CULTURAL QA 01202429A
Q1 What are some remarkable facts about Switzerland?
KR Switzerland is populated only by 89 lakhs only in 2023. Per
capita $90. 15,940 sq miles. A nation with a lot of cavern and mountains
hugged by Europe all over; so held itself as neutral since even if the
whole population fought like Samurais, still they cannot win. So, what is
there to become SO REMARKABLE LIKE India which has many facets and still
progressing with 5th army of the earth.
Forty-eight mountains are 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) or higher in
height.[66] At 4,634 m (15,203 ft), Monte Rosa is the highest, although the
Matterhorn (4,478 m or 14,692 ft) is the best known. Both are located
within the Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais, on the border with Italy.
The section of the Bernese Alps above the deep glacial Lauterbrunnen
valley, containing 72 waterfalls, is well known for the Jungfrau (4,158 m
or 13,642 ft) Eiger and Mönch peaks, and its many picturesque valleys. In
the southeast the long Engadin Valley, encompassing St. Moritz, is also
well known; the highest peak in the neighbouring Bernina Alps is Piz
Bernina (4,049 m or 13,284 ft) The Swiss Plateau has greater
open and hilly landscapes, partly forested, partly open pastures, usually
with grazing herds or vegetable and fruit fields, but it is still hilly.
Large lakes and the biggest Swiss cities are found there.
Switzerland has a stable, prosperous and high-tech economy. It
is the world's wealthiest country per capita in multiple rankings. The
country ranks as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, while its
banking sector is rated as "one of the most corrupt in the world". It has
the world's twentieth largest economy by nominal GDP and the thirty-eighth
largest by purchasing power parity. As of 2021, it is the thirteenth
largest exporter, and the fifth largest per capita. Zürich and Geneva are
regarded as global cities, ranked as Alpha and Beta respectively. Basel is
the capital of Switzerland's pharmaceutical industry, hosting Novartis,
Roche, and many other players. It is one of the world's most important
centres for the life sciences industry.
Switzerland had the second-highest global rating in the Index of Economic
Freedom 2023, while also providing significant public services On a per
capita basis, nominal GDP is higher than those of the larger Western and
Central European economies and Japan, while adjusted for purchasing power,
Switzerland ranked 11th in 2017, fifth in 2018 and ninth in 2020.
The 2016 World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report ranked
Switzerland's economy as the world's most competitive; as of 2019, it ranks
fifth globally. The European Union labeled it Europe's most innovative
country and the most innovative country in the Global Innovation Index in
2023, as it had done in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019. It ranked 20th of 189
countries in the Ease of Doing Business Index. Switzerland's slow growth in
the 1990s and the early 2000s increased support for economic reforms and
harmonisation with the European Union. In 2020, IMD placed Switzerland
first in attracting skilled workers
Switzerland is home to several large multinational corporations. The
largest by revenue are Glencore, Gunvor, Nestlé, Mediterranean Shipping
Company, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche, ABB, Mercuria Energy Group and
Adecco.[148] Also, notable are UBS AG, Zurich Financial Services,
Richemont, Credit Suisse, Barry Callebaut, Swiss Re, Rolex, Tetra Pak, The
Swatch Group and Swiss International Air Lines.
Switzerland's most important economic sector is manufacturing. Manufactured
products include specialty chemicals, health and pharmaceutical goods,
scientific and precision measuring instruments and musical instruments. The
largest exported goods are chemicals (34% of exported goods),
machines/electronics (20.9%), and precision instruments/watches
(16.9%).[147] The service sector – especially banking and insurance,
commodities trading, tourism, and international organisations – is another
important industry for Switzerland. Exported services amount to a third of
exports
Agricultural protectionism—a rare exception to Switzerland's free trade
policies—contributes to high food prices. Product market liberalisation is
lagging behind many EU countries according to the OECD. Apart from
agriculture, economic and trade barriers between the European Union and
Switzerland are minimal, and Switzerland has free trade agreements with
many countries. Switzerland is a member of the European Free Trade
Association (EFTA).
