China Earthquake Several thousands feared Dead

At least 3,000 people are feared dead after a powerful earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter Scale rocked South West China's Sichuan province on Monday, the Chinese local government said.
Nearly 900 students in southwest China's Sichuan Province were feared buried when a high school building collapsed Dujiangyan, Sichuan in an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale on Monday afternoon, Xinhua reported.
At least four third-graders -- two boys and two girls -- were confirmed dead at Juyuan Middle School in Juyuan Township of Dujiangyan City, about 100 kilometres from the epicenter in Wenchuan County, parents and witnesses said.
Xinhua reporters saw a three-story school building had partially collapsed. Some buried teenagers were struggling to break loose from underneath the ruins while others were crying out for help.
Grieved parents watched as five cranes were excavating at the site and an ambulance was waiting, the agency said.The tremors were felt in Beijing and Shanghai and other cities in the country, official Xinhua news agency said.
China rushed its troops to the earthquake-struck Wenchuan County of southwest Sichuan province for disaster relief work, with President Hu Jintao ordering all out effort efforts to help the affected people.

Chengdu Military Area Command has dispatched the troops who would assist the local government in Wenchuan county to guage the situation and help in relief work, Xinhua said.Premier Wen Jiabao was also on his way to direct the rescue work.
Premier Wen described the massive earthquake as "disaster" and called for calm.
Meanwhile, 10 more people were killed and 14 others injured in China's northwest Gansu province due to major earthquake in Sichuan province today, Xinhua reported.
The epicentre Wenchuan, about 146 km northwest of Chengdu, the provincial capital, has a population of about 111,800. Chengdu is a fast growing metropolis of over 10 million people.
Before the strong earthquake struck, the Sichuan provincial seismological bureau detected a moderate quake measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale in Mianzhu city of Deyang, Xinhua said.
Today's quake was the strongest to hit Sichuan province in more than 30 years. Overall, 44 aftershocks had been reported, the strongest one measuring 5.6, it said.
The Chinese Air Force has sent helicopters to assist in relief work in the quake-stricken areas, while the State Seismological Bureau is also dispatching a team to gauge the situation.
The airport at Chendgu was closed to flights in the afternoon and all domestic flights headed there were diverted to Chongqing, the biggest industrial city in Western China, local aviation staff said.
Tremors were also reported in Ningxia, Qinghai, Gansu, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Yunnan, Hunan and Hubei provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region, the State Seismological Bureau said.
In Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, people rushed out of homes and offices. Many said they felt dizzy and saw the ceiling light fixtures swinging back and forth.
The local government informed citizens through mobile phone messages about the earthquake and schools told students to go home or gather them in the playground.
Xinhua reporters in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, said they felt their office building rocking back and forth for about four minutes.
China said the Three Gorges Dam, largest hydro-electric project in the world, was not affected by the earthquake.
"There were no signs that the earthquake has affected the dam," Hu Xinge, an executive with the dam, was quoted as saying.
The National Stadium (Birds Nest) for the Olympics in Beijing was also not affected by the quake, Li Jiulin, an engineer in chief for the project said. The stadium, the main venue, was designed to endure an earthquake of 8 magnitude.
Major telecom firms said the quake had damaged power supplies to local telecommunication facilities, affecting cell phone services.
In Sichuan, about 2,300 local base stations stopped operating due to power shutdowns and transmission failures caused by the quake, Xinhua added.

Tornadoes in Missouri, Oklahoma

Many have fled this depressed, pollution-scarred mining town. Those who have chosen to stay or have not yet relocated face a new heartache.
A tornado ripped through a 20-block swath of Picher late Saturday afternoon, killing at least seven people. The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri where tornadoes took the lives of at least 12 others, authorities said.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said Picher's victims included an infant. He said at least three people were confirmed missing.
"Trees are toppled over, ripped apart," he said. "There are cars thrown everywhere. It looks like a bomb went off, pretty much."
Brown said 32 people were transported to Integris Baptist Hospital in the nearby town of Miami. Of those, 26 were treated and released.
Many families have moved away from Picher to escape the lead pollution left by mining operations. The town's population has dwindled from a peak of roughly 20,000 to about 800 people.
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry issued a statement saying a major emergency response was under way. He planned to visit the area Sunday.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Picher and all of the other Oklahoma communities that have been impacted by the latest wave of severe weather," Henry said.
At least 12 people were killed after severe storms spawned tornadoes and high winds across sections of southwestern Missouri, the State Emergency Management Agency said. Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck near Seneca, about 20 miles southeast of Picher, near the Oklahoma border.
"They're going over the hard-hit area and turning over everything and looking," SEMA spokeswoman Susie Stonner said of emergency workers' search for victims and assessment of damage. "It's hard to do in the dark."

