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Modi govt fights pressure to lock down India

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  At this critical time when India’s COVID-19 tally has crossed a grim milestone of two-crore with over 50 lakh cases recorded in just 15 days, PM Modi-led Central government is facing the tough question as pressure has mounted from international health experts, business leaders and senior political leaders to impose complete lockdown in the country to beat the second wave of Coronavirus. Will PM Modi go for a complete lockdown in India again just like last year? Well, no official statement from the Central government has been issued as yet on the matter. However, it is being urged that the Centre should impose a complete lockdown in the country as soon as possible.   Widely criticised for allowing religious festivals and political rallies attended by thousands of unmasked people, the Central government at the moment is reluctant to impose a national lockdown for fear of the economic fallout. However, without being afraid of the economic crisis, several states have already imp...
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Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s (secret) medical report could have saved India from getting partitioned

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Viceroy of India: Lord and Lady Mountbatten meet Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Image Credit:  No 9 Army Film & Photographic Unit via Wikipedia Freedom at Midnight , a book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, delves into the partition of India. According to them, the partition could have been avoided if “the most closely guarded secret in India” had been known. The secret was that Jinnah was suffering from tuberculosis and had just a year or two to live. How would that knowledge have stopped the partition? If the people opposing the partition would have had knowledge of Jinnah’s approaching demise, then they would have definitely stalled the process until he was too ill to make decisions or had passed away. Jinnah knew this and kept his secret well-guarded. He died 11 months after the formation of Pakistan.
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In the first Olympics of 1904, the men’s marathon first place finisher completed the race in a car and was disqualified. The second place finisher was carried to the finish line by his trainers, and the fourth finisher took a detour to eat during the race.

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Frederick Lorz, who finished first with the help of a car and Andarín Carvajal who ran the marathon wearing street clothes and even took a nap in between. Image Credit:  Wikipedia,  Wikipedia The men’s marathon in the 1904 Olympic Games might have been one of the strangest races in history. It was more of a comedy show than a serious event. Only a few of the runners in the marathon had previous experience. The other participants were “oddities.” There were 10 Greeks who had never run a marathon, two belonged to the Tsuana tribe of South Africa and arrived barefoot to the race, and one was a Cuban mailman who wore street clothing to the race. That was not all. The first to complete the race was American runner Fred Lorz. Apparently, Lorz had dropped out of the race after nine miles and then hitch-hiked in a car. When the car broke down at the 19th mile, he jogged to the finish line. He was banned from the competition for life The second to arrive, and the champion, was Thomas H...
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3 times Switzerland accidentally invaded its neighbor

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On every map of the European Union, there's a gray blob right in the middle. That's Switzerland, a country synonymous with political neutrality. During both World Wars, they hid away in the mountaintops and watched from the sidelines. They don't really care to join the EU, but are apart of the Schengen Area because " meh ." And even their citizens share the same "whatever" mentality about everything. Switzerland is probably the last country you'd expect to invade Liechtenstein, a country smaller than Washington D.C., three different times. In Switzerland's defense, it was all on accident and Liechtenstein was surprisingly cool after each trespass. A spokesman from Liechtenstein said, "It's not like they invaded with attack helicopters." 1. December 5th, 1985 The first time was probably the only aggressive accident of the bunch. During an artillery exercise, the Swiss Army had launched munitions in the middle a winter storm. Instead ...
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150 Years After Sale of Alaska

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A bill of sale for the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Credit... Robert W. Kelley/The LIFE Images Collection, via Getty Images In 1867, Russia sold the territory of Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million. A mere 50 years later, the Americans had earned that amount back 100 times over. “If Russia was in possession of Alaska today, the geopolitical situation in the world would have been different,” Sergey Aksyonov, the prime minister of Crimea,  told a Crimean television network  this month. A petition calling for Russia’s annexation of Alaska that was posted on the White House website gathered more than 35,000 signatures before it was canceled. Many people still think that the Americans either stole Alaska from the Russians or leased it and did not return it. Despite the widespread myths, the deal was an honest one, and both sides had valid reasons to make it.
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60 years of world's biggest earthquack on May 22 - Valdivia Earthquake Chile May 22, 1960

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PHOTOGRPAH COURTESY NOAA On May 22, 1960, the largest earthquake in recorded history—magnitude 9.5—struck southern Chile.  The earthquake that struck near Valdivia, Chile, in 1960 was the most powerful temblor in recorded history. The quake left about 2 million people homeless. On May 22, 1960, the most powerful  earthquake  in recorded history— magnitude  9.5—struck southern Chile. The rupture zone stretched from estimates ranging from 500 kilometers (311 miles) to almost 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) along the country’s  coast . The event was named after the  city  most affected by the quake, Valdivia.    The Valdivia earthquake left two million people homeless, injured at least 3,000, and killed  approximately  1,655. The  economic  damage totaled $550 million (more than $4.8 billion, adjusted for 2020 inflation).   The Valdivia earthquake  trigger ed a  massive   tsunami  that raced across the P...
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Jeff Bezos is reportedly buying a nine-acre Beverly Hills estate for $165 million.

 Jeff Bezos is on a shopping spree befitting the world’s richest man. The Amazon.com Inc. founder agreed to pay $165 million  for a Beverly Hills mansion on nine acres, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, setting a record for a Los Angeles-area home. The property designed for Hollywood film titan Jack Warner in the 1930s was described by Architectural Digest in 1992 as the “archetypal studio mogul’s estate," built in Georgian style with expansive terraces and its own nine-hole golf course. It’s emerging just days after regulatory filings showed Bezos cashed out $4.1 billion of Amazon shares and comes amid reports that he’s also entered the art market. He reportedly set a record for artist Ed Ruscha at a Christie’s auction with a $52.5 million purchase of “Hurting the Word Radio #2" in November and also bought “Vignette 19" by Kerry James Marshall for $18.5 million. The purchase of the Warner estate, described by the person on condition they...
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