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Bizarre Bazaar: May 22 08
MUMBAI, India THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India NEW DELHI, India KOLATA, India A large number of villagers blocked traffic on a national highway near Agra after a wrestler was electrocuted when he accidentally came in contact with an electrical cable on a field. Karuna Pehalwan, 35, was grazing his cattle Sunday when he got killed, the police said. The high-tension wire had apparently snapped in a storm. The death led to the traffic blockade that lasted several hours.
A cargo ship with 21 people on board was seized by pirates near the Somalian capital Mogadishu at the weekend, prompting a massive search for the hijacked ship, the 10th this year. The vessel was carrying 4,200 metric tonnes of bagged sugar under the world food program from Mumbai port for distribution in war-torn Somalia. The ship had a crew of 21, of whom 10 were Indians while the rest were from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tanzania and Kenya.
KATHMANDU, Nepal
Though Nepal’s former Maoist guerrillas who waged a 10-year war on the monarch of the world’s only Hindu kingdom say King Gyanendra will have to yield his crown and exit the royal palace within two weeks, a small but resolute group of people predict monarchy will not die out. Nepal’s astrologers predict that when the king’s grandson turns 13, circumstances will put him on the throne of his grandfather.
A controversial swami, who was detained in a police station after he threatened to commit suicide, was injured after his pistol went off inside the station in full view of television cameras. Another bullet whizzed past a reporter. Himaval Maheswara Bhadranandaji, popularly known as ‘Ernakulam Swami,’ was taken to Aluva police station after he barged into a media office, reportedly angered by a report that showed him in poor light.
India says it is ready to give Islamabad evidence about wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, a "global terrorist" believed responsible for the Mumbai bomb blasts which claimed 257 lives, who is reportedly living in Pakistan, adding India did not plan to present the "evidence" on its own. The comment came after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said earlier this month his government would consider a request for Ibrahim’s extradition if India provided "authentic proof."?
KATHMANDU, Nepal
Up to 20 people were killed and dozens are missing and presumed drowned after a packed passenger bus skidded off a mountain road and plunged into a river in Nepal. More than half of the passengers on the bus, which fell 100 metres from the road into the Rapti River, were Indian nationals on a pilgrimage.
YANGON, Burma
More than two weeks after Cyclone Nargis struck, leaving at least 133,000 people dead or missing, Burma’s main city remains short on electricity and water, while the nearby Irrawaddy delta lies in ruins, with corpses still rotting in fields and desperate survivors forced to beg for food. Despite the devastation, however, the military regime is going ahead with a second round of voting on a new constitution on Saturday in the regions that were worst hit by the storm.
BEIJING, China
China has issued an international appeal for large numbers of tents to provide shelter for millions of homeless earthquake survivors. Nearly five million people lost their homes in the May 12 disaster that left more than 71,000 people dead, buried under rubble or missing in south-western Sichuan province. Meanwhile, China has declared three days of mourning and suspended the Olympic torch relay nearly a week.
SRINGAR, India
Two days ahead of Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Pakistan to review a four-year-old peace process, an Indian soldier was killed in cross-border fire in Kashmir on Monday, prompting India to lodge a protest with Islamabad. The soldier died in shooting from the Pakistani side of a military control line that divides Kashmir between the two countries. India said it was the third such incident in Kashmir this month.
Sex workers in India now have the option of taking out life insurance — a move they hope will speed up their bid to legalize the profession, a charity said. "Sex workers approached Life Insurance Corporation of India, which agreed to provide insurance coverage,’’ said Smarajit Jana, chief adviser to the Committee for Indomitable Women, a group representing 65,000 of India’s 1.2 million sex workers.
AGRA, India
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