Came across some really weird stuff in the papers today.
The first one was :
Pregnant woman gives birth while hanging
Reuters
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 11:07 IST
PORT MORESBY: A Papua New Guinea woman gave birth prematurely as she struggled to free herself from a hangman's noose after villagers lynched her and her husband believing they were involved in sorcery, local media reported.
Nolan Yekum and her husband Paul were lynched in Kilip village in the jungle-clad western highlands two weeks ago after villagers believed they used black magic to kill a neighbour.
The villagers dragged the couple from their home and hung them from a tree and left them to die, Paul Yekum told The National newspaper on Wednesday.
"We managed to loosen the noose to get our feet on the ground ... we were able to free ourselves." he said.
"My wife, who was about seven months pregnant, delivered the baby while struggling to free herself. It was a painful experience for me and her."
For the next two weeks the couple hid with friends in other villages, but eventually decided to seek medical help at the Mount Hagen Hospital.
The couple, speaking from the hospital, said they did not practice sorcery and did not know why their neighbour died.
Hospital staff said the couple's baby girl and her mother were doing fine after they were admitted last Saturday.
Black magic is widespread in the South Pacific nation where most of the 5.1 million population live subsistence lives. Women suspected of being witches are often hanged or burnt to death.
And the second one being :
Pregnant Indian uses train toilet, baby slips out
Thu Feb 28, 2008 6:16pm IST
Pregnant Indian uses train toilet, baby slips out
AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) -
A newborn baby girl survived an ignoble birth after slipping down the toilet bowl of a moving train onto the tracks when a pregnant woman unexpectedly gave birth while relieving herself on Tuesday.
"My delivery was so sudden," said the Bhuri Kalbi, the mother of the infant, born two months prematurely. "I did not even realise that my child had slipped from the hole in the toilet."
Kalbi, a 33-year-old woman from a village in Rajasthan, fainted on the toilet seat after the birth for a few minutes before waking up and alerting her family.
"They stopped the train and ran on the tracks to find the baby," she said, speaking from her hospital bed in Ahmedabad.
Railway staff at a nearby station were alerted and soon found the newborn girl lying uninjured on pebbles by the track. She is now in intensive care because of her premature birth, doctors said.
Most toilets on trains are filthy chutes emptying directly onto the tracks.
WTF?!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
TATA Nano or No-No?
I have just finished reading a few articles on the TATA Nano. The world's cheapest car. I am still pretty confused whether to be happy it, or to hate it? The Nano has been at the receiving end of, both and a lot of, adulation and criticism. And that is proof enough that TATA is definitely not trying to start a short-term fad, but is onto something rather BIG.
It apparently took TATA INR 1700crores ($425 million) for the design and development of the TATA Nano. That makes me laugh and shudder at the same time. It makes me laugh because from what I understand, TATA will have to sell 1.7lakh* Nanos to break even on the amount spent. And it makes me shudder because TATA will ensure that they sell 1.7lakh Nanos. And it won't be a very difficult task because the Nano costs a lakh. And then I shudder some more, when I think about the condition of our already clogged roads. I keep reading everywhere that our roads are not clogged due to too many roads, but more because of too few roads. But I feel that is not something we can help immediately. If the idea is to force the government into building a better infrastructure by launching a ton of cars, then it is laudable. But since that is something that is not practical nor sensible, why are we planning to choke the roads right now? But, as of now, the government is lauding TATA's efforts (which are no doubt, very laudable) and not doing a thing about the infrastructure.
The way I see it, I feel that the launch of the Nano should be put off for another year or so, and the government should start developing infrastructure that will support the population of a billion cars. Another solution is that the Nano be sold only in Tier-II towns and villages, and be banned in cities and metros till atleast the road network is developed enough to handle so many cars.
On another note, it does strike me as weird, that while the entire world is moving towards a greener environment, lesser pollution etc, we go ahead and launch a car and make it so affordable that almost anyone can own it and in the process completely neglect what it'll do to out environment.
Delhi has a Metro system, Calcutta has one, Hyderabad and Bangalore are in the process of building one. These are some exercises in encouraging public transport, so that we have lesser vehicles on the road, lesser pollution, a greener city and the launch of the Nano seems like one HUGE step backward. So far, except for its affordability, I do not see any positivity i the launch of the Nano. It's not that I am so biased against it that I am blinding myself to the positive traits of the nano, but I am just unable to get past the fact that its affordability is the biggest threat rather than an opportunity.
