Inmates escape from prison in Indonesia after flood
Jambi (Indonesia): Indonesian authorities say dozens of inmates have escaped from a prison in western Indonesia after their penitentiary broke down due to floods.
Torrential rain overnight has triggered floods in several places, inundating residential areas and buildings in Jambi, the capital of Jambi province on Sumatra island.
That caused a wall to collapse at the prison that houses 1,238 inmates. Local police chief Brig. Gen. Priyo Widyanto said today that police, soldiers and city security officers were deployed to safeguard the prison and to evacuate inmates from the prison that is still partly flooded.
The provincial head of Law and Human Rights ministry Bambang Palasara said at least 21 inmates have been recaptured and about 30 others are still at large. (AP)
Confucius family tree digitalised
Beijing: The lineage of Chinese philosopher Confucius, believed to be world’s largest family tree, has been fully digitalised, officials said.The digital version, based on the family tree revised in 2009, includes about two million of Confucius’ descendants and contains more than 20 million characters.
The original paper collection of the family tree containing records of all 83 generations is 43,000 pages long and takes up 80 volumes, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The digitalised version makes revision, searching, verification and censuses easier,” said Kong Xiangsheng, a 75th generation descendant of Confucius and curator of the philosopher’s family archives.
Largescale revision of Confucius’ family tree can be traced back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) when the family agreed to revise and update the name list every 30 years and overhaul it every 60 years.However, for various reasons, the record has only been revised five times.
The latest update, which for the first time includes ethnic minorities, women and overseas relatives, took 10 years and was completed in 2009. (IANS)
Indian to return home after 24 years in Saudi Arabia
Dubai: A 52-year-old Indian national, who has been illegaly living in the deserts of Saudi Arabia for 24 years, will soon return to India after the government announced a 90-day amnesty period, according to a media report.
Gana Prakasam Rajamariyan came to Saudi Arabia in August 1994 to work as a farm-hand in a remote village in Hail province.
Rajamariyan, hailing from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, said he was paid only Saudi Riyal 100 a month for six months by his first employer.
He was then “transferred” to another employer and a third a few months later. He has spent 24 years in the desert, without going home for once, a Saudi Gazette report said.
“Of the three employers, I was not sure which one was my sponsor. Above all, I did not receive any salary from them, so I decided to abscond and live illegally out of compulsion,” the newspaper quoted Rajamariyan as saying.
He said his destiny was the deserts where he spent half of his life.
He said he did not own a house nor did he have the Adhaar card or a voter ID, all of which were introduced after he left the country.
He made his last phone call to his wife, Ronikyam, before she was admitted to hospital in 2015. After that he did not call her as she was not able to speak and died a year later. Rajamariyan has completed all formalities for his return to India with the help of Hail-based social worker Sarfuddin Thayyil.
Thousands of Indian workers stranded in Saudi Arabia after travelling there illegally and those who overstayed their visas, including a large number from Tamil Nadu, are ready to return to India under a 90-day amnesty period that the Saudi government has offered them. (PTI)
