The Inquisitr » India

U.S. Plane Carrying Marine Commandos Ordered to Land for Straying into India

AHN — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:00:20 +0000

New Delhi, India (AHN) – A U.S. plane transporting 205 marine commandos to Thailand was grounded for 33 hours in India for violating the country’s airspace on Sunday. The plane resumed its flight on Monday after getting a clearance.

India’s air force ordered the North American Airlines Boeing 767 to land at the Mumbai International Airport when it apparently strayed into Indian airspace Sunday.

U.S. embassy official Colonel Steward Kowal called the incident a “misunderstanding with call signs.” But he thanked Indian military authorities for resolving the matter quickly.

The chartered plane came from the Middle East and was bound for Bangkok.

India Puts 7 Satellites Into Orbit

AHN — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:00:29 +0000

New Delhi, India (AHN) – India successfully put seven satellites into orbit Wednesday, including its very own remote-sensing satellite that will identify fishing grounds in the ocean.

The seven-story high, 230-ton Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andrah Pradesh off India’s east coast at 11:51 a.m. and released Oceansat-2 and six smaller satellites from Germany, Switzerland and Turkey in 20 minutes.

The Oceansat-2 can also measure wind speed over the surface of the ocean to track monsoons and cyclones. It is the 16th of its kind launched by the country.

Full house sees Indian man lose daughter

Duncan Riley — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:55:00 +0000

A man in India has lost his 18-year-old daughter after putting her forward as collateral in a game of cards

The man, identified only as “Ismail” from a village in West Bengal was having a bad night, and thought that gambling his daughter might break his losing streak…but he was wrong.

“A desperate Ismail said he would continue playing and staked his daughter” local media quoted a witness as saying. “As luck would have it, [his opponent] beat him again and walked away with the protesting girl.”

Indian police have launched an investigation after the winnings were claimed by the victor… and the girl disappeared from her village.

(via M&C)

Indian politician YSR dead in a helicopter crash

Duncan Riley — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:02:35 +0000

The Chief Minister of Indian provider Andhra Pradesh, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (commonly known as YSR) has died in a helicopter crash.

The body of 60-year-old YSR, and his Special Secretary P Subramanyam were found on Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles east of New Dehli.

According to local reports, Andhra Pradesh finance minister K Rosaiah has been appointed caretaker CM.

The helicopter carrying YSR two of his staff and two pilots went missing in Wednesday morning. After YSR failed to arrive, multiple Indian agencies launched “a massive hunt for possible wreckage in the desolate terrain.” that expanded into the country’s biggest-ever search operation with satellites in the sky joining remote sensing aircraft, fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles, troops on the ground and even barefoot deer-hunting tribals with bows and arrows.

Indian villagers marry dog, young girl to ward of evil spirits

Duncan Riley — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:55:44 +0000

Locals in the Munda Dhanda village in Jharkhand, India have married a young girl to a stray dog to ward off evil spirits.

The villagers believed that the girl’s family was endangered “by a malevolent spirit that could be assuaged in no other way, ” and that the marriage is a way to “overcome any curse that might fall upon the unfortunate family.”

Reuters managed to grab footage of the marriage ceremony. We’re all for tolerance of different cultures, but this is seriously bizarre.

(via WeirdAsianNews)

Typewriters making a comeback?

Duncan Riley — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:00:51 +0000

For many people reading this post, the idea of typing into anything other than a computer is something read about in history books…or more likely online, and seen in movies. But there was a time, not that long ago where typewriters were how documents were written. I’m just old enough to remember them in offices (as a kid, not one I worked in) and we owned a typewriter when I was young. There was no redeeming qualities about them what so ever. They were noisy, created crappy type (compared to a WordPrecessor today), lacked spell check and even a delete key

But at least in India typewriters are making a comeback.

No, typewriters aren’t being used to give the poor a voice or do to economic hardship, quite the contrary, they’ve become trendy in some quarters.

The demand is two fold. Younger people buying them to type with, and secondly an uptick in demand for typing schools that use typewriters. The theory goes that if you can master a typewriter, a computer becomes easier again.

