Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

VEENA VENUGOPAL writes: Saw the ad about the horrible boss? The one in which the employee comes in with a new idea and in return he gets a load of sarcasm? And even when the boss likes the idea, he reveals it with an air of impudent superiority. Seen that one? What was it called? Hari Sadu?

Well, no. This ad is for a new brand of cookies; Gold Star, it is called. A male “attendant”/“peon”/“employee” comes in to a plush white room and serves a plate of cookies to Amitabh Bachchan. On biting into one, he realizes these are not his regular cookies. “Arre suno,” he calls because come on, he isn’t expected to know the name of all the people who serve him cookies at home. The employee admits they are new. “Maine socha ki…” (I thought…) he says at which Bachchan rolls his eyes and says, “aaj…

April 16, 2013 – IRAN– A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck along the Iran-Pakistan border, was felt in several countries in Asia Tuesday, rocking buildings in the Indian capital of New Delhi and striking with powerful force in Iran, reports said. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale on Iran’s border with Pakistan, and appeared to be centered in the Khash, Iran, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The earthquake was felt as far away as the Persian Gulf states, according to the Reuters. The depth of the earthquakes was 82 km (51 miles) below the earth’s surface. In New Delhi, which is periodically shaken by temblors, the distant quake could be felt through the city, as buildings shook for more than 10 seconds and, in some areas, frightened people ran into the streets. No injuries were initially reported, nor were there any early reports of property damage in the…

German journalists have discovered barrels of radioactive waste on the floor of the English Channel, just a handful of thousands dumped there decades ago. It was previously thought the material had dissipated. Now politicians are calling for the removal of the potentially harmful containers.

Some 28,500 containers of radioactive waste were dropped into the English Channel between 1950 and 1963. Experts have assumed that the containers had long since rusted open, spreading the radioactivity throughout the ocean and thus rendering it innocuous. But a new investigative report from the joint French-German public broadcaster ARTE has concluded that the waste is still intact at the bottom of the sea.

As part of an investigative report set to air on April 23, affiliated German public broadcaster SWR sent an unmanned, remote-controlled submarine into the canal’s depths, where they discovered two nuclear waste barrels at a depth of 124 meters (406 feet)…