Elephant robs Motorist in India

Stories of Bandits robbing on the highway have been heard earlier but have you ever heard of a "Bandit Elephant" who robs people on the highway!!! Yes, waylaying motorists in northern Keonjhar district in Orissa state of India has complained that a wild elephant refuses to let their vehicles pass unless they give him food.

Witnesses told the "Hindustan Times" daily that the elephant has been scouting for food on a highway, forcing motorists to roll down windows and get out of their vehicles. "The tusker then inserts its trunk inside the vehicle and sniffs for food," Prabodh Mohanty, who has had two encounters with the elephant, told the newspaper. "If you are carrying vegetables and bananas inside your vehicle, then it will gulp them and allow you to go."

But if the motorist does not roll down the glasses of the vehicle or resists opening the vehicle door, the pachyderm pushes the vehicle and stands right in front of it until the driver allows him to carry out its routine check.

Forest officials said the elephant is old and looking for easy food. "We are telling commuters regularly not to tease the elephant," said Sirish Mohanty, a forest ranger. "So far it has not harmed anybody. But if people don't heed our advice and harass the tusker, then it can retaliate."

India is home to nearly half the total population of wild Asian elephants. Of the 10 000 elephants in the country, more than 60% live in the eastern states.

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Woman Chops off Tongue to please God

Blind faith in anything often blinds ones intellect & it clouds the rational reasoning of a person. Under such a clouded reasoning an Indian woman did one weird act when she cut out her own tongue and offered it to God in the hope it would help her find her missing husband!!!!

In "Varanasi" city in Utter Pradesh state of India, a woman "Shaila Bai" aged 50, reportedly cut out her own tongue with a razor at "Kashi Vishwanath temple", as per a report of (Calcutta) Telegraph.

Bai and her husband came to Varanasi on May 23 to take a holy dip in the Ganga and offer their prayers at the temple, but police said her husband then went missing. And when the woman couldn't find him, she decided a sacrifice to God her own tongue.

"We are trying to find out how a woman could enter the temple with a razor," said a police officer, adding that some eyewitnesses said she fell down and bit off her tongue.

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Boy scores 91 percent, ends life

Many times it had happened in India that after not getting through the exams, students end their life. But here is a case where a boy despite scoring 91per cent in higher secondary exams hanged himself. Reason being that he thought that his family may not be able to afford his higher education expenses & he might not be able to study further because of financial difficulties?

Same has happened with "Prince Thomas" of Kerala state of India who took his life a day after his class XII results were announced. Read more.........Kerala boy scores 91 pc, ends life

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Oldest Indian celebrated his 138th birthday

As per Indian "Limca Book of Records", oldest person of India is "Habib Miyan", who celebrated his 138th birthday last sunday. He is a resident of Pink City "Jaipur" in Rajasthan state of India. People from all walks of life thronged his residence in Jaipur to greet him on that day.

Miyan cut a cake, firecrackers were burst and 139 balloons released to mark the celebrations, joined in by people from as far as Indian States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, as also chairman of the Rajasthan Minority Commission Sardar Jasbir Singh.

"Kisi raees ki mehfil ka jikra kya hai amir, khuda ke ghar bhi na jayenge bin bulawe ke (May you discuss a party of a rich man, I will not even go to God's house without invitation)," Miyan quipped at his house.

Asked about his eating habits, he said: "I am open to any kind of food," but added that he was a great fan of meat preparations, even if these were considered too oily for his age.

"Gosht roti khao, Allah ke gun gao," Miyan said.

Habib Miyan is a very optimistic person, said Dr R K Verma, an orthopedic surgeon who had treated him when he fractured his hip six months back. "He has recovered well."

Miyan`s family comprising dozens of members reside in a very small dwelling and he had met President A P J Abdul Kalam during the latter`s visit to the city to appeal for a house.

"I am happy that he spared some time for me." Miyan said.

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Priests preferred to Doctors for cure

Here are tribal people of Arunachal Pradesh state in India who still believe in community priests rather than medical practitioners to cure diseases.

Close to half of the 1.1 million population of the state, bordering Tibet and Myanmar, are either animists or believers of a primitive faith called Donyi Polo whose followers worship the sun and moon gods.

Lui Sena had been running a high fever accompanied by a splitting headache for the past 10 days. After herbal remedies and a visit to a doctor failed to cure the eight-year-old boy, Sena's parents carried him in a makeshift stretcher made of bamboo staves to 72-year-old Dera Topu, the village priest.

Squatted on the wooden floor of his stilted bamboo and straw hut, Topu was engrossed in prayers with his eyes closed and hands folded. The priest chanted hymns and fanned Sena with a multi-coloured hornbill feather.

"This boy is haunted by evil spirits and now I have to ward off the spirit. No medicines or doctors could cure the boy. You did the right thing by coming to me," the priest told Sena's parents.

An hour later, the little boy said he was feeling comfortable.

Isn't it strange that in this "Scientific, 21st century world", still there are people who believe in all such weird practices!!!!

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This MLA has Ghosts, Python as pets

Here is a politician "Anant Singh" who is JD(U) MLA from Mokama in Bihar State of India & this man is having a "weird hobby" of keeping a python as his pet. He too claims to having ghosts also as his pets.

On Thursday, he proudly displayed his new "pet" -- a python -- before a section of the electronic media. Coiled up in a glass case, the reptile was on some TV channels with the MLA once lifting it to put around his neck.

Tall, slim and heavily-moustached, Anant is always surrounded by toughies. And he talks tough. "I have also got some 'bhoots' (ghosts) as my pets. I have them... I have them... I can show you but do you have enough courage to see my ghosts?" he dared the media men, defiantly.

