Kancheepuram is located on the Palar River in Tamil Nadu. It is also called the ‘city of a thousand temples’. Kancheepuram is famous for its silks too.
The silk weavers of Kancheepuram settled here more than 400 years ago, and silk weaving continues to be the main occupation of the people living here. In fact, the silks of Kancheevaram are reputed to be the country’s finest.
By 300 BC, Tamil Nadu was ruled by three major dynasties – the Cholas, the Pandyas, and the Cheras. This was the classical period of Tamil literature
– the Sangam Age – that continued until around AD 300.The Pallava dynasty rose to power in the 7th and 8th centuries. In the 13th century, with threats of Muslim invasions from the north, the southern Hindu dynasties came together to form the empire of Vijayanagar, which covered all of South India. However, by the 17th century, the Vijayanagar Empire broke up. In 1640, the British negotiated the use of Madraspatnam – now known as Chennai as a trading post. After independence, the Madras Presidency was disbanded, and Tamil Nadu was established as an autonomous state in 1956.
Kanchenjunga in the eastern Himalayas is situated on the border between Sikkim and eastern Nepal. It is the third highest mountain in the world, and 
soars to a height of 8586 metres. Its name is derived from four words of Tibetan origin that can be translated into the Sikkim language as ‘five treasuries of the great snow’.
Sikkim was inhabited in prehistoric times by three tribes. They were absorbed by a people known as the Lepcha, who entered Sikkim sometime later. 
The credit for organizing them into some sort of a society goes to a person called Turve Pa no. Buddhism, the major religion in the state, arrived from Tibet in the 13th century. It took its distinctive Sikkimese form four centuries later, when three Tibetan monks went to Gangtok looking for a certain person whom they crowned as the first Chogyal or ‘Righteous King’ of Denzong in 1642. Being the secular and religious head, he was soon recognized by Tibet, and brought sweeping reforms. After India’s independence, Sikkim became a protectorate of India. The role of India became increasingly crucial, with the Chinese military build-up along the northern borders that culminated in an actual invasion early in the 1960’s. The king, Palden Thondup Namgyal then gave in to the demands of his people, and Sikkim became the 22nd state of India in 1975.
The snakes are the only vertebrates which have efficiently overcome the handicap of absence of limbs making them survive with relatively long, slender body and a cosmopolitan habitat bestowed on them by nature. This achievement was basically by adapting different modes of locomotion fulfilling the need of the environment (terrestrial, water and arboreal) in which the animals lives.
The most common mode of progression which is generally employed by all species and is characteristic to them is the ‘serpentine type of locomotion’ better named as ‘undulatory motion’ in which the animal forms a zigzag track.
The basic necessity and attribute of this motion is some form of maximum provided by any projections or depressions on the substratum like rocks, branches, twigs, dust, sand or pebbles. This roughness in real sense resists the long, slender body to move on a straight line owing to which the body assumes a position of a series of s-shaped horizontal loops or curves.
Each loop or curve which faces some resistance in turn delivers an equal and opposite thrust against the resistance leading to the formation of a series of lateral or horizontal waves produced by a flow of muscular contraction and relaxation passing from head to tail, resulting in the , propulsion of the body in the forward direction.
This kind of a zigzag motion is undergone only when the surface is rough enough to offer maximum resistance. It is of no use when they move on a really smooth surface, where they are offered least resistance.
Fireflies are not really flies and glow worms are not really worms. Fireflies are soft bodied beetles in the family of Lampyridae and glow worms are actually young fireflies (larvae).
Although the luminescent molecule in many organisms is yet undetermined, in most organisms the light producing reaction is mediate by the action of a class of enzymes called luciferases on their substrate called luciferins.
Some organisms do not make use of luciferases but instead use calcium activated photo proteins in their bioluminescent reaction involves the oxidative decarboxylation of luciferins in the site of special cells called photocytes present on their lower abdomen segments to attract mates. It appears that male fireflies flashing patterns are mating signals and females seem to prefer the most rapidly flashing males.
Since glow worms do not mate, no one knows exactly why they glow. But glow worms are carnivorous and probably use the light to lure or locate its prey.
There are over 2000 species of fireflies inhabiting the tropical and temperate regions. Fireflies of the same species recognize each other by number of flashes used the frequency of flashes and colour of the light. Fireflies’ eggs are also reported to glow.
Ants are social insects. Many ant species go out of their nests in groups in search of food. Initially, a few worker ants, called scouts, go out of the nest in search of food. Once an abundant source of food is found to the nest, it presses its abdomen to the ground and at frequent intervals extrudes its sting, the tip of which is drawn lightly over the ground surface, much like a pen drawing a thin line.
As the sting touches the surface, a volatile chemical (trail pheromone), flows out of a gland (Dufour’s gland), associated with the sting. In this way the worker draws an invisible chemical line from the source of food to the nest. As soon as it returns to the nest, it contacts a couple of workers, antennates them and makes quick looping movements on the line for short distances. This excited movement attracts the attention of more workers and they start following the scout, which leads, initially, to the food. These workers return to the nest with more samples, and reinforce the chemical line while returning.
This results in recruitment of more and more workers and soon one will find a never ending line of ants moving up and down the line bringing back food. Since the chemical is highly volatile, the trait remains only for a short time. Hence, all the worker ants constantly draw the line over and over again.
The ancient history of Rajasthan dates back to 1200 AD, when it was a part of different dynasties including the glorious Mauryan Empire. It 
wasn’t until the mid-sixth century that the brave Rajputs, warriors par excellence, came to dominate the region. Rajasthan was divided into kingdoms, and the valiant Rajputs kept themselves busy with skirmishes amongst the neighbouring kingdoms, or else they faced the Turks, the mighty Sultans of Delhi’s last Sultanate, and later, the Great Mughals. It was around this time that Rajasthan came to be called as Rajputana. Rana Uday Singh, his son Rana Pratap, Bhappa Rawal, Rana Kumbha, and Prithviraj Chauhan were some of the most famous Rajput warriors of this time.Later, most of the regions came under Mughal rule, followed by the Marathas. However, between 1817 and 1818, almost all the princely states in the region entered into alliances with the British. On November 1st 1956, the state of present day Rajasthan came into existence.
Ants manage to float on water due to an interesting property, known as surface tension, of liquids. In any liquid, the constituent molecules are in constant motion. They slide over one another, maintaining some freedom of motion while exhibiting enough attractive force to hold the molecules close to each other. This enables the liquid to flow.
But the attractive forces in a column of liquid are not the same at all points. Molecules at the centre of the liquid are subjected to uniform forces all around. But a molecule at the surface is subjected to unbalanced forces. Strong attractive forces exerted by the molecules amongst themselves pull the liquid inwards. That means, the molecules at the surface feel an excessive force pulling inwards. The net result is that the liquid behaves as though it has an invisible elastic ‘skin’ which always tries to contract and decrease the surface area. This contractive force on the surface of the liquid is called surface tension.
Now let us come to the actual question: Ants are so light that their weight is not sufficient to overcome the surface tension and break the contracting forces. If the weight of an ant is, then it will break the elastic membrane and sink. Similar observations can be made by placing a greased needle on a blotting paper which in turn is placed on water. The blotting paper will absorb the water and sink. But the needle floats.
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