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South Asia

Delhi Commonwealth Games in trouble

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Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 logoThe 2010 Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in India’s capital city Delhi on Oct 3-14, is facing trouble over security and safety concerns.

An Australian discus champion and an English triple jumper have withdrew and more than 40 officials and athletes from the Scottish team have delayed their flight to Delhi. And New Zealand’s prime minister has said that he would support any of his country’s athletes who did not attend.

The venue preparation was always in questions and never seemed to follow the timeline, but Delhi was still given green light last year to go ahead, probably in consideration that the Indians have had a decent record to rush things up with their excessive manpower.

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421 million Indian population live in poverty

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There are 421 million who people who are living in poverty in eight north India states of Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal according to recent Oxford’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) – more than in the poorest 26 African countries combined (421M).

It doesn’t mean that India is poorer than those African nations (with many of them living in ‘extreme’ poverty) – the MPI is a bit complicated to begin with – but it does reflect the sad fact behind the world’s second most populated country.

I remember watching a heart-wrenching Chinese documentary, where some villagers from rural China are all-smile after selling their produce for RMB4000 (~USD590), the annual income for the entire village of about 100 households. Still, it’s not disastrous for a farming community where most basic needs are self sustainable, I can only imagine things being worse in some other places.

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Indian Sadhu without food & drink for 70 years?

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Indian monk Prahlad JaniAn 82-year-old Indian Sadhu (wandering monk, or holy man) Prahlad Jani has claimed that he has been living for 70 years without food or water.

Jani states that he is living as a monk since he was seven and was blessed by a Goddess when he was 11; since that blessing he gained his sustenance from nectar that filters down through a hole in his palate, and has not passed urine or stools since then.

In 2003, Jani was kept under surveillance for 10 days in Ahmedabad’s Sterling Hospital. He was given no food and only a small amount of water to wash his mouth and the water was later measured to confirm that he did not swallow any of it. He survived the ordeal, but lost a bit of weight, which cast doubts that he could survived without food over a much longer period.

His story caught the attention of India’s Defence Research Development Organisation, which hopes further research could help soldiers survive longer without food, or disaster victims to hang on until help arrives. Jani has again entered the hospital since April 22, 2010, where he is closely monitored for 15-20 days. We’ll see what happens in a week or less. Updates then.

[Update] The sadhu survived the 15 days test. No food, no water, no apparent health issues. Not many details are released though, as the scientists are still busy processing the baffling data.

[With reference from Amazingabilities and Telegraph]

South Korean first woman to conquer top 14 peaks

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South Korean Oh Eun-sun became the first woman to conquer the world’s top 14 peaks after reaching the top of Annapurna in Nepal on Tuesday.

There are 14 independent peaks on earth over 8,000m above sea level (referred to as the Eight-Thousanders). Italian Reinhold Messner was the first to reach all the peaks in 1986. A total of 20 men and woman have completed the feat.

There are still some questions over Oh’s record though, as there’s dispute on whether the 44-year-old Korean has reached one of the tops in 2009.

India to use world’s hottest chilli against terrorism

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Bhut Jolokia or Dorset Naga, world hottest chilliThe Indian army is making tear-gas like hand grenades with the world’s hottest chilli pepper, the Bhut Jolokia, as key substances.

The thumb-sized chilli, which grows around the banks of Brahmaputra River, has more than 1,000,000 units on the Scoville scale, 200 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. [News via Guardian][image by Mattandkim].

RB Srivastava, director of the Life Sciences Department at New Delhi HQ of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said: “This is definitely going to be an effective non-toxic weapon because its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them out of their hideouts. It would literally choke them.”

Btw, do note that capsaicin, the active component of chilli peppers which gave the burning sensation, has been used as a key ingredient in pepper spray for quite some time… so the chilli-bomb idea is not something new.