Downstream operations, which now also includes the chemicals business, generates a third of Shell's profits worldwide and is known for its global network of more than 40,000 petrol stations and its 47 oil refineries. The downstream business, which in some countries also included oil refining, generally included a retail petrol station network, lubricants manufacture and marketing, industrial fuel and lubricants sales and a host of other product/market sectors such as LPG and bitumen. The practice in Shell was that these businesses were essentially local and that they were best managed by local "operating companies" often with middle and senior management reinforced by expatriates. In the 1990s, this paradigm began to change, and the independence of operating companies around the world was gradually reduced. Today, virtually all of Shell's operations in various businesses are much more directly managed from London and The Hague. The autonomy of "operating companies" has been largely removed, as more "global businesses" have been created.
If it is possible to answer this question, answer it for me (else, reply "unanswerable"): When did Shell switch to treating businesses as local, independent companies?
Ah, so.. unanswerable

Inside ornament was far more generous, and could sometimes be overwhelming. The chimneypiece continued to be the usual main focus of rooms, and was now given a classical treatment, and increasingly topped by a painting or a mirror. Plasterwork ceilings, carved wood, and bold schemes of wallpaint formed a backdrop to increasingly rich collections of furniture, paintings, porcelain, mirrors, and objets d'art of all kinds. Wood-panelling, very common since about 1500, fell from favour around the mid-century, and wallpaper included very expensive imports from China.
If it is possible to answer this question, answer it for me (else, reply "unanswerable"): What could overgenerous outside ornaments be sometimes?
Ah, so.. unanswerable

In recent Mercer's 2015 annual quality-of-living survey, New Delhi ranks at number 154 out of 230 cities due to bad air quality and pollution. The World Health Organization ranked New Delhi as the world's worst polluted city in 2014 among about 1,600 cities the organization tracked around the world.
If it is possible to answer this question, answer it for me (else, reply "unanswerable"): How many cities were studied in Mercer's 2015 quality of living survey?
Ah, so..
230