The police in Mumbai arrested Monday a 21-year-old college student Shaheen Dhada for a Facebook status update and her friendRenu Srinivasan for clicking "Like" on the update. The case is the latest in a string of recent crackdowns on Internet speech in India.
The update had criticized a general strike called by a political party, the right-wing Shiv Sena, to mourn the death Saturday of its elderly founder and patriarch, Bal Thackeray. The controversial leader has been hailed by Hindu nationalists but also criticized by liberals for leaving behind a legacy of political violence in India’s financial capital. The party has been accused of anti-Muslim violence inMumbai in 1992, and Mr. Thackeray frequently made statements against Muslims.
In her Facebook post, Ms. Dhada wrote, “Respect is earned, not given and definitely not forced. Today Mumbai shuts down due to fear and not due to respect." She also said that politicians like Thackeray are “born and die daily” and the city need not shut down for it, and that people should remember the martyrs of the Indian independence movement.Dhada and Ms. Srinivasan were arrested under section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code that seeks to punish statements that amount to “creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.” Additionally the two students have also been charged with Section 66A of the Information Technology Act that criminalizes online speech that is “grossly offensive or of menacing character.” Another law they have been charged with is Indian Penal Code 295A, which makes insulting or outraging religious feelings an offense. The punishment for each count is three years imprisonment each.
The arrests come in the wake of many such in India this year, a result of controversial new information technology laws. The other cases have included arrest of a resident of Chandigarh who complained on the Facebook page of Chandigarh police that they were not doing enough to find her stolen car; a cartoonist who posted work online protesting corruption scandals by the central government; and a professor in Kolkata who merely forwarded an email with a cartoon that was critical of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
While the women in the Thackeray case have been granted bail, the arrest has led to outrage on social media, with even right-wingers condemning the arrest as an assault on free speech.
Pranesh Prakash of the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore says that the entire Information Technology Act needs a review by the government, civil society, and other stake-holders. “The current law does not have sufficient safeguards for privacy and freedom of speech and the law is being used as a tool of harassment,” Mr. Prakash says.
In a letter to the Maharashtra state government, Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju urged chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to take action against police officials who misused the laws to arrest the girls. Mr. Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge, wrote in his letter, “We are living in a democracy, not a fascist dictatorship. In fact this arrest itself appears to be a criminal act since… it is a crime to wrongfully arrest or wrongfully confine someone who has committed no crime.”
On top of the legal action against the women, street thugs exacted further punishment. A mob of Shiv Sena activists vandalized the clinic of Ms. Dhada’s uncle, Dr. Abdullah Ghaffar Dhada. Speaking on the phone from Mumbai, Dr. Dhadha says he incurred losses of two million Indian Rupees (nearly $36,500).
The update had criticized a general strike called by a political party, the right-wing Shiv Sena, to mourn the death Saturday of its elderly founder and patriarch, Bal Thackeray. The controversial leader has been hailed by Hindu nationalists but also criticized by liberals for leaving behind a legacy of political violence in India’s financial capital. The party has been accused of anti-Muslim violence inMumbai in 1992, and Mr. Thackeray frequently made statements against Muslims.
In her Facebook post, Ms. Dhada wrote, “Respect is earned, not given and definitely not forced. Today Mumbai shuts down due to fear and not due to respect." She also said that politicians like Thackeray are “born and die daily” and the city need not shut down for it, and that people should remember the martyrs of the Indian independence movement.Dhada and Ms. Srinivasan were arrested under section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code that seeks to punish statements that amount to “creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.” Additionally the two students have also been charged with Section 66A of the Information Technology Act that criminalizes online speech that is “grossly offensive or of menacing character.” Another law they have been charged with is Indian Penal Code 295A, which makes insulting or outraging religious feelings an offense. The punishment for each count is three years imprisonment each.
