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Ecuador earthquake toll at 272

  As the pacific coast line of Ecuador was struck with a powerful earthquake of 7.8 magnitude, it has left the country shattered. The city of Portoviejo is thought to be worst hit by the disaster. Though the earthquake has hit the region at Saturday night, the aftershocks were still being experienced by the country. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has today confirmed the death toll to be 272, but has feared that the number could rise from the rubble.   More than 2000 people were being treated for their injuries. Even as the wreckage was being removed by the locals and the army, painful cries could be heard from the debris. The irregular and careless constructions in Ecuador seem to have doubled the earthquake devastation. As Ecuador relies mostly on the exports, its economy was already being hit by the oil crisis... and the present earthquake proved to be a final blow to the economy and to the people.

TMC leader warn voters with revenge

  In a completely unusual move, a TMC leader warns the voters with dire consequences, if they won’t vote for the party. Abdul Mannan, the Vice-President of Trinamool congress in Kolkata has warned that people who vote against his party would be deprived of all facilities by the government. He even threatened to strip off the benefits availed to people who were below poverty line and the disabled.   “If our party doesn't receive enough votes then I would know that people have betrayed us... If they do not give sufficient votes to our party then there will be adverse effects" Abdul Mannan said in an election ralley. But Abdul Mannan is not the only one that seems do threaten the voters publicly. Birbhum District President Anubrata Mondal was alleged of threatening the voters that he would kill them if they won’t vote for him! Such remarks are not uncommon from the TMC, Abhishek Banerjee, the fond nephew of Mamata has recently threatened that Trinamool would wipe out the opposition after winning the elections.

Dhoni quits as brand ambassador

  Many of the Dhoni’s fans are aware that he is playing a brand ambassador role for the Amrapali construction group. But things don’t seem to build up the confidence of its residents. A township project undertaken by the Amrapali group has been generating nightmares among its residents. In 2009 the group has started a housing project in Noida with a capacity of 1000 flats. Though most of these flats were sold out, residents began to complain that civil and electrical work is not yet completed in the flats.   The electrical wires were seen to be hanging and fire alarms were non functional. As the complaints by the residents were ignored by the management, they took on to twitter to express their rage against the management was well as its brand ambassador Mr. Dhoni. Now that the social outrage seems to have grown out of proportion, Dhoni has decided to distance himself from the company. But that doesn’t seem to end the woes of the builders. As the parliament committee has recently issued strict rules for the construction sector which include corporal punishment for delay and negligence among the builders... the management of Amrapali may even be charged with some legal action.

Zuckerberg buys domain from student in Kochi

  Many of us might not be aware of the term ` cyber squatting`, but are aware of its practice. It’s all about the registration of website domains in the name of popular brands and people. People who register such names often hope to sell them at higher prices. Though this practice is thought to be unethical it’s certainly not illegal. Cyber squatting has once again made the news when Amal Augustine, an engineering student from Kochi was approached by none other than the FB. Amal has created a domain named maxchanzuckerberg.org last year.   He has done it within a few days after Zukerberg was blessed with a girl named `Maxime Chan Zuckerberg`. Amal has immediately registered a domain which resembles the short form of the baby's name. He was then approached by the Facebook to sell the domain. The transaction was settled at 700$. And here is the final twist. Amal is not aware that he was selling the domain to the Facebook. Otherwise he could have stated a higher price. Some expect that price to be as high as 6 lakhs!

Mallya to be deported to India soon

  As the Ministry of External Affairs has suspended the diplomatic passport of Vijay Mallya, he is likely to be deported to India soon. The step of suspension was taken by the MEA at the request of Enforcement Directorate (ED). As Mallya has failed to appear before the ED for the third time in a row, it has requested the MEA to act against his stay in UK.   ED has been probing the money laundering case where Mallya was alleged to have acquired a 900 crore loan from IDBI. He has then transferred the amount to his overseas accounts. As the CBI and ED began to tighten their investigation against Mallya, he used his diplomatic passport to fly away to UK. His absconding to UK has led the Indian government as well as the banks to face severe criticism from the common man. But now, the government seems to be taking quick and strict measures to retrace its path and rectify the harm done to its reputation.

