ContentsEditor's Note

Dear Friends,

As the last month of the year, let us look at

ways to ring in the New Year! Let us, for

s t a r t e r s commence w i th ce r t a in

commitments to ourselves and our

environment. Why wait for the New Year to

take new resolutions? Let us look at what we

can do, whether it is good for the

environment and the society, and if so, why

wait to do good? Let us start now! We have

all been reading about global warming, 3Rs,

and other crucial things. So, let us make a

pledge to start small, from our end, like

switching off unwanted lights and fans,

limiting our television viewing time, trying to

spend more time in the open air…. What

else can you think of from your end to add to

this? Please share your thoughts!

For the first time in India, on the Brigade

Road in Bengaluru, 20 per cent of the

automated paid parking facility has been

reserved for women. It makes it easy for

women to park and to reach their

destinations more safely, instead of parking

in far-off stretches and walk.

The cyclone Ockhi has left large-scale

damage and devastation in its wake.

However, of significant mention is the quick

turn-around of the administration to help

restore normalcy as early as possible.

Another event of mention is the return of the

Miss World crown to India after 17-years.

Manushi Chhillar of India brought fame and

pride to India by returning the crown to the

country, thereby equaling the record of

Venezuela for the maximum number of

crowns won over the years.

Hoping that the New Year brings in brighter

beginnings, and Wishing you all a Very

Happy New Year from team The Children!

Keep reading!

With warm regards,

Anand G

Editor

pg - 3

05 Do It Yourself

06 The Open Page

10 Sports – International

20 Sports and Its History

22 History of English

24 Human History

26 Current Affairs – International

27 The Universe

33 Health Food

34 Science and Technology

38 Current Affairs – International

39 Birbal Caught the Thief

40 Health Tips

41 Thirukkural

43 Current Affairs – International

44 Culture of India

46 Mapping India

48 Environment

52 Know Your City

56 Sports – International

57 Indian Independence Movement

60 Current Affairs – National

61 A Crow and His Three Friends

64 Nobel

67 Olympic Games

71 Dance Forms

73 Sports – International

74 History of Indian Music

77 The King and The Foolish Monkey

78 Travel and Leisure

82 International Sporting Events

05The topic for this month’s Do it Yourself is creating useful items from waste

at home. Invariably all household have water and juice cans at home that

are thrown away creating a larger problem of non-biodegradable

waste that the world is grappling with to handle.

However, let us give vent to our creativity and create

lovely flower vases or potted plant ideas with these

water and juice cans.

We request our young readers to give wings to their creativity and

come up with some innovative ideas. Create some exotic pieces and

send us pictures of your creation along with your name, class,

school, to childrenmagazine17@gmail.com

We look forward to a lot of innovative ideas and fresh thought process!

This activity is only for our subscribers.

We call for student reporters to make a yearly contribution of

maximum 3 pages per individual. For every issue, five student

reporters will be given an opportunity to contribute content.

Students, whose content have been selected for printing, will be

paid a stipend.Students can contribute on any of the following

topics:

Interesting facts

World around them

Art work

Poems or stories written by them

Any book reviews

Reportage of school events / cultural

events

Puzzles and crosswords of their own

creation

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

Do It Yourself

Q: What are the key components of Constitution of

India that you would like the children to know

about?

Shri T S Krishnamurthy: The Constitution of India is a

document that establishes the political values, the

powers of Government, and the rights of the citizens

of the country. It is the Supreme Law of India and is

used by the Prime Minister, his cabinet of ministers,

and the courts to govern the

country.

Before India came under the British

Rule, it was a collection of princely

states, each of which had their own

law based on separate religion,

philosophy, and even ideas about

beauty and art. When the British

came to power, they ruled colonial

India with a set of rules and

structure of government that was

similar to their own.

The leaders of Independent India

realised that this new code would

need to take into consideration the diversity of the

land. They used the existing British model of

government to set up a new framework that catered to

the needs of the various communities of India.

Q: Can you throw some light on the framing of the

Constitution of India?

Shri T S Krishnamurthy: The task of framing the

Constitution fell upon Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.

