Sultan of Brunei

The Sultan of Brunei's wealth increases by 90 euros every second (No envy please!) This means around 5,400 euros per minute, 324,000 euros each hour, 7,776,000 euros a day Implies about 54,432,000 euros a week (that's 54 million and 432,000 thousand euros)

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah .is the president of the richest country in the world
Popular, lavish, ... uses gold in everything
Was born literally eating with spoons made of gold
Clothes worn embroidered with gold and silver

These are some pictures of his palace. His is the largest and most luxurious palace in the world...
Consists of 1788 rooms with some furnished in gold and diamond-encrusted 257 bath inlaid with gold and silver and a garage to accommodate 110 cars
The palace has 650 suites ... each furnished at not less than 150,000 thousand euros
This requires the visitor to spend 24 hours just to inspect each room for 30 seconds

The Sultan of Brunei's plane is the most luxurious aircraft in the world, inlaid with gold
The Sultan has also a Boeing 747 worth a hundred million dollars and then re-designed as a home at a cost of more than one hundred and twenty million dollars.
Featured add-ons such as a whirlpool bath of pure gold. He also has six small aircraft and two helicopters.

When the Sultan of Brunei's daughter married, the legendary celebrations continued for 14 days, at a cost of about five million dollars, attended by more than 25 heads of state and family members.

The Princess wears a crown of diamonds and carries a small bouquet of flowers studded with diamonds. She also wears huge diamonds as earrings, adding sparkle to her face.

At the special request of the Sultan of Brunei, theRolls Royce company combined their car designs with that of Porsche. This vehicle is currently in London for use during his stay in Britain

Wikipedia says he has -
531 Mercedes-Benzes
367 Ferraris
362 Bentleys
185 BMWs
177 Jaguars
160 Porsches
130 Rolls-Royces
And 20 Lamborghinis

Bringing the total number of his cars to 1,932

AP CM died in chopper crash

This photograph released by Telugu Television channel Sakshi TV shows Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, preparing to board the fated helicopter in Hyderabad on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.



The chief minister was traveling from Karnool to Chittor in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was on a surprise visit to check whether drought relief had reached the people.



The helicopter carrying the chief minister YRS Reddy and four others received instructions from ground control to fly low due to bad weather conditions.



Technical snags are very likely to occur in most choppers while flying low, which could have also been the case with the AP chief minister's chopper.



This August 3, 2005 file photo shows River Krishna and the dense Nallamalla forests. The chief minister's helicopter disappeared in heavy rains when it flew low over the forested region. The area is largely controlled by Maoist rebels.



Supporters in the state prayed for chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy after his chopper went missing in the Nallamalla forests on Wednesday.



Policemen watch television news from a window of the Ground Control Unit at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad on Thursday, September 3, 2009, waiting anxiously for any news of the chief minister.



The Bell 430 helicopter which was carrying the Andhra Pradesh chief minister on his way to check whether drought relief had reached villages and also on his pet projects for people.



Debris of the helicopter that carried the Andhra chief minister lies scattered at the crash site on a hill about 275 kilometers (170 miles) south of the state capital, Hyderabad on Thursday, September 3, 2009. Reddy and four other people were killed when their helicopter crashed in the dense jungles of southern India during a pounding rainstorm, the government announced on Thursday.



Principal Secretary S Subramanyam (R) and Chief Security Officer A S C Wesley were also on board the chief minister's chopper. Their dead bodies have also been recovered, along with those of the pilot and the co-pilot.



YSR Reddy was one of the most charismatic leaders in Andhra Pradesh for the Congress party. He had won 33 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections and was the only Congress chief minister to have completed a five-year tenure in the state since the state was formed.

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Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards 2009

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil presents Sports and Adventure Awards to sports person during a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday, August 29, 2009.



