Rampaging Cattle, The Real-Life Yeti And An 'Electric' EVM

Indians may be very protective about cattle, but it seems our bovine friends feel no need to reciprocate in kind. This January, fed up with the menace of stray cattle damaging crops in their villages, angry residents of Iglas, Atrauli and a few other blocks in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, resorted to a rather drastic measure. Rounding up some 800-odd stray cattle, the people locked them up in a dozen government primary and upper primary schools in the area, forcing teachers and students to vacate their classrooms. Even a primary health centre was taken over. The district magistrate clearly wasn’t amused, stating that the incident may be ‘politically motivated’.

Spotted by M. V. Apparao. Source: The Times of India

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Intimidation is a popular tactic amongst politicians to dissuade people from voting for their opponents, but this Congress leader went a tad too far.

This April, in a rally in Kewati, Chhattisgarh, the excise, commerce and industries minister, Kawasi Lakhma, was caught on camera exhorting people to press the ‘first button’ on the EVM—corresponding to Congress candidate Biresh Thakurto—while casting their vote. He added that pressing the ‘second or third button’ on the machine would give them an electric shock! The statement drew the ire of the Election Commission of India, who immediately issued a notice to Lakhma. That must have been a real shocker!

Sources: Scroll, NDTV, The Times of India

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It’s not every day that you hear about a girl in school uniform making her way to an exam centre on horseback! Two months ago, a class 10 student in Kerala’s Thrissur district, was spotted doing just that. The video soon went viral online. C. A. Krishna and her horse Ranakrish won several hearts, including that of the chairman of  the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra who went on to call her a hero. Several parallels were also drawn between the horse-riding act and women’s empowerment and the  excellent state of education in the state. Well played, girl!

Source: India Today

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WHAT WAS THAT AGAIN?

A man-made accident in the making? (Spotted by Sanjiv Chandhoke, Gurugram)

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If someone were to declare that the abominable snowman or yeti, really existed, most people would wonder what they were smoking! But when a group of Indian Army soldiers presented, with absolute conviction, their momentous discovery of the mythical snowbeast’s footprints in Nepal this April, the entire country took notice. The official Twitter handle of the Indian Army sent out a tweet broadcasting pictures as proof. It didn’t take long, however, for internet sceptics and realists to chime in, calling the announcement deeply embarrassing. A Nepal Army spokesperson, on his part, issued a matter-of-fact clarification stating that the footprints were probably that of a wild bear, as was also reported by the locals who had seen the footprints. Will the real bigfoot stand up, please?

Sources: India Today, Hindustan Times