Switzerland is considered as the "land of Cooperatives" with the ten
largest cooperative companies accounting for more than 11% of GDP in 2018.
They include Migros and Coop, the two largest retail companies in
Switzerland.
Taxation and government spending
Switzerland is a tax haven.[150] The private sector economy dominates. It
features low tax rates; tax revenue to GDP ratio is one of the smallest of
developed countries. The Swiss Federal budget reached 62.8 billion Swiss
francs in 2010, 11.35% of GDP; however, canton and municipality budgets are
not counted as part of the federal budget. Total government spending is
closer to 33.8% of GDP. The main sources of income for the federal
government are the value-added tax (33% of tax revenue) and the direct
federal tax (29%). The main areas of expenditure are in social welfare and
finance/taxes. The expenditures of the Swiss Confederation have been
growing from 7% of GDP in 1960 to 9.7% in 1990 and 10.7% in 2010. While the
social welfare and finance sectors and tax grew from 35% in 1990 to 48.2%
in 2010, a significant.
And the surprise is 0.6% Hindus are there; and 30% of the population
do not have any religion. A Swiss chocolates have non veg fats. It is
estimated that one out of six Swiss persons suffers from mental
illness. According
to a survey conducted by Addiction Switzerland, fourteen per cent of men
and 6.5% of women between 20 and 24 reported consuming cannabis in the past
30 days in 2020, and 4 Swiss cities were listed among the top 10 European
cities for cocaine use as measured in wastewater, down from 5 in 2018.
The trend of declining number of marriages continues. A total of 38,200
couples tied the knot in 2019, a decrease of 6.2% compared to the year
before, according to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office on
Monday.
The lack of appetite for the institution of marriage was seen across all
segments of the population but was especially marked among foreign
residents. The decline in marriages was 4.6% among the Swiss but 13.1%
among the foreign population. Mixed marriages (Swiss with non-Swiss) also
declined by 5.1%.
While same sex couples do not have the right to marry in Switzerland, fewer
opted to enter into registered partnerships in 2019. Close to 650 same-sex
couples made their relationships official last year, a drop of 7.9%
compared to 2018.
The number of divorces saw a slight increase in 2019 with 16,600 marriages
being dissolved (an increase of 0.4%). The rise was largely due to the high
divorce rate among foreigners which increased significantly from 3,900 to
4,300 (10.4%).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q2 Why don't firemen use salt water instead of drinking water
for extinguishing fire?
KR I st Std Q and A
Q3 Do ghosts really exist?
KR Ghost is a fiction and the mind game. Pisasa people are existing
on this earth at various places retired from valued services and behave
like ghosts who are all terrific. Vedas do not speak about anything other
than the soul or Jeevatma; so once Atma started its travelling and body
consumed by agni or Sand earth, where is tat excess matter even in a
gaseous state, other than helium, phosphorous and nitrogen? As per second
law, matter can neither be created nor be destroyed. So unless there was a
source of matter originally, there cannot be any new matter at all.
However Atharva vedam has disease cure mantras (vide YouTube
here along with: https://youtu.be/NA4d7OQVGSw) mantras. These kinds of
Atharva veda mantras are chanted as misused by Kerala Nambudiri Tantrikas
to frighten people and show as if there is a black magic) Vikramaditya
stories, Katha sarith sagara stories have all pisasa stories.
----------------------------
Q5 What's your favorite stupid joke?
KR All of us have 3idiots write up abusing as stupid jokes.
Rama
09:02 (35 minutes ago)
to iyer123, Gopa4411
You have apprehensions posting of non vegetarian jokes as to how it will be
received.
We have been witnessing regular exchanges of abuses, filthiest words , Maa
- Behan ki gaaliyan (in english subtitles) , Oh my God ....totally
insensitive to others ...Are they well received.?
Debates, disagreements , healthy criticism, rejoinders are welcome ....but
provocation with hatred , jealousy, bitterness and abuses lead to
retaliation.
