Mawlynnong (Cleanest Village in Asia), East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India

Mawlynnong/Mawlynnong Village located in the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, also referred as ‘God’s own garden’ has won the acclaim of being the cleanest village in Asia in 2003. The village known for its cleanliness is located around 90 kms from Shillong and is a community based eco-tourism initiative. The community has made collective effort to maintain the ambience of a clean village. The village offers picturesque natural beauty, a trek to the living root bridge at a neighbouring village Riwai. The village also offers a sight of natural balancing rock, a strange natural phenomenon of a boulder balancing on another rock.

The adage "Neighbours envy, owners pride' is apt for Mawlynnong as it has earned the distinction of being one of the cleanest villages in Asia, a fact that every Mawlynnong villager is proud of and other villagers are envy of the village is quite pretty, especially in the monsoons when there is lush greenery all around, with waterfalls paving the way to small streams and abundance of flowering orchids dangling from the trees and hedges add to the beauty of the village. The onus to keep the village clean lies with every person residing in the village. Local cleaning the roads, picking up leaves and throwing garbage in the bin is a very common sight. Bamboo garbage bins adorn every nook and corner of the village highlight the consciousness of cleanliness among the villagers. Cleanliness is an age old tradition and a way of life for all villagers. 

 

The village has won accolade for being the cleanest village in Asia in 2003 as well as the Cleanest Village in India in 2005. The village also offers breathtaking view of Bangladesh plains as it is located on the Indo-Bangla border. 

Suprisingly, the village has hundred percent literacy and most of the villagers are conversant with the English language. The village offers a number of small tea shops, where you can relish a hot of cup of tea with some snacks. Mawlynnong village has set an example for others that needs to be replicated in other villages. India Beacons salutes to the 'spirit of cleanliness' exhibited by the villagers through their self sustained efforts.

 

 For More Details - Official Website of Mawlynnong Village

Male International Airport (6 Feet Above Mean Sea Level), Maldives

Male International Airport (IATA: MLE, ICAO: VRMM) is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhule Island in the North Male Atoll, near the capital island Male. Male airport is the main gateway into the Maldives islands for tourists. It is currently the only airport in the country offering international flights.

Malé International Airportalso known as Velana International Airport, previously known as Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, nearby the capital island Malé. Today, the airport is well connected with major airports around the world, mostly serving as the main gateway into the Maldives for tourists. It is managed financially and administratively by an independent corporate entity known as Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

The airport first started out as a small strip of land on the then inhabited island of Hulhulé. Hulhulé  Airport was opened on 19 October 1960. The first runway built on Hulhulé Island was made of slotted  steel sheets. The dimensions of this runway were 75 ft × 3,000 ft (23 m × 914 m). The first aircraft which  landed at the airport was a Royal New Zealand Air Force Transport plane on 19 October 1960 at 13:55hrs. The  first commercial flight was an Air Ceylon flight (4R0ACJ) landed on this runway was at 15:50hrs on 10  April 1962. The first aircraft owned by the Maldives landed on the runway of the Hulhulé Airport on 9  October 1974. In May 1964 the government and the people of Malé worked together to construct a new asphalt runway. The four districts of Malé competed for the prize money of 1,000 rufiyaa, awarded to  the fastest district. On the first day 108 volunteers were enlisted for the project and 1,563.08 rufiya was  donated. The new runway was opened on 12 April 1966 at 16:00 by President Ibrahim  Nasir.

When the tourism boom in the Maldives began in 1972, the country was in need of an international standard airport to transport international tourists to the resort islands. So, on 11 November 1981, the airport was officially inaugurated under a new name of "Malé International Airport".

Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) was formed on 1 January 1994 to operate and manage the Male' International Airport. MACL is governed by the board of directors appointed by the President of the Maldives.

The airport resides at an elevation of 6 feet (2 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt runway designated 18/36 measuring 45 m × 3,200 m (148 ft × 10,499 ft).  The adjacent waterdrome which serves the large seaplane operations at INIA, has 4 water runways, designated NR/SL, NC/SC, NL/SR and E/W, measuring 60 m × 1,190 m (200 ft × 3,900 ft), 60 m × 1,100 m (200 ft × 3,610 ft), 60 m × 1,000 m (200 ft × 3,280 ft) and 60 m × 800 m (200 ft × 2,620 ft) respectively. Runway NL is takeoff only and runway SR is landing only due to proximity with flying restricted areas.

The airport has 3 terminals. They are the International Terminal, the Domestic Terminal and the waterdrome Seaplane Terminal. The airport includes the corporate headquarters of Trans Maldivian Airways.