The arrests come in the wake of many such in India this year, a result of controversial new information technology laws. The other cases have included arrest of a resident of Chandigarh who complained on the Facebook page of Chandigarh police that they were not doing enough to find her stolen car; a cartoonist who posted work online protesting corruption scandals by the central government; and a professor in Kolkata who merely forwarded an email with a cartoon that was critical of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
While the women in the Thackeray case have been granted bail, the arrest has led to outrage on social media, with even right-wingers condemning the arrest as an assault on free speech.
Pranesh Prakash of the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore says that the entire Information Technology Act needs a review by the government, civil society, and other stake-holders. “The current law does not have sufficient safeguards for privacy and freedom of speech and the law is being used as a tool of harassment,” Mr. Prakash says.
In a letter to the Maharashtra state government, Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju urged chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to take action against police officials who misused the laws to arrest the girls. Mr. Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge, wrote in his letter, “We are living in a democracy, not a fascist dictatorship. In fact this arrest itself appears to be a criminal act since… it is a crime to wrongfully arrest or wrongfully confine someone who has committed no crime.”
On top of the legal action against the women, street thugs exacted further punishment. A mob of Shiv Sena activists vandalized the clinic of Ms. Dhada’s uncle, Dr. Abdullah Ghaffar Dhada. Speaking on the phone from Mumbai, Dr. Dhadha says he incurred losses of two million Indian Rupees (nearly $36,500).
Blocked mountain roads were hampering rescue efforts after twin earthquakes struck southwestern China and killed at least 80 people, leaving officials worried Saturday that the death toll could rise further.
More than 100,000 residents were evacuated after Friday's quakes toppled thousands of houses and sent boulders cascading across roads in a remote mountainous area along the borders of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.
The damage was preventing rescuers from reaching outlying towns, and communications were disrupted after the midday quakes hit in a region of small farms and mines where some of China's poorest people live. Weather forecasts Saturday said there was a chance of rain over the next three days, which could hamper rescue work.
But there was some good news, with state television reporting that four babies had been born in temporary hospitals set up since the quakes hit.
The first magnitude-5.6 quake struck just before 11:30 a.m. Friday and was followed by an equally strong quake shortly after noon, joined by dozens of aftershocks. Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow, which often causes more damage.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that 80 people had died in the quakes. It said earlier that hundreds had been hurt, but did not immediately give a new injury toll Saturday.
Hardest hit was Yiliang County, where all but one of the deaths occurred, according to the Yunnan provincial government's official website. Another 730 people in the area were injured, Xinhua said. Yiliang's high population density, flimsy building construction and landslide-prone hillsides were blamed for the relatively high death toll.
China Central Television showed roads littered with rocks and boulders and pillars of dust rising over hilltops from the landslides. One image taken just as one quake struck showed people running out of a supermarket as the ground shook.
Other footage showed villages of blue tents being set up for the evacuated, as well as hundreds of people crowding into a school athletic field in Yiliang's county seat, a sizable city spread along a river in a valley.
Though quakes occur in the area frequently, buildings in rural areas and China's fast-growing smaller cities and towns are often constructed poorly. A magnitude-7.9 quake that hit Sichuan province, just north of Yunnan, in 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people, with many of the deaths blamed on poorly built structures, including schools.
Xinhua quoted Yunnan's civil affairs department as saying Friday's quakes destroyed 6,650 houses and damaged 430,000 others. Besides the 100,000 residents already evacuated, another 100,000 were in need of relocation, the department said.
"The hardest part of the rescue will be handling traffic," Li Fuchun, head of Luozehe township in Yiliang, was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "Roads are blocked and rescuers have to climb mountains to reach hard-hit villages."
That included a village near a zinc mine in Luozehe. "It is scary. My brother was killed by falling rocks," miner Peng Zhuwen told Xinhua. "The aftershocks struck again and again. We are so scared."
The government has sent thousands of tents, blankets and containers of water into the area, and the Red Cross spokesman for East Asia, Francis Markus, said 2,000 quilts, 2,000 jackets and 500 tents were being rushed to the area, which is largely inhabited by members of the Yi ethnic minority.
He said the use of light construction materials would likely create far more injuries than deaths.
