Happy Birthday Indian Railways!
At 1535 hrs on 16 Apr 1853, the first train in India left Bori Bunder, in Bombay, for its destination,
Thane, 34 km away. It has been 167 years, going strong and it's the world's largest government enterprise! Ever since the largesse during the annual railway budgets have been stopped, after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, the Railways have taken off on a profit making graph! The stress on modernisation and efficiency have drastically reduced the frequency of accidents and the behemoth that the Railway Board was, has been pruned!
* * *
21 Million Chinese Died of Covid : US Intelligence
A new data intercepted by the United States reveals that 21 million people died in China from Dec '19 to Mar '20, US intelligence officials conclude in a classified report for the Trump administration.
The Intelligence report stated that at least 20.9 million of the deaths were linked to corona virus.
According to the US, the intercepted data that shows that China under reported its corona virus infections and deaths was validated for a second time when it tallied with a data released by Beijing authorities. Beijing announced on 19 Mar that over 21 million cell phone accounts were cancelled in the past three months while 840,000 landlines were closed.
China had reported little over 81,000 infections with 3,300 deaths.
Cellphones are an indispensable part of life in China and it's only closed when the user is dead.
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A Belated Vishukkaineettam
Ramakrishnan, the newspaper boy, was given the Vishukkaineettam today. On the day of Vishu, I didn't have the change and yesterday there were no newspapers. The moment I'd called out for him, he'd unfolded his saffron lungi - which he folds while riding his bicycle - reminding me that he was expecting this occasion and he would have been thoroughly disappointed if I hadn't. Thank God, I was able to do it and felt damn nice.
* * *
Spring Cleaning
Pushpaakaran, the farmhand, rang the door bell promptly at 0800 hrs this morning to do spring cleaning of The Quarterdeck. We get it done twice a year and he told me that he looks forward to those two days, every year. As usual, he'd started from the terrace, downward. By 1600 hrs, he'd finished the job with the ceiling fans and other fixtures gleaming. He'd also cleared the kitchen soak pit and snipped off the dried up beanstalk.
Tailpiece.
Had got up a trifle late, the chores and was ready on time.
At 1535 hrs on 16 Apr 1853, the first train in India left Bori Bunder, in Bombay, for its destination,
Thane, 34 km away. It has been 167 years, going strong and it's the world's largest government enterprise! Ever since the largesse during the annual railway budgets have been stopped, after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, the Railways have taken off on a profit making graph! The stress on modernisation and efficiency have drastically reduced the frequency of accidents and the behemoth that the Railway Board was, has been pruned!
* * *
21 Million Chinese Died of Covid : US Intelligence
A new data intercepted by the United States reveals that 21 million people died in China from Dec '19 to Mar '20, US intelligence officials conclude in a classified report for the Trump administration.
The Intelligence report stated that at least 20.9 million of the deaths were linked to corona virus.
According to the US, the intercepted data that shows that China under reported its corona virus infections and deaths was validated for a second time when it tallied with a data released by Beijing authorities. Beijing announced on 19 Mar that over 21 million cell phone accounts were cancelled in the past three months while 840,000 landlines were closed.
China had reported little over 81,000 infections with 3,300 deaths.
Cellphones are an indispensable part of life in China and it's only closed when the user is dead.
* * *
A Belated Vishukkaineettam
Ramakrishnan, the newspaper boy, was given the Vishukkaineettam today. On the day of Vishu, I didn't have the change and yesterday there were no newspapers. The moment I'd called out for him, he'd unfolded his saffron lungi - which he folds while riding his bicycle - reminding me that he was expecting this occasion and he would have been thoroughly disappointed if I hadn't. Thank God, I was able to do it and felt damn nice.
* * *
Spring Cleaning
Pushpaakaran, the farmhand, rang the door bell promptly at 0800 hrs this morning to do spring cleaning of The Quarterdeck. We get it done twice a year and he told me that he looks forward to those two days, every year. As usual, he'd started from the terrace, downward. By 1600 hrs, he'd finished the job with the ceiling fans and other fixtures gleaming. He'd also cleared the kitchen soak pit and snipped off the dried up beanstalk.
Tailpiece.
Had got up a trifle late, the chores and was ready on time.
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