Bomb Blasts In Hyderabad ,INDIA

At least 42 people, including five women and seven students, have been killed and 50 injured in two explosions at a crowded park and a popular eatery here last evening, three months after the Mecca Masjid blasts, police said today. The week-end outing at the popular Gokul Chat shop at Kothi locality turned into a tragedy when a deafening explosion ripped through it killing 32 people and wounding 21, they said.

Five minutes earlier, 10 people, most of them from outside the state, were killed and 29 injured in another blast in an open air auditorium in Lumbini Park near the state secretariat in the heart of the city when a laser show was underway, they said occured around 19:40 hrs on 25th aug 07. The blast at the auditorium, where 500 people were present, was so powerful that some bodies were flung in the air. Among the dead at the Lumbini Park were two students from Ahmedabad. Four Railways employee are among those killed in the blasts. The condition of some of the injured was stated to be serious, police said.Have a look of those tragedies published by eenadu [Telugu daily].

60th INDIAN Independence day

India celebrated her 60th Independence Day today.The nation has remembered its glory and its heritage and its development since the last 6 decades. In regards to this AOL.in has published a set of pictures that INDIA possessed in 1947 and the same in 2007.

Shuttle Endeavour blasts off for space station

Washington, August 9 2007: The US space shuttle Endeavour has lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft with seven astronauts on board is on an 11-day mission to install a 2.5-tonne solar panel on the ISS, conduct repairs on the orbiting station and deliver of supplies.

Endeavour's last flight in November 2002 was the US shuttle fleet's last mission before the shuttle Columbia exploded on re-entry on February 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts and temporarily halting the space programme. All shuttle flights were suspended, and the three remaining shuttles in the fleet were modernised during the years since the Columbia disaster.

Endeavour reached orbit in eight and a half minutes after taking off Wednesday. Earlier, NASA crews filled Endeavour's external fuel tank in preparation for launch.

Commander Scott Kelly leads the Endeavour mission. The crew includes astronaut Barbara Morgan, a former teacher who was the back-up to fellow educator Christa McAuliffe, who died in the shuttle Challenger's explosion on takeoff in January 1986.

'Class is in session,' the mission control announcer at mission control said as the spacecraft reached orbit.

Endeavour, built to replace the ill-fated Challenger and the youngest of the shuttles, is now on its 20th mission and has spent less time in space than Discovery and Atlantis, the other remaining shuttles in the fleet. Prior to Wednesday's launch, Endeavour had logged 207 days in space and 3,250 orbits of Earth.

After the current mission, Endeavour is scheduled to make four more trips to the International Space Station before being retired with the rest of the fleet by 2010.

With a length of 37.4 metres and a launch weight of 109 tonnes, Endeavour is shorter and lighter than Discovery and Atlantis. Endeavour is named after the ship on which 18th-Century British explorer Captain James Cook set sail on his first voyage to the South Seas.

Indo Asian News Service

65th anniversary of Quit INDIA movement

65th anniversary of Quit India Movement

New Delhi, August 9: The nation is celebrating the 65th anniversary of Quit India Movement Thursday. On this day in 1942, Mahatma Gandhi launched a mass civic disobedience for the independence of India.

A number of functions have been organised through out the country to mark the occasion. The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will release a book on Satyagraha in New Delhi Thursday evening. All India Radio-Delhi will broadcast live the launching of the book by the Prime Minister from 5.55 pm onwards on Delhi-D and additional frequencies.

In Gujarat, nearly two million tree saplings are being planted to mark the occasion.

The Maharashtra Government is launching the Nirdhar Darshan campaign from the August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai to highlight the spirit of Indian freedom struggle. Nirdhar Darshan will consist of five exhibitions which will be displayed in different parts of the state and country.

A special postage stamp will be released on the occasion and the state government will be felicitating freedom fighters from Maharashtra and other states on this occasion.

Asian News International - Text

Some interesting Facts [July 2007]

I found these facts in an IT magazine and wanna share these with you.Happenings in the last month observed were..

• India has added 6.3 million mobile customers in May 2007.
• India would need 3,50,000 telecom towers by 2010 (The current number is 1,10,000)
• India is one of the first countries where digital music sales(Rs.1,026 crore or 10.3 billion)exceeded physical music sales(Rs.756 crore or Rs.7.6 billion)in 2006-07.
• The number of billion dollar companies in India has gone up from 29 (2001-02) to 71(2006-07),While the Chinese count has gone upto 90 from 18 over the same period.
• India has 203 paved runways, while USA has 5,119 paved runways.
• Insurance premium in India have dramatically increased from 525 crore (Rs 5.2 billion) in 1999-2000 to Rs 22,268 crore (Rs 222.7 billion) in 2006-07,thanks to privatization.
• 515 million people buy a newspaper everyday,while newspaper sales are going down marginally in the Western World (thanks to the internet),they are increasing in Asia, particularly India(thanks to improving literacy rates)!
• The GSM subscriber base reached 130 milllion in may 2007.
• Doordarshan launched mobile TV in India.
• Chinese company,HiTech Wealth,developed the World's first solar-powered mobile phone.
• AndhraPradesh managed to bring down transmission and distribution losses to 16.5% (half of the national average!).