A government official in Jiaokui town said a large number of houses had collapsed.
"The casualty number is still being compiled. I don't know what it was like for the other towns, but my town got hit badly," he said. Like many Chinese officials, he refused to give his name.
Mobile phone services were down and regular phone lines disrupted. Phones were cut off to clinics in four villages in Qiaoshan, another town in Yiliang, which has about half a million people.
Authorities sent thousands of tents, blankets and coats to the area, Xinhua said.
It said that so far no deaths had been reported in neighboring Guizhou, but that homes had been damaged or destroyed there.
Friday's quakes were relatively shallow, about 10 kilometers (six miles) deep, creating an intense shaking even at a lower magnitude.
By comparison, the magnitude-7.6 quake in Costa Rica this week was 40 kilometers (25 miles) below the surface, a fact that, combined with strict building codes, kept damage and deaths to a minimum.
Hell yes!! you read it right a chinese student sold his kidney to buy iPhone and iPad.
His name is Xiao Zheng and he is a student in Anhui Province from China. He sold his Kidney for around $3400 to an unknown man to buy iPhone and iPad.The hospital where the operation apparently took place claims to know nothing of the operation and a man to whom the kidney was sold vanished without a trace. But this dude’s now got a new iPhone 4 and iPad 2 to play with, so good luck to him .
Now authorities have indicted five people in central China for involvement in illegal organ trading after a teenager sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and an iPad.
His name is Xiao Zheng and he is a student in Anhui Province from China. He sold his Kidney for around $3400 to an unknown man to buy iPhone and iPad.The hospital where the operation apparently took place claims to know nothing of the operation and a man to whom the kidney was sold vanished without a trace. But this dude’s now got a new iPhone 4 and iPad 2 to play with, so good luck to him .
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| Man who sold his kidney to buy iPhone and iPad |
Three new mountains have been added on the eight-thousanders list, Chinese scientists have discovered.
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| Mt. Annapurna, One of the three Mountains |
Mount Annapurna East with a peak of 8,013 meters in Nepal, Mount Center with a peak of 8,011 meters along the borders between China and Kashmir and Mount West Shishapangma with a peak of 8,008 meters in China's Tibet Autonomous Region are the three new eight-thousanders, said Mi Desheng, a researcher from the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences on Sunday.
Mi said Chinese scientists have completed mapping out all the 17 mountains with the height of more than 8,000 meters above the sea level. They are expected to publish their findings in a book "World Eight-thousander Snow Mountain Atlas" soon.
The atlas, which includes seven 1:100000 maps, will be published both in Chinese and English. It will provide theoretical evidence to the glacier research and give detailed mapping materials to the mountaineers, Mi said.
Chinese scientists have begun the field trip and photographic surveying of the eight-thousanders since 1980s, he added. It is widely acknowledged that there are 14 eight-thousanders in the world. Chinese scientists' new discovery put the number at 17.
There are 39 peaks with a height of more than 8,000 meters, according to their discovery.
Mi said Chinese scientists have completed mapping out all the 17 mountains with the height of more than 8,000 meters above the sea level. They are expected to publish their findings in a book "World Eight-thousander Snow Mountain Atlas" soon.
The atlas, which includes seven 1:100000 maps, will be published both in Chinese and English. It will provide theoretical evidence to the glacier research and give detailed mapping materials to the mountaineers, Mi said.
Chinese scientists have begun the field trip and photographic surveying of the eight-thousanders since 1980s, he added. It is widely acknowledged that there are 14 eight-thousanders in the world. Chinese scientists' new discovery put the number at 17.
There are 39 peaks with a height of more than 8,000 meters, according to their discovery.
Most of you have seen or heard that the person with short term memory problem. But there is an example in reality too.
A 19-year-old girl in
Britain has no past. She suffers from a rare condition that wipes out her
memories leaving her at the mercy of her family to even remember if she has had
her breakfast.
Susac Syndrome is a rare
disease and till date only about 250 cases have been reported in the whole
world. This medical condition affects the person so much that they can't
remember what they did yesterday.
