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April 11, 2012

Pic of the Day

Giddha being performed in connection with Baisakhi in the wheat fields in Punjab, India

8.6 quake jolts Indonesia, shakes India

Epicentre in Sumatra; tsunami fear grips Indian Ocean belt after 8.2 aftershock 

Banda Aceh, Indonesia, April 11
A powerful 8.6 magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks struck off Indonesia on Wednesday, sending people scurrying from buildings as far away as southern India, but there seemed little risk of a disastrous tsunami as in 2004.

Indonesia said it was checking for damage and casualties but remarkably, no such reports had been received for several hours after the quakes, including in Aceh, the closest province and the area decimated by the disaster eight years ago.
However, some areas close to the epicentre are remote so it could take some time to find out if there was any damage.
Many people were frightened of further tremors. "It's dark out here but I am scared to go home," said Mila, a 41-year-old woman taking refuge in the grand mosque in the town of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
Waves of up to one metre (3.3 feet) high were seen near islands off Aceh, but Indonesia cancelled a warning for fresh tsunamis. It said the worst-hit area was the thinly populated island of Simeulue, off Aceh's southern coast.
The first quake struck at 0838 GMT and an 8.2 magnitude aftershock just over two hours later, at 1043 GMT. Two more strong aftershocks hit later.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also withdrew tsunami warnings for the entire Indian Ocean after keeping them in force for several hours. "Level readings now indicate that the threat has diminished or is over for most areas," the agency's bulletin said.
Thailand and India also withdrew tsunami warnings. Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were all badly hit in 2004. At least 230,000 persons in 13 Indian Ocean countries were killed in the disaster that year. Last year, an earthquake and tsunami off Japan's northeastern coast killed at least 23,000 persons.
On Wednesday, people near the coast in six Thai provinces were ordered to move to higher ground. Authorities shut down the international airport in the Thai beach resort province of Phuket.
The quakes were about 300 miles (500 km) southwest of Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, the US Geological survey said. The first was at a depth of 20.5 miles (33 km).
Indonesia's disaster management agency said power failed in Aceh province and people were gathering on high ground as sirens warned of the danger.
"The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground," said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.
"The warning system worked," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said. Indonesian television showed people gathering in mosques in Banda Aceh. Many others were on the streets, holding crying children.
In the city of Medan, a hospital evacuated patients, who were wheeled out on beds and in wheelchairs. The tremors were felt far away in southern India. Hundreds of office workers in the city of Bangalore left their buildings while the port of Chennai closed down because of tsunami fears.
The quakes were in roughly in the same area as the 2004 quake, which was at a depth of 18 miles (30 km) along a fault line running under the Indian Ocean, off western Indonesia and up into the Bay of Bengal.
Experts said Wednesday quakes were a "strike-slip" fault, meaning a more horizontal shift of the ground under the sea as opposed to a sudden vertical shift, and less risk of a large displacement of water triggering a tsunami.
"The nature of the sideways rupture and sideways movement is not predisposed to cause a bad tsunami, so almost certainly, the crisis has been avoided," said David Rothery, an expert at the Open University in the UK. The quakes were also felt in Sri Lanka, where office workers in the capital, Colombo, fled their offices. — Agencies
Southern shocker
Chennai: Tremors rocked several parts of south and southeast India, prompting panicked people to flock to open spaces as grim memories of the 2004 killer tsunami returned to haunt many. People rushed out of houses and high-rise office buildings in panic in Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Visakhapatnam. Operations at the Chennai Port were suspended.
Cracks in Kolkata buildings
Parts of West Bengal, including capital Kolkata, were jolted around 2.14 pm. Scared people rushed out from their homes and offices. There was chaos on roads. In several places, cracks were spotted in buildings. Metro operations were curtailed.
Back-to-back temblors
n The first quake struck at 0838 GMT and an 8.2 magnitude aftershock just over two hours later, at 1043 GMT
n The epicentre was 33 km under water off the Indonesian coast and 435 km from Banda Aceh, the epicentre of the devastating 2004 tsunami
n Indonesia said it was checking for damage and casualties but remarkably, no such reports had been received for several hours after the quakes
n The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center immediately issued tsunami warnings for the entire Indian Ocean, but later withdrew it
n The tremors were felt far and wide in southern and eastern parts of India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Four B.C. golfers score $30 million Lotto Max jackpot; golf trips on agenda


VANCOUVER - Four golfers from Langley, B.C., have scored their best ever round — a $30-million Lotto Max jackpot.
Ian McMurtrie, Wayne MillerTom Moryson and Joe Scully, who work together in Langley and are golfing buddies, had the winningticket in Friday's draw.
McMurtrie was the first to discover the win while watching the TV news Saturday morning and says his wife screamed and collapsed on the floor.
He then signed all four winners' names on the back of the ticket and started calling his friends with the news.
The golf foursome plan trips to famous courses in Pebble Beach, California and St. Andrews, Scotland, as well as to Augusta, Georgia for next year's Masters Tournament.
The winning ticket was a Quick Pick bought at the Otter Co-op in Abbotsford.

India drags US to WTO on visa fee hike



New Delhi: India has dragged the US to the WTO challenging the visa fee hike which discriminates against the Indian software companies sending professionals to the US on short-term contracts.

"Yes, we have sought consultations with the US on the issue," a senior Commerce Ministry official said.

As per the procedure of the World Trade Organisation, consultation is the first stage of a complaint launched in the global trade body.

The US had raised visa fee in 2010 to fund its enhanced costs on its securing its border with Mexico under the Border Security Act. India has been protesting against the measure and raising its concern for the last 18 months.

The law substantially increased the fees for H1B and L1 categories of visas for applicants which employ more than 50 persons in the US or have more than 50 per cent their employees admitted on non-immigrant visas (the 50:50 rule).

Before India's complaint goes to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the Geneva-based WTO, the parties to the dispute are required to engage into bilateral consultations. The process takes about two months.

"The date and place (of these consultations) have not been finalised," the official said adding the US measure is violating of the WTO rules.

Some of the top Indian companies - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam - were affected by the US action on visa fee. The US is the largest market for the Indian software exports.