India grinds to a halt

Photo © Photokore.com

India witnessed a nationwide strike yesterday. Stores pulled down their shutters. Railway lines and national highways are blocked leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Shopkeepers, traders, laborers are all united in protest with the opposition parties against the Prime Minister’s latest retail reforms on two prime issues- to allow foreign superstore chains such as Wal-Mart and Tesco to set up base in India and the sharp price hike on diesel.
The ruling party has argued that the effort is to revive the sluggish economy to herald a consumer revolution. This move, they said, promised to create new jobs and offer a choice for local consumers.
However, the decision was met with universal protests from both the opposition parties and trade unions who called for the strike. Policemen in the thousands have been deployed in Kolkata to prevent violence. The worst is yet to come as large rallies are planned later in the day in New Delhi and other cities. Private schools have also been shut down although government schools and offices remain open. It is estimated that at least 50 million people will participate in the rally against the retail reforms which are feared to topple over several smaller local businesses, neighborhood stores and lead to drastic job losses. Only Mumbai remains largely unaffected as the government did not support the strike

. (Based on Khaleejtimes.com

56 year old woman fights off a wolf.

A 56 year old Russian woman has fought off a wolf with an axe…

Aishat Maksudova, was alone repairing a fence when a lone wolf attacked her. Maksudova shouted out for help but no villagers were withing earshot. After a struggle with the wolf who attacked her leg and arm, she managed to grab an axe lying on the floor and fight off the wolf, hitting it repeatedly over the head with the axe. The wolf eventually collapsed and later died. She sustained injuries to her arm and leg and is recuperating in hospital, meanwhile she has become somewhat of a local hero in her province and now the news of her courage and strength is spreading worldwide, leaving all of us amazed!

(Based on Huffington Post))

Court disallows top actor to sell his ‘hit-and-run’ car

Photo ©salmancruiser-andrymanwanto.com

The Bandra Metropolitan court rejected an application sent by Salman Khan to sell his Toyota Land Cruiser car that was involved in a hit-and-run accident on September 28, 2002 killed a 70 year old woman and injured four others. The reason cited was that the case and trial is still not over and the car serves as evidence.
The car had rammed into a bakery in the suburbs of Bandra at night. The victims were sleeping on the pavement at the time. The court framed charges against Khan for culpable homicide not amounting to murder since it was an unintentional accident. The car belonged to his brother Sohail Khan who was not with him at the time. His driver was said to be behind the wheel then. The victim was sleeping on the roadside, covered in a black rag that the driver mistook to be a black polythene bag in the dim night light and ran over her and a few others, injuring them seriously.The victim’s family at first harassed the actor for compensation which he declined after he learnt that the old lady was disowned by the family.
The trial started in 2005 and still continues.

(Based on Timesofindia.indiatimes.com)