President Pratibha Patil presents Dronacharya Award, 2009 to Pullela Gopichand for badminton



President Pratibha Patil presents Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2009 to boxer Mangte Chungneijang Marykom during the Sports and Adventure Awards ceremony



President Pratibha Patil presents Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2009 to HPS Ahluwalia



Cricketer Gautam Gambhir



Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender



Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar



President Pratibha Patil presents Dhyan Chand Award to Satbir Singh Dahiya for wrestling



President Pratibha Patil presents Arjuna Award 2009 to Badminton player Saina Nehwal



President Pratibha Patil, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, Sports Minister M S GIll and Delhi Sheila Dikshit pose for a group photo

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Obama - A Family Man

US President Barack Obama getting down the Air Force One with his family



Obama's Security Officer carrying his family dog "Bo"



Obama buying cookies for his daughters from a departmental store






Obama enjoying a cookie at a departmental store during his holiday with family



Obama talking to a resident



Obama's elder daugher Maila walking toward Air Force One for their return flight to White House in Washington D.C.



Obama family walking in their home in Washington D.C

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Ten Most Amazing Bridges

Langkawi Sky-Bridge
One of the world’s highest single-support bridges



Where: The top of the 500-million-year-old Mount Mat Cincang, Langkawi, Malaysia.
Stats: 2,000 feet above sea level; 410 feet long; curved; less than six feet wide.
Awe Factors: This curved half-moon-shaped pedestrian bridge, set among the clouds, grants non-acrophobic adventurers 360 degree views of the Langkawi islands and the Andaman Sea. Built for tourists and opened in 2005, the bridge is accessed by a 15-minute ride in an electronic cable car, which leaves from the Oriental Village mall complex.


Hangzhou Bay Bridge
The longest ocean-crossing bridge in the world



Where: Hangzhou Bay on the East China Sea, traversing the Qiantang River at the Yangtze River Delta.
Stats: 22 miles long.
Awe Factors: With waves that reach 25 feet high and crash on the shore at 19 miles per hour, the rough waters of Hangzhou Bay had to be studied for nearly a decade before plans were drawn. Construction itself took nearly five years. Now that this S-shaped, stayed-cable bridge is complete (it opened to the public in May 2008), commuters from Shanghai to Ningbo save two hours and will soon have a service area on the bridge to refuel, grab a bite, or even get a night’s sleep if needed.


Leonardo’s Bridge
Designed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1502 and constructed by Vebjørn Sand in 2001



Where: This pedestrian and bike arch bridge is in Akershus, Norway, but da Vinci had planned for the bridge (to be named the Golden Horn Bridge) to span the waterway dividing western Constantinople for Sultan Bajazet II.
Stats: A scaled-down version of the design da Vinci had proposed, Sand’s bridge is 360 feet long and 19 feet above the ground. (The original was intended to be much bigger: 1,080 feet long and 120 feet above sea level).
Awe Factors: The bridge is considered by da Vinci scholars to be the first civil engineering project in history based on a da Vinci design, but if it weren’t for Norwegian artist Vebjørn Sand’s keen eye, the small drawing in the corner of one of da Vinci’s notebooks might have remained just an idea. Instead, Sand proposed to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration that it help “reimagine” this mathematically and structurally gorgeous design. Today, the smaller-scale timber structure (da Vinci had wanted stone) near Oslo is, Sand hopes, the first of many Leonardo bridges around the world. Already the artist has created two versions of the design, crafted out of ice—one in Antarctica and the other at the United Nations in Manhattan. Sand and his team are working on creating similar bridges in Odessa, Texas; Karuizawa, Japan; and Istanbul, Turkey, where it was originally intended to be built.


The Bosphorus Bridge
A suspension bridge linking two continents



Where: Istanbul, Turkey, spanning the Bosphorus Strait.
Stats: 4,954 feet long; 210 feet above sea level.
Awe Factors: Completed in 1973, this suspension bridge, the only bridge in the world linking two continents (Europe and Asia), has been in the works since 490 B.C., when the bridge was made of a fleet of boats. Talks of a suspension bridge began in 1900, and again in 1931 by Nuri Demirag, the architect who manufactured the first plane in Turkey; it was finally commissioned in 1967 and completed six years later. A tennis match played on the bridge in May 2005 between Venus Williams and Turkish grand slammer Ïpek Senoglu was the first-ever competition to take place between two continents.