He is the same Anant Singh who was facing over two dozen criminal cases & was released from Buxar jail earlier. He had won in elections earlier from Mokama seat defeating a kin of LJP MP Suraj Bhan Singh.

Even as the forest officials were talking to the MLA, some media men were watching the python drinking milk from a bowl in the glass case in one of the rooms in the MLA's flat.

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Hen turn into a Cock - Naturally

An Indian veterinarian claims to have seen a rare, spontaneous Sex change of a bird.
The Hen laid eggs six months ago - and some hatched - but it later began to grow a rooster's comb, said Partha Sarathi Ghosh, a veterinarian at West Bengal state's Animal Husbandry Department , quoting the bird's owner.

Earlier this week Ghosh and a team of experts visited the village of Kamat -Chengrabanda where the incident occurred.

Ghosh said the bird had undergone a process of natural sex change.

"Sure, it's rare," the veterinarian said, adding that owner Haziruddin Mohammad has called the incident a miracle and refused to hand over the bird to the Animal Husbandry Department.

"Every once in a while you hear a story about a hen that changed into a cock. Such stories are often meet with skepticism, but sex reversals do, in fact, occur, although not very frequently," says a 2000 report published by the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

The study said spontaneous sex reversals can result from damage to one ovary.
It said that there are reports of some such birds fathering offspring, but that most never do.

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Marriage of Two Trees

In India, earlier some bizarre marriages of elephants, dogs etc. had been reported but this time it is the marriage of two trees, yes, marriage of two trees!!!!!! It was an Indian wedding in every sense with a colorful procession, the blowing of conch shells, the smearing of vermilion, a feast for over 2,000 guests......only the bride and the groom were trees!!!!!

It happened in Balia village in Orissa state of India. The marriage of the banyan tree with the peepal tree was not just another rural quirk, as it sent a powerful environmental message - to preserve the green cover for protection from killing heat waves that threaten Orissa every summer.

The marriage was organised at Balia village on the outskirts of Balasore town, some 230 km from Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar by residents, who also believe it would bring prosperity to the villagers.

"The wedding of these trees is considered auspicious. After deciding to hold the marriage, we consulted a priest who decided that Sunday was an auspicious day for the wedding as per the Oriya almanac," as per the "Malati Das", president of ‘Maa Thaneswari Self Help Group’ (SHG) of the village.

This SHG along with 21 other SHGs and villagers organised the wedding.

While the banyan tree was the bride, the peepal tree growing next to it was the groom. The villagers divided themselves into two groups, while Uttam Patra stood in as the father of the bride, Radha Mohan Das became the father of the groom.

The bridegroom's party came to marriage venue in a colourful procession. The ceremony was replete with firecrackers, dancing and a fire ritual.

The wedding was performed amidst the chanting of mantras by priests. They garlanded the trees and tied them together with a thread. With the sankha, sindur, tupura - all symbols of Oriya wedding rituals - in place, it was every bit a traditional wedding.

And there was a grand feast too, with food being served to over 2,000 guests!!!!!!!

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When Girls can't wear Footwear

Triveni , Chandini Chatria, Jayashree Jhankar and Laila Majhi are those girls from the Chakotia Bhunjia community in Orissa state of India who dared to go against the customs of their tribe, in fact they started wearing Footwear / Chappals which is considered a taboo in their community. For their this act they and their families have now been ostracized by their community.

Initially, when these girls went to school wearing School dress and Chappals, the entire village was against it. Gradually a few villagers started supporting them indirectly but may be due to the threat of ostracism they could not come to the forefront.

Education is not encouraged among the Chakotia Bhunjia people. The male literacy rate stands at 51.51 percent and the female literacy rate is just 18.27 percent.

For Laila Majhi, who joined the three girls this year, it was difficult to convince her own family members. For many days nobody spoke to her and as she wore Chappals, she was not even allowed inside the kitchen. But she had the support of her mother, who eventually convinced the father. "The immense courage shown by Jayashree, Triveni and Chandini has really encouraged me," said Laila.

These families have already brought their ostracism to the notice of their elected representative, block development officer and collector but this has not yield any results.

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Ensuring hygiene in God's name

We swear in the name of God that we shall not defecate in the open.............The residents of Shankarpur, a remote village in Chhattisgarh state of India, took a strange oath last year. They solemnly swore in the name of Maa Danteswari, a revered goddess in this part of the world, that they would never practice open defecation again.

Anyone who breaks the vow would face social exclusion and a penalty. The village school's principal V.C. Shukla narrates a familiar story that resonates across Bastar region in central India, Grassroots Features reports.

This has been the modus operandi of the district administration to ensure the use of toilets. Of the 90 panchayats (village councils) in Chhattisgarh that will receive awards for total sanitation by the Indian government called the Nirmal Gram Puraskar 2007, Bastar boasts of the maximum number of awardees - 27.

'Apart from administering the Maa Danteshwari oath, we highlighted the fact that toilets accorded safety and respectability to women. The response was immediate, especially among women, who went on to lead the movement from the front,' Collector Ganesh Shankar Mishra said.

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Temple purified after minister’s visit

Guruvayoor is one of the most sacred and important pilgrim centers of Kerala state in India. Recently Mr. Vayalar Ravi’s , union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs visited Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayoor in Kerala state of India but interestingly after his visit “purification” rituals were carried out at the premises of the temple following the entry of Vayalar Ravi’s family to make an offering.

Commenting on the ‘punyaham’ (purification rituals) held by the temple, Ravi said: “I wanted my grandchild to get the blessings of Lord Guruvayurappa, that’s why we went there. Now it seems the priests shall decide on who would get the blessings of the lord.”

