Ratha Yatra (Puri)

Ratha Yatra () (also known as the Car, or Chariot, Festival) is a Hindu festival associated with Lord Jagannath held at Puri in the state of Odisha, India. It is the oldest Ratha Yatra taking place in India and the World, whose descriptions can be found in Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, and Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita.
This annual festival is celebrated on Ashadha Shukla Paksha Dwitiya (second day in bright fortnight of Ashadha month).
The festival commemorates Jagannath's annual visit to Gundicha Temple via Mausi Maa Temple (maternal aunt's home) near Saradha Bali, Puri.
Description.
RATHA YATRA, the Festival of Chariot: Chariots of Shri Jagannath is celebrated every year at Puri, the temple town in Odisha, on the second (dwitiya) day of shukla pakhya (waxing cycle of moon) of Āshādha Māsa (3rd month of Odia calendar). The presiding deities of the Jagannath Temple, Puri's main temple, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadr, with the celestial wheel- Sudarshana Chakra (ସୁଦର୍ଶନ ଚକ୍ର) are removed from the temple in a ceremonial procession to their chariots. The huge, colourfully decorated chariots are drawn by multitude of devotees on the "bada danda", the grand avenue to the Gundicha Temple (Gundicha– King Indradyumna's Queen), two miles away to the North. On the way the chariot of Lord Jagannatha, Nandighosa (ନନ୍ଦିଘୋଷ) waits near the crematorium of Bhakta Salabega (ଭକ୍ତ ସାଲବେଗ), a Muslim devout to pay him tribute.
On their way back from the Gundicha Temple, the three deities stop for a while near the Mausi Maa Temple (Aunt's abode) and have an offering of the Poda Pitha, which is a special type of pancake supposed to be the Lord's favourite. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode.
The Chariots.
The three chariots of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhdra are newly constructed every year with wood of specified trees like phassi, dhausa, etc. They are customarily brought from the ex-princely state of Dasapalla by a specialist team of carpenters who have hereditary rights and privileges for the same. The logs are traditionally set afloat as rafts in the river Mahanadi. These are collected near Puri and then transported by road.
The three chariots are decorated as per the unique scheme prescribed and followed for centuries stand on the Bada Danda, the Grand Avenue. The chariots are lined across the wide avenue in front of the temple close to its eastern entrance, which is also known as the Sinhadwara or the Lion's Gate.
Around each of the chariots are nine Parsva devatas, painted wooden images representing different deities on the chariots' sides. Each chariot has a charioteer (Sarathi) and four horses.
Chandana Yatra.
The construction of the chariots starts on Akshaya Trutiya, the third day of the bright fortnight of Vaisakha, with ritual fire worship. This takes place in front of the palace of the King of Puri and opposite the main office of the Puri temple. On this day, the new agricultural season starts and farmers start plowing their fields. This day also marks the beginning of the summer festival of the deities, also known as the sandalwood festival or Chandan Yatra, which lasts for three weeks. In this festival, the representative images of the presiding deities are taken out in colorful processions and given a ceremonial boat ride in the Narendra pokhari/tank every day. In an interesting demonstration of the assimilative character of the Jagannatha cult, Madanmohana and Rama-Krishna, representing Jagannatha & Balarama partake in the festival with the representatives' images of the presiding deities of five main Shiva temples of Puri. These are curiously known as Pancha Pandava, the five brothers of the Mahabharata story. Later the deities have a ritual bath in a small temple in the middle of the tank, in stone tubs filled with water, sandalwood paste, scents, and flowers.
This sandalwood festival culminates in the Snana Yatra, the Bathing Festival on the full moon day of the month of Jestha. On this day, the presiding deities descend from their seats on an elevated platform in the sanctum sanctorum, the bejeweled throne. They are bathed in 108 pots of water brought from the suna kua, the golden well and assume the elephant form on the special bathing platform, close to the Eastern boundary wall of the temple. From that day the deities remain in symbolic and ritual convalescence for about two weeks. They are barred from the view of the ordinary devotees. Only three special patta chitras, traditional Oriya paintings of natural colors on cloth stiffened with starch, known as Anasara Pattis, are strung on a bamboo screen hiding the deities from public view, can be seen by the public. During this period, the deities are given only roots, leaves, berries and fruits to cure them of their indisposition. This ritual is a reminder of the strong tribal elements in the genesis and evolution of the Jagannatha cult. The progeny of Lalita, daughter of the original tribal worshipper Biswabasu, chieftain of hunters, and the Brahmin priest Vidyapati, are known as daitapatis or daitas. They have the almost exclusive privilege of serving the Lord during the convalescence and through the entire period of Ratha Jatra or the Festival of Chariots.
Suna Besha(ସୁନା ବେଶ).
After the chariots of the deities return to the main temple from the Gundicha temple, the deities are attired in gold ornaments and worshipped on the chariots. This celebration is known as Suna Besha. Tradition maintains that this event was first started by King Kapilendra Deb in 1460, when after returning victorious from war he donated gold to Jagannath. The deities are adorned with gold jewelry weighing nearly 208  kg. In 2014 nearly nine hundred thousand devotees witnessed this event held on 9 July
The Ratha Yatra and Pahandi of 2015.
Lakhs of devotees thronged the coastal town of Puri to catch the glimpse of deities re-embodied after 19 years on chariots on the occasion of Rath Yatra, marking largest-ever religious congregation in Odisha.
International Ratha Yatra.
The Ratha Yatra festival has become a common sight in most major cities of the world since 1968 through the ISKCON Hare Krishna movement. By the mercy of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath and Chaitanya, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada had successfully transplanted the festival which now happens on an annual basis in places all over the world in over 108 cities including; Moscow, New York, Houston, Atlanta, London, Rome, Zürich, Kolkata, Mumbai, Karachi, Berlin, Heidelberg, Cologne, Florence, Wroclaw, Sydney, Perth, Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Mexico City, Dublin, Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham, Alchevsk, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Stockholm, Bath, Budapest, Auckland, Melbourne, Montreal, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, Santiago, Tallinn, Lima, Antwerp, Sofia, Kuala Lumpur, Oslo, Zhongshan, Myitkyina, Bangkok and many other cities. The Ratha Yatra in Dhamrai, Bangladesh, is one of the most important in Bangladesh.
Ratha Yatra dates.
This table shows the dates for Ratha Yatra held in Puri, Odisha. These dates shows from the Year Nabakalebara, 2015 to the Year of next (After 19 years) Nabakalebara, 2034.
Service offerings.
Jagannath temple employs different kinds of sevakas who offer their services on the Ratha.
Hera Panchami.
Hera Panchami is a ritual observed during the period of Rath Yatra in the Grand Jagannath Temple of Puri. It is known as a ritual of Goddess Lakshmi. The fifth day from Rath Yatra, i.e., the fifth day in bright fortnight of Ashadha is known as the Hera Panchami.
During Ratha Yatra, lord Jagannath comes out on a divine outing with his brother Sri Balabhadra and sister Maa Subhadra along with his divine weapon Sri Sudarshana, leaving behind His wife Mahalaxmi. The Goddess expresses her anger for the Lord. She proceeds to the Gundicha Temple, the Adapa Mandapa in a palanquin in the form of a Subarna Mahalaxmi and threatens Him to come back to the temple at the earliest. To make Her pleased, the Lord concedes to Her by offering her (a garland of consent). Seeing the Goddess furious, the sevakas close the main door of the Gundicha. Mahalaxmi returns to the main temple through the Nakachana gate. In a unique ritual, the Goddess orders one of her attendants to damage a part of the Nandighosa chariot. This is followed by her hiding behind a tamarind tree outside the Gundicha Temple. After some time, she escapes to her home temple in secrecy, through a separate path way known as Hera Gohri Lane The unique ritual is enjoyed by lakhs of devotees of Lord Jagannath.
The rituals of Hera Panchami as an important function of Srimandira finds mention in Skanda Purana. According to the history of the Temple, this "utsav" started during the time of Maharaja Kapilendra Deb. Before his reign, the Hera Panchami function was being observed in a symbolic way with recitation of Mantras.As stated in Madala Panji, Raja Kapilendra Deb substituted this practice with the introduction of an idol of Mahalaxmi mode of gold and making the celebration more realistic.


Lierne National Park

Lierne National Park () lies in the municipality of Lierne in Trøndelag county, Norway. The park was established on 17 December 2004 by a royal resolution. The park covers of land along the border with Sweden. The park lies east of the populated areas in Lierne, about southeast of the village of Sandvika and about northeast of the village of Mebygda.
The park is dominated by a large mountainous region rich in lynx, wolverines, bears, and wildfowl. The rare Arctic fox also live in the area. Much of the land was formed during the last Ice Age. There are many peaks over above sea level, the highest of which is Hestkjøltopp at . There are many wetland areas with large swamps and open woodlands.


Jardine Matheson Building

The Jardine Matheson Building () is a seven-storey historical building on the Bund in Shanghai, China.
Location and history.
The building is located at No. 27 on the Bund, at the junction with East Beijing Road (formerly Peking Road). The Hong Kong-based Scottish firm Jardine Matheson started trading in Shanghai in early 1843 and became one of the first foreign businesses to set up branches in the city. The company rented this piece of land, of size 2100 square metres and a typical two storied gardened English cottage was built on it in 1845. This cottage underwent three major renovations through its history, and was replaced by a notably larger three storey building of Masonry and Wood structure In 1865, a gatehouse and a canopy were also added.
The construction of the current building on the site was started in 1920, and was completed in November 1922. It was designed by Moorhead ＆ Halse in Beaux-Arts style and was built by contractor Yu Chang Tai. It started as a five storey building with a floor area of 14,300 square metres. In 1930, an extra floor was added. During the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, the building was taken over by the Japanese firm Mitsui Bussan Kaisha Company Limited. In 1946 Jardine Matheson returned to the building but its profits fell largely so it had to rent the building to other firms. These occupants include the Cheong Hing Shipping Company and the British consulate, amongst others. In 1955, the building started to be used by the Shanghai Foreign Trade Administration Office. Another storey was added in 1983. This addition has been criticized to have altered the original building style.
In 2009, the largest Rolex flagship store in the world, with a floor space of 1000 square metres, opened on the first floor of the building. Prior to its opening, the building underwent a large scale interior renovation costing 80 million RMB to restore the building's original appearance.