Free Wi-Fi at Vijayawada, Vizag and Hyd stations

  According to the budget motives of the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Google has proposed to provide free Wi-Fi services at 10 major Railway stations in India. Vijayawada, vizag and Hyderabad have found their names in the elite list. Google has already been providing this free of cost service at Mumbai central, but would be extending to the remaining 9 stations within a few days. And it’s not the end of the sweet news.   Google wish to extend this service to 100 stations by the end of this year, and then to 400 stations thereafter! This would make the project as one of the largest publicly accessible high speed Wi-Fi network in the world. Google assures that such Wi-Fi provision is not only free but also at its fastest best. The commuters waiting for the train could even watch high definition videos though such service. Google has been working with Railtel to fulfill this project. Railtel is an Indian corporation that owns 45000 Km of Optic fibre network, that's laid along the railway lines in India.

VIP’s shouldn’t have visited Kollam- Doctors

  The fire accident that killed more than 100 people in Kollam district of Kerala might have been a history by now. But a few officials began to question the hasty visit by the VIP’s to Kollam within a few hours of the incident. The DGP of Kerala has recently expressed his disappointment over the visit of people like PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi. He said that the rescue operations got affected as the police had to ensure the safety of the VIPs. They also had to convince and control the mob and supporters that such VIP’s generate. Modi and Rahul have later visited the victims at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital.   These visits were also being criticised by the medical staff of the hospital. Some alleged that the security has pushed away the Hospital employees that were treating the victims. Their entry into lifts and staircases were also restricted by the VIP staff for SECURITY reasons! Further the mob accompanying the VIP’s had entered into the sterile atmosphere of ICU, some even touching the victims. Even the photographers have entered the delicate environment of ICU for a few clicks. Doctor’s have claimed that the visits by Modi and Rahul have affected the treatment for at least 7 straight hours. They alleged that the early hours after the accident were considered to be crucial and were often termed as golden hours. Such golden hours were wasted by our leaders! Who cares!

Twin earthquakes in Japan- many feared dead.

  Two powerful earthquakes have hit the south west region of Japan leaving at least 29 people dead. The havoc it has created to the infrastructure in the region seems to be worse than the death toll. The first earth quake has hit an Island called Kyushu with a magnitude of 6.5 and later another quake has occurred at the same epic centre with much severe magnitude of 7.3. Lakhs of homes were torn down to ground level and people were left without electricity and drinking water.   Panic has spread that the earthquake might trigger a tsunami. Fears have also surrounded the nuclear plant that lies in Kyushu. But Japanese officials have stated that neither there is a danger of tsunami nor a threat to the nuclear plant. As Kyushu was located in a place where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could occur, a few aftershocks were being expected in the coming days. The Japan government has called for an emergency meeting to cope with the situation and the army was deployed to perform rescue operations.

Heat waves to prevail in Telangana

  Meteorological department has warned that the present heat waves could prevail for three more days in Telangana. As the temperatures across the state have crossed 43 degrees by now, heat waves could turn things to worse. Hyderabad has previously recorded an all time high temperature of 43.3 degrees in 1973 for the month of April. But that record might well be broken in a few days. Adding to the heat waves, many parts in the city were parching with lack of water.   The opposition leader Revanth Reddy points out that `state isn’t providing water to the people but supplying plenty of if to the beer manufacturers.’ However the government seems to have a good hold over the power supply by avoiding unofficial power cuts. The education ministry has also come up with a decision to close the schools from tomorrow. These should have been working till 24th of this month as per the earlier schedule.

