The Father of the Agricultural Revolution, M.S. Swaminathan passed away on 28 September 2023 in Chennai at the age of 98. Swaminathan was an agronomist, agricultural scientist, and plant geneticist who worked hard to make India not only self-sufficient but also an exporter in the field of agriculture. Expressing his grief, PM Narendra Modi said, “Deeply saddened by the demise of Dr. MS Swaminathan Ji. At a very critical period in our nation’s history, his groundbreaking work in agriculture transformed the lives of millions and ensured food security for our nation.” on his official Twitter handle. 

After attending a nearby high school, Swaminathan also attended the Catholic Little Flower High School in Kumbakonam, where he passed out at the age of 15. His extended family raised rice, mangoes, and coconuts as well as other crops like coffee, so he had early exposure to farming and farmers. He continued his study by majoring in zoology. However, he made the decision to dedicate his life to making sure India had adequate food after seeing the effects of the Bengal famine of 1943 during the Second World War and the shortages of rice across the subcontinent.

In 1949, Swaminathan began his professional career by studying the genetics of potatoes, wheat, rice, and jute. In the 1960s, when India was in danger of a widespread famine that would cause a lack of food grains, Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug, and other researchers created the high-yield wheat variety seeds. The change ushered in high-yielding seed varieties and related farming methods, replacing India’s traditional agriculture. India’s Green Revolution resulted from this, and Swaminathan is recognized as its father.

While many academics saw the Green Revolution as a boon for India’s agricultural production, some others held opposing views, pointing to the negative ecological effects of the resources used to grow high-yielding varieties of seeds with fertilizers and pesticides as well as the social unrest brought on by the green revolution’s widening socio-economic gap.

Swaminathan worked in many important positions at various research institutes as the DG of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the International Rice Research Institute, and in 1979 the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. Agriculture researcher has many prizes to his name for his work in the field of agriculture. Some of the major awards in his cabinet included the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1961 and the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 1986.

As the long weekend approaches, the traffic capital, Bengaluru witnessed a massive jam. Long queues of vehicles caused problems for people for hours. Along with the long weekend, the farmer groups-led Bengaluru bandh also was a major cause of this immense gridlock. The traffic suddenly increased between 5 pm and 8 pm on Wednesday, as people were leaving the city because of the long weekend, that commenced on 28th September. 

The gazetted holiday of Eid Milad-Un Nabi will be observed on the 28th. Due to demonstrators’ demands for a bandh in Karnataka over the Cauvery water conflict, the city will be closed on September 29 and then on Saturday and Sunday. A national holiday is observed on October 2, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth. In a statement, the Joint Commissioner of Traffic Police Bengaluru claimed that Wednesday evening’s traffic on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and other regions was unprecedented.

The traffic police agency claims that several causes contributed to the city’s traffic congestion in several areas. On Wednesday, there were two times as much traffic as usual. On Wednesdays, there are often 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh vehicles. But as of 7:30 p.m. on September 27, there were a staggering 3.5 lakh vehicles on the road. Additionally, heavy rains had flooded interior roadways, creating significant traffic congestion around the city. 

Amid all this mayhem, a touching incident of two Domino’s delivery boys bringing lunch to a group of commuters while they were stranded in their cars emerged. In the midst of the traffic, the delivery staff followed the customer’s real-time location to deliver the food. Rishivaths, an X user, posted a video of two Domino’s agents parking their two-wheeler just in front of his car on a congested road, approaching it, and handing off two boxes of food.

It has been 28 years since the World Cup started, but the world’s second-largest continent was still deprived of hosting it. After 7 World Cups, finally, the African continent got its opportunity and South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya were ready to host the 8th edition of the Cricket World Cup. This edition is famous for the beginning of the India-Australia rivalry, the excellent display of batting from master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, and the entry of Kenya in the semi-final, the only non-test playing team to play in the semi-final of the ODI World Cup.  

Another blow came two days later in the tournament when Shane Warne, then one of the game’s leading spinners, was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for a banned substance. Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar also set a world record by becoming the fastest bowler in cricket history, hitting a record top speed of 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph) in a match against England.

In continuation to our series “A Countdown to World Cup” today we are sharing the stories of the 2003 World Cup. 