Sergiyev Posad

Sergiyev Posad () is a city and the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population:
It was previously known as "Sergiyev Posad" (until 1919), "Sergiyev" (until 1930), "Zagorsk" (until 1991).
History.
Sergiyev Posad grew in the 15th century around one of the greatest of Russian monasteries, the Trinity Lavra established by St. Sergius of Radonezh, still () one of the largest monasteries in Russia. Town status was granted to Sergiyev Posad in 1742. The town's name, alluding to St. Sergius, has strong religious connotations. Soviet authorities changed it first to just Sergiyev in 1919, and then to Zagorsk in 1930, in memory of the revolutionary . Sergiyev Posad was penetrated by Germany in 1941.
The original name was restored in 1991.
Administrative and municipal status.
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Sergiyev Posad serves as the administrative center of Sergiyevo-Posadsky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with twenty-six rural localities, incorporated within Sergiyevo-Posadsky District as the City of Sergiyev Posad. As a municipal division, the City of Sergiyev Posad is incorporated within Sergiyevo-Posadsky Municipal District as Sergiyev Posad Urban Settlement.
Culture.
Due to the nature of this city and proximity to Kelarsky pond, art and culture has been integrated with this city and Numerous museums and palaces exists in this region, such as the Museum of Soviet childhood, the Pavel Florensky Museum, the Museum of toys. In addition, it is home to many such as which has been mentioned in War and Peace, Yuri Gagarin Palace of Culture which is a Russian Heritage Building
Economy.
Tourism associated with the Golden Ring plays a role in the regional economy. There is also an important toy factory.
Transportation.
The Moscow–Yaroslavl railway and highway pass through the town. Sergiyev Posad Bus Terminal is located in the city.
Twin towns – sister cities.
Sergiyev Posad is twinned with:


Dhoom 2

Dhoom 2 is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra at an estimated budget of under the Yash Raj Films. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu in the lead roles. "Dhoom 2" was shot primarily in India, Durban and Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first major Hindi film to be shot in Brazil. It is the second installment in the "Dhoom" series. Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra reprise their roles as buddy cops Jai Dixit and Ali Khan, respectively. The distributor, Yash Raj Films, promoted the film by forging associations with Pepe Jeans and Coca-Cola. It premiered on 24 November 2006 in India, where it received the widest release in Indian cinema history with over 1800 prints. It was dubbed simultaneously in Tamil as well as in Telugu. Singer Vijay Prakash dubbed for ACP Jai Dixit in Tamil.
"Dhoom 2" was generally well received by critics and audiences. It became the highest-grossing Indian film of 2006 and was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time as well at the time of its release. It is the seventh highest-grossing Bollywood film in overseas markets. After grossing over , "Dhoom 2" was elevated to a "blockbuster" rating on "Box Office India". It received an 92% approval rating among critics on "Rotten Tomatoes". Critics praised "Dhoom 2" for its exotic locales and elaborate action sequences. However, there was an appeal by the Mumbai city police commissioner to censor the fast-paced rash driving scenes due to fears that it would inspire Indian youths to ride their motorcycles rashly, resulting in an increase in the number of road accidents. A sequel titled "Dhoom 3" was released on 20 December 2013, which also went on to become the twelfth-highest-grossing Bollywood film to date, and the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time as well at the time of its release.
Plot.
The film opens in the Namib Desert. Mr. A (Hrithik Roshan) skydives onto a train that is carrying the Queen. He steals her crown by disguising himself as the Queen, beats her guards easily, and escapes. ACP Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and the newly-promoted Sub-Inspector Ali Akbar Khan (Uday Chopra) are introduced to Shonali Bose (Bipasha Basu), a special officer assigned to investigate Mr. A's case, who also happens to be a former classmate of Jai. After the initial investigation, Dixit analyses the underlying trend in Mr. A's heists. He concludes that the theft will follow in one of 2 famous Mumbai city museums.
When Dixit realizes that the artifact in the museum he is guarding happens to be imperfect, he rushes to the other museum, where a disguised Mr. A steals a rare diamond and escapes. While he is about to catch a flight, Mr. A sees on the TV that someone else claiming to be himself, challenges the police, saying that he will steal an ancient warrior sword. In response, Dixit, Bose, and Khan enforce a strict guard at the location of the sword. At night, Mr. A meets the real thief, the one who made the claim on TV, in the room that holds the sword. The police are alerted, but they manage to steal the sword, Shonali is injured in the confrontation and they manage to escape. The impersonator turns out to be Sunehri Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, a woman who idolises Mr. A; Sunehri convinces Mr. A to form an alliance but he turns her down. Later, after a game of basketball between the two, he finally agrees to work together.
In Rio de Janeiro, Mr. A and Sunehri plan their next heist. As Dixit's analysis has named Rio the location of Mr. A's next heist, Jai and Ali travel to the city. There they meet Monali, Shonali's twin sister, who only speaks English, and Ali immediately falls for her.
Later Sunehri meets with Jai to discuss how things are going between her and Mr. A, revealing that they are working together, and Jai is using her by ensuring her freedom from prison. To get close to Mr. A and find out what his next plan is, they can catch and arrest him, but Sunehri begins to have her doubts.
The relationship between Mr. A and Sunehri evolves into romance and he unveils his real identity, Aryan, to her. However, during the Rio Carnival, disguised as one of the entertainers, he sees Sunehri and Jai together and realizes that Sunehri has been working undercover for Jai. The next day, Aryan forces Sunehri to play a game of Russian roulette. Sunehri cries and refuses to shoot him, but Aryan forces her to play. After six attempted shots, neither is killed, because Aryan never loaded the gun. Sunehri admits she betrayed Aryan and confesses her love for him. In their final heist, Aryan and Sunehri successfully steal some early Lydian coins while disguised as performing dwarfs. With the heist successfully pulled off, Jai realises that he has been betrayed and she called him on phone to confirm that she wants to stay with Aryan and does not wish to remain allied with Jai, forcing Jai and Ali to go after them. After the chase, all of them end up on the top of a waterfall, where Ali catches Sunehri. Sunehri, despite conveying her feelings for Aryan, shoots him. Aryan falls from the waterfall, after which Jai allows Sunehri to go free.
Six months later, it is revealed that Aryan survived and has opened a restaurant in the Fiji islands with Sunehri. Jai meets Aryan and Sunehri at the restaurant and states that despite their crimes, he does not wish to imprison the couple. Aryan tells him where all the stolen artifacts can be found via a digital watch. Jai is aware of the couple's feelings towards each other but warns them against returning to their life of crime.
After leaving, Jai receives a phone call, and informs Ali that they should be heading back to India for their next case.
Production.
Development.
The Dhoom series began with the release of "Dhoom" in 2004. The film became a commercial box office hit and received positive reviews from audiences, but mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. As a result, producer Yash Chopra announced plans for a sequel, titled "Dhoom 2: Back in Action". John Abraham, portrayer of Kabir Sharma, the villain of the predecessor, was eliminated from the sequel because Chopra did not want "Dhoom 2" to repeat the stories featured in its predecessor. Instead, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai were introduced into the franchise as the sequel's main villains. Aishwarya Rai's character was summarised as Catwoman, a female fictional comic book femme fatale or anti-hero . Rai stated, "All I can tell you is it would be nothing like anything you've seen me do before." Producer Aditya Chopra told Rai to lose weight after she gained it for her role in 2004's "Bride & Prejudice". Yash Chopra stated, "But yes, the role does require Aishwarya to convey oodles of sensuality. She has asked for a couple of months to get into shape. We (at Yash Raj Films) are very clear about every character in every script and what's required of the actors. Before "Dhoom", Esha Deol was specifically briefed about the look and the attitude she needed to cultivate. She readily agreed, and look at what "Dhoom" did to her career!" Roshan also lost 5 kgs for his role at Aditya Chopra's request. With the exception of Abraham and Esha Deol, all of the other main actors in "Dhoom" were hired again for "Dhoom 2".
Filming.
"Dhoom 2" was filmed in Mumbai (India), Namibia, Durban (South Africa), and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), making it the first Bollywood movie to be shot in Brazil. In total, production lasted 18 months and cost of . To ensure the sequel would be different from the original, which became famous for its brash motorcycle stunts, director Sanjay Gadhvi included very few motorcycles in "Dhoom 2". Nonetheless, Roshan's role required him to perform several dangerous stunts involving activities such as roller-blading, sand boarding and snow-boarding.
"Dhoom 2" made extensive use of visual effects, which were filmed at Yash Raj Studios. While shooting at Yash Raj Studios, the film suffered from a flood that destroyed the studio sets and delayed production. Fight and action sequences were storyboarded before being shown to Gadhvi and Allan Amin, who would make changes. The scenes were then sketched, given "proper shot-list[s]", and shared with Tata Elxsi, who oversaw the pre-visualization of the sequences. Several scenes were filmed with the use of green screen and computer-generated imagery. For example, the stunts Roshan's performed on a train in the Namib Desert used green screen; after Roshan recorded the stunts on a set, Gadhvi traveled to the desert to film the background. Other stunts were performed by stuntmen whose faces were later digitally exchanged with the actors'.
The bullet effects and Hrithik's gadgets and the mechanical arm were also computer-generated. The scene involving Abhishek Bachchan coming out of a lake using a jet ski was created using a green screen. The stunt came out at 90 degrees, but Sanjay Gadhvi wanted a 60 degrees jump. So, it was shot with a Super 35, and hence the angle could be changed. Gadhvi discussed the use of technology in an interview:
Music.
The soundtrack of "Dhoom 2" was recorded at YRF Studios. The music was composed by Pritam with background score by Salim-Sulaiman. The lyrics were penned by Sameer except "Dhoom Again" by Asif Ali Beg and "Crazy Kiya Re — Remix" was remixed by Bunty Rajput. Although most of the song's lyrics are primarily written in Hindi with some English, "Dhoom Again" is almost entirely in English. The soundtrack received mixed reviews from critics but high praise from the audience. It became the best selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year. The film's soundtrack is the first in Indian cinema to be released in DVD-Audio in addition to other audio formats. The tracks have been mixed in London in 5.1 Surround Sound and audiophiles can choose the format from the audio menu. 4 bonus tracks from other films are included, and the lyrics of all 10 tracks can be viewed on-screen while the music is playing, enabling karaoke sing-along.
Release.
"Dhoom 2" was released on 24 November 2006 in India, where it received the widest release in Indian cinema history at the time with over 1800 prints, including 250 digital copies. Some locations raised ticket prices for the film.
Marketing.
"Dhoom 2"'s teaser trailer was released with "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" which released on 11 August 2006.
It was promoted with several tie-ins. Coca-Cola promoted the film as "Coke Uthale, Dhoom Machale". India's video game producing company FXLabs developed a game based on the film. Pepe Jeans sold "Dhoom 2"-related garments, including shirts, jeans, bandannas, caps, and metal accessories. Chetan Shah, the country head of Pepe Jeans London, stated: "Pepe Jeans is tremendously excited to be associated with the most awaited movie of the year Dhoom:2. The incredible starcast of Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Uday Chopra and the exciting and explosive content of the movie encapsulates everything that the Pepe Jeans brand stands for- young, cool, trendy, hip, fashionable and innovative. While promoting "Dhoom 2", Hrithik Roshan admitted feeling foolish over his past statements about his co-star Aishwarya Rai being a "pretty face with no talent" after they worked together for the first time in "Dhoom 2", where they became one of the most successful onscreen pairs in Bollywood that also met in other films such as "Jodhaa Akbar" and "Guzaarish".
Legal issues.
The city of Mumbai's police commissioner called for censoring of the fast-paced rash driving scenes in the film due to fears that it would inspire Indian youths to ride their motorcycles rashly, resulting in an increase in the number of road accidents. Unlike the original, the robberies depicted in "Dhoom 2" were not inspired by any real-life crimes. "Dhoom 2", allegedly inspired the robbery of a man by his nephew, who wore clothing similar to Hrithik's in the film while committing the crime.
Box office.
In India, "Dhoom 2" broke several box-office records, mainly those for opening day and opening weekend grosses, including a first week of in Mumbai and for all of India. In Mumbai, distributors received a profit of on the first week's business. "Box Office India" awarded it a "blockbuster" rating after the film netted in India and grossed worldwide on a budget of . It is currently the 13th highest-grossing film in India (unadjusted for inflation).
"Dhoom 2" grossed US$979,000 in North America in 63 theatres over its three-day opening weekend ($1.3 million over four days), becoming the third largest opening weekend for a Bollywood film in North America. Overall, it was the seventeenth ranked film at the American box office. "Box Office Mojo" reports it earned a total of $2,643,586 inside the United States and a total of $29,752,841 in other countries, including India. In Dubai, it achieved the highest first day opening for a Bollywood film.
"Dhoom 2" ranked sixth among opening weekends for international films at the United Kingdom box office with a gross (average per screen) of £8,151. At the Australian box office, it had the twelfth highest opening and collected approximately A$176,462. It grossed approximately NZ $51,453 on five screens in New Zealand. "Dhoom 2" is estimated to have grossed US$8,750,000 total in the overseas markets.
Reception.
India.
In India, the film received positive reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" gave 4.5 out of 5 stars, reporting "On the whole, "Dhoom 2" is a winner all the way. For Yash Raj, who've not only produced but also distributed the film, "Dhoom 2" should emerge as one of the biggest hits of their career." Rajesh Karkera of "Rediff" gave it 3.5 stars out of 5, calling it "A complete roller-coaster ride which left me completely enthralled and exhausted. Sure, there are faults when you stop to think rationally. But that does not stop you from being dazzled by the film." Rajeev Masand of "CNN-IBN" gave it a 3 star rating, saying that "Dhoom 2" is without doubt better than its predecessor, and that Hrithik Roshan is the heart and soul of the film. Vijay Venkataramanan of "Planet Bollywood" gave it 7 out of 10 stars; while complaining about flaws in the plot and Aishwarya Rai’s performance, he still called it a good adrenaline-pumping entertainer.
International.
Review aggregator "Rotten Tomatoes" reported 92% of 13 critics were positive and gave it a "fresh" certificate. "Variety" commented, "Loaded with enough attitude, Bollywood starpower and buff bodies to stop a speeding train, "Dhoom 2" has been doing humongous biz since its November 24 worldwide opening, and provides adequate proof that Yash Raj Films is good for more than just family-oriented comedy-dramas."
Rachel Saltz of "The New York Times" reviewed, "The pleasure principle is palpable in the giddy, slick "Dhoom 2", a satisfying example of the new, thoroughly modern Bollywood. It may represent the new-fangled Bollywood, but old-fashioned star power is what animates and elevates it above its occasional narrative flaws and longueurs." "Film Journal International"s Ethan Alter said, ""Dhoom 2" has all of the benefits of a big-budget Bollywood production: big-name stars, exotic locales, well-produced musical numbers and elaborate (by Bollywood standards, anyway) action sequences. It makes no lasting contributions to world cinema, but if two-and-a-half hours of disposable entertainment are all you're after, you could do far worse." "L.A. Weekly"s David Chute stated the film was, "A movie meal as satisfying as this one can make you feel that nothing else matters." Jaspreet Pandohar of the "BBC" gave it a two-star rating, writing "By roping in acclaimed action director Alan Amin to take care of the thrills and spills, you'd expect Gadhvi to have spent time crafting out a sophisticated storyline instead of simply sending his cast on a cat-and-mouse chase around the globe. It's only Roshan's charismatic performance as the criminal mastermind, and the sizzling chemistry he shares with Rai's sassy cohort, that rescues this adventure from becoming an elongated tourism commercial." Manish Gajjar, Bollywood Correspondent for "BBC Shropshire" said, "With its high-powered action sequences matching Hollywood standards, "Dhoom 2" is a winner all the way at the box office!"
Accolades.
"Dhoom 2" was nominated for several awards that year, but only picked up a few of the major ones. At the Filmfare Awards, Hrithik Roshan won Best Actor, out of 5 total nominations for the film. At the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA), the film won for Best Makeup and Best Costume Design. At the Stardust Awards, Aishwarya Rai won Star of the Year – Female and director Sanjay Gadhvi won the Hottest Young Filmmaker title.
At the 2007 MTV India Style Awards, "Dhoom 2" swept nearly all of the movie awards, winning the following:
Home media.
"Dhoom 2" was released in DVD format on February 2007. It was distributed by Yash Raj Films in all regions as a two-disc set and for region 1 as a single-disc set. It was released on Blu-ray in December 2009.


