New Year's Day

New Year's Day is celebrated globally on January 1, the first day of the year on the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations may begin on the night of December 31, the New Year's Eve. The first time January 1 was celebrated as the New Year Day was in Rome in 153 BC.

One of the popular New Year’s traditions includes making New Year resolutions by which people promise themselves to do something good, such as quitting a bad habit or to do well in studies.

In most countries, people greet the New Year with fireworks. In London, thousands of people assemble to watch the fireworks around the London Eye, the giant Ferris wheel on the south bank of the River Thames. Another famous display of fireworks is performed in Sydney, Australia.

In India, the New Year’s Day has been one of the most popular celebrations. It is a secular celebration in India, with people of all faiths, languages and regions observing the day.

It is observed as a joyful occasion in which people of all age groups greet their dear and near ones with good wishes for the New Year. Some people may celebrate it with parties in hotels, clubs or other locations, or may visit tourist destinations. Some people may arrange celebrations at their homes. There can be colorful illuminations, feasts, crackers, music and dance.

Restaurants, resorts and markets are decorated for the occasion well before the day. It is also the occasion for shopping for many people. Exchanging greetings, messages and gifts are part of the celebration.

The significance of the New Year is bidding farewell to the bygone year to welcome the New Year, full of new aspirations and hopes for happiness, peace, harmony and prosperity for everyone.

Peacock, the National Bird of India

The national bird of India is Pavo cristatus, commonly known as the Indian Peacock or the Indian Peafowl. The male birds (peacocks) are more brightly coloured and beautiful than the females (peahens).

The peacock has enjoyed a place of pride in India. It is frequently depicted in literature, mythology, art and culture, music, folklore and traditions. They are prominent in temple art and architecture, textile designs, fashion and more. Their feathers are used in many rituals.

Pavo cristatus is a large-sized bird. Its crest, breast and neck are in metallic blue colour, and has bronze-green feathers on its back. The tail is dark brown, and the male has a long ‘train’, made of around 200 elongated upper tail coverts. The train feathers have multicolor eyespots. The peahen, slightly smaller in size, is not as attractive as the male and does not have the ‘train’.

The peacock raises its train feathers spreading like a fan and quivers it, performing ‘the peacock dance’ during courtship. The vibrant iridescent feather colours are not due to pigments, but resulting from optical interference reflections of nanostructures of the fiber-like components of feathers. Occasionally, white peafowl may be seen; some may be albinos and the others may be lacking colour pigments.

They are found in forests and even in villages and cities. They mainly feed on nuts, fruits, seeds, vegetables, and also prey on insects, lizards, rodents, and small snakes. Their lifespan is estimated to be between 15 and 23 years.

They have loud distinctive calls sounding ‘pia-ow’ or ‘may-awe’, more frequently before Monsoon rains. In the wild, their calls may indicate the presence of predators such as leopards and tigers.

The National Animal of India

The National Animal of India is the magnificent tiger (Panthera tigris). These iconic animals are recognizable for their beautiful pattern of dark vertical stripes on thick fur coat of colour varying from yellow to reddish orange with a lighter underside.

According to a 2016 global census, there are only about 3,890 wild tigers in the world, down from around 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. Out of this, about 2,580 are living in the Indian subcontinent. The major reasons for the decline in their population include poaching and habitat destruction.

Tigers belong to the genus Panthera to which the lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard also belong. There are 10 Panthera tigris subspecies out of which four are extinct. The remaining six subspecies have been declared endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The subspecies known as the Indian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), also called the Royal Bengal Tiger, is the most numerous. It has a population of 2,226 living in the wild in India. It can be found in the wild throughout India except in the northwestern region. It is also found in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

In April 1973, the Government of India launched a conservation program known as Project Tiger. The project aims at increasing the population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats. Under this program, the government has so far established 27 tiger reserves covering total area of 37,761 sq km.

In 2016, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) declared that the world population of wild tigers has increased for the first time in a century.

The National Flag of India

The National Flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of three equal strips. It has deep saffron at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three.

The colours of the three strips of the flag are symbolic of the core values India stands for: saffron symbolizes strength and courage, white for peace, and green for fertility, growth and auspiciousness.

At the centre of the white strips is a navy blue wheel, the Ashoka Chakra, with 24 equally spaced spokes. It represents the Dharma Chakra, the eternal wheel of law. It is adapted from the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital, erected by Ashoka, the great Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled in the 3rd century BC.

It was proposed as India’s national flag by Jawaharlal Nehru at the Constituent Assembly of India on 22 July 1947, and was accepted with a unanimous resolution. Since then it has been the national flag of India.