Hope the concerned members introspect the attributes and show restraint
KR IRS 29124
On Mon, 29 Jan 2024 at 06:57, 'gopala krishnan' via Thatha_Patty <
[email protected]> wrote:
> *CULTURAL QA 01-2024-29A*
>
> *All the BELOW QA are from Quora digest to me on 29-01-2024.*
>
> * Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers *
>
> *.Compiled* *and posted by R. Gopala krishnan, on 29-01-2024*
>
> *Q1 What are some remarkable facts about Switzerland?*
>
> *A1 Lorian Flint, Machiavellian at heart3y*
>
> *Switzerland has enough bunkers to fit all of their population in the case
> of a nuclear war.*
>
> *Swiss army pilots never go to supersonic speeds during training. Because
> Switzerland is so small, it's impossible not to violate the border of
> another country while flying so fast. This is because they would cross into
> the borders of another country if they went supersonic.*
>
> *Swiss chocolatiers developed techniques to make chocolates with edible
> gold.*
>
> *If the Swiss want to block off the country, they can do it with very few
> soldiers, because the tunnels and many highways have steel tubes that can
> be raised at the touch of a button to block access.* *Trees that were
> planted long ago, in the event of invasion, would be cut to land across
> roadways, making roads impassable.*
>
> *Many companies employ people to do things like bookkeeping that could
> easily be automated. As a society, the Swiss have decided that low
> unemployment benefits everyone enough to make it worthwhile employing those
> people.*
>
> *Voting is mandatory.*
>
> *The average marriage age for Swiss men is 31.8 and 29.5 for women. On the
> other hand, the divorce rate in Switzerland is about 43%, and the average
> age for Swiss women to have their first child is 30.4 years, which makes
> them the oldest women in Europe to do so.*
>
> *Switzerland is one of the countries that own the most guns, however also
> has one of the lowest crime rates.*
>
> *Q2 Why don't firemen use salt water instead of drinking water
> for extinguishing fire?*
>
> *A2 Jon Mixo, I plan for Emergency Preparedness in a number of
> industries.8mo*
>
> *In addition to some of the excellent answers already given there’s:*
>
> *Saltwater would seriously contaminate the areas around the fire** - I
> take it that you have never seen the aftermath of a suppressed fire,
> questioner, as there’s a LOT of water used in most cases and since it’s
> freshwater there are no efforts to remediate it. However if salt or
> brackish water is used the damage to the landscaping and surrounding
> structures, vehicles and equipment would be substantial.*
>
> *The environmental damage could be significant - Thousands** or tens
> thousands of gallons could create serious ecological damage to an area that
> freshwater will not. In times past that might have been overlooked; however
> in today’s environmentally conscious and litigious society that could prove
> costly.*
>
> *There are far fewer fires overall - One of the reasons that** city fire
> departments adopted emergency medical service programs (EMS) in 1970s was
> that overall fire safety training and things like smoke detectors cut down
> the number of fires that they could respond to. Most fire departments these
> days respond to medical calls, chemical spills, and vehicular accidents
> more so than fires making the costs of adopting a saltwater system too
> costly for a minimal need.*
>
> *Saltwater can be injurious to human beings - Firefighters** are exposed
> to a number of toxins and pathogens on a daily basis. It’s difficult to see
> how their employers or their respective unions would look kindly at the
> added problems and costs of exposure to high pressure saltwater for years
> on end. Their insurers certainly wouldn’t appreciate it.*
>
> *IF freshwater becomes scarce enough to make firefighting seriously have
> to change what they use to fight fires it seem more likely that they would
> look towards chemical suppression foams* *of some type or treated grey
> water as a replacement for potable drinking water.*
>
> *Q3 Do ghosts really exist?*
>
> *A3 Manish Raj Sharma,CEO and Chief Training Analyst at MRS
> Training Services (2013–present)Oct 28*
>
> *There is a village called Ranshi, approximately 90 km from the city of
> Jodhpur, Rajasthan, where looks are quite deceiving.*
>
> *The village may have an unremarkable appearance to it; nothing that will
> stop you in your tracks, and those unaware may think that’s the reason why
