Sunday, April 22, 2012
Friday, October 1, 2010
Road caves in, RBI van gets stuck
NEW DELHI: It seems that even the common man's money is not safe on Delhi roads. A Reserve Bank of India van moving towards the Red Fort to drop off Rs 50 crore at the Chandni Chowk branch of the State Bank of India was stuck near the Sishganj Gurdwara for over four hours on Tuesday.
This took place after a portion of the road caved in and the front portion of the van got stuck in a five-foot deep crater around 1pm. According to police, coins alone constituted Rs 2.5 crore of the cash.
What followed was a comedy of errors. A crane trying to lift the van also broke down prompting private security guards to rush in extra reinforcement. At least four PCRs were rushed to the spot along with local police from two police stations. It took over four hours before the cranes could rescue the van and help it resume its journey.
The cave-in resulted in further traffic chaos in the area. According to residents of the area, the road had been giving way for quite sometime now and they had made numerous complaints to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
Said an MCD official: ''Delhi Jal Board had been carrying out deep sewer work along this stretch for months altogether. The road might not have been restored properly. The cave-in could have also happened due to breach in the sewer line. We have repaired the road and it will be opened to traffic by Wednesday.''
Said general secretary of Chandni Chowk traders association: ''A Reserve Bank of India truck was stuck due to a road cave-in. The tyres kept sinking in further and several cranes had to be called in to pull out the truck. The roads in this area have been giving way for several years now but nothing has been done to to improve the condition in the area.'' Another cave-in was also reported near Gole Dakhana.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Cash pours out of burst pipeline
CHENNAI: It had all the ingredients of a comic thriller. Early in the morning, a lorry laden with wood rams a pipeline and it bursts. Then, along with water currency notes come out gushing! Soon, rumours spread that money is pouring out of a pipeline and people from several places rush in to collect the notes. There is chaos and traffic in the area is brought to a halt. The drama, that unfolded on the Vyasarpadi bridge early on Tuesday, lasted nearly 30 minutes. The police said later that some thieves had hidden the currency notes under the pipe that was hit by the lorry.
According to the police, a lorry from Andhra Pradesh was headed towards Choolai to unload its load of logs at a few companies there. Thanks to the ongoing construction work on the new four-lane Vyasarpadi bridge, the traffic moved slowly in both directions. The many potholes underneath the bridge also contributed to the slow movement.
The driver of the wood-laden lorry while trying to avoid hitting another vehicle moving ahead, turned left and hit a pipeline underneath the railway bridge. The pipeline burst and water gushed out. Also, all of a sudden, currency notes in the denominations of Rs 20, 50 and 100, totalling nearly Rs 5,000, came out. The notes scattered all over, around 6.30 am. Several two-wheeler riders stopped and collected the cash.
The news then spread like wildfire and scores of people from areas like Sathyamurthy Nagar and Vyasarpadi madea beeline to the spot. They abandoned their vehicles by the roadside and began gathering the wet currency notes. The resultant traffic snarl lasted nearly half an hour.
"There was complete chaos as the air was full of sounds. Initially, everyone thought the pipeline was full of cash. When there were no more currency notes, some of them even tried to break the pipeline further. Later, it was found that some thieves had hidden the currency notes behind the pipeline which may then have gushed out with the water," a middle level police officer said.
Since the incident happened underneath the railway bridge, the Korukkupet railway police took up the case and later took the wood-laden lorry and its driver to the police station for further inquiry.
Monday, August 16, 2010
13-yr-old hit by lightning at 13:13 on Friday the 13th
A 13-year-old Briton was struck by lightning at 13:13 on Friday the 13th. He escaped with only minor burns.
The teenager was struck at Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival Friday, Aug 13. The ambulance team that was treating him noticed the time - 1.13 p.m., Daily Mail reported.
The victim suffered a minor burn and was taken to James Paget Hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery.
Two other people were treated at the event for lightning strikes. They were holding umbrellas when lightning struck them.
Rex Clarke of St John Ambulance volunteers said: "We got a call that someone had been struck by lightning so we immediately sent our paramedics to the scene, followed by an ambulance. Lightning strikes can cause cardiac arrest, but when our volunteers arrived the boy was conscious and breathing.