Ravi and his family had gone to the temple to perform the ‘annaprasan’, or the ceremonial first rice feeding, of his six-month-old grandson Rajiv Krishna on Saturday. Ravi’s wife Mercy Ravi, a former Congress legislator in Kerala assembly, is a Christian by birth and the temple is closed to non-Hindus.

The temple chief priest Chenas Raman Namboodiripad ordered the purification rituals after Ravi’s son Ravi Krishna failed to produce a certificate to prove he was a Hindu.

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Bride turns down 'dark' groom

In an interesting incident an Indian man in eastern Bihar state went on a hunger strike outside his would be bride's house for two days as she had earlier refused to marry the man for his dark complexion.

Saral Prasad, the 23-year-old groom, said he would not budge from the girl's village home after she refused to marry him earlier this week in an arranged marriage because he was too dark.

Rajani, 19, changed her mind after two days and the couple got married, Arun Kumar Mishra, a village council official said.

"We were all taken by surprise but Rajani was finally moved by the gesture of the young man and married him," Mishra said.

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A Mysterious Village of the Deaf

In Jharkhand state of India here is a village which has produced people who are hard of hearing. In the Muslim-dominated Jhumarvad village of Deogarh district, about 350 km from Ranchi, the problem has mysteriously persisted for decades.

Shakeel Ahmad, a resident, said: "I have three sons and two of them are hard of hearing. We are unable to understand why the people of this village face a hearing problem."

"Even treatment makes no impact on us," he said. Ahmad pointed out that there was hardly a house in the village without at least one hearing impaired.

The problem has refused to go away & Doctors are somewhat baffled.

Manish Kumar, an ENT specialist, said: "The disease might have resulted from some food habit or absence of the hearing vein. It can also be a reaction to medicines or injury in the ear. But the exact reason can be known only after investigating the villagers and studying their medical history."

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5 year old to walk 500 Kilometers

Here is a 5 years old Indian boy named "Budhia" , whose mother, unable to support him, was about to sell him to another villager for Indian Rupees 800 (US$18; 15 Euros) when the family met Biranchi Das two years ago, who is an athletic coach & Das started coaching the little "Budhia".

Now this 5-year-old Indian boy is planning to walk 500 kilometers (311 miles), as per his coach.

"Budhia" will begin his marathon in Bhubaneswar in the eastern state of Orissa and finish in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, said the coach, Biranchi Das.
It will begin on June 6 and take about 10 days, he said.

While Das argued the boy's walk would inspire other young athletes, child advocates are opposing the the news.

Last year, Budhia tried to run a 70km marathon, but doctors stopped him after 65km when he showed signs of extreme exhaustion. But Das insisted he is looking after the best interests of the boy.

"The aim is to make our children and children all over the world know if they start now they can qualify for the 2016 Olympics," he said.

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42 Weddings have the same Guests

In India, many times mass marriages occur in which some organization arranges for the mass marriages for the poor in which hundreds of couples tie the knot at one time & live happily thereafter. In such mass marriages there are many couples presents but guests in all such marriages are the same.

But here is a case in which many people only pretended to be the couples. In fact, they imitated as husband & wife just to have a joint photograph for their immigration needs to Canada. In one of the wedding venue in Chandigarh in India, 42 such couples posed for the joint photograph while guests in all those 42 cases were the same in the marriage venue.

Canadian immigration officials have discovered 42 wedding albums - submitted by 42 different Indians applying for citizenship - in which the guests in the photos were identical.

"You'd have to believe that 42 weddings had the same guests," said Mendel Green, president of Green and Spiegel, an immigration law firm.

"Yes, people have brought fake photos to us," said Ravi Jain, a partner with Green and Spiegel.

"We have seen people posing in the photos. We have seen the same wedding halls, the same guests over and over again."

Liberal MP Roy Cullen said many Indo-Canadians have expressed concern over this abuse of the system, the Toronto Sun reported.

In addition to people getting legal immigration status with these phoney marriages, Jain said Canadian immigration officers have also started "over-scrutinizing all family class applications, genuine marriages."

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Husband seeks maintenance from wife

Till now we have been hearing of the courts asking men to pay maintenance to wives, children or parents dumped by them. But here is an interesting case in which a a man wants maintenance from his doctor wife who allegedly deserted him at a time when he was jobless. Here is interesting interpretation of Indian law - Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.........Read more.........Husband seeks maintenance

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Monkeys to be barred from entering Parliament

Parliamentarians of South Avenue, New Delhi's power corridor are facing "Monkey menace" nowadays. Almost daily, there is some simian-related incident around the Indian Parliament, especially when the House session is in progress, when unruly monkeys pose a serious challenge to what many in India consider "unruly parliamentarians".

Recently a parliamentarian from Jharkhand state was attacked by a group of monkeys, who decamped with his briefcase carrying ‘cash and other valuables’.
In another incident a group of monkeys took lunch box of an employee Din Dayal Sharma in the Secretariat Building & broke chairs, threw files from closets in his office.

While inside the House, parliamentarians may debate, clash or wrestle over what they feel are key national issues; outside — in the office corridors of South Avenue — monkeys rule the roost. "Don’t park your cars unlocked, monkeys can even drive them away", goes a  saying here.

So this time the parliamentarians have taken up the matter in the ongoing Parliament session. They are demanding that monkeys be barred (disqualified!) from entering Parliament. But how? Getting rid of some 20,000-plus monkeys isn’t an easy task. One parliamentarian K Malaisamy, who raised the issue in Rajya Sabha (Upper House), has a remedy: "The monkeys have to be transported out. They can't make merry at our expense," he says.

