India rules the pulses-and-beans market

Pulses and beans, belonging to the legume family, are responsible for feeding majority of the world’s poor. Grown abundantly in the tropics, they are cheap, high in nutrient content, and healthy. Beans are an important source of proteins, complex carbohydrates, and micronutrients. People in sub-Saharan Africa consume as much as 66 kilograms of pulses per person per year. Legumes are also necessary to sustain farming systems. They help in replenishing lost nutrients in the soil, thus cutting down on the need to use chemical fertilizers. In addition, they provide rich fodder for farm animals.

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The giant and majestic Pacific Ocean

Covering an area of approximately 16,62,43,550 square kilometers, the Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world. It occupies about one-third of the earth’s surface, and can fit all the continents of the world taken together. The basin of the ocean is also the oldest of all ocean basins; some of the earliest rocks present here are as old as 200 million years.

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How much Indian currency can one carry out of India?

The Reserve Bank of India, on June 19, 2014, declared that residents and non-residents, except individuals from Pakistan and Bangladesh, would be allowed to carry up to Rs 25,000 when exiting the country. This was a major shift from the earlier limit of Rs 10,000 that was allowed only to residents of India. In 2013, the RBI had issued a directive that prohibited non-resident Indians (NRIs) and foreign nationals from carrying any amount of Indian currency out of the country.

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Usain Bolt: The man with lightning speed

Usain Bolt, the only person who holds a ‘triple treble’ Olympic record, is currently the fastest man alive. The Jamaican sprinter is the first person to hold the 100 meters and 200 meters world records. His popularity worldwide soared with his victory at the two individual sprint events in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bolt won 9 Olympic medals at three consecutive Olympics – Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. He won these in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meters relay events.

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A circle and its sides

Mathematics defines a circle as a round plane figure whose boundary comprises of points at equal distance from a fixed point. Its boundary makes its circumference and the fixed point is the centre. There have been arguments that a circle is actually a polygon consisting of infinite number of sides. Geometrically, a polygon is a closed plane figure having three or more sides that are all straight. A polygon will therefore definitely have ‘corners’. From this perspective, a circle cannot be a polygon as it has no identifiable corners.

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