Tuesday, December 01, 2009 BANGKOK: Monkeying around in Thailand and for once, these primates aren't stealing the food. Instead they are honoured guests at this annual monkey feast in Lopburi.Platefuls of colourful food, delicious enough for human consumption, are given to the city's most famous residents. The monkey buffet is staged at sacred Khmer ruins and honours the place the long-tailed macaques hold in Thai legend. A giant tower of fruit, vegetables and assorted Thai deserts formed the centrepiece of the mass celebration. There wasn't any champagne but Pepsi seemed just fine. All this monkey business is big business in Lopburi, with the event bringing in thousands of visitors every year. Monkeys are a both a bane and a blessing in the city. The thousands of naughty, greedy animals are given free rein and often cause havoc.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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