According to a local report, one outlet selling typewriters “sold more than 800 typewriters in 2008 compared to 500 and odd the previous year” with a 30% increase in typewriter accessory sales. Sales are expected to increase by 50% in 2009.

Whilst the romantic images of typewriters, journalists and even Hemingway may seem appealing on film, and a nice antique typewriter can be nice to look at, why anyone would switch back to typewriters is beyond me. Why don’t we give up cars for a horse and buggy as well.

Angler catches Corpse-Eating Mutant Fish

Duncan Riley — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:21:39 +0000

A British angler investigating reports of a man eating fish has caught one in the wild.

The goonch can grow to six foot (1.8m), and regularly weighs more than 160 pounds (70kg). The fish lives in the Great Kali River, between India and Nepal, a river system used to dispose of bodies per local Hindu funeral rites.

According to SkyNews, the goonch is thought to taken an 18-year-old man last year, who was dragged under the water by a creature described as a “elongated pig.” The theory goes that the fish have mutated due to an over abundance of human flesh, and having acquired a taste for it, may target the living when there’s a lack of bodies in the river system.

What ever the reason: that’s one amazing looking fish

(img credit: SkyNews)

Google training censorship police in India

Duncan Riley — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:59:55 +0000

Google is training police in India on how to find “objectionable” material and remove it from Google properties including Orkut.

Google’s activities in India previously drew international headlines when Google provided local police information leading to the arrest of Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid for posting to an Orkut group named “I hate Sonia Ghandi.”

The new initiative sees Google training “cyber police” in most “tier 1 and 2″ cities in India, and offering police a “priority reporting tool” that sees any objectionable content flagged by police being reviewed faster than standard objection flags.

The interesting part lies in the credit for the program: Google India is quoted in local press reports as saying the program is “very much its own initiative.” Vinay Goel, head of products for Google India spins it this way

“You don’t want to stifle the freedom of speech and yet, [you do want to] ensure that people are working within legal boundaries, are within the sensitivities of that culture. So if you find something offensive, flag it. We will review it. We have very specific terms and conditions and if that is violated by the user, we will bring it up. This model has worked well.”

No details were provided on what would occur if objectionable material warranted legal attention, but given police will have the skills to find such material, Google will be complicit in any future criminal cases that result from this program and training.

Unlike many in the blogosphere I’ve long defended companies such as Google and Yahoo when they are compelled to comply with local laws that many may find offensive, particularly regarding free speech. No country is perfect, and tech companies should work within the legal frameworks of the countries they operate in.

However, there’s complying with local law, and then there’s being complicit in the enforcement of those laws by training local authorities. It’s a step way to far. Google’s don’t be evil policy has been replaced by lets train evil and lets get warm and comfy in bed with those who stand against free speech. It’s appalling that Google would be training local police in this way, and this time at least, they deserve international condemnation for it.

The “Condom Ringtone” — Seriously?

JR — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:55:30 +0000

If you think you’ve heard the wackiest of ringtones, think again. The hot new cell phone sound in India is — no joke here — the “condom ringtone.” Listen for yourself in this ad:

The catchy little a capella ditty in there is the real deal. The tune is part of a campaign — funded, amusingly enough, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — to promote safe sex in India. I guess hearing that song at the right moment could inspire you.

The ringtone’s available for free at the aptly named condomcondom.org. Organizers say it’s been downloaded 60,000 times since going live just over a week ago.

Rediffmail Integrates Social Media News Feeds

Dominic Rivera — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:19:38 +0000

India’s online portal Rediff.com has added feeds functionality from popular social media sites to Rediffmail.

With the addition of this feature consumers will now be able to register and receive news feeds from popular social networking sites with out actually having to visit them, helping them to keep up-to-date on the activities of there friends and family on the sites.

The objective of introducing feeds into Rediffmail is to help users discover content on social networking platforms which is relevant and useful in an effective and non-intrusive manner. News feeds within the mailbox will help users to find interesting content like photos, videos and music that their friends and family are sharing on the social networking platforms in their mailbox itself.