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'Dera Sacha Sauda' followers & Sikhs Clash again

In India Punjab State is again seething with communal violence. Today evening, tens of thousands of Sikhs vented their anger against followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect for allegedly blaspheming their religion and set their properties and vehicles on fire.

Over 25,000 Sikhs had gathered outside Salabetpura, Punjab's biggest Dera campus that is 30 km from Bathinda, and were set to attack it.

Isn't it strange that if someone just poses or dresses like "Sikh Guru" then Sikhs take it as an offence. Nowhere Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh of "Dera Sacha Sauda" declared on his own that he is posing like 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh or he is going to baptize his followers just like Sikh Guru did. Sikhs have taken their own meaning out of the acts of Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh.

In a democratic country like India, one is free to wear dress as per his liking. In that case what's there in adorning a dress which may look similar to some historical personality. It's high time people of Punjab think rationally & stop violence over trivial matter of someone dressing like some historical personality.

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Train driver asks passengers to push it

If you are going with your family in your car & car just stops on the road, there are chances that your family members may have to push the car for some time to put in on the roadside or to get it restarted. If same thing happens while you are in a Cab / Taxi, then you shall certainly get annoyed with the Cab driver if he asks for such favor from you. But just think if you are traveling in a Train & its driver asks all the passengers to get down & push the Train, what shall be your reaction!!!!!!

Exactly same has happened with rail passengers in Bihar state of India where driver of their train asked them to get out of the train and push it. Incidentally such incident happened in a state from which "Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav", the "Indian Railway Minster" hails from.

It took more than half an hour of the pushing effort of all the passengers to move the stalled electric train 12 feet (four meters) so that it touched live overhead wires and was able to resume its journey.

The incident occurred after a passenger pulled the train’s emergency chain and it halted in a "neutral zone", a short length of track where there is no power in the overhead wires.

“In so many years of service in the railways, I have never come across such a bizarre incident,” said Deepak Kumar Jha, a spokesman for Indian Railways. A train’s momentum usually allows it to continue moving through neutral zones.

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Wedding services industry in India

Here is an interesting article on how Indian weddings due to its lavish spending are giving way to "Wedding services industry" in India attracting even corporates ..................Upcoming Corporate Wedding Industry Happenings in India

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'Hanged Saddam' big draw at 'House of Horrors'

In Mumbai, the financial capital of India a horror show re-enacting the hanging of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has become a big hit with the masses.

The House of Horrors (HOH), which is located at the Prime Mall in Irla at Vile Parle here, is modeled on Halloween horror that is seen in the famous Madame Tussauds in England, the Disneyland in the US or Sentosa Island in Singapore.


The House of Horrors could be your scariest nightmare priced at Indian Rs.200 (US$ 5) for a 15-20 minute walk in darkness through the uneven pathway with screaming and screeching witches, the unexpected encounters with the awakened Satan and the shiver runs down your spine.

Meant for all age groups, it's a must see for all with the grit to face the skulls and ghostly shadows specially designed to scare the wits out of you. This horrifying concept of the West has been Indianised with the ghosts of Indian features.

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'Dera Sacha Sauda' & SGPC

Isn't it weird that people in India clash over trivial matters. Take the case of "Dera Sacha Sauda" sect in Punjab state of India where devotees of "Dera Sacha Sauda" had clashed with Sikh organizations at Bathinda following Dera Chief trying to pose like "Guru Gobind Singh"(10th Guru of Sikhs) to baptize his followers. The Sikh organizations in Punjab state of India opposed it, leading to clashes. The supporters of both sides used swords and sharp edged weapons against each other.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Avatar Singh Makkar also  condemned the followers of Sant Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh for allegedly attacking on Sikh devotees at Bathinda.

The clashes between the followers of "Dera Sacha Sauda" of Sirsa and Sikh organization, that began earlier from Bathinda spread to other parts of the Punjab state even as violent mobs burnt one car and damaged over dozen vehicles including an ambulance in Bathinda.

Having violent clashes in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has also appealed to people to maintain peace and harmony. When shall people be rational in India & stop having violent clashes over trivial matters.

Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh of "Dera Sacha Sauda", however, in a statement denied that he had tried to copy Sikh Gurus in any way. He said that his aim is to bring peace and brotherhood in the world. The Sikhs are objecting to Dera chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim portraying himself in the attire of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh and inserting advertisements in newspapers saying that he will give nectar to his disciples.

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Comics for Young Men

Till now it was presumed that Comics are for kids only but not any more now. In India a set of comics for Young Men have come which have messages on HIV/AIDS embedded in it.

Around 250,000 copies of these pocket-sized comics have been sent for distribution in urban slums of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. These comics were produced in partnership with Prerana-Delhi, Apnalaya-Mumbai, CINI Asha-Kolkata and Divya Disha-Hyderabad. Read more............Comics that teach Indian men to grow up

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12 Dinosaur Eggs found in India

In India, a cluster of 12 dinosaur eggs - the largest in a single nest has been found in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh state of India. It was reported by a team of Indian paleontologists. Dinosaurs are believed to have ruled our earth for 165 million years. Their rule ended only about 65 million years ago. Later on these giant reptiles became extinct.

"All the eggs were discovered from a single nest on the banks of the Hathini river," researcher Vishal Verma said.

Hundreds of such eggs have been found in the Kukshi-Wagh area of western Madhya Pradesh's Manavar tehsil in Dhar, said Verma, director Mangal Panchayatan Parishad. Amateur researchers, including Govind Verma and Rajesh Chouhan, have been digging around the area for dino fossils for more than a decade.

Dinosaur eggs are a great fascination for palaeontologists. The eggs, in their actual form, are said to be hard enough to escape predators' attacks, yet soft for the baby reptile to break through on birth.