Gateshead Millennium Bridge
The world’s first bridge to use a tilting mechanism to open, forming a gateway for ships to pass



Where: On the South Bank of England’s River Tyne, between Gateshead and Newcastle.
Stats: 413 feet wide; 164 tall when open.
Awe Factors: Powered by eight electric motors with more horsepower than a Lamborghini Diablo, this curved pedestrian and bike bridge turns on pivots and rises 164 feet above the water when ships need to pass. It’s become such a sensation, though, that the bridge—whose motion is likened to the opening and closing of a gigantic eye—puts on a show at least once a day at noon. Completed in 2001 after a design contest was held to add to the impressive lineup of artistic arches on the Tyne, the finalized bridge was carried down the river by one of the largest floating cranes (a 10,560-ton barge taller than the Big Ben) in Europe. The bridge has its own litter clean-up system: each time the bridge opens, garbage rolls into special traps, so that the garbage does not fall into the river.


Royal Gorge Bridge
The world’s highest suspension bridge



Where: Royal Gorge, Colorado, over the Arkansas River.
Stats: 1,053 feet over the gorge; 1,260 feet long.
Awe Factors: Built in 1929 in six months by mainly inexperienced men, this bridge was an impressive feat of construction for its time. Wires were connected at the bottom of the gorge and pulled up the granite canyon despite gusty winds. In 1982, the bridge underwent a refurbishment, and wind cables were added. If looking straight down 1,000 feet isn’t scary enough, “the bridge rolls like waves,” said Peggy Gair, public relations manager for the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. “It bends and sways a little—and it should. The flexibility is its strength.”


Millau Viaduct
The tallest vehicular bridge in the world



Where: Crossing the Tarn Valley in the Massif Central, near Millau in southern France.
Stats: 8,100 feet (less than two miles) long; cars travel 885 feet above sea level, but the highest point on the bridge is 1,125 feet.
Awe Factors: Opened in 2004, the bridge was designed, according to its architect Norman Foster, to have the “delicacy of a butterfly.” Seven triangular piers support this 79,366-pound steel bridge that rises above the clouds. Reaching a height just above that of the Eiffel Tower, this is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world. The bridge is best viewed from outside the car—at a designated viewing point at exit 45 off highway A75, and a 30-minute walk uphill.


Ponte dei Sospiri (the Bridge of Sighs)
The most dramatic bridge in the world



Where: Rio di Palazzo, Venice, steps from Piazza San Marco.
Stats: Built in the early 1600s in the Baroque style, the bridge connects the Doge’s Palace to what was once a prison.
Awe Factors: According to legend, those who crossed this 17th-century white limestone bridge had a dramatic passage because they would cross it only once. Built between a prison and the room of the inquisitors inside the Doge’s Palace, the bridge’s stone-barred windows were said to provide the last view the criminals would ever see. But in reality, the prison was for petty criminals and no executions awaited them. The name “Bridge of Sighs” came from a Lord Byron poem. Today, the bridge is the setting for another legend inspired by the poet: if a couple kisses underneath the bridge at sunset, they will be granted eternal love.


Khaju Bridge
One of the world’s great “multifunctional” bridges



Where: Isfahan, Iran, on the Zayandeh River.
Stats: 344 feet long; 45 feet wide; 23 arches.
Awe Factors: Besides its stunning stone foundation, brightly colored tile work on its exterior, and original 17th-century paintings on its interior, this bridge is noteworthy because it serves three functions—as a passageway, a weir, and a recreation place. The bilevel structure, originally built as a dam in 1650, houses a covered indoor area upstairs where people gather to drink tea and socialize in the cool shade. And the echoing acoustics inside make it a popular spot for local singers and folk musicians, who gather there to perform on Friday nights.


Alamillo Bridge
One of the most elegant bridges in the world



Where: Seville, Spain, crossing the Guadalquivir River.
Stats: 820 feet long; 465 feet high.
Awe Factors: Built in 1992 by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and said to resemble a harp, the bridge is the first design of its kind: its central mast leans at a 58 degree angle, making it appear as if it’s balancing. Calatrava is fast becoming one of the major innovators in bridge design (other works include the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Tenerife Opera House), renowned for his elegant, clean style and skeletal, almost “unfinished” designs.