Gunbower National Park

The Gunbower National Park is a national park located in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated between Echuca and adjacent to the banks of the Murray River, approximately north of Melbourne and was established in June 2010. The park contains the Gunbower Forest Ramsar wetlands site for the protection of migratory bird species.


Lake Saka Nature Reserve

The Lake Saka Nature Reserve () is a nature reserve at Sivriler village of Demirköy district in Kırklareli Province of Turkey close to İğneada on the Black Sea coast. It gets its name from the Lake Saka (), which is in the boundaries of the İğneada Floodplain Forests National Park. It is from Demirköy, and from İğneada.
It covers an area of . The sits is on a floodplain of a river that flows into the Black Sea, and seasonally floods thus rendering it a unique and one of the very few remaining floodplain forests in all of Europe.
Flora.
In addition to the main flora of alder ("Alnus"), elm ("Ulmus") and ash ("Fraxinus"), trees such as oak ("Quercus"), hornbeam ("Carpinus"), beech ("Fagaceae"), black poplar ("Populus nigra"), white poplar ("Populus alba"), willow ("Salix"), linden ("Tilia") and walnut ("Juglans") are found in the nature reserve.
Fauna.
The fauna of the protected area consists of the mammals: deer ("Cervidae"), roe deer ("Capreolus capreolus"), fox ("Canidae"), gray wolf (("Canis lupus"), hare ("Lepus"), wild boar ("Sus scrofa"), wildcat ("Felis silvestris") and the birds swan ("Cygnus"), mallard ("Anas platyrhynchos"), greylag goose ("Anser anser"), woodcock ("Scolopax") and common wood pigeon ("Columba palumbus"). The nature reserve is habitat for the reptiles such as viper (Viperidae), slow-worm ("Anguis fragilis") and water snake. The lake is home to the fish species of carp ("Cyprinidae"), red seabream, bass ("Perciformes") as well as to crustaceans like crayfish.
External links.
About (in Turkish)


Alibijaban

Alibijaban is a small island located off the southeastern coast of Bondoc Peninsula in the Philippines. It belongs administratively to the municipality of San Andres, Quezon province, and is coterminous with the barangay of the same name. With a population of 1,643 inhabitants in 2015, it is the smallest of seven barangays in San Andres.
The island is known for its pristine mangrove forest and coral reefs. It is also visited for its white sandy beaches and rich bird life. Its mangrove forest which covers approximately of the island's central and northern portions is protected under the National Integrated Protected Areas System as a wilderness area called the "Alibijaban Island Wilderness Area". of waters surrounding it have also been declared a marine protected area known as the "Alibijaban Fish Sanctuary".
Description.
Alibijaban is located in the southwestern end of Ragay Gulf approximately from the mainland of Bondoc Peninsula. It is roughly from north to south, and from east to west at its widest point. It is a low-lying island surrounded by a fringing reef which is interspersed with seagrass beds near the shore. The island's central and northern interior are dominated by mangrove wilderness, with most of the population concentrated on two sitios on the island's western and southwestern coast facing San Andres and Bondoc Peninsula. Its coastal formations include sandy beaches and rocky shores, particularly in its northeastern side.
The island is accessible via motorized banca from the port of San Andres. It is southeast of Manila via the Pan-Philippine Highway and Bondoc Peninsula Road.
Conservation.
Alibajaban has some of the most undisturbed mangrove wilderness in the Philippines. It hosts at least 22 mangrove species and 14 species of birds, including the Tabon scrubfowl, white-collared kingfisher, jungle crow, black-naped oriole, island collared dove, Asian glossy starling, chestnut munia, Philippine pied fantail, common emerald dove, black-crowned night heron, common snipe. It also supports a number of fruit bats and monitor lizards. Since the establishment on the island of a wilderness protected area in 1981, the Community Environment and Resources Office (CENRO) under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Provincial Government of Quezon now administers the area.
The island also has the most diverse marine habitat in the region of Ragay Gulf. It is home to at least 30 genera of hard coral dominated by "Porites", "Montipora" and "Acropora". Its adjacent waters are visited by whale sharks, manta rays, and "pawikans" (marine turtles). The passage of a municipal ordinance in 2006 prohibited all kinds of fishing in the area.
Tourism.
Alibijaban is an emerging backpacker destination. It's fine white sand beach and mangrove forest are few of the reasons why backpackers visit the island. The activities to do include: beach bumming, camping, boating, and snorkeling.