"We treated two more injuries from lightning burns in the space of twenty minutes - all three people were holding umbrellas at the time, which acts as a conductor for electricity."
Monday, July 12, 2010
Look who got to the Cup before the Spaniards...
By: Agencies
Date: 2010-07-12
Place: Johannesburg
Infamous Spanish prankster "Jimmy Jump" tried to grab the World Cup trophy moments before the Spain and Holland players were due to walk out at Soccer City for the tournament final.
The fan ran in from a corner of the stadium and raced across the field toward the halfway line, where the trophy had been placed on a pedestal for the players to parade past.
Oh no you don't! Jaume Marquet Cot tried to get his hands on the trophy just before the finals kicked off
He was tackled just before he could get his hands on the trophy and was carried away by seven security guards, taken up the tunnel and past the waiting players.
The unidentified man, wearing a red woolen hat and black T-shirt saying Against Racism, is believed to be the notorious Spanish pitch invader Jimmy Jump, who has a history of hijacking major events.
In May, Jump, who's real name is Jaume Marquet Cot, invaded the stage during Spain's performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.
Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro, who last lifted the World Cup trophy as winning captain when his team won the title in Berlin four years ago, had carried the trophy onto the field in its Louis Vuitton case. He then took it out of the case and placed it on the stand facing the many dignitaries in attendance.
After Cannavaro left the field, the trophy stayed alone on the grass awaiting the arrival of the two teams. It was eventually taken off after the Dutch and Spanish national anthems were played.
In the semi-finals, an Italian fan carrying a vuvuzela ran onto the field during Spain's win over Germany to protest the exclusion of a player from Italy's squad. He entered the field near Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's net and sprinted almost to midfield before he was caught by security.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Shopping makes men impotent
Shopping is really bad for men's health and fertility, scientists are now saying after new research.
Researchers have discovered that a chemical compound found on some cash receipts contains a hazardous substance, Bisphenol A (BPA), which suppresses male hormones in the body and can make men impotent.
The compound, used to make ink visible on thermally sensitive paper, is ingested when men handle the paper and then touch their mouths or handle food.
Frank Sommer, a Berlin-based urologist, said the substance could just affect sex hormones in men.
"A substance like that could shift the balance of sex hormones in men towards oestrogen," Sommer was quoted as saying by The Telegraph newspaper here.
"In the long term, this leads to less sexual drive, encourages the belly instead of the muscles to grow and has a bad effect on erection and potency," he said.
BPA has been linked to breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, hyperactivity and other disorders, and has been banned in Canada and a few US states.
It is widely used in tins of food and canned drinks to toughen the internal lining of the container. Most manufacturers of baby bottles have stopped putting it in their products but older stock containing the chemical is still on sale.
BPA is known as an endocrine disrupter and interferes with the release of hormones. It can affect disorders associated with metabolism, fertility and neural development.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Mourners dance to Kajra re…
DABAWALI (SIRSA): Kajra re, kajra re ... a lilting tune wafted through the air as DJ juggled music CDs. But, there was no dancing, no mirth as a deathly silence prevailed among the people gathered. For, it was a funeral procession taken out in Chautala village.
The khaps may have given a fatwa against DJs, but this funeral procession, taken out by members of the Lohar community, went ahead playing Bollywood and Punjabi hits on Monday. They say it is their tradition to conduct funeral of their mukhiya (village chief) with pomp.
The procession had a flower-bedecked car, with a mobile DJ belting out songs as people danced with bottles of alcohol in hand. The body of village mukhiya Tota Ram was covered in flowers and laid on the car.
As the DJ put on a hit Punjabi song — Koi ve gulab aakhda, koi ve sharab aakhda, ke mundke kende ladoo bantne — the people in the funeral procession, of all age groups, broke into cheers and dance. They demanded encore of every Hindi song that was played. Even crackers were burst along the way.
"We are simply following an age-old tradition," said Tota Ram's sons, Jela Ram, Vajira Ram, Gurchand and Vakeel. "We even arranged for cars to bring in relatives and friends to join our father's last journey. We have spent about Rs 1.25 lakh to arrange this. It is a matter of pride for us," they said.