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The Night of the Women [Illustration by Shinod AP] March 19: A few days ago, the streets of Bogota, the capital of South American country Colombia, wore a very unusual look at night. Not one man was visible outside. Bogota’s eccentric mayor, Antanas Mockus, had declared March 9, 2001, as the Night of the Women. All the city’s men were ordered to stay indoors and leave the city free for women that night, says a Guardian News Service report in The Hindustan Times....
Where: London, U.K. February 16, 2009 : Last week two submarines, one British and one French, both carrying nuclear weapons, collided in the Atlantic Ocean. Neither British nor French officials could explain how this could have happened with two sophisticated vessels from allied nations. The event proved to be a puzzle and an embarrassment for both navies. There were no leaks or injuries, but both submarines were badly damaged, and had to return to port. One expert said the ‘freak occurence’ was partly because the submarines are designed for stealth, and added, ‘The whole point of a deterrent submarine is that it is as quiet as possible so you can’t find it....
November 4: The publishing world has come full circle. At one point of time, authors would run from publisher to publisher trying to get his/her book published. Then it was the turn of the publishers to run after popular authors and pay them astronomical sums just to persuade them to write a bestseller. Now a new twist has been added to the tale: no, it’s not an unknown author paying to get his book published. This time readers will pay through their nose to be a character in tomorrow’s bestseller!...
Where: London, UK, and Los Angeles, USA February 11, 2009 : India’a A.R.Rahman won the award for the Best Music Director for his work in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ at the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards ceremony. Fellow Indian Resul Pookutty, the sound director of the film, won the Best Sound Editing Award. At the 51st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Zakir Hussain, India’s tabla maestro, won the Grammy for the best Contemporary World Music Album....
Where: The Gaza Strip January 06, 2009 : Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on December 28, 2008, and the attacks grew to a full-fledged war within days. The Gaza Strip lies along the Mediterranean Sea. It is not a part of a recognised sovereign state, but it is home to the Palestinian Arab people, numbering about 1.4 million. The area was under Israeli control until 2005. Since 2007, it has been administered by a radical group from the region called Hamas....
Where: Jammu and Kashmir, India January 08, 2009 : While we hope and pray for peace in the New Year, Indian troops are engaged in battle with a group of militants in the forested Mendhar sector of Poonch district in Kashmir. The gun battle broke out on 1 January, 2009, and entered its eighth day today. The militants, it is believed, are senior commanders of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The Indian Army besieged the Pati Tar peak in the middle of a forest after receiving information about the presence of the hardcore militants in the area....
As the northwest monsoon strikes India in the first week of June, people from all parts of India, and abroad, make a beeline for Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh. They all have one thing in common: they suffer from the disease of asthma and gather in Hyderabad for a unique herbal cure. The medicine is stuffed inside the mouth of a three-inch live murrel fish which the patient is made to swallow. Once inside the body, the fish releases the medicine....
Where: Russia August 19, 2000: The Kursk, an ultra-modern Russian nuclear-powered submarine has sunk. Its crew has been trapped underwater for over a week now. In fact many might already be dead. By denying that it was a serious accident and by not launching serious rescue efforts in the beginning, the Russian government has reduced their chances of survival further… The submarine’s ability to stay for long periods underwater, is an absolute marvel of science. Actually, this is due to its capsule-like body....
A Show of Endurance [Illustration by Shiju George] October 22: The newspaper photograph showed Japanese swimmer Kei Miyamoto’s body finely arched at the starting point as he prepared to slice into the Olympic pool at the Sydney Aquatic Centre. And then I noticed it. He had no arms. Kei was practicing for the Paralympic Games, just as wheelchair-bound track athletes and sportspersons bearing the loss of an arm or limb with practiced ease, went through their paces for the 11-day event for the physically challenged that is going on in Sydney at present....
October 16: A few days ago, seven villages in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, wore a ghostly look for an entire day. Not one of the 40,000 people inhabiting the villages could be seen outside their homes. The villagers were on a first ever self-imposed ‘janata (people’s) curfew’ in the country. Their purpose – to attract government attention to the serious state of unemployment in the villages. Their grievance – a futile wait for over 25 years for jobs promised by the state government, reported ‘The Indian Express’....
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