CULTURAL QA 04-2023-03 Q1 Why dotrains speed become very slow while entering any big stations like Howrahstation in Kolkata?
A1 Subhasis Dutta Roy, 20 years in Indianrailways (including15 yrs as Loco Pilot)Updated 1y I was serving asLoco Pilot at Indian Railways for 14 years before switching to my presentdesignation. I will try to clearyour concept about this. I have entered Howrah station many times with mytrain. There are so many cross overs ( points ), where the trainchanges its track according to the signal given. In those points, the speed limit is fixed at a maximum of10 km/hr at Howrah and other such big stations. So locoPilot has to drive his train in under 10 Kmph. Below I will uploada pic of the HWH station showing a cross over(points) 2nd cause is the Howrah or Sealdah type of stations wherethe track is ended with Buffer is called Dock Platform station.Insuch type of station, the speed limit for entering the platform is limitedmaximum not exceeding 08Kmph. So in these stations train speed is very low. My note- While entering all stations where the train is tohalt, I have observed the same phenomina. The coacheshave to be at least 70% to the marked area in the platform. So speed reduction is done at least 1 KM before the stationin which it has to be halted and slow on reaching platform start- I have readelsewhere. Q2 What is theweirdest island in the world? A2 Kimberly Lewis,Boxing Coach6y Just off Japan, there is an island that was once home toa WWII chemical weapons factory. The inhabitants left, never to be seen again. The human inhabitantsthat is. Welcome to Okunoshima, aka Bunny Island. The bunnies are allvery friendly and well socialized, and the island is hilariously overrun with them. The storiesof how they got to the island in the first place are simultaneously numerous andconflicting. The only real answer anyone has is “nobody knows.” So an island,inexplicably populated almost entirely with rabbits, that you can go snugglefor a day. (This is how I want to go.) So, if you everneed a cuteness fix, just know that there's an island completely covered inbunnies out there. Q3 Is SaudiArabia going to collapse this century once their oil runs out? The country hasno drinkable water, no natural resources, no minerals, and no vegetation. It'salso of no importance geographically. A3 Areej Musaed, Administrative Analystat Air and Missile Defense (2020–present)Wed SaudiArabia would definitely collapse if oil runs out tomorrow.However, the Saudi government has already prepared for the post-oil era throughthe launch of Vision 2030, a massive transformational roadmap that aims to weanthe Saudi economy away from oil. This is planned by increasing non-oil revenues intourism, manufacturing, sovereign wealth fund, and most importantly, renewableenergy. The country is leading the way in renewableenergy as it is currently building the largest solar and wind plants (becauseit enjoys the best location for solar and wind energy). Additionally, thecountry is leading the green hydrogen fuel industry (it has already shipped thefuel to Japan). Another exciting aspect of the vision is investing in theelectric cars industry. Saudi Arabia owns 60% of Lucid, an electric carmanufacturer that is rival to Tesla. The company iscurrently building a huge factory in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, with SaudiArabia's untapped mineral wealth, it is also leading the EV batterymanufacturing industry. Therefore, I wouldsay the future is very muchbright for Saudi Arabia with the current economic reforms that aretaking place. My note- Soudi Arabia, especially Jeddah has anindustrial belt and many companies are functioning there with different industries. My son is working in a very large plastic products/paper products company there as Maintenance head. Thecompany has established in other parts of Soudi Arabia at Damam, Riyad etc. Q4 China: Whatare some mind blowing facts about China? A4 Fact Sky, Lives in Hindustan(2000–present)Wed China has its owncalendar. The traditional Chinese calendar. China has the longest combined land border in the world.This border is shared with 14 other countries., China is theworld’s most populous country on the earth. China has been the largest exporter of goods in the world. China is theworld's largest manufacturer of electronic components. China has thelargest rail network in the world. In the top 10tallest buildings in the world, China holds positions 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9thand 10th. The largest palace in the world is located in China. TheImperial Palace. The Great Wall of China is more than 2,300 years old. All pandas are theproperty of China. Any panda in another country is on loan from China. ***Over 30 million people in China live in caves, that'smore than the population of Saudi Arabia. Toilet paper wasinvented in China but initially, it was for the emperor’s use only. You are only allowed two children in China. Chinesepeople basically eat all animals' meat. ****Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and (more thanthousand websites) are blocked in China because of the Chinese government’soppressive internet censorship, everything Chinesecitizens see on internet is restricted and controlled. My note- *** New information to me Q5 What isyour opinion on circuit breakers and circuit breaker plugs? A5 Loring Chien, Electrical engineer 45yrs. IEEE Senior Life Member Tue Electrical engineer here. Home circuitbreakers are great inventions and required by law. They protect our homes andfamilies from fires due to electrical overload. The ones in your breaker box protect the wiring ofyour house. Equipment with circuit breakers built into the plug(presumably that’s what you mean) protect the equipment.If its the same current rating as the breaker box then thats fine, you havebelts and suspenders. If tits lower than the current rating of the one in thebreaker box, then its protecting the device which its attached to, fromcurrents greater than that the breaker will allow. This is probably because ofdelicate parts or power cord of the device, and that is a good idea, too. My note- One year back I purchased an ASUSlaptop, which had no power conversionunit separately. It was with the 3 pin plug. However circuit breaker in3 pin plug is a new information to me. Q6 Why arethere 3 wires in electricity plugs while neutral and ground wires arefundamentally the same? A6 Loring Chien, electrical engineer andaudiophile for 45 years Updated Mar 16 Because