Toledo Bend Forest Scenic Byway


Sunken Gardens (Florida)

The Sunken Gardens are 4 acres (1.6 hectares) of well-established botanical gardens, located in the Historic Old Northeast neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Florida, at 1825 4th Street North. The Gardens have existed for more than a century, and are one of the oldest roadside tourist attractions in the United States. The Gardens are now operated by the City of St. Petersburg, FL and maintained with the help of volunteers. Sunken Gardens are open to the public every day of the week. An admission fee is charged for entrance into the gardens and a yearly membership is also available.
Sunken Gardens retains their historical interest as an important example of a 1930s Florida roadside commercial attraction, and is probably the oldest commercial tourist attraction on Florida's west coast. The Gardens are open to the public for educational programs, tours, and special events, particularly weddings which have taken place for decades on the Wedding Lawn, and in the banquet facilities in the Garden Room overlooking the unique garden setting.
History.
The Gardens began in 1903, when plumber and avid gardener George Turner Sr. purchased six acres of land, including a shallow lake below sea level, which he drained to form his private "sunken" garden. Turner started planting papayas and citrus fruits along with other exotic plants on the rich soil surrounding his home. By the 1920s, Turner had opened a nursery and began selling fruits, vegetables, and other plants, and visitors were paying a nickel each to stroll through the gardens. In the fall of 1935, he fenced his garden and started charging an admission fee of 24 cents. The Gardens eventually became widely popular, and from the 1950s through the 1970s were ranked among Florida's top ten commercial attractions. After George's death in 1961, his sons, Ralph and George Jr. continued to run the gardens, which were eventually passed on to Ralph's three sons. They eventually sold it to the city in 1999 for more than $2.26 million.
Historic building status.
The Gardens include a large building originally known as the Sanitary Public Market, first constructed in 1926-27, and designed by architect Albert Lee Hawes. It was a Mediterranean Revival style arcade with twin Moorish towers, cast stone trim, and a tile roof. In 1940, it was converted for use as the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, and restyled in Art Moderne. The Turner family purchased the building in 1967 to create the World's Largest Gift Shop and the King of Kings Wax Museum, adding faux lava portions at that time. In 1999, it was purchased by the City of St. Petersburg, along with the adjoining gardens, using a voter-approved tax. The Gardens were designated as a local historic landmark and treated to several years' efforts of restoration. On June 27, 2002, the former Sanitary Public Market building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and is now the home of a children's science museum called Great Explorations.
Flora and fauna.
The Gardens currently contain over 500 species of tropical and subtropical plants amidst pools and cascading waterfalls, lushly planted in a collection of more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers. They include a Japanese garden, cactus garden, and butterfly garden, and Chilean flamingos. Plants include bougainvilleas, royal palms, water lilies, shrimp plants, and fruit trees. The garden atmosphere is peaceful and many of the plants are quite large (compared to typical specimens) due to their long history of protection and cultivation.
Chilean flamingos.
In 2016, Sunken Gardens acquired a new young flock of 20 Flamingos from the San Antonio Zoo. They joined elderly flamingo residents, George and Lucy, the two remaining Chilean flamingos from the original 17 bird flock that have been on exhibit since 1956. The new flamingos were purchased with funds raised by a nonprofit group, Flamingos Forever, composed of volunteers. Additionally, the city purchased a $30,000 nighttime enclosure for the new flock. Flamingos Forever changed their name to Sunken Gardens Forever, after the acquisition of the new flock, and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman named May "Sunken Gardens Forever Appreciation Month" in St. Petersburg, FL, in honor of their fundraising efforts.
Programs for lifelong learning.
Sunken Gardens offers horticulture and other education programs for children and adults. Examples include "Cameras and Kids" where children learn nature photography skills with their own camera or smartphone, "Propagation Techniques," "Growing Microgreens," "Rain Gardens and Barrels," and "Think Outside the Pot: Mounting Orchids". Programs are often free with membership and are included with paid admission, though some include a fee in addition to standard admission.


Moonfleet (film)

Moonfleet is a 1955 Eastman Color film shot in CinemaScope directed by Fritz Lang. It was inspired by the 1898 novel "Moonfleet" by J. Meade Falkner, although significant alterations were made in the characters and plot.
Plot.
A gothic melodrama set in England during the 18th century, the film is about John Mohune, a young orphan (Jon Whiteley), who is sent to the Dorset village of Moonfleet to stay with his mother's former lover, Jeremy Fox. Fox (Stewart Granger), is a morally ambiguous character, an elegant gentleman intimately involved with smugglers. On the run from the law, Mohune and Fox must decipher a coded message in their pursuit of a fabulous diamond hidden long ago.
Production.
The book was published in England in 1898 but not published in the US until 1951. Reviews were excellent.
MGM bought the film rights and announced Stewart Granger as the star immediately. William Wright was originally going to produce.
Then the job of producing went to John Houseman. Houseman later recalled, "the novel was written back about 1890, was as successful as "Treasure Island" had been, and then was totally forgotten. The man [J. Meade Falkner] never wrote anything else. It was a grim story, a realistic adventure story about pirates and a little boy who accidentally got himself involved with them. There was no sex. But then we began to have fun with it, and embroider it."
At one stage Merle Oberon was going to be the female lead. Eventually Joan Greenwood was brought over from England.
In October 1953 the film was officially put on MGM's schedule.
Shooting.
Filming took place in September 1954. "We are trying to make it one of the best of its type", said Houseman.
Director Fritz Lang said the story "calls for mood, for atmosphere. The smugglers work in the dark, on hazy days. I plan to light my principals just as you would in a play, dropping shadows on the sides of the stage to concentrate on the main action and the players involved in it."
The movie was shot almost entirely on the MGM backlot, augmented by a few shots of the California coast. During filming, James Dean visited the set; Stewart Granger said his manner was rude and dismissive.
Houseman said, "I got along fine with Fritz Lang, even though we screamed and yelled at each other. But he was very anxious to make a picture at Metro, and he rather wanted to make a picture with me. On the whole, we managed to turn out something very much off the beaten track-and... we had a good time."
Granger later said "I hated working with Fritz Lang – he was a Kraut and it was a bloody awful film. I wanted to produce and act it in Cornwall and made them buy the book. MGM turned it into a big colour film. "Moonfleet" was not Lang's type of film – it is a romantic child's film. It wasn't a bad part."
Houseman says one time during filming his associate producer, Jud Kinberg, "came down to the stage and heard this awful caterwauling. As he got near he heard: [German accent] "You are not a professional! We pay you a lot of money to be a professional actor, and it seems to me you are stupid, you are lazy, you are nothing at all...!" Jud came around the corner, and saw that the recipient of this was a little boy of eleven!" The little boy being referred to was obviously Jon Whiteley, as he was the only boy actor in the film. But Jon was only nine years old during the filming and not eleven.
Reception.
Houseman later said, "It ended up being rather a crazy type of picture – still much admired by European filmmakers – but, commercially, it was a disaster."
The film was a critical and financial failure on release. According to MGM records the movie earned $567,000 in the US and Canada and $1,007,000 overseas. It made a loss of $1,203,000.
The film was released in France in 1960 and had 917,219 admissions.
The prestigious French film publication "Cahiers du Cinéma" named "Moonfleet" as one of the 100 most essential films ever made, listing it at #32.


Biokovo

Biokovo () is the second-highest mountain range in Croatia, located along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, between the rivers of Cetina and Neretva.
It is sometimes referred to as Bijakovo, especially among inhabitants of the eastern side of the mountain. Its highest peak is Sveti Jure (Saint George), at 1762 m.a.s.l. It shows a typical karst landscape. Atop the peak there is a powerful FM and DVB-T transmitter.
The 196 km2 of its area is protected as a nature park with over 1,500 plant and animal species, some of which are endemic.
Biokovo also includes the separate ridge and peak Sveti Ilija at .
Biokovo is one in a line of Dinaric Alps stretching along the Dalmatian coast - northwest of it is Mosor and southeast are Sutvid and Rilić. To the east, the Šibenik runs in parallel. When the weather is very clear, from the top of Biokovo it is possible to see Monte Gargano in Italy, which is away.
Zabiokovlje, a mountainous area in Biokovo, includes such townlets and villages as Gornja Brela, Zadvarje, Žeževica, Grabovac, Rastovac, Zagvozd, Župa, Rašćane and Kozica. Major economic activities there were cattle raising, grape growing, and hunting. Part of this area is in the Biokovo Nature Park. To aid hikers, the Biokovo Nature Park Visitor Center is in downtown Makarska.
However, Biokovo can be perilous if hiking unprepared - tourists erroneously imagine peaks to be closer than they are and, oblivious to the danger, have been known to go hiking wearing flip-flops, without water, wearing shirts with military camouflage patterns making them harder to spot for search and rescue teams. From 1976 to 2007, 24 hikers have died on Biokovo, while 37 had to be rescued.
Professional road bicycle racing.
Sveti Jure has recently found itself included as a climb in professional road bicycle races. It was visited for the first time on the second stage of the 2017 Tour of Croatia. However, due to bad weather the race organisers decided to shorten the stage in accordance with the UCI Extreme weather protocol. The final route was shortened by 15,2 km, moving the finish line down to Vrata Biokova on an altitude of 820 meters.
The stage was won by Croatian rider Kristijan Đurasek of the team UAE Team Emirates, outsprinting Jaime Rosón (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) with eventual general classification winner Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) finishing third, three seconds down.
The climb was revisited at the 2018 Tour of Croatia,
where it was included as a 28 km long climb serving as summit finish on the third stage, which was dubbed as the queen stage of that year's edition. The stage was won by Belarusian rider Kanstantsin Siutsou riding for Team Bahrain-Merida, after 75 minutes of climbing.