World Cup of 2003

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 was the eighth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This World Cup was the first to take place in Africa. The tournament was eventually won by Australia, who won all 11 matches and defeated India in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. It was Australia’s third World Cup win, as the only team to achieve this milestone.

Format

14 teams participated in the tournament, which was the largest number in the history of the World Cup at the time, and a total of 54 matches were played. It followed the format introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup where teams were divided into two groups and the top three from each group advanced to the Super Sixes stage. Semi-finals were played between the top four teams of the Super Six. 

Super Six

Semi-finals

The first semi-final was played on a hard and slow pitch in Port Elizabeth. Australia won the toss and elected to bat, they struggled and just scored 212 runs in 50 overs, thanks to a brilliant innings from Andrew Symonds 91* off 118 balls. Australia’s fast attack then tore apart Sri Lanka’s top order as Brett Lee claimed three early wickets and Glenn McGrath took one. By the time the rain arrived in the 39th over, Australia continued tight bowling and had reduced Sri Lanka to 123 (7 wickets, 38.1 overs), well short of the Duckworth-Lewis target. This is the match where Adam Gilchrist famously ‘walked’ in a game of spirit despite not being declared out.

In the second semi-final, the fairytale got over for Kenya, the only non-test-playing nation ever to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar (101 off 83 balls, 5 fours and 1 six) and Sourav Ganguly (111 off 114 balls, 5 fours and 5 sixes) knocked the Kenyans out with India’s total of 270. Under the Durban lights, the Indian attack of Zaheer Khan (3/14 from 9.2 overs), the experienced Javagal Srinath (1/11 from 7 overs) and Ashish Nehra (2/11 from 5 overs) took Kenya to the bottom. Kenya was bowled out for 179 (all out, 46.2 balls) with only Steve Tikolo (56 from 83 balls, 5 fours and 2 sixes) putting up any significant resistance.

Finals

India won the toss and elected to field, hoping to exploit the pitch left by dew and rain. The Australian opener took advantage of very timid Indian bowlers to get off to a blistering start. Shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring in the Spinners unusually early. After the fall of two wickets Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn scored a record-breaking partnership of 234 runs and set a target of 359, the highest score of any team in the finals till now. 

In reply the Indian batting crumbled like a house of cards, World-best batsman Sachin Tendulkar was out in the very first over of the run chase. Virender Sehwag 82 and Rahul Dravid 47 give India a respectable total of 234. Australia won the World Cup by 125 runs and shattered the dreams of India. Ricky Ponting was awarded Man of the Match for his heroic performance and the great Sachin Tendulkar was the player of the series. 

Statistics 

Top Run Scorer

Top Wicket Taker

In recent years, pistachios have become an essential food item. This green colored, multifaceted superfood is a powerhouse loaded with highest antioxidants when compared to values, reported in a study conducted by Cornell University, of many foods commonly known for their antioxidant capacity, such as blueberries, pomegranates, cherries, and beets. American pistachios have numerous benefits and may help maintain good health, a strong heart and healthy blood vessels, support an active lifestyle and reduce the risk of nutrition-related diseases.

This food is one of the richest sources of melatonin. Besides being good-for-you fats, pistachios provide key vitamins including vitamin E, minerals like potassium and magnesium, antioxidants including polyphenols, carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, phytochemicals to keep the immune system strong. Adding pistachios to a healthy diet may help maintain healthy blood pressure, lower levels of cholesterol and other measures of oxidative damage.

A healthy diet is one component of the type of lifestyle that should be promoted to deal with the global health concern of cardiovascular problems. Some healthy dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet and a vegetarian diet have nuts as an essential food component. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recognized that tree nuts, including pistachios, must be considered as a part of a heart healthy diet. Various studies have also looked at the effects of eating pistachios on many risk factors pertaining to cardiovascular disease and have suggested eating a calorie-controlled amount of pistachios as part of a heart healthy diet daily to lower the risk of heart diseases by lowering total cholesterol, increasing antioxidants in the blood and decreasing oxidized-LDL and also helps in decreasing small dense LDL and increasing phytosterol levels in the blood which helps lower blood cholesterol by decreasing the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines during digestion and reducing the amount of cholesterol produced by the body, provides beneficial anti-inflammatory properties and reduces stress by lowering blood pressure, heart rate and peripheral vascular responses

In addition, given their interesting nutritional composition, various studies have recognized the association between nut consumption and the incidence of, and mortality from, certain CVD outcomes. According to a study by BMC Medicine, consumption of nuts has a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health and eating pistachios three times per week may lower the mortality risk by 39%.

