1. Compaq: From the 'Com' in Computer and 'Paq' in Pack to denote compatibility and quality in a very small integral object.

2. Daewoo: Named by the Company Founder Kim Woo Chong. Daewoo means 'Great House' or 'Great Universe' in Korean.

3. eBay: The word comes from Echo Bay referring to a web consulting concern created by its owner.

4. Epson: This Japanese pheripheral and printer manufacturer was the short from of 'Son of Electronic Printer' with 'E' and 'P' coming from Electronic Printer and 'Son' from 'Son of'.

5. ESPN: Short Form of 'Entertainment and Sports Programming Network'.

6. FedEx: Short Form of Federal Express Corporation, which was the company's original name.

7. GlaxoSmithKline: merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham.

8. Google: The name was formed when the word 'Googol' was misspelled. This name was settled upon as the URL 'gogle.com' was unregistered at that time.

9. HCL: Short Form of 'Hindustan Computers Limited', the original name of the Software company.

10. HP: This present day name originated from the name of the company's founders Bill Hewlett and Steve Packard. They tossed a coin to decide whether the company should be named 'Hewlett-Packard' or 'Packard-Hewlett'.

So 20 up, 50 to go. 10 More coming up for tomorrow.....

What's Behid the Name? - Company Etymologies

For the next week, (from 5th to 11th April) we are going to see lists which will feature names of Random Companies along with their etymologies (The word company here refers to 'a form of Business Organisation'). Every day from now, names of 10 Random Companies and their etymologies (in a short sentence) will be displayed. The names on the left of your screen are all names of present day companies and to the right, their etymologies and in some cases, additional info about them. This subseries is perfectly related to the main series 'What's Behind the Name'. The list for today is:

1. Accenture: Portmanteau of words 'Accent' and 'Future'. This name was the result of a name finding process as previously, this company was known as Anderson Consulting.

2. Acer: Initially ultitech International, the company changed their name to 'Acer' in 1987. 'Acer' is the Latin word for 'sharp, acute, able and facile'.

3. Adidas: This company is named after its founder Adolf Dassler and is a portmanteau of the two words, 'Adi' and 'Das'. 'Adi' is taken from Adolf and 'Das' from Dassler.

4. AOL: The present name originated from 'America Online'. 'A' from America and 'OL' from Online.

5. Apple: Said to originate from the fruit 'Apple' which was the favourite fruit of Co Founder Steve Jobs.

6. BenQ: Short form of 'Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to life'.

7. BMW: Short form of Bayerische Motoren Werke which translates to Bavarian Motor Factories.

8. Canon: This present day name is derived from he company's first Camera Kwanon, which is the japanese name of the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Mercy.

9. Casio: Named after its founder Kashio Tadao, who had set up the company Kashio Seisakujo as a subcontractor factory.

10. Coca-Cola: This name is derived from the Coca Leaves and Kola Nuts used as flavouring. The 'K' in Kola was changed to C to make the new name look better.

In this subseries, we are going to see the etymologies of about 70 companies in the world alphabetically from A to Z. So its 10 up, 60 more to go. 10 More coming up tomorrow....

Republics, Monarchies and Dictatorships

The following are the 6 lists that are lined up for today. These are miscellaneous lists:

a) List of European Union Sovereign States by Largest Area:
1.France, 2.Spain, 3.Sweden, 4.Germany, 5.Finland, 6.Poland, 7.Italy, 8.United Kingdom, 9.Romania, 10.Greece.

b) List of European Union Sovereign States by Highest Population:
1.Germany, 2.France, 3.United Kingdom, 4.Italy, 5.Spain, 6.Poland, 7.Romania, 8.Netherlands, 9.Greece, 10.Belgium.

c) List of Sovereign States by Highest Life Expectancy:
1.Andorra, 2.Japan, 3.Singapore, 4.San Marino, 5.Hong Kong, 6.Australia, 7.Canada, 8. France, 9.Sweden, 10.Switzerland.

d) List of Sovereign States by Least Life Expectancy:
1.Swaziland, 2.Angola, 3.Zambia, 4.Lesotho, 5.Mozambique, 6.Sierra Leone, 7.Liberia, 8.Djibouti, 9.Malawi, 10.Central African Republic.

e) List of Sovereign States by Highest Number of Billionaires:
1.United States, 2.China, 3.Russia, 4.Germany, 5.India, 6.United Kingdom, 7.Turkey, 8.Hong Kong, 9.Canada, 10.Japan.

f) List of Sovereign States by Number of English Speakers:
1.United States, 2.India, 3.Nigeria, 4.United Kingdom, 5.Phillippines, 6.Germany, 7.Canada, 8.France, 9.Australia, 10.Pakistan.

I feel that 7 days are not enough to display even 0.1 % of the facts of the entire world, so the facts, figures and statistics posted in the last 7 days are just a small fraction of the innumerable facts on the world, and are also the most obvious ones. There will be more facts about the world in the later months to come....