Sugarcane, not IPL that should be banned

  Many people might have felt happy at the smacking of BCCI by the Mumbai high court. Readers are aware that the Mumbai high court has ordered the IPL matches to be conducted outside Maharashtra. The court while delivering the order has strongly felt that the water used to wet the pitches for IPL matches is nothing but wastage of water, while the rest of the state is reeling in drought. Though the common citizens felt happy about the order, experts point out sugarcane to be the major culprit for the ongoing drought season. Maharashtra, called as the Sugar belt of the nation used to grow huge amounts of sugarcane. But very few farmers were aware that it would be a disaster in the long run. As sugarcane needs plenty of water, the farmers began to rely on the ground level water.   Bores were laid down several feet down into the earth and water was extracted without any bounds. Even when the monsoons failed and bores got died, farmers has not resorted either to alternate crops such as cotton that need less water. While cultivating sugarcane, they haven’t tried to use less water more effectively through methods such as drip irrigation. Experts are warning that the farmers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were also resorting to such farming methods without any foresight. They fear that the present drought in Maharashtra might be a warning for the rest of the states in future.

Parties compete over Ambedkar’s legacy

April 14 might have been the 125th birthday of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. And every party seems to have tried to make the best out of it. While congress has been claiming the legacy of B.R.Ambedkar for a long time, others parties have raised serious question over it. After Independence, Ambedkar was appointed as the first law minister of the country by the Nehru government. But the present Prime Minister feels that congress has often undermined the importance of Ambedkar. Speaking at Ambedkar’s birthplace Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, Modi tried to assure that is was his government that’s working according to the principles of Ambedkar. He has even proposed a memorial of Ambedkar in Delhi, where the great politician has spent a few days of his life. However the Bihar CM Nitish doesn’t seem to be happy with the words of Modi. Nitish has criticised that while RSS and BJP were trying to own Ambedkar these days, they were acting in the wrong direction. BSP leader Mayawati too has come out to express her own views on Ambedkar’s legacy. She has said that her party would no more concentrate on memorials. Instead, she would focus much on development.   Telangana Chief Minister KCR too, took the opportunity of April 14 to express his gratitude for Ambedkar. He said that the article 3 laid in the constitution by Ambedkar gave the centre, a power to bifurcate the state. Thus according to KCR, Ambedkar is responsible for the formation of Telangana! KCR has also announced a 125 feet tall statue of Ambedkar near Tank Bund. Andhra CM Chandra Babu too got closer to KCR’s vision, as he also announced a 125 feet statue in the new state. Chandra Babu has also praised his Father-in-law NTR, to be the one who has strived to achieve the welfare of Dalits, on the path shown by Ambedkar. Well who could now ignore Ambedkar!

Monsoon to be late!

  Even though the officials have been assuring of perfect rainfall this year, some experts fear a delay in the onset of monsoon. Reason! According to the history of Monsoons, the year after El-Niño would delay the monsoon by at least 10 days. As 2015 has been described as the year affected by El-Niño, experts can sense a delay.   Monsoon is set to strike Kerala by June 1st every year and it would take a few more days to reach Andhra and Telangana. But we might have to wait till the second fortnight of June to witness the first showers this year. This is certainly a bad news for Telugu states which are experiencing the worst summer in the decade. On Thursday alone, 51 people got killed in both the states with mercury rising above 43 degrees. The news would also upset the drought hit regions such as Latur where the second set of water wagons have arrived to save the people from thirst.

Man booker prize gets shortlisted

  People might have heard about the Booker prize which would be awarded to the best book in English. But few are aware about its counterpart Man Booker prize. Man Booker Prize is awarded to the books written in foreign languages that get translated in English. The prize amount would be almost 40 lakh rupees and would be awarded on May 16th this year. The committee has yesterday announced a short list of 6 books that are going to be considered for the final prize.   These six books have come from six different parts of the world. These books have touched the experiences and emotions that ran through various generations. From ‘A general theory of Oblivion’ written in the backdrop of Angola independence to ‘The four books’ written about the psychological war games between intellectuals in china... books with rare and daring narrations were included in the final list.

INVISIBLE train in Japan

  Japan might be famous for its bullet trains. But they seem to have been out of fashion by now. So, this time, Japan’s noted architect Sejima has created an invisible train! This train would be using the reflective and transparent materials to let the train travel without visibility. This was thought to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Seibu Company which owns the railways around Tokyo. But what is the use of travelling in the invisible train? Sejima seems to have a valid answer for this.   Travelling in an invisible train in the nature would be a great experience, according to Sejima. The travel would not disturb the harmony of the nature and it’s like watching nature as an invisible spectator. In other words, the train would co-exist with the circumstances it’s travelling. This train has already won various accolades and would be making its debut in 2018. Japan government is expecting this train to be an architectural marvel as well as a tourist attraction.