The tricolour has been associated with India’s struggle for independence. It underwent several modifications to suit India’s aspirations as a multicultural secular nation since it was first hoisted on 7 August 1906.

The hoisting, display and all other aspects of the usage of the flag are governed by the Flag Code of India and other laws relating to the National Identity Elements of India.

The National Anthem of India

The National Anthem of India consists of the first stanza of the song "Jana Gana Mana", the music and words of which were composed by the Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore. The National Anthem is one of National Identity Elements of India.

The Constituent Assembly of India adopted Jana Gana Mana as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. Its full version takes a formal playing time of approximately 52 seconds.

The officially recognised version reads as follows:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Punjaba-Sindhu-Gujarata-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
uchchala-jaladhi-taranga
Tava shubha name jage, tava shubha asisa mage,
gahe tava jaya-gatha.
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he,
jaya jaya jaya, jaya he.

A shortened version consists of the first and last lines and takes about 20 seconds to play. It reads as follows:

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he,
jaya jaya jaya, jaya he.

Tagore's English rendering of the anthem is as follows:

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Odisha and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

The National Anthem in Devanagari script is as follows:

जन-गण-मन अधिनायक जय हे
भारत भाग्य विधाता ।
पंजाब-सिंधु-गुजरात-मराठा
द्राविड़-उत्कल-बंग
विंध्य हिमाचल यमुना गंगा
उच्छल जलधि तरंग
तव शुभ नामे जागे, तव शुभ आशिष मांगे
गाहे तव जय-गाथा ।
जन-गण-मंगलदायक जय हे भारत भाग्य विधाता ।
जय हे, जय हे, जय हे, जय जय जय जय हे ।

The Government of India issues instructions about the correct versions of the anthem, occasions when the anthem is to be sung or played and the need to observe proper decorum when the anthem is performed.

The official instructions, information and guidance are here: http://knowindia.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=6

The correct rendering of the National Anthem can be heard here: http://knowindia.gov.in/myindia/images/jan.mp3

Global Warming

Global warming is a phenomenon that causes gradual rise in temperature on the Earth's surface. The current average temperature is higher than the temperature at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1750).

Scientists have been analyzing temperatures from the late 19th century since when recorded data is available. They show an increase in temperature during 1920-40, while in the next three decades the temperature became slightly cooler. The data from 1970 to the present show an increase of about 0.6 °C.

Of all the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change, carbon dioxide is the major contributor. Cars and other vehicles, thermal power plants, airplanes, factories, and other human activities release about 23 billion tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into atmosphere annually.

The current amount of carbon dioxide in the air is about 31% more than the 1750 level. Out of this, 75% was added by fossil fuel burning in the last two decades. The remaining 25% is attributable to deforestation, forest fires, crop stubble burning, burning forests for agriculture, and similar activities.

As the surface temperature increases the sea level rises due to the expansion of water and melting of glaciers and polar icecaps. This causes coastal flooding and inundation of coastal cities and other areas. Hot deserts will become hotter and expand destroying green areas. Disastrous storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes can make winds faster than 320 kilometers per hour destroying life and property. Weather pattern will change drastically and farming and food production will suffer.

It’s time that the governments of all countries join hands, giving up their differences, and try to reduce global warming. Similarly, people can also contribute to resolve the problem by consuming less energy or adapting to clean and green energy sources.

Greenhouse Effect

Greenhouse effect is caused by greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere by absorbing infrared radiation.

In 1824 the French physicist Joseph Fourier, credited as the discoverer of greenhouse effect, first suggested that the Earth's atmosphere acts as an ‘insulator’. His observations were subsequently confirmed by other scientists. But the term ‘greenhouse effect’ was first used by the Swedish meteorologist Nils Gustaf Ekholm in 1901.

In 1896, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius was the first to calculate how increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) will increase the Earth's surface temperature. He predicted for the first time that CO₂ emissions will cause global warming.

About 10,000 years ago CO₂ in the atmosphere was 260 to 280 parts per million (ppm), which increased to 389 ppm in 2011 due to excessive burning of fossil fuels. According to most scientists, the safe level of CO₂ in the atmosphere is 350 ppm or less.

But greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon and an essential evil. Without this effect, the average temperature all over the earth would be −18 °C (0 °F), in place of the current average of 15 °C (59 °F). That is a fall in temperature by 33 °C, which will render the Earth too cold to support life. So, what is required is maintaining greenhouse gas emissions within safe limits by reducing burning of fossil fuels and other causes.

The four major gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone. Increase in the amount of these gases makes the air hotter, causing global warming and climate change.

Global warming can cause serious consequences such as desertification, melting of polar ice and glaciers, sea level rise and submerging of coastal areas and islands. It can also cause severe droughts and devastating floods and drastically affect farming and food production.