Although modeled on the British Constitution, it is

designed to suit the needs of a developing nation with

a much larger population and minorities within it. All

this was taken into account when framing the new

Constitution.

There was a vision for the citizens of free India, an idea

or plan for what values the new nation would be built

on. This is brought out in the preamble, the

introduction to the Constitution, so to speak.

The first line of the Constitution

states:

“We, the people of India, having

solemnly resolved to constitute

India into a sovereign socialist

secular democratic republic and to

secure to all its citizens:

Justice, social, economic, and

political;Liberty, of thought, expression,

belief, faith, and worship;

Equa l i ty o f s ta tus and o f

opportunity;

And to promote among them allFraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and

the unity and integrity of the nation;

In our constituent assembly this twenty-sixth day of

November, 1949, do herebyAdopt, enact, and give to ourselves this constitution.”

06

Shri T S KrishnamurthyFormer Chief Election Commissioner, Government of India

An exclusive interview with the editor, G Anand

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar

Q: How was your University days?

Shri Kiran Kumar: Up to pre-University, I studied in

Hassan. After that, I moved to a premier institution in

Bangalore called National College, where I also had

the opportunity to actually interact with a very

significant personality, Mr. H. Narasimhayya, who

was the Principal of the college, and a physics

professor. As a rationalist, he used to conduct

programmes where there will be

intense debates between Sai Baba’s

magic, like bringing out few things.

Abraham Coore trying to rationalise

a n d e x p l a i n . We h a d a n

opportunity to see at close

quarters, a person of that type.

I did Physics Honours in National

College. This course gave us intense exposure to

basic physics from relativity to quantum mechanics.

After that, I did my Master’s in Technology (M.Tech) in

Physical Engineering. That was a unique course, in

the sense, that it was an inter-disciplinary course that

bridged the gap between scientists and engineers.

So, people could enter either from science stream or

from engineering stream. Those who come from

science stream undergo core engineering topics

while those who come from engineering undergo

core science topics. Through this one gets exposure

to nuclear engineering, vacuum engineering in solid

state physics.

Even the project I did was a very

interesting one. Medical x-ray

films, which are taken by doctors,

some of the x-ray quality will not be

good due to poor exposure and all

that. Now, there was a dilapidated

lathe which was there, which was

converted into a drum scanner. Today,

if you want to make a copy, you take your

mobile phone and do it. But, in those days,

there was no Xerox, there was no copying machine.

So, you have to start making it on a turned lathe, you

pass light through the film, and then, based on that,

convert it into an electrical signal, and in an electrical

domain you do filtering, processing, and then write

back into another film. This way you are avoiding the

exposure of the patient to another dosage of x-ray,

thereby helping them.

07

Shri Kiran Kumar,Chairman, ISRO

An exclusive interview with the editor, G Anand

Women blink twice

as much as men

Your brain uses up about

20% of all your body's

oxygen and calories

Your teeth start growing

6 months before

you are born

Babies can only see

black and white

when they are born

Match 1:

England versus Argentina:

England won 21-8

It was not the best display of game

by England, however, a much

poorer Argentina ensured no

threat to England until the final 10

minutes.

Match 2:

Ireland versus South Africa:

Ireland won 38-3

With South Africa in the reckoning,

Ireland turns a negative into a

positive with some really nice

display of rugby. This is Ireland’s

biggest ever win over South

Africa. Ireland scored four tries at

the Aviva Stadium in the opening

match of the Guinness Series.

Rugby Union

Sports – International

Match 5:

England versus Aust ra l ia :

England won 30-6

England had a fifth successful run

against Australia.

Match 6:

Ireland versus Fiji: Ireland won 23-

20

First half tries laid the foundation

for Ireland’s 23-20 win over Fiji at

the Aviva Stadium.

Match 7:

Scotland versus New Zealand:

New Zealand won 22-17

Scotland fell short of pulling off a

great result. New Zealand finished

the final 20 minutes with 14 men,

Match 3:

Scotland versus Samoa: Scotland

won 44-38

Samoa put up a stiff second half

fight back. At 32-10, Scotland was

more than three tries ahead. The

match should have been over

without a contest. However, the

forwards of Samoa put up a very

good fight in the second half.

