It doesn't matter whether you fly every week or once in 6 months, we all remember our 1st time on an airplane . And we all remember our 1st time on a Boeing 747 jumbo jet . But it could be the end of the runway for the iconic humped jetliner as Boeing plans to halve production of the jumbo jets, to 6 a year, with a possibility of stopping production soon. With that background, I thought we'll take a flight down history lane and reminisce about the world's most recognizable plane . The 747 was in the skies before the Concorde (remember that plane?) & before man set foot on the moon (The Boeing 747 first flew in February 1969, just five months before Apollo 11 landed on the moon).  Since it's 1st commercial flight on 22nd Jan 1970 (with Pan Am Airlines), over 1,500 of these planes have been built.   Building an airliner bigger than those of its competitors was a bold move & a huge commercial risk that required borrowing some $2 billion fr

How's your Sunday going? This week has seen the year's biggest fad develop  - No, I'm not talking about the excitement around Kabali . Instead I'm talking about Pokémon Go .  So this weekend's GK nugget is about this augmented reality game that is making people run around their neighbourhoods with their smartphones held high. First up, what is Pokémon? Pokémon is the name of a game released by Nintendo 20 years ago . It's a cult classic and led to many video game sequels, TV shows, movies & merchandise being sold. So why the excitement 20 years later? Nintendo has added a new twist to the game, using new age technologies which are easily available in smart phones (cameras, GPS & augmented reality capability) . So now people are downloading the app on their mobile phones to play the new version - Pokémon Go . And what's so different about the new version? When you start the game, Pokémon Go  uses your smart phone's camera &

Hello, How's your week been? This week saw David Cameron stepping down and Theresa May becoming the new British PM. She's the 2nd female PM that Great Britain has had. But who have been some of the other leading ladies across the world? That's the theme for this weekend's GK nugget. Let's begin at home. Indira Gandhi served as India's prime minister from 1966 to 1977 & 1980 to 1984. Pratibha Patil served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012. Moving west Golda Meir , the prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 74 was considered the original 'Iron Lady' . She was a founder of the state of Israel and the nation’s 4th prime minister. Another famous 'Iron Lady', Margaret Thatcher was the 1st woman prime minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990.  Other erstwhile female heads of state : Sri Lanka-President Chandrika Kumaratunga Nov, 1994 - Nov, 2005 Pakistan-PM Benazir Bhutto Dec, 1988 - Aug, 1990 & Oct, 1993

This weekend's GK nugget has some of the lesser known facts about 1 of my favourite sports, tennis. It's the final weekend of  Wimbledon, one of the few times in the year when even non-tennis fans want to know who lifts the prized trophy at SW19. But wait, have you ever wondered why Wimbledon is also referred to as SW19? Simple, that's the postcode of the locality. Here are some lesser known info nuggets about the most famous & the (widely considered) most prestigious of the tennis grand slams. (There are 4 tennis grand slams in the year - the biggest tennis tournaments - Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon & US Open).  Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, started in 1877, and the only major tournament still played on a grass court. The grass on the courts is tended year round and cut down to 8mm before the tournament. Wimbledon is notable for the longest running sponsorship in sports history due to its association with Slazenger who have

*What is India's national sport?* We would love to think that its *cricket*, but then we think harder and consider *kabaddi* and finally lock down on *hockey*. But the shocker is that India doesn't have a national sport or game. That's right, in reply to an *RTI petition in 2012*,  the *under secretary, Union ministry of youth affairs and sports, Mr. SPS Tomar* said " I haven't come across any order or notification in the ministry saying hockey is the national game. It's known to be a national game in general parlance." This created a huge uproar within the hockey community, and the debate has been sidelined but not concluded as yet. But lets leave that on the side for a bit and talk about another age old sport, the sport of kabaddi, which is enjoying the limelight thanks to season 4 of Star Sports *Pro Kabaddi league*. While you are enjoying the fast paced game, here's a little history about it. It is said that Kabaddi originated in the state of