Ban on Sherapova might be lifted

  Tennis star Sherapova might enter the grass court again. She was banned for getting positive with a drug called Meldonium this January. Though Sharapova has argued that she is unaware of the drug being placed in the prohibited list, she was put under an immediate ban by the Tennis Association WADA. Sharapova has defended the drug use by saying that she has been using the drug for maintaining a healthy heart.   But sports academics claim that Meldonium is mostly used for enhancing the athlete’s performance. However, the latest announcement by WADA might give some hope to Sharapova again. As Meldonium is known to be retained in the body, even after the months of its intake, WADA is trying to ascertain whether the drug was taken by the athletes before or after the ban. Though some people are crying foul that this decision was made to save Sherapova, WADA is clarifying that, it’s just their best move to save the innocent. So! Would Sharapova be proved innocent?

ISIS to wipe out Hindus

  The Islamic state has now seems to have laid its eyes on India. In a recent interview published in the ISIS mouth piece DABIQ, `Abu Ibrahim Hanif` of Islamic state has disclosed his intentions to such extent. Abu Ibrahim who is heading the Islamic State in Bangladesh has vowed to wipe out Hindus from India. He has also stated that necessary training is being given to the Jihadi’s in Bangladesh to achieve this goal. Abu Ibrahim is also confident of making contacts with local terrorist organisations to create havoc in the sub continent. Hanif calls Hindus as disbelievers and he pledges to establish the rule of Islam in India, by erasing them. He just wants to create `tawah` (destruction) in India. Can He!

Modi government to face a revolt- Robert Vadra

  People might better know him as the husband of Priyanka Gandhi, but Robert Vadra thinks that he is good even without Priyanka. "I didn't need my wife Priyanka to enhance my life. I have enough, I have always had enough. My father gave me enough. I have been educated enough to sustain in all types of situations," Robert Vadra told ANI today.   Even though a one man commission is inquiring into the land deal made by Vadra in Haryana, he feels that his character is strong enough to face any hardship. However, Robert Vadra feels that people in this nation would soon revolt against the ill ruling government of Modi. Vadra has also cleared the air regarding his entry into politics. He has hinted that he may join the stream of active politics in future. “Let’s see what the future has in store for me,” said Mr.Vadra. Would that statement holds good about his land deal case too!

Illegal vaccine scandal in China

  An illegal vaccine scandal is shaking the parents of china. Its being called as Shandong vaccine scandal named after the epic centre of the scandal. The illegal vaccine ring was reportedly in operation since 2011, till it was busted in April 2015. Still the Chinese police officials has kept it secret fearing a public outrage. It was only in last month that the authorities issued a call to trace the potential victims. The working of scandal is quite simple.   A few culprits purchased the vaccines from licensed and unlicensed sources, and then sold them on to other agents or local hospitals for high prices. Such vaccines mishandled could have either resulted in adverse side affects or could have been useless in preventing the diseases. Chinese officials are now tracing down the scandal to the individuals. Cases were laid against 357 officials who have corroborated with the unofficial drug agents. Though the Chinese public has been venting its anger over the scandal, the government as usual is calm and quite.

Karnataka CM in a fresh scam

  Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah finds himself in a fresh scam. After all the explanations and suggestions he has made over a foreign watch, this time, it was the case of a government contract. According to the opposition in Karnataka, a firm in which Siddaramaiah’s son was a director has been bestowed with a valuable contract. Dr Yathindra, son of the CM however denies the allegation.   Yatindra has been working in a firm that has grabbed a major contract for setting up a diagnostic centre in the premises of Bangalore Medical college. Critics point out that the contract is granted even though the firm headed by Yathindra is unfit to grab the contract. Besides, setting a private lab in the government hospital premises is against the ethics of social health care. Though Yathindra claims the process of acquiring the contract to be transparent, this incident is certainly going to heat up the politics in Karnataka.