The New Old Media
Five beats means a village meeting. Eight means a medical emergency. Paasa, an isolated little village in Odisha바카라s Kandhamal district, can only be reached after a 3 km uphill walk as there is no real road, is out of the coverage area of mobile phone networks, and hasn바카라t had electricity for the past five months as a defective transformer hasn바카라t been replaced. But the people there바카라around 35 tribal families바카라are having a banging time. They바카라ve improvised a gong to serve as Paasa바카라s primary means of communication. It바카라s made from a rusted piece of metal that was, aptly enough, left behind when electrification work took place in the village, and is fixed to a pole. Archaic, perhaps, but it can be a (morbidly) efficient way to disseminate information바카라it바카라s beaten once if someone dies and twice to call people to the funeral.
Poisonous Patient
Here바카라s a bit of deja vu for the dedicated reader: a serpentine intruder in a house being smacked with a stick by a fearful human, sustaining spinal damage, only to be rescued and taken for treatment. Only this time, the treatment incluÂded an MRI scan after a veterinarian suspected an injured backbone. Mumbai radiologist Ravi Thapar was reported as saying, 바카라This is the first time we have done a scan on a snake. In fact, I had to do a bit of research about a serpent바카라s anatomy for that.바카라 The reptile in question바카라a venomous 3-foot bamboo pit viper바카라was partly paralysed and thus easy to pin down for the scan. It has begun to recover with the help of 바카라cold laser treatment바카라, which 바카라works on the cells and receptors and helps regenerate damaged nerves,바카라 according to veterinarian Deepa Katyal.
Synchronised Freezing
A swim in Kashmir바카라s Dal Lake seems a capital idea, although you바카라ll have to deal with a dense population of algae and, well, the cold. That bone-chilling cold. But that바카라s where three out of four members of the J&K swimming team who took part in the recently concluded National Swimming Championship in Thiruvananthapuram have to train due to the lack of a proper swimming pool in the Valley. They can only train for half the year, and must retreat to the safety of indoors when winter comes calling. Only the fourth team member, Satyam Gupta, is better off, because he is from Jammu and trains in that region바카라s sole proper pool. This is reportedly the first time in 10 years that a team from the state has been sent to the championship with the consent of the State Sports Council.
Khan바카라t Force One
Commuter Imran Khan enjoys a near-daily trip to work via helicopter from his home in the hills near Islamabad바카라a perk of the job, if you will. This has attracted adverse comments, coming as it does amid an economy drive in which PM Imran has undertaken the pruning of government motorcades, even saying, 바카라I will be counting every single rupee I have to spend on me.바카라 Information minister Fawad Chaudhry sprang heroically to his principal바카라s defence, claiming that the helicopter used less fuel than a motorcade and cost only Rs 50 a kilometre. The critics were unimpressed, perhaps because the minister hadn바카라t taken into account the expense it takes to run a chopper.  Â
A Canine Syllogism Causes Anger
Socrates is a man. All men are dogs. Therefore, Socrates is a dog. A simple syllogism바카라what바카라s the problem? The 바카라dog바카라 part, apparently. Considerable outrage has been generated by a Telangana State Public Service Commission recruitment exam for the post of village revenue officer, in which one question asked candidates to answer based on two statements: 바카라All men are dogs,바카라 and 바카라All dogs are cats.바카라 A picture of the question paper went viral. One Hyderabad resident said, 바카라I am sure not even dogs and cats will like this, leave alone men,바카라 while another, said that, out of the seven lakh aspirants, 바카라all the males might have confessed that they were dogs and cats.바카라
The Burgeoning Cub Report
An unprecedented baby boom has taken place in Nepal, with the population of tigers having nearly doubled over the past nine years. Officials announced that a survey this year had reported 235 tigers, compared to 121 in 2009. It바카라s being held up as an exemplary conservation effort, with Man Bahadur Khadka, chief of wildlife conservation, saying, 바카라This is a result of unified efforts by the government along with the local community...stakeholders to protect the tiger바카라s habitat and fight against poaching.바카라 Stakeholders? Even tigers aren바카라t safe from corporate buzzwords, we fear.
Viennese Balls And Cashew Nuts
Always answer a work call. Especially if your boss is Sri Lankan PresidÂent Maithripala Sirisena. The country바카라s ambassador in Vienna, Priyanee Wijesekera, and five other embassy staff, were recalled after telephone calls to the embassy 바카라went unanswered for several hours.바카라 The president justified his actions at a public meeting, saying, 바카라I am being attacked ferociously over social media for recaÂlling the entire embassy staff. Yes, I did that to send a message to other embassies.바카라 This follows another, similaÂrly powerful, message to SriLankan Airlines, whose business-class casÂhew nuts were recently the subject of Sirisena바카라s displeasure; he remarked that 바카라even a dog would not eat it.바카라
Nettles After Offer
The knives are out for Imran Khan, both in India and Pakistan. His failed attempt at getting Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers to meet on the UN General Assembly sidelines has activated hardliners and evoked strong reactions across the borders.
In a letter to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, the newly-elected prime minister had suggested the meeting at New York this month. Initially, the offer was well-received in New Delhi. But revelations of Pakistan glorifying Kashmiri militants as 바카라freedom fighters바카라 in its postal stamps forced South Block to throw cold water on the budding warmth. The fact that this came to light when militants in the restive Kashmir Valley were targeting policemen at home made it untenable for New Delhi to move to the talks table.
If the Indian foreign office statement was surprising in its direct attack on Imran for terming Kashmiri militants 바카라freedom fighters바카라, the response from Pakistan was no less vitriolic. Imran바카라s political opponents pulled him up for his 바카라hasty바카라 peace move towards India and called it 바카라a diplomatic debacle.바카라
Pakistan바카라s two major opposition parties바카라the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People바카라s Party바카라criticised Imran바카라s decision as done in 바카라 haste to mend fences with India바카라 and without doing the homework and correctly assessing the ground reality.
Warning that the fallout of the failed talks could even result in a war between the two recalcitrant neighbours, the PML(N) has even called on the international community to take note of the 바카라jingoistic바카라 statements of the Indian army chief. Though it was quick to point out that 바카라Pakistan is more than capable of defending and responding to any aggression by New Delhi,바카라 the attempt was also to make the world aware of the possible deterioration in Indo-Pak relations.
Under attack from different quarters, Imran has also tweeted to express his disappointment by insinuating the Indian PM as 바카라a small man바카라 occupying a 바카라big office바카라.
Much of the reluctance to resume the stalled dialogue by Indian leaders might have stemmed from domestic compulsion, especially the forthcoming assembly elections in three states and the parliamentary polls in mid-2019.
But despite its keenness, Pakistan and its enthusiastic PM will have to get used to the fact that for any movement towards the talks-table, they will need a new script to make India interested. Until then, Imran will have to be patient and channelise his energy to build a 바카라new Pakistan바카라.
Illustrations by Sajith Kumar