"These animals used to come from faraway areas to lay eggs on the sandy banks of the rivers in this area, identified scientifically as Lameta bed. The animals were 40-90 feet in length," said Verma, adding, "The richest dinosaur field in India is in the Deccan Traps near Jabalpur (in central India)."

Verma said that dinosaur eggs were discovered from the same site in the past too, but there were only six or seven eggs per nest. This is the first time that so many eggs have been recovered from the site, he added.

He said: "The discovery of more fossilised eggs of herbivorous dinosaurs belonging to the early Cretaceous era - that dates back to 65 million years or so - is expected to go a long way in the study of the pre-historic life in the Narmada Valley."

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Father Chains Son for Marrying

Here is a man / son who paid a big price for marrying against his fathers wishes. The son was not only chained by his father but was kept into a lock up for three weeks for marrying against the family's wishes. The incident happened in the outskirts of Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state of India.

When Police came to know of such imprisonment of the son by the father , they rescued Raghu Amin Mollah from his father's house.

The father, Abed Ali Mollah, has been arrested and charged with illegally detaining and torturing his son for 21 days. Abed Ali Mollah opposed his son's marriage to Shahnaz Khatun, 18, because of enmity between the two families.

Police acted after Khatun filed a complaint against her father-in-law.

The two teenagers had fallen in love as they had grown up in the same neighborhood. They eloped and wed in a mosque on the outskirts of Calcutta.

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Boy marries two sisters at a time

In India there are many communities where bigamy or polygamy is quite prevalent. These are mainly some tribes in India which are having such practices since time immemorial. Among such communities, there is one community in Maharashtra state of India called " Madia Gond Community" in which recently one young man married two girls at the same time.

In the first marriage ceremony of its kind for which proper invites went out to all families in the village, 27-year old Dharma Madavi took the hand of two sisters - Wangi (26) and Pali (22) - and exchanged nuptial vows with them as the village folk blessed the threesome.

The solemnization climaxed a series of tribal marriage rituals and a daylong ceremony complete with the 'rela' dance in which all the guests participated with gusto.

While the instance of a boy tying the knot with two girls at the same altar simultaneously was unusual, bigamy is quite common in the Madia Gond and many other tribal communities.

Reached for his reaction to the bigamous marriage, Sironcha sub divisional police officer Vinay Rathod said that legal procedural rules did not empower the police to stop the marriage in the absence of a complaint from an aggrieved party, bigamy being a non-cognizable offence.

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Baby fighting a Cobra

In a Bizarre video above a small Baby is battling a Cobra during a snake-charming festival at Kasimkota in Andhra Pradesh state of India. Baby is struggling & to prevent harming the Baby from Snake Bites, snake has had its mouth stitched up and its fangs removed for the amusement of spectators. Animal rights protesters have condemned the cruel scenes.

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Teacher teaches ‘benefits’ of hooch in class!!!!

As per "Wikipedia", Hooch may mean: Any strong liquor, especially inferior or illicit whisky. In India such "Hooch" in many cases is made from rice and the mahua ( local Indian fruit). It is a local intoxicant which is similar to liquor in it's impure form & gives a good kick. But can you ever imagine any teacher in his/her class teaching the benefits of such Hooch / Liquor.

Yes, in one Jharkhand school in India, one lady teacher is teaching the benefits of drinking ‘haria’, the local intoxicant / hooch made of rice and the mahua fruit to her students.

According to media reports, children at the Torpa middle school, 70km from Ranchi in the state, were asked by a teacher in the morning assembly what the best beverage was.

When they replied water and milk, Sheela Kumari Horo retorted: “You do not know anything. The best beverage is haria.”

The other teachers were stunned and one of them protested. To which Horo reportedly said: “You do not know anything as you come from Bihar.”

To justify her statement, she told the students that haria had “scores of benefits. It keeps the stomach cool and clear and protects during the summer season.”

In the state "Haria", the local Hooch is offered to the tribal deities during festivals.

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Union of the Dead

Can dead people form a union? Can there be a union of living dead? Yes, cases of people yet living but declared dead, are there in India.

In fact in Uttar Pradesh of India one such person is campaigning in elections over there in northern India for the rights of people declared legally dead by cheating relatives seeking to steal their assets.

Lal Bihari, a lower caste villager who lost his father's inheritance due to an unscrupulous uncle, formed the "Union of the Dead" in 1980 to fight for the rights of thousands he says have fallen victim to scams by relatives.

He is contesting as an independent in a month-long election in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, which ends on Tuesday.

In 1976, an uncle allegedly connived with corrupt local officials to fudge village records and declare Bihari dead. The uncle then won the inheritance of Bihari's father.

"It was only as late as in 1994 that I succeeded in proving myself alive," Bihari, 52, said.

Like many poor in India, it was very hard for him to get a court ruling to reverse the decision, due to corruption and a backlog of millions of cases in the judiciary.

"Nearly 3,000 others are fighting their independent battles in other parts of UP (Uttar Pradesh) to prove that they are alive," Bihari said.

Senior state government official V.K. Sharma said as per records, there are 313 cases of persons who have been wrongly declared as dead even though they are alive.
"Another round of probe is currently under way and we suspect many more such cases could be unearthed," he said.

In 1980, Bihari added 'Mritak', or "dead", to his name.

He even got his wife to apply, unsuccessfully, for a widow's pension.
He once staged the kidnapping of a cousin so that a criminal case could be brought against him – and therefore prove legally he was alive.

"But even that did not happen as my relatives understood my intention behind the desperate move and knew that there was no danger to the cousin's life," he added.
Bihari has contested other elections, including one parliamentary election in 1989 against then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"Even my physical presence in the electoral fray did not help me to prove that I was alive," he lamented.