Scotland survived their inaugural

match.

Match 4:

Wales versus Australia: Australia

won 29-21

Played at the Principality Stadium,

Wales suffers 13th successive

defeat against Australia.

Sports – International

New Zealand toured India, and as part of the series, India and New

Zealand engaged in three Twenty20 Internationals.

The first Twenty20 International was played on 1 November 2017 at

the Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. India won the match by 53 runs.

India 202/3: Shikhar Dhawan 80 (52), Rohit Sharma 80 (55), Ish

Sodhi 4-0-25-2, Trent Boult 4-0-49-1

New Zealand 149/8: Tom Latham 39 (36), Kane Williamson 28

(24), Axar Patel 4-0-20-2, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-26-2

The second Twenty20 International was played on 4 November

2017 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. New

Zealand won the match by 40 runs.

New Zealand 196/2: Colin Munro 109 (58) not out, Martin Guptill

45 (41), Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-36-1, Mohammed Siraj 4-0-53-1

India 156/7: Virat Kohli 65 (42), MS Dhoni 49 (37), Trent Boult 4-0-

34-4, Ish Sodhi 4-0-25-1

The third Twenty20 International was played on 7 November 2017

at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.

India won the match by 6 runs.

India 67/5: Manish Pandey 17 (11), Hardik Pandya 14 (10) not out,

Tim Southee 2-0-13-2, Ish Sodhi 2-0-23-2

New Zealand 61/6: Colin de Grandhomme 17 (10) not out, Glenn

Phillips 11 (9), Jasprit Bumrah 2-0-9-2, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-0-

18-1, Kuldeep Yadav 1-0-10-1

India versus New Zealand Twenty20 Internationals

desperately wobbling against the

ropes, but Scotland could not apply the

knockout blow.

Match 8:

Wales versus Georgia: Wales won 13-6

The experimental Wales team beat a

determined Georgia at the Principality

Stadium in the very first encounter of the

two sides.

Match 9:

England versus Samoa: England won

48-14

England finished the autumn series with

a flourish, scoring seven tries against

Samoa in a 48-14 v ic tory a t

Twickenham.

Match 10:

Ireland versus Argentina: Ireland won

28-19

Ireland completed the autumn series

clean sweep with a hard fought 28-19

victory over Argentina at the Aviva

Stadium.

Match 11:

Scotland versus Australia: Scotland

won 53-24

Scotland won two out of three matches

in the 2017 autumn series. The first

victory was against Samoa. The second

was against the 14-men Australian team

at BT Murrayfield.

Match 12:

Wales versus New Zealand: New

Zealand won 33-18

A brace of tries from its wingers helped

New Zealand to a 33-18 victory over

Wales at the Principality Stadium.

Falcons can swoop at over 200 mph.

Sri Lanka toured India and as part

of the tour, engaged in a 3-match

Test series with India.

The First Test was played from 16 –

20 November 2017 at Eden

Gardens, Kolkata. The match was

a draw.

India First Innings 172 all out: CA

Pujara 52 (182), WP Saha 29

(128), RAS Lakmal 19-12-26-4,

MDK Perera 7-1-19-2

Sri Lanka First Innings 294 all out:

HMRKB Herath 67 (126), AD

Mathews 52 (147), B Kumar 27-5-

88-4, Mohammed Shami 26.3-5-

100-4

India Second Innings 352/8

India versus Sri Lanka

Test Series

The 2017-18 Ashes Series is an

ongoing series of Test cricket

matches being played between

England and Australia for The

Ashes. The Series is being played

at five venues across Australia

between 23 November 2017 and 8

January 2018.

In the First Test played from 23 to

27 November 2017 at The Gabba,

Brisbane, Australia won the match

by 10 wickets.

