Minister bows to public demand; tenders resignation

Bowing to public outcry, controversial Kerala Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty, facing charges in the infamous ice-cream parlour sex scandal, tendered his resignation from the Cabinet.

Kunhalikutty, also the General Secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League, the second largest constituent in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), submitted his resignation to party supremo Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal at his residence.

An early-warning system could have saved thousands of lives

The 26 December earthquake was the largest anywhere in the world in the last 40 years, with a magnitude of 9.0. It was caused by the sudden collision of two tectonic plates under the floor of the Indian Ocean.

A monitoring station that could have provided early warning of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunamis lacked the telephone connection needed to relay news of the impending disaster.

Countries such as Sri Lanka and India, which suffered thousands of casualties, could potentially have been warned some two hours before the waves completed the 1,500-kilometre journey from the earthquake's epicentre off Indonesia.

India and Sri Lanka, which were devastated by killer waves, are not even part of the The Pacific Tsunami Warning System.

Scientists at the PTWS centre in Hawaii desperately tried to warn Asian nations by calling the US embassies in their capitals.

Prisoner starved to death

In an Indian Jail a prisoner was starved to death because the jailor and the fellow prisoners were scared to share food with him since he was suffering from AIDS.