Delhi Gate, Lahore

Delhi Gate (, "Delhi Darwaza") is one of six remaining historic gates of the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan. Delhi Gate and the adjacent Shahi Hammam were restored in 2015 by the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan.
Background.
The Delhi Gate was originally built during the Mughal period, and is now known as the Chitta Gate, about 100 metres west of the new Delhi Gate. The gate was named after Delhi since the gate opened east, in the general direction of that city. During the Mughal era, the gate served as the main gateway to Lahore, and its doors were shut every evening. The surrounding area includes several buildings of historical significance including the 17th century Wazir Khan Mosque, Shahi Hammam, and havelis. Delhi Gate also served as Union Council 27 (UC 27) in Tehsil Ravi of Lahore City District.
History.
The gate was once part of Lahore's city walls, which were torn down by the British after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The gate itself was also destroyed by the British, but was reconstructed in the 19th century under the British Raj. Following the Partition of British India, the gate housed a girls' school. The gate is mentioned by Rudyard Kipling in his 1891 short story "The City of Dreadful Night." Lahore's famous Zamzama Gun was originally placed at Delhi Gate, but was relocated by the British to a site in front of the Lahore Museum.
Structure.
The gate is a two-story structure which contains space for ten to twelve shops. The gate's rooftop can be accessed by a staircase.
Restoration.
 undertook a project to renovate the gate that was funded by the government of Norway. Goals of the project were to conserve not only the gate, but also the nearby 17th century Wazir Khan Mosque, as well as adjacent the Shahi Hammam.


Amarakaeri Communal Reserve

The Amarakaeri Communal Reserve ("Reserva Comunal Amarakaeri") is a protected area in Peru located in the Madre de Dios Region, Manú Province. It protects parts of the Southwest Amazon moist forests and Peruvian Yungas ecoregions.


List of protected areas of Suriname

There are several protected areas of Suriname. The largest of these is the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The protected areas are managed by the Suriname Forest Service. The Forest Service has appointed STINASU (Stichting Natuurbehoud Suriname), a non-profit foundation, to develop and conduct the educational and tourist aspects in the protected areas. As of 2020, 14.5% of the land territory is protected, and contains one national park, and 13 nature reserves.


Yelanets Steppe Nature Reserve

Yelanets Steppe Nature Reserve () is a protected nature reserve of Ukraine that covers a section of the largest virgin steppe tract in the Northern Black Sea Coast area. It is the only steppe reserve in Right-bank Ukraine (the area on the west side of the Dnieper River). A herd of American bison was introduced and lives within the territory. The reserve is in Mykolaiv Oblast.
Topography.
The reserve is situated on a southern spur of the Dnieper Upland, about 140 km west of the Dnieper River, and 100 km north of the Black Sea coast. The site began with the set-aside of a 300 hectare plot in 1978; it has been periodically added to over the years to total 1,675 ha in 2019. A 1.2 km ecological corridor runs through the middle of the site. The hilly terrain, with cliffs in places, is due to the karst (limestone) underlying the area.
Climate and ecoregion.
The official climate designation for the Yelanets Steppe area is "Humid continental climate – warm summer sub-type" (Köppen climate classification Dfb), with large seasonal temperature differentials and a warm summer (at least four months averaging over , but no month averaging over . The average temperature in January is and in July. Average annual precipitation is 428 mm.
Flora and fauna.
The characteristic vegetation of this type of steppe is Festuca valesiaca. About one-third of the site is recovered agricultural land that is being returned to native local steppe. 615 species of vascular plants have been listed on the reserve.
Scientists working in the reserve have recorded 28 species of mammals including red fox, American bison and roe deer, wild boar, and Bobak marmot, 137 of birds, 6 of reptiles, and 5 species of amphibians. During 1970s, cattles, Turkmenian kulan, spotted deer, and mouflon were also kept with bisons within semi-feral condition.
Public use.
As a strict nature reserve, Yelanets Steppe 's primary purpose is protection of nature and scientific study. Public access is limited: mass recreation and construction of facilities is prohibited as are hunting and fishing. Park staff lead educational programs for local schoolchildren, and general ecological awareness programs for community. In the 1970 the site featured a 70-hectare "living zoo" enclosure that has since been removed and the animals relocated.


Mulholland Highway

Mulholland Highway is a scenic road in Los Angeles County, California, that runs approximately 50 miles through the western Santa Monica Mountains from near US Route 101 (Ventura Freeway) in Calabasas to Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) near Malibu at Leo Carrillo State Park and the Pacific Ocean coast – at the border of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
Mulholland Highway is the western rural portion and with the eastern Mulholland Drive portion, is a scenic route named after Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland and built throughout the 1920s "to take Angelenos from the city to the ocean".
Only the segment of Mulholland Highway between Pacific Coast Highway and Kanan Dume Road, and through Malibu Creek State Park between Cornell Road and Las Virgenes Road, is officially recognized by the California Department of Transportation as under the California Scenic Highway System, meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.
Geography.
The name Mulholland Highway applies to a thirty-mile stretch that starts near Louisville High School in Calabasas and extends to its westernmost terminus at Leo Carrillo State Park on the Pacific Coast Highway. Wholly contained within Los Angeles County, the scenic byway was formally opened in 1928. Mulholland zigzags through the Santa Monica Mountains – one of the Southern California Transverse Ranges – from Oxnard all the way to Hollywood. Original major intersections included Topanga Road, Cornell Road, Latigo Canyon Road, and Decker Road.
The route provides access, directly or "en route", to many of the regional parks in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Running east-west along the spine of the Santa Monicas, Mulholland Highway makes its way through the mountains without benefit of tunnels. There are several automobile wrecks and fire-burnt structures that litter the bottoms of the canyons through which Mulholland Highway passes . The native flora of the Santa Monica Mountains are seen throughout the scenic route.
Mulholland Drive.
In the early 1970s, five thousand local activists successfully prevented the cement paving of most of the Mulholland Drive stretch. This section, known as "Dirt Mulholland," is only open to cyclists and pedestrians. From Mulholland Bridge east, a cemented Mulholland Drive winds through the affluent Hollywood Hills to Mulholland Drive's easternmost terminus at Cahuenga Boulevard, near Universal Studios. It then becomes Mulholland Highway again as an unpaved footpath to Griffith Park.


Gosu Cave

The (Kosu is alsound as an alternate spelling) is a huge limestone cave near oDanyang (North Chungcheong Province), South Korea for years ago. It is among the best known natural Korea, and is known as the "underground palace". Gosu Cave is the country's "Natural Monument No. 256".
 means and comes from the fact that the area used to be filled with fields of tall grasses. After the cave was discovered in the early 1970s, rough stone instruments were excavated from the cave's entrance, showing that this used to be a home to prehistoric people.
Features of the cave.
The cave, 1,300 m/4,264 ft deep, is inhabited by 25 species of insects and animals. About 120 different stalactites and stalagmites are found here. Some of the formations resemble animals or human figures, such as Lion Rock, Octopus Rock, Eagle Rock, and even the Virgin Mary Rock. The Lion Rock is said to be the guardian of the cave. While it has an entire length of 5.4 km/17,716 ft, visitors are limited to exploring up to 1.7 km/5,577 ft of the cave.
The main branch of Gosu Cave is 1,200 m/3,937 ft long. It features a variety of spectacular speleothems: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, cave coral, cave pearls, cave shields, draperies, and aragonite crystals. The main chamber has a series of majestic 10m/33 ft long stalactites.
Tourism.
The cave is open to the public every day year-round, and gets the most visitors on hot summer days; the interior of the cave is cool, being a steady 15 °C/59 °F year-round, and in winter gloves are recommended for holding the cool metal railings. A 1.7 km/5,577 ft length of twisting, turning limestone caverns have been outfitted with metal walkways, becoming quite narrow at some points, and subdued lighting. The vertical height of the walkways is 50 m/164 ft.


Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway

Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway is in the U.S. state of Wyoming and spans most of the distance from Cody, Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park. The scenic highway follows the north fork of the Shoshone River through the Wapiti Valley to Sylvan Pass and the eastern entrance to Yellowstone. Most of the scenic byway is contained within Shoshone National Forest and is also known as US Highway 14 (US 14), US 16 and US 20.
Route description.
The Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway starts in Cody and follows US 14/US 16/US 20 along the Shoshone River. The route is known for its abundant wildlife, astonishing rock formations, and recreational opportunities. Approximately west of Cody the highway skirts the Buffalo Bill Reservoir, a source of excellent trout fishing, and location of Buffalo Bill State Park. The Park has facilities for camping, picnicking, boating, and windsurfing.
Beyond the reservoir, the highway enters the Shoshone National Forest. The Shoshone was set aside in 1891 as part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve. One of the oldest Forest Service ranger stations is situated in the Wapiti Valley. A stop at the visitor center near the station will provide you with a brief history of the area, as well as locations of campgrounds and trails. As the Indian name implies, The Wapiti Valley is home for the wapiti, or elk as well as the grizzly bear, bighorn sheep, moose, deer, and other wildlife. A sharp eye might spot these animals feeding along the banks of streams, on grassy benchlands, and on brushy slopes. Buffalo Bill Cody built his hunting lodge, Pahaska Teepee, here beneath a sheltering cliff. This building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Wapiti Valley is home to fourteen beautiful, historic lodges offering full-service accommodations, nightly, weekly, or monthly. Any of these lodges may be used as home-base while touring all of Cody Country and enjoying Cody's many fine attractions. At the head of the Wapiti Valley the highway enters Yellowstone National Park. and here the Byway ends, giving travelers an excellent route to the wonders of Yellowstone National Park.
Points of interest.
Points of interest along the road include Colter's Hell, Buffalo Bill Dam, Mummy Cave and Pahaska Tepee, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Wapiti Ranger Station is a National Historic Landmark. Historic dude ranches on the byway catered to the Yellowstone tourist trade and include the Elephant Head Lodge, Absaroka Mountain Lodge and the Red Star Lodge.
History.
The Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway was designated as a National Forest Scenic Byway on May 14, 1991, and as a Wyoming State Scenic Byway in 1995.