Victory came years later in 1994, when a local revenue official restored his status as "alive" in the same land records where he had been shown as "dead".

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For better life, tribals walk on fire

To seek divine powers , many people in India perform many religious rituals but here are people who walk on fire to seek all such powers . Here is Khiru Munda who closes his eyes and walks on fire & is joined by many others who do it every year during a tribal fire festival in Jharkhand state of India & all are very much sure that divine powers shall be granted to them as per their wishes.

In this festival, people appease the God and to get their wishes fulfilled. During the Manda festival, tribal people walk on fire which is celebrated for a month beginning in the Hindu month of Chaitya.

"Every year scores of men and women walk on fire to appease Lord Shiva. There is a strong belief in the tribal society that Shiva fulfils the desires of worshippers," said Khiru Munda.

Devotee Lakshman Oraon said: "Many people pray for good crops, good health or money. Lord Shiva fulfils the desire of the people participating in the festival when they walk on fire."

The festival, in existence for hundreds of years, is said to have originated over farming fears.

"After Holi festival, the harvesting takes place and then the sowing season begins. Farmers worship Lord Shiva, who is known to bless the worshippers," said V.S. Uppadhaya, a retired anthropology professor of Ranchi University.

After participants have fasted, a fire is ignited by burning coal in preparation for the nightly walk ritual.

"There is this belief that those who are real followers of Lord Shiva do not sustain burns on their legs or feet despite walking on fire," explained Sukhdeo Soren, a priest.

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'MLA' & his son pass in First division together in matriculation examination

Here is a MLA ( Member of Parliament) from Jharkhand state of India who cleared his matriculation examination after a 20-year-long break from the school & interestingly his son too passed the matriculation examination with him. So now you can imagine that being illiterate is no bar to enter in Indian Politics.

So here is Sukhram Oraon an MLA from Chakradharpur in Jharkhand state of India who cleared the matriculation examination with his son and also passed out in first division. Oraon is the first legislator in the state to have appeared at matriculation examination after being elected to the Assembly.

Scared that people will accuse him of misusing his official position, Oraon had decided to appear for the matriculation examination this year outside his constituency, at Chaibasa. He suffered from bouts of anxiety, he conceded today, but news that he has secured 300 out of 500 marks, obtaining a first division in the process, prompted him to let down his hair.

It was celebration time at Chakradharpur, he said over the telephone, since both he and his son, Sanjeev, have passed together.

There are MLAs, Oraon said, who cannot even sign. Therefore he wanted to show that education is important for even politicians. This is just the beginning, he declared. He now plans to study in a Manoharpur college for his graduation. “It will be difficult to attend classes for more than twice a week,” he asserted. But since he does visit Manoharpur for party work, he hoped it would enable him to attend some classes.

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'Passport Baba' helps you fly abroad

In India there is a Baba / Saint for every purpose. Some Baba's bless people while they are alive, while many are there who bless people even after leaving their body. Now here is one Baba who helps you fly abroad with his hidden blessings. So if you want to fly to the country of your choice, here is the easiest way to do so.

Just go to the 'Dargah' (tomb) of Miskin Shah Baba & just Pin up the photocopy of your passport at the 'Dargah' (tomb), that's it, Baba shall certainly fulfill your wish to fly abroad.

Miskin Baba's dargah is located in Kallu Bagan in the steel city of Jamshedpur, 140 km from Ranchi in Jharkhand state of India. The tomb is popularly known as "Passport Baba's" Dargah.

Everyday, scores of people from different communities come here with photocopies of their passports to pray to the Baba to help them get a visa.

'My son put a photocopy of his passport as he wanted to go to a Gulf country to get a job. The Baba fulfilled his wishes in just two months. He is now earning well in Saudi Arabia,' said Anwari Begum.

Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are all among the Baba's followers. People also come here with photocopies of their mark sheets, admit cards, passports, love letters and other wishes, which they pin up on the trees.

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Cops play matchmaker

Have you ever heard of Policemen solemnizing marriages in their area? Yes, cops in Jharkhand state of India are exactly playing that role in the society nowadays for those couples whose matches are not acceptable to their parents or to society.

Take the case of much-in-love couple who was united by the Namkom police station here. The parents were against the marriage till the cops came to the couple's rescue.

"The marriage was arranged by the police after looking into the legal aspects. If the law permits, then the police step in to facilitate such marriages," said M.S. Bhatia, the senior superintendent of police, Ranchi.

In recent times, 10 such marriages were organized by the police in Jharkhand.

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Lying for 6 years inside his own grave

Thousands of people are flocking to a remote village in Jharkhand state in India to catch a glimpse of an old man who has spent six years lying inside his own grave waiting to die as he mourns for his wife, officials said.

Basanta Roy claims he is 103 and spends his day clearing weeds from the grave and lying in it. Belonging to a Hindu caste who bury their dead, Roy dug his grave close to his wife's after she died in the late 1990s.

"He cleans his grave every day and waits for his death, which seems to be eluding him," said Shyam Narayan Ram, a senior government official from eastern state in India.

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5 elephants killed by lightning

Forest guards in West Bengal state of India found the bodies of five wild elephants that were killed by lightning in eastern India, an environmental group and a veterinarian said.

The elephants, including two calves, were discovered close to a salt lick on the banks of the Raidak River near the village of Kumargram, some 500 miles north of Calcutta, said Animesh Basu of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, a local non-governmental organization.

Dr. D.K. Poddar, who performed an autopsy on the animals, confirmed they were killed by lightning.

"Though it is rare for elephants -- or for that matter any animal -- to die of lightning, in this case the guards found all the five elephants dead in a sitting position," Basu said.