Republics, Monarchies and Dictatorships

As mentioned yesterday, some random lists will be posted for the next 2 days (today and tomorrow). There are no figures accompanying the names as there is more or less no exact data for it, therefore only the names with the respective numbers are given in the below lists for today all concerning Population Densities:

a) List of Sovereign States with the Highest Population Density:
1.Monaco, 2.Singapore, 3.Hong Kong, 4.Vatican City, 5.Malta, 6.Bangladesh, 7.Bahrain, 8.Maldives, 9.Mauritius, 10.Barbados.

b) List of Sovereign States with Least Population Density:
1.Mongolia, 2.Namibia, 3.Australia, 4.Iceland, 5.Suriname, 6.Mauritiana, 7.Botswana, 8.Canada, 9.Guyana, 10.Libya.

c) List of Dependant Islands or Terretories with Highest Population Density:
1.Macau, 2.Gibraltar, 3.Bermuda, 4.Guernsey, 5.Jersey, 6.Palestinian Terretories, 7.Saint-Martin, 8.Aruba, 9.Mayotte, 10.Puerto Rico.

d) List of Dependant Islands or Terretories with Least Population Density:
1.Greenland, 2.Falkland Islands, 3.Western Sahara, 4.French Guiana, 5.Niue, 6.New Caledonia, 7.Pitcairn Islands, 8.South Ossetia, 9.Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, 10.Somaliland.

e) List of Cities with Highest Population Density:
1.Manila (Phillippines), 2.Bogor (Indonesia), 3.Titagarh (India), 4.Baranagar (India), 5.Serampore (India), 6.Pateros (Phillippines), 7.Delhi (India), 8.South Dumdum (India), 9.Kamarhati (India), 10.Kolkata (India).

f) List of Cities with Least Population Density:
1.Khardaha (India), 2.Dafni (Greece), 3.Seoul (South Korea), 4.Patna (India), 5.Sylhet (Bangladesh), 6.Rishra (India), 7.Male (Maldives), 8.Panihati (India), 9.Saint-Gilles (Belgium), 10.Allahabad (India).

6 more lists are lined up for tomorrow.....

What we know about H2O

Today is the World Water Day and on this occasion, let us see something about this ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is vital for all known forms of life. Clean, fresh drinking water is essential to human and other lifeforms. As water is a vast subject to just jot some facts down, the facts presented below are handpicked from thousands of others. The following are some known and some unknown facts about H2O:

1. Here are some basic water-related sciences or studies:

• Hydrology: It is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth.
• Hydrography: It is the study of the distribution of Water.
• Hydrogeology: It is the study of the distribution and movement of Groundwater.
• Glaciology: It is the study of distribution and movement of Glaciers.
  
• Limnology: It is the study of distribution and movement of Inland Waters.
• Oceanography: It is the study of the Oceans.

2. Water has been detected in interstellar clouds within our galaxy, the Milky Way. Water probably exists in abundance in other galaxies, too, because its components, hydrogen and oxygen, are among the most abundant elements in the universe. Therefore, water is also present in universe mainly in liquid and gaseous (water vapor) state. Water as vapor is present in the atmospheres of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Enceladus (one of Saturn's moons) in very small quantities (except Earth). Water as liquid is present on Earth (71% of surface) and on the Moon.

3. Recently, small amounts of water have been found on the moon by our indigenous spacecraft Chandrayaan-1's Moon Minerology Mapper (M cubed) which was one of the 11 payloads aboard the mission.

4. We humans use water for Agriculture, as a Scientific Standard, For drinking, Hygiene, for Chemical use, As a heat transfer fluid, for Extinguishing fires, for Recreation, for Industrial applications, for Food processing and what not.

5. Like National Highways, there are National Waterways too. India has 6 National Waterways and they are

1. Allahabad — Haldia stretch of the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system.

2. Sadiya — Dhubri stretch of Brahmaputra river.

3. Kottapuram-Kollam stretch of the West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal.

4. Kakinada - Puducherry stretch of Canals and the Kaluvelly Tank, Bhadrachalam – Rajahmundry stretch of River Godavari and Wazirabad – Vijayawada stretch of River Krishna.

5. Talcher- Dhamra stretch of river Brahmani, Geonkhali- Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal, Charbatia- Dhamra stretch of Matai river and Mangalgadi – Paradip stretch of Mahanadi delta rivers.

6. Lakhipur to Bhanga of river Barak.

6. Now something on the World Water day. In 1993 the United Nations General Assembly declared March 22 as World Day for Water which is also known as World Water Day. This day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This year's World Water Day theme is Clean Water for a healthy world.

These facts are to commemorate the World Water Day that is celebrated on 22 March every year. If any fact is posted incorrectly, be free to comment or leave a mail.

•