World record holder Apa Sherpa broke his own record of climbing the highest peak for the 18th time on 2008-05-22. Now, he is on his way to the top of the peak for the 19th time. Let’s wish him luck!
Appa Sherpa on his way to Mt. Everest to climb it for the 19th time.
He is preparing for the summit bid in May to raise awareness about climate change.
Apa climbed Mt. Everest for the first time nearly a couple of decades ago (on May 10th of 1990). If you are interested in his biography this page might be the best place to go for.
Before heading for the peak he was quoted as telling “I am not looking for recognition or doing this just to beat my own record. My objective is to highlight the environmental degradation of the mountain and draw attention to the issue of global warming”.
And, Continue reading
Congratulation Anish Giri for being the World’s youngest grandmaster!
Anish, a 14 year old Nepalese boy living in Holland has been successful in being the World’s youngest grandmaster. Anish completed his final GM norm on Saturday by beating GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela.
Victory smile just after the game. (Photo courtesy: chessbase.com, by John Nunn.)
Anish’s father, Sanjay Giri, is of Nepalese origin. His mother is a Russian. Anish himself was born in St. Petersburg. He started playing chess at the age of 7, sparring with his mom and later improved by reading Chess books and playing on the internet.
Anish’s first achievement was a win in the U-9 section in Hokkaido (Japan), where his father was posted for a few years. He won the U-12 Russian title and tied for the 3rd place in the same age group at the European level. Continue reading
Nepal’s first aircraft, named in honor of National bird Danfe, built by young Nepali engineers has successfully completed its test flight in Pokhara, a Western city of Nepal. The the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) opposed the test flight previously, citing security reasons and lack of policy on such an experimentation.
The aircraft was built by eight mechanical engineering students from the Institute of Engineering at Pulchowk Campus, Kathmandu. The two seated aircraft with the total load capacity of 400kg (including 115kg pay load) can be used for adventurous flight and air sports. The aircraft was built with an Austrian engine and locally available materials.
In the test flight, the aircraft held its flight for about a minute covering a distance of about 1.5 km. A Nepali license holder Russian pilot, Alexander Maximov, conducted the test flight of the ultra-light aircraft. (Official Website | Kantipur news)
Ram Bahadur Bomjam (Palden Dorje), 18, known as ‘Buddha Boy’ made news all around the world when he meditated motionless for months without water, food or sleep under a tree in a remote village of Nepal. Local and international scientists unsuccessfully tried to explain his unique meditation technique.
For the second time he made international headlines when he reappeared in the second week of November. It is told that he has resumed his mediation in unknown place late Friday, November 21, after blessing thousands of devotees for the last 10 days.
Some believe he is reincarnation of Buddha and others including the president of the Nepal Buddhist Council don’t think he can be a Buddha only by meditating. Buddha needs life experience and the young man doesn’t have it.
But still he is something not to be taken lightly. He has done something everybody else think is impossible. He did stay under a tree for months and nobody could question his credibility. National Geographic team filmed him for at least 10 days and they couldn’t find him taking food or water. Science can’t explain how he could survive that long without water. The teenager staying still for months in itself is strange. It is another thing that he was not allowed any medical tests to testify his genuineness. Continue reading
Gautam Sapkota, from Hetauda, Nepal has set a World Record for most birds-calls imitating. He mimicked 151 different types of birds-setting for the record.
It is told that Gautam Sapkota has visited more than 6,500 schools in 45 districts of Nepal, interacting, entertaining and educating the kids about birds, their habitats, their ways of life and their calls. Photo by Sanjib K. Chaudhary (source)
He is also planning to release an album of popular Nepali folk songs remixed in the voice of different birds.
A Youtube user, Suren Shakya, met Sapkota in Hetauda and he managed to record 26 of his bird calls in the videos. Shakya has posted five video clips of the amazing Birdman including three popular songs in bird voice. Here are the videos:
He is speaking in Nepali in between. But the bird’s language is universal so I don’t think translating is that much necessary.
