Official sacked in China over son’s lavish wedding
Beijing: A Communist Party village official in a Beijing suburb has been sacked for organising a lavish wedding for his son.
Ma Linxiang, deputy chief of Qingheying Village Committee in the Beijing suburbs, hosted a three-day wedding during October’s week-long National Day holiday violating the party’s directive to shun extravagance, officials said.
A wedding banquet was held on Sunday at the China National Convention Centre, one of the main 2008 Beijing Olympic venues, and famous performers were invited to appear at the event, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
“The extravagant wedding has caused negative social effects and has violated the government’s rule opposing extravagance and waste,” said the district’s discipline watchdog. Ma said that he spent over 200,000 yuan (USD 32,660) to treat villagers and friends for two days of lavish dinners in the village and the rest of the expenses were paid by his daughter-in-law’s parents. An initial investigation has so far revealed no evidence that Ma was involved in embezzlement, the report said. (PTI)
China to test its first underwater vehicle
Beijing: China will test its first autonomous underwater vehicle, a robot that can travel 6,000 metres beneath the sea’s surface.
The research vessel, ‘Haiyang-6’, left Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 8 for its trial mission, State Oceanic Administration said in a statement.
In the country’s latest scientific expedition in the eastern Pacific, it will be a trial run for the vehicle and the first time an autonomous underwater vehicle developed by Chinese scientists will be used, the statement said.
The autonomous underwater vehicle, a robot that can travel 6,000 metres beneath the sea’s surface, is the latest major achievement in China’s oceanic technologies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. China has already developed its own manned submersible and remotely operated underwater vehicle. The manned submersible ‘Jiaolong’ set a record in June 2012 by reaching 7,062 metres deep in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench. (PTI)
Angry patient sets ablaze hospital
Beijing: Angry and dissatisfied by expensive medical treatment at a hospital, a patient on Wednesday set fire to part of the building in south China.
The man set fire to the outpatient hall of Kanghua Hospital in Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County of Guilin City, causing heavy damage to the hospital, following which he was arrested. The fire was extinguished after over 10 minutes by 13 firefighters, who also rescued several people trapped in the hall. No casualties were reported from the fire, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The patient, who was not identified, claimed that he had spent 4,800 yuan (USD 781) on his treatment at the hospital but his condition did not improve. This made him angry, the report said, adding that the man set fire to the hospital with the flammable materials he carried into the building. (PTI)
Meet `venom-proof`daredevil who survived 100 snake bites
London: A jobless factory worker in the US could be the luckiest person on this planet, as he has survived more than 100 poisonous snake bites and lived to tale his tale of bravery. Tim Friede has built his resistance to snake venom by injecting himself with diluted venom, a website reported. Friede, whose arm balloons up due to a potentially fatal allergic reaction, anaphylaxis, hopes that self-torture would help him to show millions of people that immunity is possible. He said that it’s the only way people will believe it, and this is the true test of the credibility of self- immunization.
Friede, keeps 100 snakes in his basement in Milwaukee, Winsconsin, US, and goes through regular medicals to be sure he has not suffered any organ damage. (ANI)