The nutritional value of pistachios is exceptional. The heart, gut, and waistline benefit greatly. Regularly eating pistachios, not more than 1 oz a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may lower the risk of heart disease and help improve health and wellbeing. It’s time to celebrate this popular nut, this World Heart Day, celebrated all across on 29th September.

Happiness coaches are skilful individuals who assist people in finding contentment and cultivating it in their lives. They help people with their strategies and support them in discovering a life full of joy and happiness. Having a happiness coach in your life is like a personal supporter for your journey to well-being. In this tedious life, they are like tutors who dig peace of mind for an individual with guidance and reinforcement. As they say “Happiness is making the most of what you have, and riches is making the most of what you have got.” A happiness coach gives you direction on what you have and how you quip happiness from it. Kapila Nagpal is one such mentor who spreads positivity and helps people find their inner joy. 

Kapila Nagpal is a certified happiness coach and trainer who uses stories as a powerful medium to train. As a happiness coach, she guides you on the path to contentment and increases your happiness quotient. She does wonders by giving people exactly what they want in life by motivating people to hunt joy and bliss. With her expertise, Kapila helps humans find ways to deal with their problems and change their thinking and behaviour to achieve a sense of happiness and fulfilment. Apart from this Kapila Nagpal is also an engaging storyteller who tells stories which revive the portrayal of life for a person, she is helping individuals to bring bliss and optimism in life. She provides guidance, motivation, and counselling with her stories. 

To give better guidance, Kapila has recently started a series called ‘The Career Stories’ on YouTube titled ‘Real Talk with Winners’. She has a magical way of captivating the audience with their words and imagination, she also transports the world very differently to us by evoking emotions and inspiring us. Kapila Nagpal is pursuing a beautiful art form that brings people together through the power of stories. She brings character to her show which helps the people in life to make people feel like they are the part of adventure of a storyteller. Her real talk is sharing stories that challenge, inspire, and educate people with their narratives by offering different perspectives and teaching valuable lessons. The career stories ignite is like a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. 

“Do the best and pray. God will take care of rest,” through these words Kapila Nagpal is bringing a ray of satisfaction into the lives of people in the society. She believes that by spending time with champions and confident brains, anyone can become a winner. To express her mind as an educator she is also involved in workshops organised by schools, colleges and universities. Along with the educational workshops, Kapila is also fond of discussing ideas on parenting. She believes that “parenting is an untouched aspect of this society which needs to be improved for a better tomorrow for everyone.” 

Aside from being a happiness coach, storyteller, and educator, Kapila Nagpal is also a student development coach. She is supporting and guiding students in their personal and academic growth. Her motive is to prepare the students to set goals, develop effective habits, and enhance their skills in areas like time management, organisation, and communication skills. In this tiresome world, society needs more mentors like Kapila Nagpal who understands the difficulties and is ready to provide a cheerful vision with her words. 

28th September is remembered as the birth date of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Bhagat Singh a charismatic Indian revolutionary was born on 28 September 1907, he was involved in the assassination of a British junior police officer, avenging the death of an Indian nationalist. He later participated in the largely symbolic bombing of the central parliament in Delhi and a hunger strike in prison, which, thanks to favourable coverage in Indian-owned newspapers, made him popular in the freedom struggle of India. His hanging at the age of 23 made him a martyr and a folk hero in India. Borrowing ideas from Bolshevism and anarchism, he electrified the growing nationalism in India in the 1930s and provided a poignant introspection into the Indian National Congress’s non-violent but ultimately successful campaign for Indian independence.

Early life

Since his early days, Bhagat Singh has been fond of becoming a revolutionary, he started attending freedom struggle meetings with his father and uncle from a young age. He was inspired by the ideas of Kartar Singh Sharaba, an extremist revolutionary. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre made a huge impact on the life of Singh and initiated him to join the Indian National Movement as a front-line revolutionary. For his notable contribution, he met Chandrashekhar Azad in 1925 and joined the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. 