yourquestion contains afalse premise: they are fundamentally different. They are at thesame potential but with one very important distinction. The neutral wire carries thefull load current as the hot wire while the ground carries… absolutely zero current. The neutral is designed to be the return for the hot wireto complete the circuit. Anything else is afault condition. Safety equipment depends on thisdistinction. When currentflows in the ground wire, there is a leakage path and properly designedequipment will shunt fault currents here rather than to the user. Q7 What is thesaddest truth about life? A7 Robert, Project Manager at Sneha ITServices (2020–present)Mar 27 1. Everyone willdie eventually, leaving behind their loved ones to grapple with the pain andsadness of their loss. 2. Difficult and painful experiences can occur at any timein life, regardless of how young or old you are. 3. Life can beincredibly unfair at times, leaving many people struggling to make sense of whycertain bad things happen to them. 4. Illness, disease, and pain can affect anyone, no matterhow strong and healthy they may be. 5. It can be hardto stay motivated and have hope for the future when faced with difficultsituations. 6. We are all partof an unpredictable, ever-changing world and must learn to deal with whatevercurveballs come our way. 7. There will always be things we can't control,making it difficult to live life as we may want. 8. We are not allborn with the same opportunities, resulting in some people facing a much harderlife than others. 9. Injustice andinequality exists in many parts of the world, making it hard for those in needto achieve justice. 10. Success and fulfilment do not always come to those whodeserve it most, often resulting in feelings of disappointment and failure. 11. Life can be abattle between making the right decisions and having them be accepted by thosearound us. 12. Not allrelationships are healthy and loving, resulting in a lifetime of heartbreak andhurt for some. 13. Friendships andloved ones may drift apart, leaving you with a feeling of loss and regret. ***14. Our societyis largely driven by money and possessions, resulting in a never-ending cycleof materialism and greed. 15. We are allalone in our own personal journey, regardless of how close and connected we mayfeel to those around us. The saddest truthabout life is that no matter how hard we may try, things don’t always work outin the end and no one can guarantee happiness and satisfaction. Difficult experiences are partof the human journey and can often take us by surprise, making life seem muchmore difficult than we ever imagined. My note- *** Hard truth Q8 Why didFinland use the swastika as a symbol before 1945? A8 Tomaž Vargazon, Practicing atheist1y You have it in reverse. The real answer to that question iswhy Nazis used Swastika. A Coca-Cola keyfob, 1925 At the turn of the 20th century, Swastika was an ubiquitoussymbol of good luck and fortune. It was usedeverywhere, from key fobs above to funeral vestments of priests to commercialsto religious items and more. It was just a very popular symbol something good,positive that was already everywhere in popular minds, that’s why Nazis used itin the first place. It was a stroke of geniuspropaganda to use that symbol for their party and associate themselves with it.Nazi flag didn’t stand for “we’re evil”, this is a modern (if justified)construction. At the time Nazi flag it stood for “we’re the greatest ever”. That’s why Nazisused Swastika. That’s also why Finns used the symbol, they still do in fact. Noticesomething in this 1917 1000 Rouble note? This is before the Nazi party was everfounded. Q9 Is it okayto leave a ground wire exposed? A9 Gopala Krishnan, Former AssistantGeneral Manager 1996-2004 at Department of Telecom (1966–2004)Just now In my college daysthe house wiring in my home was done in Kerala, India. The neutral copper wire was abare copper wire earthed preparing anearth of value less than 2 ohms. On those days circuit breakers were not there. Itwas fitted on a side wall and we were cautioned - When fault occur current will flow in the wire. Probably barecopper wire was used to identify that it was not phase or neutral wire. Now also barecopper wire is extended from distribution board, but outside the board the wire is plastered within wall in modern homes, and taken through ground and earthed at convenientpoint. Wireis not visible and taken inside a conduit with in wall and in the ground tillend and mostly covered by thick tiles etc. This change may be due to changed circumstances in homes. I have retired from telecommunications department of India. Even today earth is thick copper single bare wire and proper earthing isdone and periodically tested it is well below 2 ohms. Telecom areas areprohibited areas for public and staff are well educated. Q10 Isit safe to shut off an electric water heater for long periods of time? A10 David Thomas,ProfessionalEngineer, Civil, Alaska Dec 14 Generally, yes. Exceptions wouldbe if your house was subject to freezing and/or the hot water was used in acirculation scheme to protect other pipes from freezing (that would beunusual). Many people would shut off their water heater and turnoffor reduce the thermostat setting of their furnace to save money when they’reaway for a week or more. Again, one must considerrisks of freezing pipes, but if that’s not a concern, there’s no benefit to keepingthat water hot while you’re away. Another slightbenefit, if you’re gone for a long time, is that corrosion rates are a functionof temperature and much slower when the WH is at room temperature. Just remember thatit will take an (for gas) or three (electric) for the WH to reheat the waterwhen you return home. An intermediateapproach, for a gas WH, is to set it to “VACATION” while you are away.That minimizes (but doesn’t eliminate) standby losses while allowing you tojust turn it back to warm-hot upon your return without have to relight thepilot light. My note- If waterheater is switched ON and water has heated to the settemperature, the hot water has to be emptied fully for well being of the unit.If hotwater remains for long time, corrosion can occur to thecoil. All the above QA are from Quora website on 02-04- 2023. Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers . Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan, former ITS, on 03-04-2023 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/833450538.2829469.1680482271859%40mail.yahoo.com.
