World news in brief.. Spain hands out $3 billion in planet’s biggest lottery.. Spaniards who bought lottery tickets in an upper middle class Madrid neighbourholod hit the jackpot on Monday, getting 400,000-euro ($490,000) payoffs from a 2.5 billion-euros ($3 billion) pot of cash that will be divided among thousands of ticketholders. It’s world’s richest lottery and Spaniards were glued to TV as awards were announced in a drawing program that lasted four hours. ** Lingerie thief caught as ceiling collapses under weight. Beijing: A lingerie thief who stole 2,000 pieces of underwear was caught when the ceiling space he stashed them in collapsed due to the weight. The thief spent a year stealing the knickers from women in his neighbourhood. The man in his 30s reportedly used a master key to open doors to around 750 households in the residential area. ** Australian family found after 10 days in wilderness ** Pope: Spiritual Alzheimer’s ails Vatican bureaucrats.. Pope Francis issued a blistering critique on Monday of the Vatican bureaucracy that serves him, enouncing how some people lust for power at all costs, live hypocritical double lives and suffer from “spiritual Alzheimer’s” that has made them forget they’re supposed to be joyful men of God. ** China readies new law to fight terror China’s top legislature is finalizing an umbrella national security law with wide scope and a lot of power for law enforcing authorities. (In apna kinda democratic maha Bharat, we have no consensus even on the most national security matters..) ** Taxing time for pets Russias economy has been in bad shape for a while now, which makes tax collections more important than ever ¬ and tax collectors are willing to go that extra step to make sure people pay up. That extra step, it seems, is to go after defaulters pets. State collectors in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk recently succeeded in getting a resident to pay 12,000 rubles he owed in unpaid taxes after threatening to seize his expensive pedigree cat, the Interfax news agency reported. In another case, tax collectors `collected a Tomsk womans kittens to get her to pay up. ** Cry `wolf to save sheep These days Kazakh villagers are turning to wolves to guard their lands. “You can buy a wolf cub for just $500, they say, and hunters are adamant that if treated well the wild animal can be tamed,“ said Kazakhstans KTK television channel. But despite reports that the wolves are being successfully domesticated and trained, some are worried. “A wolf is like a ticking bomb, it can go off at any moment. If nothing is done, the fashion could spread to wealthy Kazakhs, who might try to keep wolves in the grounds of their houses, with possibly deadly consequences,“ Almas Zhaparov, a wolf expert, told the TV channel. ** Orangutan held in zoo wins right to freedom. ** Dead soldier’s friends pay tribute by dressing up as Minions. Friends of a marine tragically killed during a hill run have paid tribute to their fellow soldier by turning up to his wake dressed as Despicable Me characters. ** Taza desi khabar Switzerland won’t share info on accounts before May 2011: Law ministry tells PMO Switzerland is clear the information will not be shared retrospectively – that is, it will only share information that came after the agreement was signed. The agreement with Switzerland bars India from information about money that has been acquired through illegal means. It only helps avoid taxing a person in both countries. ** HC bats for 2nd wife’s rights, allows equal share of pension for 2 widows. ** For the information of apna Mumbaikars… Autos can’t refuse fare from city to Thane or Navi Mumbai RTO organizes awareness camp on ‘secret’ rule.. It is legal for drivers to ply autorikshaws from suburban Mumbai o Thane and Navi Mumbai. For that matter, their permits allow them to travel anywhere in the Metropolitan Region except the island city. ** Pepper spray sales double after Uber cab incident.. * News of the day.. US, UK and India had 26/11 intel, failed to foil hit.. Snoops heard e-chatter, didn’t see bigger plot.. Investigative report finds US, British, Indian agencies to analyse digital data to pre-empt strikes. TOI front-page report.. (There are two important inferences from the report: Snooping or electronic evesdropping of any kind, even if all of them aren’t of any use, can’t be dubbed illegal cos. it does serve the national cause. Secondly, you can’t hold the western powers responsible or blamed for our own massive failure.)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 05:43:22 +0000
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