INTERESTING FACTS TO KNOW

Pliosaur- The Sea Monsters
The innermost secrets of a colossal “sea monster” skull are being revealed by one
of the UK’s most powerful CT scanners.
The X-rays are helping to build up a 3D picture of this ferocious predator, called a
pliosaur, which terrorized the oceans 150m years ago.
The 2.4m-long (7.9ft) fossil skull was recently unearthed along the UK’s Jurassic
coast, and is thought to belong to one of the biggest pliosaurs ever found.
The scans could establish if the giant is a species that is new to science.
Pliosaurs are aquatic reptiles belonging to the plesiosaur family. Paddle-like limbs
would have powered their huge bulky bodies through the water, and they had
enormous crocodile-like heads, packed full of razor-sharp teeth.
Pliosaurs were the top predators of the oceans
The skull, which was unearthed by a local fossil collector and then purchased by
Dorset Country Council using Heritage Lottery Funds, would have belonged to one
of the most fearsome beasts the seas have ever seen.
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility developed
internationally are currently located in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of
the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion in 2011, with
operations continuing at least until 2015. Just like the moon, the station can be
seen from Earth with the naked eye, this is the largest man-made orbiting ever in
history.
ISS serves as a long-term research in the laboratory, and is the site of daily
experiments in the fields, including biology, human biology, physics, astronomy
and meteorology, conducted in the microgravity environment. The station
provides a safe location for testing the efficient, reliable spacecraft systems that
will be needed for long-term missions to the Moon and Mars.
New Planet named Qatar-1b!!
Qatar astronomer Dr Khalid Al Subai has become instrumental in the discovery of
a new alien planet, working in collaboration with scientists from the UK and the
US. This hot Jupiter, now named Qatar-1b, adds to the growing list of alien
planets orbiting distant stars, or exoplanets.

Qatar-1b is a gas giant 20 percent larger than Jupiter in diameter and 10 percent
more massive. It belongs to the hot Jupiter family because it orbits 3.5 million km
from its star – only six stellar radii away. The planet roasts at a temperature of
around 1100 degrees Celsius.
Khalid, leader of the Qatar exoplanet survey and a research director at Qatar
Foundation teamed up with scientists from Universities of St Andrews, Leicester
and Keele in the UK and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA)
in the US to discover a new alien world.
Building on UK technology developed for the SuperWASP exoplanet survey, the St
Andrews and Leicester teams worked with Al Subai to establish the computer
systems used to process raw images from the Al Subai cameras, extracting and
sifting through data from hundreds of thousands of stars.
The team has submitted their results to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society.
The National Green Tribunal Act 2010
The Union Government is to set up a National Green Tribunal for effective and
expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection, conservation
of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right
relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages.
The World’s Biggest Bank
Paris-based BNP Paribas has become the world’s biggest bank, with assets rising
34 per cent in last three years, reaching $3.23 trillion.
Indian Oil Corporation regain its position as India’s biggest refiner
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has surpassed Reliance Industries to
regain its position as India’s biggest refiner. This was achieved after completion
of expansion of its Panipat refinery.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India’s largest company by sales with a turnover of
Rs. 271,074 crore and profit of Rs. 10,221 crore for the year 2009-10.
IndianOil is the highest ranked Indian company in the latest Fortune ‘Global 500’
listings, ranked at the 125th position. IndianOil’s vision is driven by a group of
dynamic leaders who have made it a name to reckon with.
IOC Distinctions
Indian Oil tops the Fortune India 500 Rankings
Indian Oil in top five in Business India’s Super 100
Indian Oil is India’s Biggest Company: ET 500
Indian Oil in Platts ‘Top 250 Global Energy Company’ Rankings
Indian Oil in top ten of BT 500 PSU rankings
Indian Oil: India’s largest PSU and Highest Revenue Earner in BW Real 500
rankings
Indian Oil: One of ‘India’s Most Valuable Brands 2010’