Nepal has registered itself as the newest republic in the world with a recent declaration to convert the kingdom to a federal democratic republic. Now onward the king is considered an ordinary citizen.
The first sitting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) unanimously declared Nepal a republic late on Wednesday night, with only four votes against the declaration. The CA, elected through the landmark election held last month, formally passed the proposal, bidding farewell to the only Hindu King of the world.
The former rebels, CPN-Maoists, won 220 seats in the April 10 ballot, Nepali Congress won 110 seats, while the CPN -UML secured 103 and the newly emerged party Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF), representing Madhes the country’s southern plains along the Indian border, won 52 seats.
The Shah Dynasty that unified and ruled Nepal for the last 240 years, often through bloodshed, came to a peaceful end on MAY 28, 2008. If the rise of the Shahs was spectacular, so was their downfall. In modern history, hardly any monarchy has been abolished either through the ballot or so peacefully.
Two new records were set by two Nepali mountaineers on the top of Mt. Everest.
The first record was set by Appa Sherpa, 48, who climbed the highest peak for the 18th time.
The second record was set by a 76 year old (turning 77 in a few days) senior Min Bahadur Serchan. Sherchan has broken the previous record held by Japanese schoolteacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa, 71, who scaled the Everest in the last year. It is told that Serchan is in good health after the climb in spite of his age.
With an aim to set a new world record for the longest illustration, a noted Nepali artist has created a 130-metre-long acrylic painting, taking less than 13 hours for the job.
Kiran Manandhar, 51, created the painting titled `Abako Nepal` or the `Nepal of today` on April 25, 2008 at the 190-year-old structure `Dharahara`, known as the tallest monument of Nepal.
Hundreds of art lovers witnessed the event as the artist painted his creation on a 130-metre-long and 72-inch-wide canvas that hung from the 62-metre-high `Dharahara`, amid rendition of poetry and music by artists of a cultural centre.
Kiran, who has received his Master of Painting degree from Benaras Hindu University in India, claims to have broken the record set by a Filippino artist, who had completed a 100-metre-long painting in a day.
According to Jibesh Rayamajhi of Gurukul, Manandhar’s painting was done from a height of 203 feet and was initially expected to be 100 meters long, but on completion the artist had painted nearly 123.5 meters on a 125-meter canvas. Continue reading
India’s Tata Motors on Thursday unveiled its much anticipated $2,500 car, an ultra-cheap price tag that brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people. But critics worry the car could overwhelm the country’s roads and create an environmental nightmare.
Company Chairman Ratan Tata, introducing the Nano during India’s main auto show, drove onto a stage in a white version of the tiny four-door subcompact, his head nearly touching the roof.With a snub nose and a sloping roof, the world’s cheapest car can fit five people –Â if they squeeze. And the basic version is really basic: there’s no radio, no passenger-side mirror and only one windshield wiper. If you want air conditioning to cope with India’s brutal summers, you need to get the deluxe version.
While the price has created a buzz, critics say the Nano could lead to possibly millions more automobiles hitting already clogged Indian roads, adding to mounting air and noise pollution problems. Others have said Tata will have to sacrifice quality and safety standards to meet the target price.
The chairman, though, insists the car will meet safety standards and pollute even less than motorcycles, passing domestic and European emission standards and averaging about 50 miles per gallon (20 kilometers per liter).
The basic model will sell for for 100,000 rupees ($2,500) but analysts estimate that customers could pay 20-30 percent more than that to cover taxes, delivery and other charges.
Tata has long promised that he’d create a 100,000-rupee car, a vow that was much-derided in the global industry but created a frenzy of attention in India. On Thursday, nearly every news station covered the unveiling live. (source)
Oldest living person changed after the Indiana woman dies at 115
Edna Parker, who became the world’s oldest person more than a year ago, has died at the age of 115 years and 220 days. She died on 26 November at a nursing home in Shelbyville.
