Hello & welcome to this fortnight’s GK nugget.  December has seen the birthdays of some iconic figures-  the original showman of Hindi cinema – Raj Kapoor – was born on 14th December 1924 .  The Lord of tamil cinema – Rajnikanth – was born on 12th December 1950 .  Dilip Kumar was born on 11th December 1922 while 11th December 1969 was when India’s first chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand made his first appearance on planet earth. Of course there are many more names to add to that list, but while going through all these dates I realized that this will be the last GK nugget of 2016.  So instead of sharing trivia on a single topic, this weekend’s GK Nugget will do a quick recap of the momentous events that unfolded across the globe on its this year’s journey around the Sun. January 2016: Jan 16 – Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman and nominee Tsai Ing-wen garnered 56.1% of the presidential vote thus becoming the First Female...

Hello & welcome to this weekend’s GK Nugget. While demonetization has clearly not left the front pages of our newspapers, a headline that caused quite a ripple (if not a rumble) through the news media last week was the death of Cuban leader, Fidel Castro on 25 th Nov, at the age of 90. While we’ve read about his politics, his views and quite a few jokes about him (My favourite being a CM, on being informed of Castro’s death, asks “Outside which bank branch was he queueing up when he died?”), here are some lesser known facts about the man who was never far from the front page of global newspapers. Diplomatic relations between the US & Cuba have been far from friendly since the 1960s. Depending on which side of the Gulf of Mexico you live in, Fidel Castro was either a visionary or a dictator . He converted Cuba into a one-party socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. In 1959, at the age of 32, Castro and a small band of revolut...

Hello & welcome to this weekend’s GK nugget. It’s been a hectic & chaotic 12 days since the demonetization announcement was made by the PM on 8 th Nov. All our conversations,  emails & especially our WhatsApp messages have revolved around the facts, some rumours & a lot of jokes about the currency ban. This weekend’s nugget is taking us away from all of that, on a journey through sea faring history . On 17 th November 1869 , the Mediterranean & Red Seas were officially united by the opening of the Suez Canal , a move that changed maritime history for ever. Built by French diplomat and engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the 101-mile long waterway took 15 years to be completed , amidst political disputes, labour shortages and even a cholera outbreak.   Construction began in 1861 using manual labour but picked up speed after 1863 when machinery was brought in to increase the pace of construction. 75 million cubic meters of sand was excavated...

Hello & welcome to another GK nugget. It’s the start of a week that will define the next 4 years and possibly the future of not just one of the most powerful countries in the world, but the entire world.  That’s right, America goes to vote on Tuesday 8 th November to decide whether Melania Trump becomes the First Lady or Bill Clinton returns to the White House, albeit this time as the First Gentleman (1 st time in history). (Though some say that as per protocol a former President is always referred to as “President So – and – so”. So, if Hillary wins, there’ll be 2 President Clintons in the White House – another 1 st . Formally, though, they would be introduced as "The President of the United States and President Clinton”). There’s been a lot said & written about these 2 candidates and many wish that Barack Obama could continue for another 4 years. But the US Congress passed the 22 nd Amendment to the US Constitution in 1947 that limited a US Presid...

Hello & welcome to this weekend’s GK nugget . First up I’d like to wish you, your family, friends & colleagues a very Happy Diwali & a prosperous New Year . Since Diwali is the time of a lot of bonuses & superb sales where you get more bang for your buck, I thought of giving you more information this weekend than normal . So this weekend’s GK nugget is about Diwali of course, but also about Bill Gates (his birthday was on 28 th Oct). Let’s begin with Diwali. Now we all know why Diwali is celebrated and how it is celebrated, but did you know that it is a national holiday in India, Trinidad & Tobago, Myanmar, Nepal, Mauritius, Guyana, Singapore, Surinam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Fiji . And is an optional holiday in Pakistan . In Nepal , Diwali is referred to as ‘Tihar’ or ‘Swanti’ & the God of death, Yama is worshipped for a longer life of the people on the fourth day.  While in Orissa , Diwali celebrations include calling upon the spirits ...

Hello & welcome to another GK Nugget . This time we’re travelling 15 years into the past where on this very day the portable music player industry changed forever. No prizes for guessing, 23 rd October 2001 was when Steve Jobs unveiled the very 1 st iPod … and the rest, as they say, is history. Over its 15 year journey, can you guess how many times has the iPod evolved? Available now with a maximum memory size of 128 GB , the 1 st edition had a capacity of only 5 GB & was marketed as being able to offer “ 1,000 songs in your pocket ”. Nobody expected Apple to release a MP3 player. In fact, the 1 st generation iPod received much criticism ranging from its US$399 price to the scroll wheel and its lack of Windows compatibility. (Windows compatible iPods came out in July 2002). The name "iPod" was inspired by “ 2001: A Space Odyssey ” – the 1968 epic science fiction movie produced & directed by Stanley Kubrick. The immortal line: “...

Hello & welcome to this week’s GK Nugget. October 13 marks the day on which the Greenwich ( pronounced Gren-itch, not Green-which ) Meridian in UK was established by the International Meridian Conference in 1884 as the starting point for measuring time zones across the globe. So on its 132 nd anniversary , we’re going to look at why it was important to establish GMT in the 19 th century, why it’s still significant and also at some quirky facts about time. GMT was born at the world-famous Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, established in 1675 by Charles II. According to the Observatory's website, the site " is, by international decree, the official starting point for every new day, year and millennium ". The growth of shipping & railroad travel led to great confusion about the correct time at different parts of the globe which made it necessary to establish the prime meridian. The Greenwich Meridian maintains a position of Longitu...