Assassination of Saunders

In December 1928, Bhagat Singh and his partner Shivaram Rajguru, both members of a small revolutionary group, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, shot and killed a 21-year-old British policeman, John Saunders in Lahore, but they intended to assassinate James Scott. They held Scott responsible for the death of popular Indian nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai and ordered a lathi charge in which Rai was wounded and died of a heart attack two weeks later. As Saunders left the police station on a motorcycle, gunman Rajguru fell across the road with a single bullet. Wounded, Singh shot him several times at close range, with eight gunshot wounds in the postmortem report. Another of Singh’s associates, Chandra Shekhar Azad, shot Indian police chief Channan Singh, who was trying to pursue Singh and Rajguru as they fled. 

Bomb in Central Assembly

After escaping, Bhagat Singh and his associates used pseudonyms to publicly announce that they would avenge Lajpa Rai’s death by putting up posters that they killed John Saunders instead of James Scott. Appearing in April 1929, he and another associate, Batukeshwar Dutt, detonated two low-powered homemade bombs on empty benches in the Delhi Central Assembly. They sprayed leaflets from the gallery at the legislators below, chanted slogans and allowed the authorities to arrest them. The arrest and subsequent publicity highlighted Singh’s involvement in the John Saunders case. Singh, who is awaiting trial, won public sympathy when he joined accused Jatin Das in a hunger strike and demanded better prison conditions for Indian prisoners. The strike ended with Das starving to death in September 1929.

Martyrdom

Bhagat Singh was convicted of the murders of John Saunders and Channan Singh, for which he was hanged in March 1931 at the age of 23. He became a popular personality hero after his death. Jawaharlal Nehru said: “Bhagat Singh became popular not because of his act of actions, but because he seemed at the moment to defend the honour of Lala Lajpat Rai and through him the honour of the people. He became a symbol; the deed was forgotten. The symbol remained, and within a few months every town and village in Punjab and to a lesser extent, everywhere in northern India was named after him.” 

Even in his later years, an atheist and socialist in adulthood, Singh gathered admirers in India from across the political spectrum, including both communists and right-wing Hindu nationalists. Although many of Singh’s associates, like many of India’s anti-colonial revolutionaries, engaged in acts of bravery and were executed or died violent deaths, few remained in popular art and literature like Singh, who is sometimes referred to as Shaheed-e-Azam.  

In preparation for the ICC World Cup 2023, the Pakistan Cricket squad, captained by Babar Azam, landed in India on September 27. Pakistan’s Cricket World Cup squad arrives in India after seven years, as India will be the host for the upcoming tournament. Pakistan toured India last time in 2016 when they came for the World T20 tournament. The grand festival of cricket will be starting on October 5 and ending on November 19.

The squad was welcomed with open arms at Hyderabad airport upon arrival. As the Pakistanis arrived at Hyderabad International Airport in the southern metropolis, excited fans were repressed by police as they celebrated and yelled the name of the team captain, Babar Azam. Captain Babar Azam praised the efforts and said, “Overwhelmed with the love, support here in Hyderabad.” via his Instagram story.

Other Pakistani players have also posted about their grand welcome to the City of Nawabs. Wicket-keeper Muhammad Rizwan posted, “Amazing reception from the people here. Everything was super smooth. Looking forward to the next 1.5 months.” While star pacer Shaheen Afridi also posted a story praising their grand entry. Even before their arrival, the ‘Men in Green’ Captain Babar stated that winning the World Cup is their major goal, and not just making the top four. 

Another bit of information surfaced concurrently with the arrival of the players. Before the ICC World Cup 2023, Pakistani YouTubers refused to apply for visas to India. Social media sources claim that the YouTubers Nadir Ali, Momin Saqib, Saadur Rehman aka “Ducky Bhai,” and an Indian TikToker living in the UAE by the name of “Love Khaani,” who poses as a Pakistani, not received visas for the massive event. 

In reply to these whispers, Duck Bhai said, “There have been some rumours regarding my application for an Indian Visa for the World Cup, and it got rejected.”. He claimed this to be fake news. Along with him, meme sensation, Momin Saqib also claimed his Visa rejection news to be a rumour and requested people not to trust undependable sources. 