The Sea of Stars,Vadhoo Island, Maldives

The Sea of Stars makes Vaadhoo island very famous among tourist. This marine bio-luminescence is generated by phytoplankton known as dinoflagellates. Woodland Hastings of Harvard University has for the first time identified a special channel in the dinoflagellate cell membrane that responds to electrical signals offering a potential mechanism for how the algae create their unique illumination.

The Sea of Stars at Vadhoo Island occurrence is caused by bio-luminescence, and is the effect of chemical reactions in phytoplankton, microorganisms that lives in water, that occurs when the oxygen levels changes in the water. These microorganism are a source of food to many sea creatures, and this is their defense mechanism.

The microorganisms have a very powerful glow that can be seen across the membranes of their predators. This puts the predators at a risk of attracting larger predators. So for the sake of many, a few would sacrifice themselves to light up who ever consumes them, therefore, the predators would rather avoid feeding on the bio-luminescent phytoplankton.

A common type of these bioluminescent phytoplankton goes by the name of dinoflagellate. They are unicellular protists that are photosyntyhetic. Some of the bioluminescent phytoplankton’s blue light may be toxic. Some dinoflagellates for example, are very toxic even to human beings. They may produce a neurotoxin that is quite dangerous to animals and may cause paralysis.

Mechanical stress may cause the phenomenon, as in the case of red tides. Movement around the dinoflagellates causes electrical impulses to be sent to a proton-filled compartment in their body. The pulses open proton ion channels that lead to the part of the cell that produces the light called the Scintillon. Proteins then flow in and after a series of reactions, cause the cell to glow. Oxygen plays an important role as a catalyst, and hence any changes in oxygen levels in the water will lead to bio-luminescence.

Dinoflagellates are not the only bioluminescent creatures in the world. Other sea creatures that exhibit the same characteristics include anglerfish, deep-sea squid, krill and certain types of jellyfish. Fireflies fall in this category as well.

Despite Vadhoo Island not being the only place in the world where bioluminescent phytoplankton are found, it is most definitely the best. They are also found in Rangali and Mudhdhoo within the same country. Other places in the world you can find the same phenomena is Lakshadweep Islands in India and Mosquito Bay in Puerto Rico. During red tides in Leucadia Coast, Carlifornia, this luminescence can be seen too. The best time to see it is when there is no moon at night. If you come across them, you can wave your hand on the sand where the phytoplankton is to produce shapes of your liking.

The Running of the Bulls (The fiestas of San Fermin), Pamplona, Spain

The Running of the Bulls  is a practice that involves running in front of a small group of cattle, typically six, of the toro bravo breed that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets.

The most famous running of the bulls is held during the eight-day festival of Sanfermines in honor of Saint Fermin in Pamplona, although they are also traditionally held in other places such as towns and villages across Spain, Portugal, in some cities in Mexico, and southern France during the summer.

The origin of this event comes from the need to transport the bulls from the fields outside the city, where they were bred, to the bullring, where they would be killed in the evening. During this 'run', youngsters would jump among them to show off their bravado. In Pamplona and other places, the six bulls in the event are still those that will feature in the afternoon bullfight of the same day. Spanish tradition says the true origin of the run began in northeastern Spain during the early 14th century. While transporting cattle in order to sell them at the market, men would try to speed the process by hurrying their cattle using tactics of fear and excitement. After years of this practice, the transportation and hurrying began to turn into a competition, as young adults would attempt to race in front of the bulls and make it safely to their pens without being overtaken. When the popularity of this practice increased and was noticed more and more by the expanding population of Spanish cities, a tradition was created and stands to this day.

The Pamplona encierro is the most popular in Spain and has been broadcast live by RTVE, the public Spanish national television channel, for over 30 years. It is the highest profile event of the San Fermin festival, which is held every year from 6–14 July. The first bull running is on 7 July, followed by one on each of the following mornings of the festival, beginning every day at 8 am. Among the rules to take part in the event are that participants must be at least 18 years old, run in the same direction as the bulls, not incite the bulls, and not be under the influence of alcohol.

 

In Pamplona a set of wooden fences are erected to direct the bulls along the route and to block off side streets. A double wooden fence is used in those houses where there is enough space for it, while in other parts the buildings of the street act as barriers. The gaps in the barricades are wide enough for a human to slip through, but narrow enough to block a bull. The fence is composed of around three thousand separate pieces and while some parts are left for the duration of the fiesta others are mounted and dismounted every morning. Spectators can only stand behind the second fence, whereas the space between the two fences is reserved for security and medical personnel and also to participants who need cover during the event.

