ANTARTICA

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, underlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) in thickness.
Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.[2] Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland.[3] There are no permanent human residents but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, seals, nematodes, Tardigrades, mites, many types of algae and other microorganisms, and tundra vegetation.
Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ("Southern Land") date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. The continent, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation. The first formal use of the name "Antarctica" as a continental name in the 1890s is attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew. The name Antarctica is the romanized version of the Greek compound word ανταρκτική (antarktiké), feminine of ανταρκτικός (antarktikos),[4] meaning "opposite to the north".[5]
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by twelve countries; to date, forty-six countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, supports scientific research, and protects the continent's ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists of many nationalities and with various research interests.[1]

Autobiography of a street dog

In a winter night , i was born along with my three brothers near a dustbin in a street corner. It was an uncelebrated birth of a dirty puppy , black in colour a tinylump o bone and flesh ,ugly to look at.

Four of us created a funny noise around , awaking men and women in the adjoining slums, who cursed us for causing undesirable disturbance in thier sleep. Iwas the smallest of all the four , and the weakest ,too.My strongdrank my mother's milkmore than myself ,accordingto Darwin's Theory of 'survival of the fittest' . So when I grew up ,I became smaller and weaker than the others. Whenever some scraps of food were thrown by some one in the dustbin , I was the last fellow to have a meagre share of it.

My days passed in this way .i felt that I am an un fortunate child . I left my near and dear ones , and went with a new friend to live in front of the hotel , where th left-over were sufficient for us two . I was fond of following my good friend , whereveer he went .If he moved his tail in joy, I would move my tail , too.

All went well , untill one morning i saw a pet dog who climbed the lap of a beautiful lady , being caressed by her . I am sure that the little white furry thing must have been looked after well and fed well . It was not required to fight with the street dogs for its survival . How fortunate it is ! Ah , if i could be a pet to some one who cared for me , perhaps i would not look so ugly , so untidy and so unfortunate , as i am today.