Fridge ahoy! Philippine fishermen paddle fast to preserve their jobs
TANAUAN: Usually a fisherman catches a fish and puts it in the fridge. In one typhoon-wrecked Philippine village, fishermen are putting themselves in the fridge and then going fishing.
Typhoon Haiyan crashed into the central Philippines on November 8, laying waste to just about everything in its path, including all the long, stylish fishing boats moored along beaches.
More than 4,000 people, including poor farmers and fishermen, were killed.
Fishing families in Tanauan, 20 km south of the hardest-hit city of Tacloban, found a solution – they have been going to sea in boats made out of fridges picked up from among the rubble after the storm hit 12 days ago.
Jimmy Obaldo, 52, was the first to try it out.
‘We got the idea from my children – they just asked me if we could use it as a boat. Then we tried to do it and tested it,’ he said.
Steering the makeshift boats, made stable with bamboo floats, is not easy. Obaldo has to paddle faster and use smaller, lighter nets.
‘We started using this boat about one week ago. Most of my catch – fish, crabs, prawns – will be sold at market,’ Obaldo said, adding that the rest of the catch would feed his family. (Reuters)
Woman gives birth at polling centre in Nepal
Kathmandu: A woman gave birth to a healthy baby at a polling centre in Nepal Tuesday as the country voted to elect its second Constituent Assembly, a media report said.
The woman, Hira Bista, a resident of Achcham district, delivered the baby soon after casting her vote at the Babla VDC-6 polling centre, Nepalnews.com reported.
Hira Bista had come to cast her vote lying on a stretcher at 8 a.m. Soon after balloting, she experienced labour pains and gave birth. (IANS)
Baby miraculously comes back to life after being declared dead
New York: A newborn baby was declared dead after 35 minutes of his birth but was found to be alive, when her father came to collect her body after 10 hours.
The Columbian baby, now-named Milagros, which means “miracles”, was born prematurely at St. Francis hospital in Quibdo.
The mother, Jenny Hurtado was only 27 weeks pregnant, when she was rushed to the hospital, the New York Daily News reported.
Medics then performed a C-section but were unable to find signs of life, and declared the baby to be dead just 35 minutes later.
When the attendant handed the baby’s body over to the father”s at the morgue, they heard a soft cry.
Realizing the infant was still alive, the workers rushed her onto a plane to the Santa Teresita del Nino Jesus clinic in Bogota.
She remains there, accompanied by her aunt Reyes Hines, receiving treatment for her underdeveloped lungs in intensive care.
Her mother remains in Quibdo, recovering from the ordeal. (ANI)
Jilted lover runs over boyfriend in New Zealand
Wellington: A 44-year-old woman in New Zealand ran over her boyfried several times after he told her he was leaving her, Sky News reported Tuesday.
The incident took place in the Hamilton Waikato area of North Island, the area where the “Lord Of The Rings” and “The Hobbit” were filmed.
An eyewitness said that he heard the couple arguing and “then the woman ran him over”.
“The first time we thought it was just an accident, but then the second time we knew it wasn’t,” Kanj Patel was quoted as saying by Liveleak.com. A CCTV camera installed at the spot has recorded the incident.
Witnesses said the woman then drove over a bank and into the Waikato River, but freed herself from the car as it was sinking.
Police were soon on the scene and the woman was brought ashore. While the man is being treated for his injuries, the woman has been sectioned in hospital. (IANS)
US Sikh with beard gets $50,000 for job denial
New Jersey: An Indian-American Sikh man, who was denied a job for keeping a beard by a car dealership in New Jersey five years ago, will receive $50,000 as compensation in an out-of-court settlement.
Gurpreet Singh Kherha, a resident of Little Falls, New Jersey, who had applied for a sales position at Tri-County Lexus in February 2008, was told by the hiring manager that although he was well-qualified, he could not be hired because of the dealership’s strict “no beard” policy.
Kherha then took his case to the Sikh Coalition, a community organisation, which filed a discrimination claim along with the the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in November 2008, and a lawsuit was filed in New Jersey State Court in February 2010.
The terms of the settlement with the Sikh Coalition and EEOC over alleged hiring malpractices also requires Tri-County Lexus dealership to enter into a two-year remedial programme.
The programme includes revising its written policies and procedures prohibiting employment discrimination and providing ongoing training to all staff on anti-discrimination laws, with a focus on religious discrimination and religious accommodation laws.
The dealership will also be required to ensure that a copy of its revised policies is provided to any applicant who requests a religious accommodation during the hiring or interviewing process.
The EEOC will monitor and ensure the dealership’s compliance with the terms of the court-ordered consent decree.
“As this settlement demonstrates, Sikh Americans have a right to live, work, and thrive in the US, just like anyone else,” said Gurjot Kaur, staff attorney at the Sikh Coalition.
“We will continue to stand up against employers who fail to understand their legal obligations to provide religious accommodations and keep Sikhs and other religious minorities out of the workplace,” she said. (IANS)
Sikh taxi driver awarded for honesty in Australia
Sydney: A Sikh taxi driver in Australia, who returned A$110,000 in cash he found on the rear seat of his cab to its owners, has received a Melbourne City Council award for his honesty.
Lakhwinder Singh Dhillon found the money after dropping off a group of people at Crown Casino in Melbourne last month.
The Lord Mayor Robert Doyle presented Singh with a certificate of commendation, the Herald Sun reported Wednesday.
Singh said the seven men and two women, whom he had picked up from Chinatown in his maxi cab, seemed very drunk.
“When I saw all that money, I thought, what is happening, it is something amazing, what should I do,” Singh said.
After finding the cash, he drove to a police station but he soon received a call from the owners to return the money at the casino where he left them.
Singh believed they were visitors from China staying at the casino.
“They gave me a A$500 reward. One of them said: ‘You’re very honest, you’re a very good man, you’ve helped us a lot’,” Singh said.
“He is truly an inspirational Melbournian – it was the act of an honest man of integrity,” mayor Doyle said. Singh said he was greatly honoured by the award. (IANS)