> this place doesn't get too many visitors. The reason is not the humble
> appearance of the village. It’s something darker.*
>
> *It is said that people are afraid to visit this village. And the reason
> is a well.*
>
> *In this village, there is a stepwell, famously known as the Bhoot Baavdi
> or Bhoot Baoli. It is believed that the well was the result of a combined
> work by humans and a spirit. Well, it is widely believed that the spirit
> did most of the construction work. Well, who is here to argue that claim?*
>
> *This story is of the time when Ranshi village was under the rule of
> Thakur Jai Singh**. Back then, Ranshi village was a part of Jodhpur. One
> night, on his way to Jodhpur, Thakur Jai Singh stopped by a nearby pond for
> a water break for himself and his horse.*
>
> * In the dark of the night, Thakur heard a sound coming from an area with
> some bushes. It was a spirit asking for water! The fact that the pond was
> so nearby, Thakur Jai Singh wondered why the spirit couldn’t just go and
> get himself some water and quench his thirst.*
>
> *Turns out, the spirit was carrying a curse that didn’t allow him to drink
> water on his own**. Out of the kindness of his heart, Thakur Jai Singh
> got the spirit some water and even shared his food with him. And instead of
> thanking him like people normally do, the spirit instead told Thakur that
> he wanted to wrestle him! It will take us forever to see the sense in this
> but let’s go on with the story.*
>
> *The wrestling soon ensued and Thakur Jai Singh easily defeated the
> spirit, who finally apologised**. The spirit asked him forgiveness and
> told him that he would do anything. Taking this opportunity, Thakur Jai
> Singh told the spirit to construct a stepwell right in front of the palace
> in Ranshi.*
>
> *The spirit agreed but with a condition – the workers can work during the
> daytime and he (the spirit) would work a hundred times the amount of work
> during the night, but on one condition.*
>
> *Thakur Jai Singh was not to mention a word about this meeting with the
> spirit and the well construction to anyone. In case Thakur broke his
> promise, the stepwell would never get completed.*
>
> *The entire village was flabbergasted by the speed, with which the
> stepwell was nearing its final stage. And just when things were getting too
> interesting for the residents too, Thakur Jai Singh’s wife pressed him for
> information, and he couldn’t keep this secret from him. Lo and behold, the
> construction stopped right then and there. *
>
> *It is said that the step well was supposed to be 200 feet deep and have
> more features. But it was left unfinished.*
>
> *There are many versions to this story.Keep smiling. Keep shining, *
>
> *Q4 What is the scariest flag to see flying on a ship?*
>
> *A4 Liam Crowleigh, Sailor for over 40 yearsUpdated 4y*
>
> *The scariest flag flying by itself on a ship would be the ‘yellow jack’.*
>
> *In alphabetical marine signalling it stands for the letter “L” (Lima) but
> if flown by itself it means ‘contagious disease on board’, ‘plague’ or
> ‘cholera’ (yellow fever + death hence yellow and black).*
>
> *Seeing a boat flying just this flag it would be a good idea to stay far
> away from it and to go upwind from it and unless you’re a medical
> professional, not to go on board.*
>
> *Q5 What's your favorite stupid joke?*
>
> *A5 Victor Kogo, student Updated 5y*
>
> *There's this old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who
> kept confessing to adultery. One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, "if I hear
> one more person confess to adultery, I'll quit!" Well, everyone liked him,
> so they came up with a code word. Someone who had committed adultery would
> say they had "fallen".*
>
> *This seemed to satisfy the old priest and things went well, until the
> priest died at a ripe old age. *
>
> *About a week after the new priest arrived, he visited the Mayor of the
> town and seemed very concerned. The priest said, "you have to do something
> about the sidewalks in town. When people come into the confessional, they
> keep talking about having fallen."*
>
> * The Mayor started to laugh, realizing that no-one had told the new
> priest about the code word.*
>
> *Before the mayor could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at
> the mayor and said, "I don't know what you're laughing about, Your wife
> fell three times this week."*
>
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