After travelling to Australia and the Sub-continent the ‘global-ball’ trophy returned to the founding fathers of cricket England. The United Kingdom is ready to host the 7th edition of the World Cup for the fourth time. This edition is famous for the underdog Zimbabwe upsetting the Indians and the old saying in cricket has emerged “it does not finish, until it is over.” The 7th edition of the Cricket World Cup began with the glory of the most dominating cricket team of all time, after beating Pakistan in the finals Australia started to dominate the cricket for a decade.  

In Continuation to our series “A Countdown to World Cup” today we are sharing the stories of the 1999 World Cup.

World Cup of 1999

The ICC Cricket World Cup of 1999, also known as England Cup 99, was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Mostly hosted by England, selected matches were also held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands. Australia won the tournament defeating Pakistan by 8 wickets in the final at Lord’s in London. This edition was held three years after the previous Cricket World Cup, deviating from the usual four-year gap.

Format

It involved 12 teams that played a total of 42 matches. In the subgroup stage, the teams were divided into two groups of six; each team played everyone else in their group once. The top three teams from each group qualified for the Super Sixes, a new concept for the 1999 World Cup; each team carried over points from games against other qualifiers in their group and then played each qualifier in a different group (i.e. each qualifier in Group A played each qualifier in Group B and vice versa). Semi-finals were played between the top four teams of the super-six.

Super Six

Semi-finals

The first semi-final was played between unpredictable Pakistan and the knockout hunter New Zealand at Old Trafford, where Pakistanis hunted the Kiwis and marched towards finals. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, with the help of Roger Towse 46 New Zealand reached 247 for 7 in 50 overs. In reply Pakistan achieved the target with 15 balls to spare, Saeed Anwar emerged as the hero by scoring an unbeaten 113*. Pakistan’s speedster Shoaib Akhtar was awarded man of the match for his heroic spell. 

The second semi-final of the 1999 Cricket World Cup was a One Day International (ODI) match played on 17 June 1999 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, England. It was played between South Africa and Australia. South Africa won the toss and elected to field, the match ended in a draw with a runout involving Allan Donald and Lance Klusener booking Australia’s place in the final where they will play Pakistan. Australia was promoted to the finals because of a higher net run rate in the super six. 

Finals

The final of the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup was played on 20 June 1999 at Lord’s in London. It was the fourth time Lord’s hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup final, having previously hosted finals in 1975, 1979 and 1983. Australia won another title, defeating Pakistan in the final by 8 wickets. Shane Warne was declared man of the match. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. In a good bowling display, Australia bowled out Pakistan for 132 runs. Pakistan has not established significant partnerships. The choice of the bowlers was Shane Warne who took 4 wickets for 33 runs from 9 overs. In reply, Adam Gilchrist immediately attacked and scored a quick 50. Australia won the match in 20.1 overs for the loss of just two wickets. Warne won the Man of the Match award and Australia won the World Cup.

Statistics 

Top Run Scorer

Top Wicket Taker

After the successful presidency of G20, the Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar spoke at the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He addressed the assembly on various global issues, primarily related to the ongoing diplomatic conflict between India and Canada and the permanent seat for India in the Security Council. 

Jaishankar greeted the assembly, Namaste from Bharat! He started his speech by saying “The days are over when few of the members set the agenda to discuss and G20 is the biggest example of this.”  

A fair, just and democratic order will surely emerge if we all think about it, and for starters, that means making sure the rule-makers don’t overrule the rule-takers. Everyone must respect territorial integrity and not interfere in the internal matters of others until they are related to humanitarian issues. Mr Jaishankar was speaking at the end of a week of national speeches, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to be at the centre of speeches by Western leaders. However, another issue emerged last week when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive claim that the Indian government was involved in the assassination of a Khalistan separatist leader in Canada in June this year.

Adding to this Mr Jaishankar said, “the time has arrived when the UN must think about the reconciliation of the seats for permanent members of the security council, inclusion of the African Union in G20, should be an inspiration for the UNGA.” Bharat has evolved as the friend of the world from the times of the Non-Alignment Movement, our role as Vishwa Mitra describes our ability to engage with the global world which is shown in the growth of QUAD.  