She outlived two sons and had 5 grandchildren who gave her 13 great-grandchildren and 13 more great-great-grandchildren. She used to tell that the secret behind her longevity was “more education”. It is also told that she has never drank alcohol and didn’t try tobacco.(Yahoo)
Now, Maria de Jesus of Portugal, born on Sept. 10, 1893, is the world’s oldest living person.
Guinness Record – Longest Marathon Reading – Deepak Bajagain
Deepak Sharma Bajgain, 23, has been included in the Guinness Book of World Record for reading continuously for 121 hours. He made the new world record during The Longest Marathon Reading, a program organized in Kathmandu by The Readers Club from Sept. 19 to 24, as reported in Kantipur daily.
Bajgain continuously read different books in the presence of distinguished personalities from different sectors for 121 hours in Khula Manch in the heart of Kathmandu. Eighty judges were present in three- hour shifts to observe Bajgain. Destination Overseas Consultant Pvt. Ltd., Chaudhary Group and Everest Insurance sponsored the program. Health workers from Bir Hospital, Nepal Medical Association, and Nepal Nursing Association were also present throughout the recital to monitor the condition of Bajgain.
Adrian Hilton of England had set the previous world record in 1987 by reading a Shakespearean masterpiece continuously for 110 hours and 46 minutes.
2-years old ‘exceptional child’
I never took my IQ test and I am not planning to take one anytime soon. But, I am sure I won’t be able to beat a 2 year old toddler who recently became the youngest member of Mensa in Britain, the high-intelligence society. Yes, most of us won’t be able to beat the ‘exceptional child’ of Edmonton, north London.
Elise Tan Roberts, 2 years and 4 months, took Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale test which showed she was in the top 0.2% in her age group in the UK. She has an IQ of 156 and can recite the English alphabet, count to 10 in English and Spanish and name types of triangle.
Unbelievable? Watch the BBC’s Daniel Boettcher testing Elise’s knowledge of capital cities. She is exceptional … don’t try testing unsuspecting poor little kids around you.
Before Elise the youngest member in the society was Ben Woods, who became a Mensa member in the 1990s at the age of two years and nine months (1,035 days old). In 2007 a little girl, Georgia Brown, from Aldershot, Hampshire, became the youngest female member with an IQ of 152, but she was still six days older (1,041 days old) than Ben Woods. Elise managed to beat them with a wide margin – she was just 845 days old when she joined Mensa.
It is to be noted that the two-year-old’s IQ is just 4 points short of Einstein, the father of relativity, who had an IQ of 160. (Photos of Elise with her parents by Photo Agency and Georgia by dailymail)
Priyanka Chopra aiming for Guinness Book of World Records
Priyanka Chopra, Miss World 2000, is set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for playing 12 roles in Ashutosh Gowariker’s forthcoming movie “What’s Your Rashee?”. The movie is based on US based Gujarati writer Madhu Rye’s novel Kimball Ravenswood.
Anjali, Vishakha, Kajal, Hansa, Mallika, Pooja, Rajni, Nandini, Bhavna, Jhankhana, Sanjna, and Chandrika are the 12 different characters depicting 12 zodiac signs in the Ashutosh Gowariker directed movie. It is told that the producers have already sent her name the Guinness board.
But she is not the first actor to have achieved them maximum roles for a single actor. Lupino Lane, a British actor, played 24 different roles in a 1929 silent movie ‘Only Me’Â. The funny movie was only 15 minutes long.
In India, Kamal Haasan was the first actor who played 10 roles in a movie named ‘Dashavatharam’. Another actor Sanjeev Kumar played nine roles in ‘Naya Din Nayi Raat’. That makes Priyanka the first Indian actor to play 12 roles.
I guess, Priyanka will be the first female to act in 12 different roles for the record.