England won the toss and elected

to bat first. Due to rain and bad

declared: Virat Kohli 104 (208) not

out, S Dhawan 94 (175), MD

Shanaka 22-1-76-3, RAS Lakmal

24.4-4-93-3

Sri Lanka Second Innings 75/7: N

Dickwella 27 (60), LD Chandimal

20 (61), B Kumar 11-8-8-4,

Mohammed Shami 9.3-4-34-2

The Second Test was played from

24 – 27 November 2017 at

Vidarbha Cricket Association

Stadium, Nagpur. India won the

match by an innings and 239 runs.

Sri Lanka First Innings 205 all out:

LD Chandimal 57 (156), FDM

Karunaratne 51 (211), R Ashwin

28.1-7-67-4, I Sharma 14-3-37-3,

RA Jadeja 21-4-56-3

light 9.3 overs were lost on day

one.

England First Innings 302 all out:

JM Vince 83 (239), DJ Malan 56

(186), MA Starc 28-4-77-3, PJ

Cummins 30-8-85-3

Australia First Innings 328 all out:

SPD Smith 141 (512) not out, SE

Marsh 51 (169), SCJ Broad 25-10-

49-3, JM Anderson 29-10-50-2

England Second Innings 195 all

out: JE Root 51 (159), JM Baristow

42 (126), NM Lyon 24-4-67-3, JR

Hazlewood 16-3-46-3, MA Starc

16-1-51-3

Australia Second Innings 173 no

loss: DA Warner 87 (209) not out,

CT Bancroft 82 (210) not out, SCJ

Broad 10-2-20-0

India First Innings 610/6 declared:

Virat Kohli 213 (386), CA Pujara

143 (501), M Vijay 128 (313), RG

Sharma 102 (91) not out, MDK

Perera 45-2-202-3, HMRKB

Herath 39-11-81-1

Sri Lanka Second Innings 166 all

out: LD Chandimal 61 (111), RAS

Lakmal 31 (52) not out, R Ashwin

17.3-4-63-4, RA Jadeja 11-5-28-2

Sports – International

14

Peanuts aren’t nuts, they are legumes.

Ashes Series

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

was a Formula One motor race

held on 26 November 2017 at the

Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi,

United Arab Emirates. It was

formerly called the 2017 Formula 1

Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand

Prix.

The race was the final round of the

2017 season and marked the

ninth running of the Abu Dhabi

Grand Prix and the ninth time that

the race has been run as a World

Championship event since the

inaugural season in 1950.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas

controlled the pace throughout

the race to win from pole position.

Lewis Hamilton finished in close

second place, with Sebastian

Vettel finishing third. Daniel

Ricciardo’s Red Bull retired due to

mechanical failure, which was

significant in facilitating fourth

place for Kimi Raikkonen in the

Driver’s Championship.

Valtteri Bottas

Sports – International

Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12

November 2017 at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in the Interlagos

neighbourhood of Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was formerly called the Formula 1

Grande Premio Heineken do Brasil 2017.

The race was the penultimate round of the 2017 season and marked the

forty-sixth running of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the forty-fifth time that the

race had been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural

session in 1950, and the thirty-fourth World Championship event to be

held at Interlagos.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas started from pole position with Ferrari’s

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen behind, after World Champion

Lewis Hamilton crashed out of qualifying early and started from the pit

lane. Vettel overtook Bottas on the first corner, after which he set the pace

through most of the race.

Vettel won the Grand Prix, followed by Bottas, and Raikkonen. Hamilton,

eventually, climbed to fourth, closing to less than one second of a

podium finish.

16

Vettel

The eighth-wicket stand of Graeme Cremer and Regis

Chakabva dashed the hopes of a 2-0 victory for West Indies.

This stand ensured that the match was brought to a close with

both captains settling for a draw at the start of the mandatory

overs. With this draw, West Indies wins the series 1-0.

Raza, who also scored 80 in the first innings, became the

second player in history after Jacques Kallis to pass 80 twice

and take five wickets in a Test, was named Man of the Match.

Devendra Bishoo, with 13 wickets across two Tests, was

named Man of the Series.

