roll it out

Mammoth carpet

It’s time to roll out the carpet. Wondering why? Well, the world’s largest handmade carpet has finally been made. And it is all ready to be rolled out at a mosque in the United Arab Emirates. Made in Iran, the 5,625 sq m carpet had to be carried in parts in several trucks. As many as 1,200 weavers were involved in making the $ 5.8 million carpet. And it took 38 tonnes of wool and 18 months of labour to weave this work of art. The carpet has 2.2 billion knots. and has intricate Persian motifs woven into it. Photographers needed to be on helicopters to be able to take complete pictures of the carpet, which is bigger than a football field. It will eventually be flown from Tehran to the UAE.

going green

Promises kept

The uttar pradesh government is doing its bit to fight global warming. Recently, its forest wing planted more than 10 million saplings. In fact, this initiative may make it to the Guinness World Records. Almost 10,000 sites all over the state were selected for this plantation drive. The programme used the global positioning system (GPS) for the first time to monitor the planting across such a huge area. India has promised the UN that it would plant 1.21 crore trees to combat global warming.