Mather Point

Mather Point is a -cliff-elevation Point located in the central Grand Canyon, Coconino County of northern Arizona, United States. It was named in honor of Stephen Tyng Mather, an American industrialist and conservationist.
It is located about 2.0 miles east-northeast of Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. It is about 0.75 miles east of Yavapai Point, it's closest scenic viewpoint neighbor, and it lies about 1.5 miles west of Yaki Point, across Upper Pipe Creek Canyon. Pipe Creek enters Lower Garden Creek, and the Bright Angel Trail descends there to cross the Colorado River and go up Bright Angel Canyon. The viewpoints of Mather Point, (and Yavapai Point), look northwards (across Granite Gorge), up Bright Angel Canyon, and view the prominences that align it, especially the nearest of Isis Temple and Cheops Pyramid, and on the east, Zoroaster Temple, with Demaray Point, Bradley Point, and Sumner Butte.
Mather Point is about 1.0 mi north of Arizona Rt 64, South Rim Drive, the access road along the South Rim. The Rim Trail of the South Rim traverses through the major points of the South Rim, including Mather Point.
Mather Point is composed of horizontally-layered cliff-former Kaibab Limestone, and is mostly buff, or tan-white. The rock at the point is distinctive with its limestone erosion-holes, and is broken into large blocks. Mather Point is also composed of Kaibab upon Toroweap Formation slopes, upon white cliffs of Coconino Sandstone.


Abergwesyn

Abergwesyn is a village in the Welsh county of Powys, in mid-Wales, at the start of the Abergwesyn valley and the confluence of the Afon Irfon and the Afon Gwesyn and is 52 miles (83 km) from Cardiff and 158 miles (254 km) from London.
Abergwesyn Commons stretch between the Nant Irfon valley and Llanwrthwl. They are rich in archaeology, including Bronze Age ritual sites and deserted medieval villages. A National Trust project is focused on the preservation of the peatland.
Description.
Abergwesyn Commons cover an area of some and stretch for between the Nant Irfon valley in the west and Llanwrthwl in the east, are rich in archaeology, including Bronze Age ritual sites and deserted medieval villages. There are many cairns and other evidence of ancient human activity. To the north the ground falls away to the edge of the Elan Valley Reservoirs. The summit ridge is wild and bleak with expansive views across the roof of Wales. Among the wildlife to be seen are red grouse, northern lapwing and red kite.
National Trust.
The National Trust has an ongoing ecology project, centred on the preservation of peatland in the Abergwesyn Commons. The site has extensive areas of deep peat and blanket bog in poor condition due to past overgrazing and burning. The work done has benefited the golden plover, an amber-listed species on the Birds of Conservation Concern index.
Parish church.
In 1740 the curate in the parishes of Llanwrtyd, Llanfihangel Abergwesyn and Llanddewi Abergwesyn, was Wales' most famous hymn-writer William Williams Pantycelyn. Llanddewi Abergwesyn parish was united with Llanfihangel Abergwesyn parish in 1885, and separate marriage registers were not kept thereafter. Parish registers are held, at the National Library of Wales and/or Powys Archives for baptisms 1813–1984, marriages 1813–1873, burials 1813-1986 and banns 1826-1862 and 1957–1959. Also, at Cardiff Central Library and NLW, are records of baptisms 1738–1812, marriages 1738-56 and 1765–1812, and burials 1738–1812. Bishops' Transcripts, for various periods, are also held at NLW.


Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary

The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is one of 14 marine sanctuaries administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is located along the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. The sanctuary was declared in 1994 and encompasses of the Pacific Ocean from Cape Flattery in the north, to the mouth of the Copalis River, a distance of about . Extending from the shore, it includes most of the continental shelf, as well as parts of three important submarine canyons, the Nitinat Canyon, the Quinault Canyon and the Juan de Fuca Canyon. For along the coast, the sanctuary shares stewardship with the Olympic National Park. The sanctuary overlays the Flattery Rocks, Quillayute Needles, and Copalis Rock National Wildlife Refuges.


Blackjack Springs Wilderness

The Blackjack Springs Wilderness is a wilderness area northeast of Eagle River, Wisconsin. It is located within the Nicolet unit of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and is administered by the US Forest Service. The area protects four large, crystal-clear springs at the headwaters of Blackjack Creek, part of the Eagle River and Wisconsin River drainage. The area was added to the National Wilderness Preservation System by Congress in 1978.
The area displays the rolling, uneven landscape caused by the Wisconsin Glacial Episode, typical of the Lake Superior highlands. The wilderness area itself contains one lake, Whispering Lake, and a number of other streams, ponds, and wetland areas. A majority of the forest is new-growth secondary forest, a result of extensive logging during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Logging roads and railroad grades are still evident in the area.
Wildlife found in the wilderness area include American black bear, white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, various songbirds, and fisher.
The Blackjack Springs area provides opportunities for camping, hunting, hiking, canoeing, birdwatching, and fishing.


Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge

Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge is a nature preserve on the grounds of Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Several other parks, including Mason Neck State Park, Pohick Bay Regional Park, and the Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge are located nearby.
The refuge was established in 1979 to protect sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitats associated with Accotink Bay and to provide opportunities for environmental education and low-intensity recreation. The refuge offers more than eight miles of hiking trails, including a short paved trail for handicapped access.
Species native to the preserve include:
The Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center is located at the entrance to the refuge. The center features exhibits, videos and trail guides about the refuge and offers nature education programs.
A small parking area with space for six cars (two reserved for handicapped) is located just outside the Tulley Gate entrance off Route 1.


Bunkers Conservation Reserve


Paruna Sanctuary

Paruna Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Avon Valley, north-east of Perth in south-west Western Australia. It is in the Avon-Wheatbelt Bioregion and is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).
History.
Paruna Sanctuary consists of several properties consolidated to form a corridor between the Walyunga and Avon Valley National Parks. Negotiations during the 1990s culminated in its formal opening in 1998. Since then areas previously cleared have been subject to a rehabilitation program, and walking tracks constructed for public use.
Landscape and climate.
Paruna is in the Darling Range, a landscape of hills along a rocky escarpment, with river valleys. The climate is Mediterranean with winter rainfall and dry summers. Average annual rainfall is .
Ecosystems.
Most of the reserve is dominated by wandoo and powderbark woodlands, with extensive areas of heathland and some patches of jarrah and marri forest. Flooded gum and paperbark occur along the Avon River.
Fauna.
Significant mammal species present are chuditch and honey possum, while an important bird is Carnaby's black-cockatoo. In collaboration with CALM, and with an ongoing program to control exotic predators such as foxes, various native mammals that would have occurred on Paruna in the past are being successfully reintroduced. These include the woylie, quenda, black-flanked rock-wallaby and the tammar wallaby.


Masonville Place

Masonville Place (known locally as Masonville or Masonville Mall, and corporately styled as CF Masonville Place) is a two-story regional shopping mall located in London, Ontario, Canada, at the southeast corner of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street. The mall contains over 130 stores, several restaurants, and a food court. Masonville Place is anchored by several large retailers including Hudson's Bay, Zara, H&M, Sport Chek/Atmosphere, and Shoppers Drug Mart. Cineplex Cinemas has two locations at the shopping mall, the SilverCity / IMAX theatres, and The Rec Room, an adult-centred entertainment facility featuring food, drink, arcade games and axe-throwing.
Masonville Place opened on January 2, 1985. It was the third multi-level shopping centre to open in London, after Westmount Mall and White Oaks Mall. It was anchored by Sears, Eaton's, and Loblaws, although Loblaws opened on its own in late 1984 across the street, preceding the building of the rest of the mall.
Location.
The shopping mall is located in North London, adjacent to the transit corridor of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street. It has a bus terminal for the London Transit Commission serviced by the following routes: 10, 13, 13A, 16, 19, 25, 34, 90, 92 and 93. The mall is expected to be the terminus of one route on the planned London Bus Rapid Transit system.
History.
Beginnings.
Masonville Place was constructed by the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, and opened in 1985.
Expansion.
In 1991, Masonville expanded with 75 new stores and services including an indoor miniature golf course, which has since been removed, and replaced with more stores. A Zellers store was built in 1994. It was replaced by Target in 2013. Target later closed all of its Canadian stores, leaving a vacancy in Masonville that has since been filled by Marshalls and HomeSense in 2017. In April 2018, the vacant upper floor of Target was filled by The Rec Room.
In October 1998, the Loblaws store closed and a new standalone Loblaws was opened on the northeast corner of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond Street. This was around the same time the Eaton's store was closed due to bankruptcy and was replaced with The Bay.
Renovations.
On October 29, 2013, Sears Canada announced that it would be closing its store at the mall and several other locations throughout Canada in a bid to reduce costs. There were rumours that Nordstrom, an American retailer, was seeking to fill the space Sears had left, but these were dispelled in 2013 when Cadillac Fairview announced its plans.
On March 29, 2016, Cadillac Fairview announced that Masonville Place would receive major renovations during 2016. The $77 million renovations included a two-level mall expansion into the former Sears store, which had occupied an area of approximately 127,000 square feet. The renovations and mall expansion were completed by November 2016 and includes London's first Disney Store, Zara, Hot Topic and Aroma Espresso Bar along with H&M and Atmosphere/Sport Chek. The Keg moved from Richmond Row in downtown London to occupy a portion of the space in the new renovation. Other stores also moved into previously empty spaces, such as American fashion company Michael Kors, and New York based makeup company NYX Cosmetics. In 2020, it was announced that Urban Planet would replace the former Forever 21 store.


Apache Creek Wilderness

Apache Creek Wilderness is a 5,666-acre (2,293 ha) wilderness area under the jurisdiction of the Chino Valley District of the Prescott National Forest in the U.S. state of Arizona. Established in 1984, the Wilderness contains rolling hills of juniper and pinyon pine, outcroppings of granite, three natural springs, and several important riparian areas including Apache Creek. Elevations range from 5,280 feet (1,609 m) to 6,970 feet (2,124 m), and the area provides excellent habitat for mountain lion and numerous bird species.
The wilderness is located in the southeast half of the Santa Maria Mountains; the Juniper Mesa Wilderness is located just north on Juniper Mesa, in the southeast Juniper Mountains, and across North Fork Creek.