Sports – International

16

Zimbabwe versus West IndiesSecond Test

Zimbabwe, First Innings, 326 all out: H Masakadza 147 (363),

Sikandar Raza 80 (184), KAJ Roach 18.1-5-44-3, ST Gabriel

22-4-64-2, D Bishoo 25-2-82-2

West Indies, First Innings, 448 all out: JO Holder 110 (281),

SO Dowrich 103 (286), Sikandar Raza 48-12-99-5, TS Chisoro

41.2-9-113-3

Zimbabwe, Second Innings, 301/7: Sikandar Raza 89 (300),

RW Chakabva 71 (224) not out, ST Gabriel 21-7-34-2, KAJ

Roach 22-10-37-2, D Bishoo 34-7-74-2

Knowledge: (noun) / nol-ij

Acquaintance with facts, truths,

or principles, as from study or

Investigation;

A knowledge of accounting is

necessary for this job.

Cover: (verb) / kuhv-er

To place something over or upon,

as for protection,concealment, or

warmth:

Cover the pot with the lid.

Array: (verb or noun) / uh-rey

Verb: to place in proper or

desired order; marshal;

Noun: dress

Napoleon arrayed his troops for

battle.

He arrived at the party in fine array.

Ring: (noun or verb) / ring

Noun: a typically circular band of

metal or other durable material,

especially one of gold or other

precious metal, often set with

gems, for wearingon the finger as

an ornament, a token of betrothal

or marriage, etc.

Verb: to welcome or bring in

The bride and the groom exchanged

rings, and had a grand wedding.

Roopini had organised a grand party

to ring in the New Year.

Mood: (noun) / mood

A state or quality of feeling at a

particular time

I am not in the mood to see a movie.

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

DICTIONARY

13

In Europe, early footballs were

made of animal bladders, in

particular, pig's bladders, which

were inflated. Later leather

coverings were introduced to allow

the balls to keep their shape.

However, in 1851, Richard Lindon

and W i l l i am G i lbe r t , bo th

shoemakers from the town of

Rugby (near the school), exhibited

round and oval-shaped balls at the

Great Exhibition in London.

Richard Lindon's wife is said to

have died of lung disease caused by blowing up pig's

bladders. Lindon also won medals for the invention of

the 'Rubber inflatable Bladder' and the 'Brass Hand

Pump'.

Richard Lindon

In 1855, the US inventor

Charles Goodyear – who had

patented vulcanised rubber –

exhibited a spherical football,

with an exterior of vulcanised

rubber panels, at the Paris Exhibition Universelle. The

ball was to prove popular in early forms of football in

the USA.

Charles Goodyear

The iconic ball with a regular

p a t t e r n o f h e x a g o n s a n d

pentagons did not become

popular until the 1960s, and was

first used in the World Cup in 1970.

The earliest reference to a game of football involving

players passing the ball and attempting to score past

a goalkeeper was written in 1633 by David

Wedderburn, a poet and teacher in Aberdeen,

Scotland. Nevertheless, the original text does not

state whether the allusion to passing as 'kick the ball

back' was in a forward or backward direction or

between members of the same opposing teams.

Modern Ball Passing Tactics

13

Scientific football is first recorded

in 1839 from Lancashire and in the

modern game in Rugby football

from 1862 and from Sheffield FC

as early as 1865. The first side to

play a passing combination game

was the Royal Engineers FC in

1869 / 70. By 1869, they were

working well together, backing up,

and bene f i t t i ng f rom the

cooperation. By 1870, the

Engineers were passing the ball:

“Lieut. Creswell, who having

brought the ball up the side then

kicked it into the middle to another

of his side, who kicked it through

the posts the minute before time

was called.” Passing was a regular

feature of their style.

By early 1872, the Engineers,

were the first football team

renowned for playing beautifully

together. A double pass is first

reported from Derby school

against Nottingham Forest in

March 1872, the first of which is

irrefutably a short pass. The first

side to have perfected the modern

format ion was Cambr idge

University AFC and introduced the

2-3-5 pyramid formation.