Basu said 16 other elephants had been killed in the region in the last year, including some that were hit by trains.

The area's administration transported tons of wood to burn the bodies of the elephants as thousands of villagers came to see the rare event.

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2.5 US Cents for every Rat tail

To control the problem of rats who can wipeout crops in the fields, government in Mizoram state of India is offering Indian Rupee one ( 2 1/2 U.S. cents) reward for every rodent tail that is given to its officials.

This is separate from a $25 reward for a Chawmnu, dead or alive. The Chawmnus are giant rats, each believed to be the size of a female pig which, according to unconfirmed local rumors, already are stalking some villages.

As to the other rats, their expected onslaught threatens nearly 500,000 farmers with famine in the tiny eastern state bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar. In an earlier invasion in 1958-59, the rats caused havoc on crops, rice paddies and village granaries.

The government reward campaign already has recorded more than 400,000 rat kills, evidenced by the tail pile.

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An Unforgivable crime

Here is a picture captured from a "TV shows" which shows a Dalit woman being beaten up in public by a man with a bamboo stick in Patna in Bihar State of India.

The incident occurred outside the Biharsharif railway station. A man attired in vest and lungi brutally rained lathi / bamboo blows on a middle-aged Dalit woman as she pleaded for mercy. A crowd, including a few GRP jawans, watched the scene with none coming to the woman's rescue.

The victim, Meena Devi from Arwal, is alleged to be a member of a gang of women thieves.

The brutal flogging began no sooner an elderly woman raised a hue and cry that a gang of three women robbed her of a gold chain in the train. Some people at the station chased the three women and caught Meena Devi. The other two managed to escape.

One Chander Yadav, who runs a tea stall near the station, immediately started beating the woman.

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Couple burned alive for 'black magic'

In another weird incident an elderly Indian husband and wife were burnt to death after villagers accused them of practicing black magic. Villagers tied them together on a pyre and set them on fire, as per the police sources. Incident happened near the southern city of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh state of India.

"The aged couple died screaming for help," said police superintendent P.V. Sunil Kumar.

Sayanna, 70, and his 61-year-old wife, Pochamma, were set ablaze after being doused with kerosene.

Both were farm laborers who also practiced traditional medicine. Police have arrested six villagers for the incident.

Belief in black magic is common in some parts of rural India, despite the country's robust economic growth and cutting-edge high-technology industries.

Dozens of women are murdered each year after being accused of witchcraft.

Last year, a barber in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh killed his four-year-old son by slitting his throat with a razor after the man started seeing visions of the Hindu goddess Kali demanding a sacrifice.

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Aussie kept out of Golden Temple

An Australian woman "Beverly" was denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum of "Golden Temple" the great Sikh Shrine in Amritsar in Punjab state of India. Reason being, "she wore clinically approved bandages on her feet". The incident has embarrassed the Sikh community.

As per Times of India report:

"The incident took place last week and became public after Tom Simpson, the husband of Beverly, wrote a letter to Sikh priest in Australia, Dya Singh, and narrated his "grief, shock and anger" over the treatment. According to the letter, a ‘sevadar’ (a temple worker) apparently told Beverly that according to Sikh tenets only a person with bare feet could enter the sanctum sanctorum and she had to stay out because she had bandages on her feet, so what if it was due to a crippling illness.

"Incidentally, Queen Elizabeth during her visit to the Golden Temple in 1997 was given special permission by the SGPC to enter the sanctorum with her socks on. "

Its high time that Sikh community & SGPC should introspect, whether the Holy Sikh place "Golden Temple" is friendly towards the disabled or not.

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Weird - Religious Festival / Mela

Can you ever imagine a Religious Fair in which people drink lot of liquor, openly hurl swords, guns & other arms in the air, sacrifice goats / sheep in a weird manner & all that in the name of Shavite religion (Religion of followers of Hindu God Shiva).

In "Nadia District" in West Bengal State of India, a 4 day fair/festival/mela is held by the "Dalit Community" over there. This fair is called "Chaitanya Dev Mela". In this fair, people brandishing illegal arms like swords, guns etc. can be seen all around in the fair & most of these people are drunk as drinking lots of liquor during the festival is a norm.

All of them say that they are devotees of Hindu God "Lord Shiva". These people sacrifice more than thousand of goats, sheep etc. daily during this 4 day festival. People can be seen dancing with the head of Goat/Sheep after it has been cut by them only to appease the God. Many time they dance while keeping the head of the sacrificed animal on their own head in the most weird manner.

Later on they people cook & eat that scarified / killed animal as "Prasad". Other ceremonies like Mundan ( Shaving of hand) of little children are also performed in the fair.
Interesting thing is that local police & administration keep a blind eye to all these openly brandishing of illegal arms by the people in the fair & sacrificing / killing of thousands of animals by the devotees during the 4 days festival, all that in the name of religion.

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Stuck in transit: 48 days at New Delhi's airport

Whenever, you are a transit passenger on any airport, you are always eager to catch that next flight & reach your final destination. But what would you call to the story of two Bangladeshi men who have to stay, rather live at the New Delhi airport for 48 days as transit passengers to catch their final destination flight.

Two Bangladeshi men lived in New Delhi airport for 48 days as they did not have passports to return home in a reprise of a role played by Tom Hanks in the Hollywood film The Terminal, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The men were sent back to the Indian capital by Saudi Arabian authorities in March for arriving without proper papers on a Dhaka-Delhi-Riyadh Air India flight, the Times of India newspaper reported.