Camp Sawi

Camp Sawi () is a 2016 Filipino comedy-drama film starring Andi Eigenmann, Bela Padilla, Yassi Pressman, Kim Molina, Sam Milby and Arci Muñoz. It is written and directed by Irene Villamor. It was released on August 24, 2016 by Viva Films.
Plot.
Five women, Gwen (Arci Muñoz), Bridgette (Bela Padilla), Jessica (Yassi Pressman), Clarisse (Andi Eigenmann) and Joanne (Kim Molina) enter a boot camp named Camp Sawi. Each woman, had a history of being heartbroken by their romantic interest and the girls as members of the aptly named camp help one another in dealing with their ill feelings under the watch of camp chef and head coach Louie (Sam Milby).
Production.
"Camp Sawi" was written and directed by Irene Villamor. The film is a co-production of Viva Films and N2 Productions of Joyce Bernal. A significant portion of the film was shot on Bantayan Island of Cebu province. The film is the first full-length film project for Villamor as a director.
According to Bela Padilla, one of the casts of the film, said that the film's focus is on how women deal with moving on from heartbreak.
Release.
"Camp Sawi" premiered on cinemas nationwide on August 24, 2016, which was dubbed by the production team as "National Sawi Day".
Reception.
The Cinema Evaluation Board rated "Camp Sawi" as a Grade A film.


Wombeyan Caves

The Wombeyan Caves are caves that have formed in marble, in the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales, Australia. Wombeyan Caves is a tourist attraction and local holiday area, as well as a reserve for endangered species, such as several species of wallaby, bird, possum, and wombat.
Location.
It is located within the Southern Highlands about north of Goulburn. Access is by the Wombeyan Caves Road from either Mittagong in the east or from the Goulburn-Oberon Road in the west. The caves reserve is located towards the western end of the Wombeyan Caves Road. The part of the Wombeyan Caves Road east of the reserve is very rough and has many curves and narrow stretches as it descends down to Wollondilly River and then up very rugged mountains. Some of the views are spectacular.
Indigenous history.
Wombeyan Caves are located on the traditional lands of the Burra Burra clan of the Gandangara people in the area covered by the Pejar Local Aboriginal Land Council. Archaeologists haven't found evidence of Indigenous occupation of the caves, but flakes and cores from Indigenous tool making, dating from 6,000 to 14,000 years ago, have been found across the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve.
The name of Wombeyan Caves is likely to come from the Ngunnawal language word for ‘tunnel’, referring to the Dreamtime story of the tunnel created by a local version of the rainbow serpent, called Gurangatch. The story was recorded by Robert Hamilton Mathews, who wrote: 'On reaching the source of Jock’s Creek, [Gurangatch] burrowed under the range, coming up inside of Wam-bee-ang caves, which are called Whambeyan by the white people, being a corruption of the aboriginal name.' A tunnel connecting the creek to the caves may be real or imagined, since no tunnel has been found. The cave name has also been spelt as Whambeyan, Wambian, Whombeyan, Wombeian, Wambiang and Wambeean.
Many of the individual caverns within the Wombeyan complex were given Gandangara names by the first government-appointed caretaker of the caves Charles Chalker (1845–1924). These were ‘Wollondilly’, ‘Mulwaree’, ‘Guineacor’, ‘Bullio’, ‘Kooringa’ and ‘Miranda’ caves. The first three are the names of local rivers and Bullio is a nearby locality. ‘Kooringa’ is a word of undocumented origin that could be a local placename. ‘Miranda’ is named after Burra Burra clan leader Murrandah (c.1788–1849).
Facilities.
The area was protected as a reserve in 1865. The main site includes several camping grounds, a kiosk, a public phone, a kitchen, and other public facilities. A ranger station is also positioned near the camping site; the rangers serve to collect camping fees from visitors, prevent unsafe human-wildlife association, protect local flora and fauna, and investigate any queries or complaints.
Sites in the area.
Caves found in this reserve include the Victoria Arch, one of the most popular due to its proximity to the camping grounds, and Fig Tree Cave, shown in the adjacent picture. Other caves include Junction, Wollondilly, Mulwaree and Kooringa caves. Several NSW caving groups run regular trips to Wombeyan Caves, these are official caving groups that obtain permits for various cave related expeditions.
Other interesting sites are the creek, the waterfall and the various smaller caves found while traversing the extensive forest in the area.
Fauna.
The conservation area is a reserve for endangered species, such as several species of wallaby, bird, possum, and wombat. While strict rules are in place concerning human-wildlife interaction, local fauna are growing increasingly tame. Several species of birds, mainly magpies and Indian mynahs, often come into direct contact with people, sometimes less than a foot away, and demanding food while campers are eating. Also, the numerous kangaroo mobs are becoming increasingly trustful, and come within mere metres of campsites with no apparent trepidation. While this is much to the delight of human spectators, concerns are held for the long-term well-being of the local wildlife.


Santa Teresa National Park

Santa Teresa National Park is a seaside forested area in Rocha Department which is an important national park of Uruguay. It is operated by the National Army of Uruguay. It is located in the Atlantic coast southeast of Route 9 at the northeast side of Laguna Negra and just north of Punta del Diablo.
Within its limits are sandy beaches, a nature reserve hosting several species of animals, an extended camping area, a greenhouse with a wide variety of plants and the historic Fort of Santa Teresa. The area is supervised and maintained by the armed forces.
On the northwest side of the park, on Route 9, is a two kilometer emergency landing corridor for airplanes.
Beaches.
The beaches along the coast of the resort, from southwest to northeast are Playa de los Pesqueros, Playa del Barco, where there are also some houses that serve as resort of military personnel, Playa Achiras, Playa La Moza. Between the last two is a promontory on which there are cabins to rent. Directly to the northwest of the promontory is the Fort area.


Nissin Building

The Nissin Building () is a six-storey building on the Bund, Shanghai, China.
The building is located at Number 5, the Bund at the junction of the Bund and Guangdong Road). The site of the building is 1280 square metres, formerly used by a Japanese fire insurance company and had undergone numerous reselling between several British firms.
The building was initially planned by the Japanese shipping company Nisshin Kisen Kaisha Shipping Co. There was a lack of funding but a Jewish merchant agreed to pay half the costs of construction, and funded the construction of three of its stories. Construction of the building started in 1921 and it was completed in 1925. The architectural firm was Lester, Johnson and Morriss. It has a floor space of 5484 square metres. One of the earliest applicants for a space in the new building was a Japanese entrepreneur who wished to open a Turkish bath and restaurant in part of the basement. After the Second World War the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company took over the building. The building became owned by Shanghai Maritime Bureau shortly after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The bureau continued to use the building until the 1990s when it moved to an office tower Pudong and this building was leased to different firms, most notably the Bund branch of Huaxia Bank and a gate was added to the south.
The building's façade consists both Japanese and Western elements and is completely covered in granite. The décor is much simpler in the lower three stories than above, which features reliefs and granite columns.


Cohutta Wilderness

The Cohutta Wilderness was designated in 1975, expanded in 1986, and currently consists of . Approximately are located in Georgia in the Chattahoochee National Forest and approximately are located in Tennessee in the Cherokee National Forest. The Wilderness is managed by the United States Forest Service in Tennessee and is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
The Cohutta Wilderness is the largest wilderness in Georgia. With more than 60,000 visitors each year, it is also the largest, most heavily used wilderness in the Southern Appalachians. In May, 2006, the Forest Service announced new limits on the use of the Wilderness, explaining:
"Overuse from visitors is causing resource impacts that are threatening the very qualities that made this area worthy of wilderness designation. Changes in the management of the Cohutta are necessary to reverse this trend to preserve the wilderness environment and provide future generations with the enjoyment of a true wilderness experience".
Among the new regulations will be limits on the number of people allowed in a single group and on the use of camp fires.
The headwaters of the Conasauga River are located within the Wilderness, where the river starts as small cold stream from a spring at around and flows north toward Tennessee. The Benton MacKaye Trail traverses the Wilderness. The Cohutta Wilderness borders the Big Frog Wilderness which is also located in Georgia and Tennessee. The name Cohutta is derived from the Cherokee word "cohutta", which means "frog" or could mean "a shed roof supported on poles".
Rough Ridge fire.
The Rough Ridge wildfire began on October 16, 2016 with a lightning strike. Due to drought conditions the wildfire rapidly expanded to 27,870 acres. The fire management objectives were to allow the fire to burn naturally and provide for firefighter and public safety.


Isla Magdalena National Park

The Isla Magdalena national park (Spanish: " Parque Nacional Isla Magdalena ") is a protected area in Magdalena Island, Patagonia, Chile. It was created in 1967 as Forest Reserve and was reclassified as a National Park in 1983.
Puerto Gaviota in the south of the national park is considered particularly noteworthy. In addition to larger Atilio island in the north, there are a number of smaller islands in the national park.
The national park is characterized by a variety of sea-birds (including penguins and cormorants) and vegetation typical of the moderate-cold zone. The Isla Magdalena climate has an annual average temperature of and an annual precipitation of approximately per year.
The park can best reached by sea from the ports Puerto Cisnes or Puerto Puyuhuapi. On the island, no infrastructure exists.
The highest point of the park is Mentolat Volcano at .


Muni Ki Reti

Muni Ki Reti is a town and a municipal council in Tehri Garhwal district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It lies close to the pilgrimage town of Rishikesh and is known for its ashrams, including the Divine Life Society of Sivananda Saraswati.
History.
Literally meaning "Sand of the sages" (muni), Muni Ki Reti is traditionally considered the gateway for the Char Dham pilgrimage — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. It is also known as the place where King Bharata of "Ramayana" did penance.
In modern history, 'Kailash Ashram' was established here in 1880 by Dhanraj Giri. It was one of the first large ashrams to be established in Rishikesh. Before that it was mostly as a place for individual seekers or pilgrims to stop over on way to Char Dham temples pilgrimage.
Subsequently, Swami Atmananda founded Swargashram in 1908; Sivananda Ashram was established by Swami Sivananda in 1936. Gradually other ashrams came up and soon it became a popular destination for yoga and meditation practitioners and seekers of Vedantic knowledge. The town became a Nagar Panchayat on 30 November 1949 and elevated to Municipal Council in 2015. Over the years other ashrams have come up in the area — Gita Bhawan, Parmarth Niketan of Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Vanprastha Ashram — all on the opposite bank of the Ganges.
In February 1968 The Beatles visited the now-closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram. John Lennon recorded 'The Happy Hrishikesh Song' here. The Beatles composed nearly 48 songs during their time at the Maharishi's ashram, many of which appear on the "White Album". Several other artists, including Mike Love of The Beach Boys, Donovan and Gyp Mills, visited the site to contemplate and meditate.
For years boats were the only way to go across the Ganges where numerous ashrams lie, but in 1986, the building of a suspension bridge, Ram Jhula, similar to the Lakshman Jhula at Rishikesh, allowed easy access and rapid growth to the area.
Demographics.
According to the 2011 Census of India, Muni Ki Reti had a population of 10,620. Males constitute 63% of the population and females 37%. The town has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 63%. In Muni Ki Reti 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.


