The Young Chronicle: For Grade 3 april 3rd, 2015

April 3rd, 2015 THE YOUNG CHRONICLE For 8-9 Year Olds or 3rd– 4th Graders 126 YEARS OF THE EIFFEL Inside this issue: Kids Shine At National Film 2 Plane Crashes in the Near Past 2 Author of Slumdog 3 Millionaire, to become Secretary in the Foreign Affairs Ministry Bihar’s Cheating Scan- 3 dal Saina Nehwal Turns Number 1 March 31, 1889 is the day the Eiffel Tower opened to the public in Paris, France. 1. The tower’s elevators were not ready when the Eiffel Tower opened to the public March 31, 1889. Gustave Eiffel and the French dignitaries invited, had to climb the 1710 steps that then led to the Tower’s third floor. There, he unveiled the French flag, which received a 21 gun salute. 4 Gustave Eiffel wrote on a lady’s fan, ‘The French flag is the only flag to have a three hundred metre high staff’. 2. The Eiffel Tower would remain the tallest monument in the world until the Chrysler Building was built in New York in 1929. On the evening of its inauguration, the entire area was lit up by 10000 gas lamps. Two floodlights at the top illuminate the monuments of Paris. The red, white and blue headlight at the top is the most powerful in the world. 3. The tower was commissioned as part of a competition by the Journal Officiel to “study the possibility of erecting an iron tower on the Champs-de-Mars,” according to the tower’s website. 4. The tower was commissioned to coincide with the opening of the Paris World’s Fair (Exposition Universelle), a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The exposition opened in May, with the Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance to the fairgrounds. The elevators were completed by the end of the May, but more than 30,000 visitors took the trek up 1,710 steps in the days after the tower officially opened to the public. 5. The 20-year lease on the land by the exposition expired in 1909, but the tower was saved because of its usefulness as an antenna for radio transmission. Gustave Eiffel encouraged scientific experiments using the tower, and that spared it from destruction. The Union Budget Comes into Effect The Union budget is presented each year by the Finance Minister of the government of India. The budget is the document which the government follows to manage it’s revenue and expenditures through the year. The document difines which schemes the government will spend on and how it will levy income in the form of taxes, from the people. The 2014 elections saw credible changes, not only in the government, but also the economic status. Our economy grew to 7.4% in 2014-15 and the government has assured a GDP rise of 8 to 8.5% in 201516. The tax slabs haven’t been changed so there has been no reduction in the tax paid by people in the lower income bracket, which they could have used for further investments. The entire tax can be exempted for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR. Eating out and the movies will become a little more expensive since service tax has been increased to 14% this year as compared to 12.36% last year. Companies will have to pay a little less taxes, so there is chance that more MNCs will open branches in India. Rs. 2,46,726 crore have been allocated to the defence, which will hopefully reduce casualties caused by old and faulty equipment. There will also be a focus on developing defence equipment under the Make in India Scheme. Rs. 75 crore will be allocated towards electric car production. So hopefully, pollution will reduce over the years, as these cars enter the market. The budget proposes to build six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The government aims to provide housing to all by 2020. More educational institutions like IIM, AIMS, and educational institutes will be opened across the country. Also, 80,000 secondary schools will come up. Overall, the budget seems to be a good effort, let’s hope it actually helps the people of the country.