Category Education

Understanding Cusecs and TMCs when dams release water

During the rainy season, when reservoirs like Srisailam or Nagarjuna Sagar open their gates, we often hear figures like “2 lakh cusecs released” or “storage reaches 300 TMC.” These terms may sound technical, but they’re not difficult to understand. Let’s…

Why the ‘Black Box’ can survive plane crashes

The “black box” in airplanes is actually two devices: the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). These record vital flight parameters and crew conversations, helping investigators understand what happened during an accident. Each recorder has specific…

How a French ticket became a language of manners

Ever wondered what courtly manners have to do with tickets? The word etiquette comes from the Old French estiquette, meaning “label” or “ticket.” It originally referred to small notes or placards used to post public notices. In the royal court…

Picture of Mark Twain sitting on a bench

How Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an iconic American author active primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, adopted the pen name Mark Twain from his experiences working as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. The phrase “mark twain” was…

Pic of One Rupee Note of India

The Unique Status of India’s One-Rupee Note

The one-rupee note is the only Indian currency note issued by the Government of India, not the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Unlike other notes, which bear the RBI Governor’s signature, the one-rupee note carries the signature of the Finance…

Gyan Vapi: The “Well of Knowledge”

At the northern edge of the Kashi Vishwanath temple complex in Varanasi stands the Gyan Vapi Well, a structure that has long shaped the identity of the precinct. The name comes from the Sanskrit jñāna (knowledge) and vāpī (well or…