Saudi Arabia keeps passports of such visitors and sends them back with emergency travel certificates, the daily quoted an airline spokesman as saying.
But with Dhaka not allowing people without passports to enter the country, the men who had left their homes hoping for lucrative jobs in Saudi Arabia were stuck in the transit lounge of Delhi's Indira Gandhi airport.

"They got so bored here that they would often request the eatery staff to give them some work - not to earn money but to pass time," the paper quoted an airport official as saying.

Air India spent about $US2500 ($3030) to feed them and pay for their visits to hospitals for medical check-ups under police escort before the Bangladesh mission issued new passports last week and ended their ordeal, it said.
In the 2004 Steven Spielberg film, Tom Hanks plays a traveler from a fictional East European country stuck in New York's JFK airport terminal after his passport is revoked following a coup back home.

That film was inspired by the true story of an Iranian-born man who had until then lived in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for 16 years.

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Car's number plate is worth the car's price

In India for Rs.480,000 ( US$ 11,500) you can easily buy a good midsize brand new car. But what would you call to a person who recently shelled out that much amount just to get a number plate of his choice.

Yes, in Chandigarh in Northern India, Mr. Santokh Singh, a NRI from Britain paid whopping Rs.480,000 ( US$ 11,500) for a VIP number plate - CH 04 0001 for his C-class Mercedes. He won this in a bid among nine other bidders.

The reserve price for the number was Rs.25,000 ( US$ 600) only. In Chandigarh open auctioning of these registration numbers started in the last five or six years.

The highest bid made for any number was Rs.505,000 ( US$ 12,000) two years ago for the CH 03-U-0001 series.

Chandigarh in India has the distinction of having one of the highest densities of motor vehicles in the country. For a population of just over one million, there are over 550,000 registered vehicles.

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To avoid deaths, Village lights an earthen lamp for 17 years

Now what would you call to this, a superstition or faith:

"An earthen lamp has been kept alight for 17 years in Chattisgarh's Lendhra Village in the belief that unnatural deaths will be kept at bay."

Kept at the rear of the main village temple that adjoins Radha Madhav Sankirtan Aashram, around 50 kilometers from Raigarh in Chattisgarh state of India, the lamp is revered for its perceived supernatural powers.

"I come here every year and try to bring my family also. This earthen lamp has been burning ever since I came here for the first time over 14 years ago. I love coming here," says Bharat Pandey, a devotee.

The daily expenses for keeping the lamp alight are borne by the villagers and through donations. according to Mukesh Kumar, the temple priest, the mustard oil-lit earthen lamp has been kept aglow by devotees from across Chattisgarh.

"For the past 17 years, this earthen lamp has been on. The villagers and all those who come from outside donate money for the work done in the temple. We have a free meal arrangement for the visitors," said Kumar.

The villagers have also employed two persons to take care of the earthen lamp.
A large number of people belonging to other villages also join the villagers of Lendhra Village to pay their respect to the lamp.

"Perhaps decades ago, on the auspicious day of Ram Navami the worship of lamp was started. Devotees claim to experience a sense of divinity and contentment every time they visit this temple and bow before the lamp. People chant hymns in the praise of the Almighty," said Shayam Lal, a temple staffer.

Most visitors believe that it is due to the grace of the earthen lamp that not one unnatural death has been reported in 17 years.

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Monkeys drive tractor in police station

Driving a tractor is no Monkey's business but in an interesting incident in Muzaffarnagar District in Uttar Pradesh state of India some mischievous monkeys got on a tractor and started driving it in a police station near here.

As per the police, Monkey's switched on the tractor's engine & tried to drive it. The incident happened in Khatori village in Muzaffarnagar District over here.
Police later turned off the engine.

The six monkeys responsible for the incident run away after the incident & certainly Police was unable to arrest them for their mischievous act.

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Richard Gere says 'End the circus' over Shilpa Shetty kiss

Hollywood star Richard Gere is asking the media "to end the circus," over Shilpa Shetty kiss & as per him his kissing of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was due to his failure to understand local Indian culture.

An Indian court, acting on a complaint by a local lawyer, described the kiss as an obscene act in public and ordered Gere's arrest. The kiss sparked sporadic protests in India.

Gere twirled Shetty in his arms, arched her over and kissed her several times on the cheek at an event in New Delhi last week to promote AIDS awareness among Indian truckers. Gere has since left India.

"My clumsy attempt at a 'Shall We Dance' dance move was a naive misread of Indian customs," Gere said in statement addressed to "my dear Indian friends" and issued by an AIDS charity he is associated with.

"To be honest, this recent media storm has taken me by complete surprise.

"End the circus around this episode," he said.

The 57-year-old "Pretty Woman" star's posters and straw effigies were burned in protest in some parts of India, mostly by Hindu vigilante groups, who saw it as an outrage against Shetty's modesty and an affront to Indian culture.

Shetty, the winner of the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality TV show in Britain this year, had said the kiss may have gone a "little overboard" but it was not obscene and the protests made India look regressive.

Many commentators expressed unhappiness at what they said were fringe groups making a major issue out of a harmless peck on the cheek.

Gere said it was not his intention to offend anybody and described the charity event as an evening of celebrating courageous people associated with the fight against HIV/AIDS in India, which has the world's highest HIV caseload.

Although Gere, who also starred in "An Officer and a Gentleman," could face three months in jail or a fine or both for such an offence, he told a U.S. cable channel Thursday that he did not know anyone who had gone to jail for something like this.

"Me kissing the girl on the cheek was nothing," Gere told cable channel Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" in New York where he was promoting his latest film, "The Hoax."

Gere, a devout Buddhist, visits India frequently to meet the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India, and is a vocal supporter of the Tibetan cause as well as being involved with charities dealing with AIDS and orphans in the country.

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