Commercially too, the Nano will have impacts on other car-makers. With the roads full of vehicles, where one cannot crawl past 5kmph, I do not see a lot of buyers for cars in the D-segment and above. People will stop buying a Mercedes, a BMW or an Audi, not because they will buy a Nano, but because it just wont be possible to enjoy a ride in the premium car anymore. I am not advocating driving at a 100kph, but whats the difference in being seated in a Nano and a Merc when both of them are stationary?
And what about the losses that bikemakers in the country are liable to suffer with more and more people moving from bikes to cars?
The TATA Nano is not the entire cause of such troubles. But it is definitely the catalyst. With the launch of the Nano, other car-makers like Hyundai, Honda, and every Tom, Dick and
Car-ry have announced on plans to develop similarly priced and platformed cars. And so have some bike-makers.
I do sincerely hope, for the sake of all commuters, that the government wakes up in time and takes some damage preventing action, in order to safeguard the future of the car-world.
I am sorry Mr. Ratan Tata, I have nothing personal against TATA, and I greatly do admire the company, in all its zeal, acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. And also the new design Indica. I do appreciate the great new heights India is reaching on the global stage due to you. But at the same time, if you know where I live, I am changing my address. :p
*Ofcourse TATA does not have to sell all the 1.7lakh cars in India to break even. A good sized chunk will also go on export.
It apparently took TATA INR 1700crores ($425 million) for the design and development of the TATA Nano. That makes me laugh and shudder at the same time. It makes me laugh because from what I understand, TATA will have to sell 1.7lakh* Nanos to break even on the amount spent. And it makes me shudder because TATA will ensure that they sell 1.7lakh Nanos. And it won't be a very difficult task because the Nano costs a lakh. And then I shudder some more, when I think about the condition of our already clogged roads. I keep reading everywhere that our roads are not clogged due to too many roads, but more because of too few roads. But I feel that is not something we can help immediately. If the idea is to force the government into building a better infrastructure by launching a ton of cars, then it is laudable. But since that is something that is not practical nor sensible, why are we planning to choke the roads right now? But, as of now, the government is lauding TATA's efforts (which are no doubt, very laudable) and not doing a thing about the infrastructure.
The way I see it, I feel that the launch of the Nano should be put off for another year or so, and the government should start developing infrastructure that will support the population of a billion cars. Another solution is that the Nano be sold only in Tier-II towns and villages, and be banned in cities and metros till atleast the road network is developed enough to handle so many cars.
On another note, it does strike me as weird, that while the entire world is moving towards a greener environment, lesser pollution etc, we go ahead and launch a car and make it so affordable that almost anyone can own it and in the process completely neglect what it'll do to out environment.
Delhi has a Metro system, Calcutta has one, Hyderabad and Bangalore are in the process of building one. These are some exercises in encouraging public transport, so that we have lesser vehicles on the road, lesser pollution, a greener city and the launch of the Nano seems like one HUGE step backward. So far, except for its affordability, I do not see any positivity i the launch of the Nano. It's not that I am so biased against it that I am blinding myself to the positive traits of the nano, but I am just unable to get past the fact that its affordability is the biggest threat rather than an opportunity.
Commercially too, the Nano will have impacts on other car-makers. With the roads full of vehicles, where one cannot crawl past 5kmph, I do not see a lot of buyers for cars in the D-segment and above. People will stop buying a Mercedes, a BMW or an Audi, not because they will buy a Nano, but because it just wont be possible to enjoy a ride in the premium car anymore. I am not advocating driving at a 100kph, but whats the difference in being seated in a Nano and a Merc when both of them are stationary?
And what about the losses that bikemakers in the country are liable to suffer with more and more people moving from bikes to cars?
The TATA Nano is not the entire cause of such troubles. But it is definitely the catalyst. With the launch of the Nano, other car-makers like Hyundai, Honda, and every Tom, Dick and
Car-ry have announced on plans to develop similarly priced and platformed cars. And so have some bike-makers.
I do sincerely hope, for the sake of all commuters, that the government wakes up in time and takes some damage preventing action, in order to safeguard the future of the car-world.
I am sorry Mr. Ratan Tata, I have nothing personal against TATA, and I greatly do admire the company, in all its zeal, acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover. And also the new design Indica. I do appreciate the great new heights India is reaching on the global stage due to you. But at the same time, if you know where I live, I am changing my address. :p
*Ofcourse TATA does not have to sell all the 1.7lakh cars in India to break even. A good sized chunk will also go on export.
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