The encierro begins with runners singing a benediction. It is sung three times, each time being sung both in Spanish and Basque. The benediction is a prayer given at a statue of Saint Fermin, patron of the festival and the city, to ask the saint's protection and can be translated into English as "We ask Saint Fermin, as our Patron, to guide us through the encierro and give us his blessing". The singers finish by shouting "Viva San Fermín!, Gora San Fermin!" ("Long live Saint Fermin", in Spanish and Basque). Most runners dress in the traditional clothing of the festival which consists of a white shirt and trousers with a red waistband ("faja") and neckerchief ("pañuelo"). Also some of them hold the day's newspaper rolled to draw the bulls' attention from them if necessary.

Pamplona, 2007. Bulls following some runners enter the bull ring from the callejón, where the event ends. The bulls can be seen in the foreground and background of the picture.

A first rocket is set off at 8 a.m. to alert the runners that the corral gate is open. A second rocket signals that all six bulls have been released. The third and fourth rockets are signals that all of the herd has entered the bullring and its corral respectively, marking the end of the event. The average duration between the first rocket and the end of the encierro is two minutes, 30 seconds.

The encierro is usually composed of the six bulls to be fought in the afternoon, six steers that run in herd with the bulls, and three more steers that follow the herd to encourage any reluctant bulls to continue along the route. The function of the steers, who run the route daily, is to guide the bulls to the bullring. The average speed of the herd is 24 km/h (15 mph).

The length of the run is 875 meters (957 yards). It goes through four streets of the old part of the city (Santo Domingo, Ayuntamiento, Mercaderes and Estafeta) via the Town Hall Square and the short section "Telefónica" (named for the location of the old telephone office at end of Calle Estafeta) just before entering into the bullring through its callejón (tunnel). The fastest part of the route is up Santo Domingo and across the Town Hall Square, but the bulls often became separated at the entrance to Estafeta Street as they slowed down. One or more would slip going into the turn at Estafeta ("la curva"), resulting in the installation of anti-slip surfacing, and now most of the bulls negotiate the turn onto Estafeta and are often ahead of the steers. This has resulted in a quicker run. Runners are not permitted in the first 50 meters of the encierro, which is an uphill grade where the bulls are much faster.

Every year, between 50 and 100 people are injured during the run. Not all of the injuries require taking the patients to the hospital: in 2013, 50 people were taken by ambulance to Pamplona's hospital, with this number nearly doubling that of 2012. Goring is much less common but potentially life threatening. In 2013, for example, six participants were gored along the festival, in 2012, only four runners were injured by the horns of the bulls with exactly the same number of gored people in 2011, nine in 2010 and 10 in 2009; with one of the latter killed. As most of the runners are male, only 5 women have been gored since 1974. Previously to that date running was prohibited for women.

Another major risk is runners falling and piling up (a "montón") at the entrance of the bullring, which acts as a funnel as it is much narrower than the previous street. In such cases injuries come both from asphyxia and contusions to those in the pile and from goring if the bulls crush into the pile. This kind of blocking of the entrance has occurred at least ten times in the history of the run, the last occurring in 2013 and the first dating back to 1878. A runner died of suffocation in one such pile up in 1977.

Overall, since record-keeping began in 1910, 15 people have been killed in the bull running of Pamplona, most of them due to being gored. To minimize the impact of injuries every day 200 people collaborate in the medical attention. They are deployed in 16 sanitary posts (every 50 metres on average), each one with at least a physician and a nurse among their personnel. Most of these 200 people are volunteers, mainly from the Red Cross. In addition to the medical posts, there are around 20 ambulances. This organization makes it possible to have a gored person stabilized and taken to a hospital in less than 10 minutes.

Though there is no formal dress code, the very common and traditional attire is white pants, white shirt with a red scarf around the waist and a red handkerchief around the neck. The majority of runners are similarly dressed, many times with red wine stains from the previous night or earlier in the festival.

Another common dress practice, seen as a risk by some but as a daring depiction of courage by others is dressing in a conspicuous manner. Many runners that want to be perceived as daring wear colors other than white, a common alternate color choice is blue. Blue is thought by some to draw the bulls' attention.[citation needed] Others include large logos on their shirt to capture the attention of the bulls. In the age of social media explosion, this is also thought to be a way to highlight someone in a photo.

For more detail - 

• Running of the Bulls
• Official Website