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| 19 year old girl with short term memory |
Doctors expect the
teenager to improve in another five years but they caution that any hearing or
sight loss during the period would be permanent.
Till a year ago, she was
a performing art student who was able to recall the entire script of 'We Will
Rock You' and now she can't even remember her beloved grandmother's funeral
which took place last year. She has to be constantly reminded that two of her
friends are pregnant and hence they are gaining weight.
She is totally dependent
on her family and can barely go out on her own as her sense of balance is also
being affected. She has already had to give up college and more heartbreak soon
follow as she might have to give up her job at a diner.
A pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana.
A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta.
Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants.
They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf.
Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river.
"This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting - no-one could believe their eyes."
Albino elephants are not usually white, but instead they have more of a reddish-brown or pink hue. While albinism is thought to be fairly common in Asian elephants, it is much less common in the larger African species. Ecologist Dr Mike Chase, who runs conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, said: "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa.
"This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana.
Source: BBC nepali sewa
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| Pink Elephant |
Albino elephants are not usually white, but instead they have more of a reddish-brown or pink hue. While albinism is thought to be fairly common in Asian elephants, it is much less common in the larger African species. Ecologist Dr Mike Chase, who runs conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, said: "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa.
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| Pink elephant in africa jungle |
If you are a great social networking nut especially the facebook. then today we have the great news for you.
Do you have an old mobile phone, like the Nokia 1100, that has no browser and can do little more than make phone calls? Or are you stuck in some remote place where there’s no Internet or no other form of data (EGDE/GPRS/3G) connectivity is available?
Not a problem. You can still use your Facebook account in India by dialing *325# (or *fbk#) from your mobile phone – this service requires no data plan or Internet and it will even work on phones of the Stone Age.
Here’s a guide for you :Click Here for detail process.
Here’s a guide for you :Click Here for detail process.
A tiny Texas baby born with some organs on the outside of his body is recovering at a hospital after having surgery to correct the rare condition, his parents told ABC News.
Little Hayes Davis was born in Houston on March 25 with a rare defect known as omphalocele, in which a fetus’ intestines and other organs develop in a thin sack outside a baby’s belly.
Mom Kelly Davis told ABC that doctors told her about the condition, which afflicts one of every 10,000 babies, during an ultrasound about three months into her pregnancy.
“Once we heard the word ‘omphalocele,’ it was our world,” the 29-year-old Texan said.
Her doctors at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital said baby Hayes was lucky because he didn’t have a heart defect or other problems commonly associated with omphalocele.
But the organ bulge was bigger than most, and baby Hayes was too tiny to operate on right away, doctors said.
After being shown how to care for the condition, Kelly and husband Cody were able to bring the newborn home, while doctors hoped the boy would grow to develop enough tissue to cover the organs during a procedure.
Traditionally, the condition requires several operations to tighten up the abdomen and bring the edges of the skin fully together, but Tsao believed the component separation was possible for Hayes because the doctors had waited several months for him to grow and develop more skin and tissue to work with in covering the organs.
finally, the surgery came to be the sucess for the medical team.On Tuesday night, Kelly wrote that doctors had managed to fix the problem and Hayes was breathing okay, though the “lung is still pretty junky.”
A new island is forming in the Red Sea in the Zubair archipelago resulting from a volcanic activity as lava is cooled by the surrounding seawater and solidifies. The underwater volcano responsible is located on the Red Sea Rift, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart.
Fishermen witnessed lava fountains reaching up to 90 feet (30 meters) tall on Dec. 19, which is probably the day the eruption began,Ash plumes were detected by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging
1.dancing house
Here’s a building that should really get your attention when walking pass it. The Dancing House is considered as one of the more real controversial buildings in Prague. The DH was actually designed by a great architect from California, which only proves that he had done some type of hallucinogen while designing it.
