Tag: science & technology

Most mined diamonds contain significant flaws, inclusions, or imperfections that make them unsuitable for gem jewelry. Only a small percentage of mined diamonds have the clarity required for the consumer jewelry market.

The most valuable transparent diamonds are colorless or "icy white" - completely free of any yellow or brown tints. Any color tint reduces value, with colorless (D grade) being the highest and most expensive color grade for white diamonds.

De Beers' exclusive diamond distribution system involves authorized buyers called 'sightholders' who have the privilege of viewing and purchasing rough diamonds at regular 'sights' (sales events). These carefully selected companies form De Beers' distribution network, maintaining control over global diamond supply and pricing through this preferential customer system.

Blood diamonds (conflict diamonds) are diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance armed conflict against governments, particularly in African nations like Sierra Leone, Angola, and Liberia. The trade involves severe human rights abuses including forced labor, violence, and terrorism, leading to international efforts like the Kimberley Process to certify conflict-free diamonds.

The Cullinan Diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905, remains the largest gem-quality diamond ever found at 3,106 carats. It was cut into 9 major stones and 96 smaller ones, with the largest (Cullinan I) being part of the British Crown Jewels. The Great Mogul and Excelsior were also large but significantly smaller.

Phu Dorji Sherpa became the first person to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen on May 4, 1984, via the Southeast Ridge. This was a remarkable feat considering the extreme altitude (8,848m) where oxygen levels are about one-third of sea level. Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first overall without oxygen in 1978, but Phu Dorji's achievement is notable as a Sherpa.

Bhanu Athaiya won India's first Oscar in 1983 for Best Costume Design for the film 'Gandhi'. She shared this award with John Mollo. This achievement came decades before AR Rahman's 2009 Oscars for 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Resul Pookutty also won an Oscar in 2009 for sound mixing in the same film.

M.S. Subbulakshmi was the first Indian musician to receive the Padma Bhushan in 1954, recognizing her contribution to Carnatic music. She was also the first musician to receive the Padma Vibhushan (1975) and later India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna (1998). Her historic concert at the UN in 1966 brought Indian classical music global recognition.

Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian (and first Asian) to win the Nobel Prize in 1913 for Literature, specifically for 'Gitanjali'. This was before India's independence. Ronald Ross was born in India but was British; C.V. Raman won in 1930; Hargobind Khorana won in 1968 but was a US citizen by then.

Sarojini Naidu became the first woman Governor of an Indian state in 1947 when she was appointed Governor of Uttar Pradesh. A prominent freedom fighter and poet known as the 'Nightingale of India', she held this position until her death in 1949. Her daughter Padmaja Naidu later became Governor of West Bengal.