Cambridge Rules

In 1848, at Cambridge University,

Mr. H de Winton and Mr. J C

Thring, who were both formerly at

Royal Engineers FC in 1869 / 70

Shrewsbury School, called a

meeting at Trinity College,

Cambr idge w i th 12 o ther

representat ives from Eton,

Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, and

Shrewsbury. An eight-hour

m e e t i n g p r o d u c e d w h a t

amounted to the first set of

modern rules, known as the

Cambridge rules. No copy of

these rules exist, but a revised

version from 1856 is held in the

library of Shrewsbury School. The

rules clearly favour the kicking

game. Handling was only allowed

when a player catches the ball

directly from the foot entitling

them to a free kick and there was a

primitive offside rule, disallowing

players from loitering around the

opponents' goal. The Cambridge

rules were not widely adopted

outside English public schools

By the late 1850s, many football

c l u b s h a d b e e n f o r m e d

throughout the English-speaking

world, to play various codes of

football. Sheffield Football Club,

founded in 1857 in the English city

of Sheffield by Nathaniel Creswick

and William Prest, was later

recognised as the world's oldest

club playing association football.

However, the club, initially, played

Sheffield Rules

its own code of football: the

Sheffield rules. The code was

largely independent of the public

school rules, the most significant

difference being the lack of an

offside rule.

The code was responsible for

many innovations that later

spread to association football.

These included free kicks, corner

kicks, handball, throw-ins, and the

crossbar. By the 1870s, they

became the dominant code in the

north and midlands of England. At

this time, a series of rule changes

by both the London and Sheffield

FAs gradual ly eroded the

differences between the two

games until the adoption of a

common code in 1877.

Sheffield Football Club

Australian Rules

There is archival evidence of

football games being played in

var ious parts of Austra l ia

throughout the first half of the 19th

century. The origins of an

organised game of football known

today as Australian rules football

can be traced back to 1858 in

Melbourne, the capital city of

Victoria.

13

In July 1858, Tom Wills, an

Australian-born cricketer

educated at Rugby School in

England, wrote a letter to Bell's

Life in Victoria & Sporting

Chronicle, calling for a football

club with a code of laws to

keep cricketers fit during

winter. This is considered by

historians to be a defining

moment in the creation of

Australian rules football.

T h r o u g h p u b l i c i t y a n d

personal contacts Wills was

able to coordinate football matches in Melbourne that

experimented with various rules, the first of which was

played on July 31, 1858. One week later, Wills

umpired a schoolboy's match between Melbourne

Grammar School and Scotch

College. Following these

matches, organised

football in Melbourne

rapidly increased in

popularity.

Wills and others involved in

these early matches formed

the Melbourne Football Club

( t h e o l d e s t s u r v i v i n g

Australian football club) on May

14, 1859. Club members Wills,

William Hammersley, J B Thompson, and Thomas H

Smith met with the intention of forming a set of rules

that would be widely adopted by other clubs. The

committee debated rules used in English public

school games, Wills pushed for various rugby

football rules he learnt during his schooling. The first

rules share similarities with these games, and were

shaped to suit Australian conditions. H C A Harrison,

a seminal figure in Australian football, recalled that his

cousin Wills wanted a game of our own. The code

was distinctive in the prevalence of the mark, free

kick, tackling, lack of an offside rule, and that players

were specifically penalised for throwing the ball.

The Melbourne football rules were widely distributed

and gradually adopted by the other Victorian clubs.

The rules were updated several times during the

1860s to accommodate the rules of other influential

Victorian football clubs. A significant redraft in 1866

by H C A Harrison's committee accommodated the

Geelong Football Club's rules, making the game then

known as Victorian Rules increasingly distinct from

other codes. It soon adapted cricket fields and an

oval ball, used specialised goal and behind posts,

and featured bouncing the ball while running, and

spectacular high marking. The game spread quickly

to other Australian colonies. Outside of its heatland in

southern Australia the code experienced a significant

period of decline following World War I but has since

grown throughout Australia and in

other parts of the world, and

the Australian Football

League emerged as the

dominant professional

competition.

Tom Wills H C A Harrison

Reindeers eat moss

because it contains a

chemical that stops their

body from freezing.