2. Robot building
The Bank of Asia is a very famous building in Bangkok. It was made way back in 1985, and it’s robotic appearance is just a symbol of the modernization of banking. It also has the ability to transform into a mega-robot. So, if Godzilla ever decided to show his green face in the land of Bangkok, they would have to fight!
2.Ripley’s Building
If you saw this picture for the first time, you’d probably thought that it was hit by a massive earthquake. But it wasn’t. In true fashion of the Ripley Legacy, it was built to
reflect the odd 1812 earthquake that measured 8.0 on the rick. The building has now become one of the most photographed in the world because of it.
3.135 Degree Angle
This bizarre house really doesn’t have an official name,but it does have a 135 degree angle. So that’s what we’re going to call it. Unfortunately, the only info we have about this house is that it was built in China or Japan. And that it has a silly pink roof. And if you look real close, you’ll notice that it’s on a 135 degree damn angle.
4.Hotel Sofitel
This hotel’s unique design was directly inspired by the traditional temples in Japan. TheTokyo Sofitel has over 72 rooms, and 11 suites with 3 non-smoking floors. And 5 meeting rooms that includes high-tech boardrooms. Please realize that you have to sell your soul in order to step foot inside this amazing hotel.
5.Upside Downer
Take a journey into the unknown with a building called Wonder Works. It’s central Florida’s only upside down attraction. And an amusement park for your mind, and your
stoner friends. This odd building has over 100 wacky interactive exhibits for your entire family to experience. But make sure you free your weed before coming
6.Crooked House
You know that your looking at a real building right? The Crooked House was built in 2004 as an addition at a popular shopping center, and is a major tourist attraction in Sopot, Poland. We just wonder what happens when someone who’s under a
co
ntrolled substance sees this building for the first time in their life.
Here’s a building that should really get your attention when walking pass it. The Dancing House is considered as one of the more real controversial buildings in Prague. The DH was actually designed by a great architect from California, which only proves that he had done some type of hallucinogen while designing it.
2. Robot building
The Bank of Asia is a very famous building in Bangkok. It was made way back in 1985, and it’s robotic appearance is just a symbol of the modernization of banking. It also has the ability to transform into a mega-robot. So, if Godzilla ever decided to show his green face in the land of Bangkok, they would have to fight!
2.Ripley’s Building
If you saw this picture for the first time, you’d probably thought that it was hit by a massive earthquake. But it wasn’t. In true fashion of the Ripley Legacy, it was built to
reflect the odd 1812 earthquake that measured 8.0 on the rick. The building has now become one of the most photographed in the world because of it.
3.135 Degree Angle
This bizarre house really doesn’t have an official name,but it does have a 135 degree angle. So that’s what we’re going to call it. Unfortunately, the only info we have about this house is that it was built in China or Japan. And that it has a silly pink roof. And if you look real close, you’ll notice that it’s on a 135 degree damn angle.
4.Hotel Sofitel
This hotel’s unique design was directly inspired by the traditional temples in Japan. TheTokyo Sofitel has over 72 rooms, and 11 suites with 3 non-smoking floors. And 5 meeting rooms that includes high-tech boardrooms. Please realize that you have to sell your soul in order to step foot inside this amazing hotel.
5.Upside Downer
Take a journey into the unknown with a building called Wonder Works. It’s central Florida’s only upside down attraction. And an amusement park for your mind, and your
stoner friends. This odd building has over 100 wacky interactive exhibits for your entire family to experience. But make sure you free your weed before coming
6.Crooked House
You know that your looking at a real building right? The Crooked House was built in 2004 as an addition at a popular shopping center, and is a major tourist attraction in Sopot, Poland. We just wonder what happens when someone who’s under a
co
ntrolled substance sees this building for the first time in their life.
A normal person have only four limbs(two hand and two legs).But there are some exceptions .These photos are of eight year old Kumar Paswan from a remote Indian village who has an astonishing medical condition. He was born with a parasitic twin. The twin stopped developing in the womb before it separated fully from Kumar and has left him with seven limbs. He has launched an appeal for the thousands of pounds needed for an operation to remove the parasite.