Balaji shines with a hat-trick

lakshmipati Balaji registered first hat-trick of the Indian Premier League to help Chennai Super Kings assert their supremacy over Kings XI Punjab and beat them by 18 runs in Chennai on Saturday.
Balaji claimed five wickets, including a hat-trick in the last over of the match, and gave away just 24 runs in his four overs to seal his team's victory.
CSK set a target of 182 to win. Punjab Kings were restricted 18 runs short of the target.

Inflation climbs to 7.61%

Inflation rose to 42-month high of 7.61 per cent for the week ended April 26 as against 7.57 per cent in the previous week on account of rising food prices and some manufactured products.
The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation stood at 6.01 per cent in the corresponding week a year ago.
During the week, prices of tea jumped by 11 per cent, fruits and vegetables by one per cent, fish marine by two per cent, spices and cardamoms by three per cent.
However, prices of pulses declined by nearly one per cent among manufactured products, prices of mustard oil and imported edible oil went expensive by one per cent and four per cent respectively.
At the same time, cement, aluminium ingots and other aluminium materials hardened.
However, steel prices declined during the week.
Sensex Dips
Sensex closed below 17000 and Nifty below 5000 today. Sensex shut shop at 16737, down 343 points and Nifty at 4982, down 99 points from the previous close. The CNX Midcaps index was down 2.54% and BSE Smallcaps index was down 2.11%. There was selling pressure across oil and gas, banking, realty and capital goods stocks. Market breadth was negative with 213 advances against 1031 declines on the NSE

Rajasthan outplay Deccan

Rajasthan Royals rolled to the top of the table with an eight-wicket win over Deccan Chargers, who offered little resistance in a match that was effectively decided in the first innings. Deccan posted a below-par 140 and looked listless as Rajasthan's efficient batting chased the target with four overs to spare.
After their batsmen collapsed in spectacular fashion following Adam Gilchrist's dismissal, Deccan's fielders, perhaps hindered by the dust storm blowing across the stadium, failed to save runs and apply any pressure on Rajasthan. Deccan have now lost six matches out of eight and, with six games to play, their chances of making the semi-finals look dim.
A breezy 68 off only 37 deliveries by Yusuf Pathan saw Rajasthan Royals make short work of Deccan Chargers.
Yusuf was named man of the match.

Sensex south bound

Sensex is currently trading at 17,064, down 274 points from the previous close. Nifty is at 5072, down 63 points. CNX Midcap index is down 0.9% and BSE Smallcap index, down 0.7%. All sectoral indices are still trading low, with that of IT, banks and FMCG hit the most.

Supreme Court reinstate Dr Venugopal

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the AIIMS Amendment Act that led to the removal of noted cardiologist Dr Venugopal as AIIMS director, and ordered his immediate reinstatement. The verdict came after Dr Venugopal challenged his removal as AIIMS Director following an amendment moved by Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss to fix 65 years as the upper age limit for the post.
It is belived that Ramadoss forced parliament to bring amendment in AIIMS Act to remove Dr. Venugopal. Dr Venugopal was removed from AIIMS in 2007. The AIIMS Amendment Act was passed by the Parliament in August 2007,

A security threat for India’s Internet users

Internet users now will have to be more watchful while carrying out their online financial transactions as Pharming, a new security threat used by hackers for making financial gains, is surfacing in the country.
“Pharming attack is a new security threat for the Internet users which is developing in the country and it is primarily launched by the hackers on the websites for getting financial gains,” Cyber Security Research Centre Associate Coordinator Divya Bansal said.
“Hackers redirect Internet traffic from one website to a different, identical-looking site in order to allure you to enter your user name and password on their fake site,” said Ms. Bansal.
Hackers try to acquire personal information in order to access the user’s bank account, steal the identity, or commit other kinds of fraud in his name. Banking and similar financial sites often become target of these attacks, she said.
Although there are few incidents of pharming happening in the country and they have not been largely reported, she said.
She further added that the problem could further deepen because of growing usage of Internet in India.India has about four million internet subscribers and 11 million users.Agreeing that it is a new security threat, Microsoft Corporation Director (Corporate Affairs) Deepak Maheshwari said, “this is just an extension of Phishing which also has a motive of making quick money.”