The speech may rekindle rumours that the central government is considering replacing the word India in the Constitution with the word Bharat, which sparked a huge controversy earlier this month. Addressing the UN General Assembly session from the iconic green podium, S Jaishankar began his over 17-minute speech with folded hands and ‘Namaste Bharat’.

World Tourism Day is observed on 27th September every year to highlight the global significance of tourism. The day has played an important role in the rise of socioeconomic growth, cultural exchange and sustainable development through tourism, since its establishment. Tourism is one of the most beautiful things in the world, as it allows us to visit new places, experience different cultures, and create a moment to cherish lifelong. Whether it is exploring the prehistoric ruins, relaxing on the amazing beaches, meditating on the great mountains, or delving into the taste of local cuisine, tourism opens the doors of discovery and adventure. It also helps the economies to boost on the global level, it also promotes the feeling of globalisation by cultural exchange. 

Winter is around the corner and it’s time to pack your bags and move outside to experience the cold. December is the month when the beautiful merges with the cold and gives birth to a new foetus called Whoopee! These exciting places in December can turn your usual trip into a discovery that you have been missing. We have the best places to visit in December to make winter epic. These beautiful places are famous for many reasons and no one can miss the opportunity to discover the best views and enjoy exciting activities at the same time. On the day of World Tourism, we will tell you about the most exotic places to visit in the upcoming winter vacation. 

5 exotic places to visit in winters

Vienna, Austria

Vienna is a vibrant city, with a complete package of history, wonderful architecture and beautiful displays, it was called the ‘city of music’ because of its musical heritage, as many popular classical musicians like Beethoven and Mozart called Vienna home. Vienna is also said to be the ‘City of Dreams’ because the world’s first psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, lived there. It is one of the best places to travel and explore the authenticity of Europe. Here, you can enjoy sachertorte, apfelstrudel, wiener schnitzel, tafelspitz, gulasch. These are the dishes that make the city extra special. You have to carry warm clothes with you, light wool is the best choice. 

Kerala, India

Kerala is the southernmost state of India and a sea gateway to India from the Arabian Sea. Kerala is named as the ten paradise of the world to travel, because of its culture and traditions and diverse demographics which made the state one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Kerala’s beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountain ranges, waterfalls, ancient ports, palaces, religious institutions and wildlife sanctuaries are major attractions for both domestic and international tourists. Kochi city ranks first in total number of international and domestic tourists in Kerala. Kerala is known for its ecotourism initiatives, with mountain climbing, trekking and bird-watching programs in the Western Ghats as its main activities.

New York City

New York is one of the most festive destinations in December, and some say it’s the best time to visit New York. Bundle up and take to the downtown streets to browse the holiday store windows or hear the famous Rockettes perform. Be ready to stop by Rockefeller Square to see the iconic Christmas tree. There’s never a dull moment in New York, even in winter. Ice skating in Central Park against the backdrop of the magnificent New York City skyline is a must-experience. Since December snowstorms are unpredictable in the Northeast, it’s a good idea to leave some extra time and flexibility in your itinerary in case your trip is delayed. 

Sydney Harbour, Australia

Sydney Harbor is a stunning place and a cruise is a great way to experience it. Here, you can enjoy a tall ship adventure by day on Sydney Harbor Tall Ships and Sydney Heritage Fleet Cruises, or jump on a paddle wheel for a Sydney Showboat cruise by night. Those who also want to explore the underwater world will love a summer snorkelling cruise with Sydney Princess Cruises. The harbour is also used as an eerie backdrop for major events, such as the electrifying Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Seafood is one of the major foods to love the taste of harbour. 

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger Park is Africa’s most exciting African safari destination. Steeped in legend and history, the iconic Kruger National Park in South Africa awaits you to explore its vast landscapes and magnificent African wildlife. Plan your Kruger National Park safaris with recommended Kruger Park safaris, from exclusive private safaris to affordable group safaris. Go on an expedition to discover the great road of Africa: elephant, lion, rhinoceros, leopard and buffalo. You will find unique wildlife on a real Kruger National Park safari in Africa. Eating options available are; milk, bread, meat, fruit, vegetables, drinks, and snacks.