Balabalagan Islands

Balabalagan Islands (also spelled Bala Balakang and historically known as Little Paternoster Islands) are an archipelago and a subdistrict of Mamuju Regency located in the Makassar Strait off the east coast of Kalimantan (Borneo), halfway between it and Sulawesi, Indonesia. The archipelago is also located near the geographic center of Indonesia.
In the 19th century, the islands were recorded as numbering 14, with the largest named Sebunkatang; the channels were shallow and unnavigable, but provided a fertile fishing ground for the island natives, called Biajoo. The islands rest on a coral reef, itself placed on an undersea bank which extends out from Kalimantan, presenting a major hazard to navigation; the "Admiralty Pilot" has warned that "No vessel should venture among [them] without local knowledge."


Vitim Nature Reserve

Vitim Nature Reserve () (also Vitimsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) in the mountains 400 km northeast of Lake Baikal in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. It covers the upper reaches of the Vitim River, a left tributary of the Lena River. The reserve protects a wide variety high-altitude, continental climate flora and fauna complexes: larch taiga, cedar thickets, mountain tundra, and sub-alpine meadows of the Kodar Mountains. The reserve is located in the southeast of the Bodaybinsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, 150 km east of the regional city of Bodaybo. It was formally established in 1982, and covers .
Topography.
The Vitim Reserve is in rugged mountain terrain with deep river valleys. It ascends from Lake Oron in the west to the top of the Kodar Mountain ridge in the south and east of the reserve. The Vitim River runs along the western border of the reserve.
Climate and Ecoregion.
Vitim is located in the "East Siberian taiga" ecoregion. This ecoregion is located between the Yenisei River and Lena River. Its northern border reaches the Arctic Circle, and its southern border reaches 52°N latitude. The dominant vegetation is light coniferous taiga with Larix gmelinii forming the canopy in areas with low snow cover. This ecoregion is rich in minerals.
The climate of Vitim is "Subarctic climate, dry winter" (Köppen climate classification Subartic climate(Dwc)). This climate is characterized by mild summers (only 1–3 months above ) and cold winters having monthly precipitation less than one-tenth of the wettest summer month. Because reserve is in a temperate zone far from the oceans and with mountain terrain, it experiences sharply continental climate. Winter averages 7 months, beginning in October and running through April.
Flora and fauna.
The plant life of the reserve is highly dependent on altitude. From the river valley floors to about is a forest zone of primarily larch trees (Larix gmelinii) and some Scots pine on sandy soils. Forest makes up about 12% of the Vitim Reserve. Above the forest zone from 1200 meters to 1500 meters is a belt of shrub with some birch and cedar; the underbrush is typically golden rhododendron (Kashkarov), currant and willow. This zone makes up about 33% of the reserve. Above this is a sub-alpine zone of tundra and alpine meadow. Here there are dwarf birches, moss, and grasses. Above is a bald mountain zone above which the only plant life is a few types of lichen. Scientists on the reserve have recorded 1,085 species of vascular plants.
Mammals of the Vitim region include reindeer, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, brown bear, sable; 46 species of mammals have been recorded in the boundaries. About 234 species of birds have been recorded, of which 140 are nesting on the site. Typical birds include Wood grouse (Western capercaillie). Also recorded are 23 species of fish and 4 species of amphibians.
Ecoeducation and access.
As a strict nature reserve, the Vitim Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with park management for visits. There are several 'ecotourist' routes in the reserve, however, that are open to the public. These require permits to be obtained in advance. The main office is in the city of Bodayo.


Komsomolsk Nature Reserve

Komsomolsk Nature Reserve () (also Komsomolsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict ecological reserve), encompassing the confluence of the Gorin River and the Amur River in the Russian Far East. The reserve protects a meeting zone of multiple ecoregions in the lower Amur, including the northernmost reach of Manchurian taiga. It is located about 50 km downstream (east) of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in the Komsomolsky District of Khabarovsk Krai. The reserve was created in 1963, and covers an area of .
Topography.
The Komsomolsk Reserve is located at a narrow passage of the Amur River where is passes through the Sikhote-Alin mountains to the east, and the Lower Amur mountains to the west. Upstream are the floodplains of the lower Amur River valley, and downstream is the Amur delta leading into the Sea of Okhotsk. The territory covers the delta of the Gorin River, which is a left tributary of the Amur, entering from the west.
The Gorin River bisects the reserve down the middle, running roughly southeasterly. The river is 1.5–2 km wide at the northern edge of the reserve, 4–5 km wide at the mouth where it enters the Amur. The confluence features extensive terraced floodplains and river islands. The reserve is approximately rectangular, measuring 20 km north-south, and 30 km west-east. The highest point in the territory is Mt. Chokkety at 800 meters. The main ridge north of the Gorin runs parallel to the river for about 25 km with an average grade of 14 degrees.
Climate and ecoregion.
Komsomolsk is located in the "Okhotsk-Manchurian taiga" ecoregion. This ecoregion is the southernmost taiga in Eurasia. At low elevations the forests are mostly light-needle taiga such as larch; at higher elevations pine and fir.
The climate of Komsomolsk is "Humid continental climate, cool summer" (Köppen climate classification "(Dwb)"). This climate is characterized by high variation in temperature, both daily and seasonally; with dry winters and cool summers. Average temperatures range from -25 C in January to +20 C in July. The wind blows from the east (sea to land) during the warm period, bringing 80-90% of the precipitation, and blows west to east (from Siberia towards the sea) during the cold season.
Flora and fauna.
80% of the terrain is forested. In the lower levels of the Gorin River, the forests are mostly cedar-broadleaf, while spruce and larch dominate more to the north. The vegetation communities meeting in Komsomolsky show representation of the three floristic complexes. From the south, the Manchu (Amur) complex finds more heat-loving plants left over from the pre-glaciation period. The Bering Sea complex from the northeast features Ayan spruce and fir. The East Siberian complex to the north features larch, rosemary and sedge. Fighting forest fires is a major concern of reserve management.
Located on an important migratory route for birds and waterfowl, the reserve has recorded 233 species of birds. The aquatic life is also rich with 50 species of fish, 24 of which are endemic to the Amur. (The reserve includes a 100-meter strip of the Amur River).
Ecotourism.
As a strict nature reserve, the Komsomolsk Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with park management for visits. Visits by the public requires permission that must be obtained in advance. The main office is in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.


Venkata (hill)

The Venkata hill (853 m) is part of the Seshachalam Hills, located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Also known as Venkatadri or Venkatachalam, it is one of the seven peaks of the Tirumala Hill located in the temple town of Tirumala. The popular Tirumala Venkateswara Temple is located on this hill. It is dedicated to the Hindu god Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu, also known as Tirupati or Balaji.


Yading

Nyidên (Tibetan), or Yading (Mandarin transcription 亚丁), is a national level reserve in Daocheng County, in the southwest of Sichuan Province, China. It is a mountain sanctuary and major Tibetan pilgrimage site comprising three peaks sanctified by the 5th Dalai Lama. The peaks are seen as emanations of the three boddhisatvas Chenrezig, Jampayang and Chanadorje, with Chenrezig being the highest peak at 6032 meters above sea level. It is served by Daocheng Yading Airport.


Iguatemi S.A.

Iguatemi is the third largest Brazilian firm working within the fields of creation, planning, development, and administration of shopping centers after BR Malls and Multiplan.
Iguatemi has shareholdings in 16 shopping malls, 1 premium outlet and 3 office towers that account for 657.000 m² of gross leasable area (GLA). Such space is used by 3.004 stores that welcome approximately 10 million customers per month.
The firm is controlled by Grupo Jereissati in the businesses of shopping centers and outlets.
History.
In May 1979 Iguatemi Empresa de Shopping Centers SA was established. In the same year, Iguatemi purchased the construction firm Construtora Alfredo Matias SA, one of the owners of Iguatemi São Paulo, Brazil's oldest mall.
In May 1980, the company Iguatemi opened the shopping mall Iguatemi Campinas in the countryside of São Paulo. Three years later, in 1983, the firm opened Iguatemi Porto Alegre.
Iguatemi's expansion had a boost in the 1990s with the openings of the shopping centers Praia de Belas in 1991; Shopping Market Place in São Paulo in 1995, which represents the firm's second mall in São Paulo; Iguatemi Rio in 1996, the firm's first mall in Rio de Janeiro which was sold to Ancar Ivanhoé in 2012; Iguatemi Caxias do Sul in 1996, the firm's third enterprise in the state of Rio Grande do Sul; and finally Iguatemi São Carlos in 1997. Iguatemi Florianópolis was opened in 2007, the same year in which the firm held its IPOat Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA). In the following years, the firm opened Iguatemi Alphaville (2011), JK Iguatemi (2012), Iguatemi Ribeirão Preto (2013), Iguatemi Esplanada (2013), and Iguatemi Rio Preto (2014). JK Iguatemi, opened in June 2012, was a partnership of Iguatemi Empresa de Shopping Centers and WTorre Empreendimentos Imobiliários JK Iguatemi welcomed the first stores of GAP, Miu Miu, Hermès and Sephora in Brazil. In March 2014, WTorre sold its sharehold in the enterprise to Iguatemi Empresa de Shopping Centers and Fundo TIAA-CREF. Nowadays, Iguatemi holds 64% of JK Iguatemi and Fundo TIAA-CRE 36% of it.
In 2013, Iguatemi started its operations in the business of premium outlets by purchasing 41% of Platinum Outlet in Novo Hamburgo. Furthermore, the company announced the construction of two outlets, the first one in Nova Lima (MG) and the second one in Tijucas (SC). Also in 2013, Iguatemi became responsible for the administration of the shopping center Pátio Higienópolis in the city of São Paulo. In 2014, Iguatemi was elected for the seventh time in a row one of Brazil's most valuable brands. The study was conducted by Brand Analytics and Iguatemi was selected as the 22nd most valuable Brazilian brand.