
Iraqi fighters mourn those killed in U.S. strikes
The Hindu
Baghdad’s Green Zone was sealed off
Thousands of members of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance gathered in Baghdad on Tuesday to mourn comrades killed in U.S. air strikes along the Syrian border. The American raids early no Monday sparked an exchange of fire between pro-Iranian militias and the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Syria, and heightened fears of a new U.S.-Iran escalation amid ongoing efforts to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers. With chants of “death to America” and “vengeance for the martyrs”, the Hashed members massed in Freedom Square near the Iraqi capital’s high-security Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy is located. Security forces were deployed in large numbers, sealing off the Green Zone after recent incursions by armed groups backed by Tehran.
The municipal bus stand auditorium in Malappuram was packed. But nobody quite knew what to expect. After all, a new event was making its debut at the State School Arts Festival. The moment V.G. Harikrishnan started his rendition of Pyar bhare do sharmile nain..., everyone was convinced that Ghazal was here to stay. The student from GVHSS, Atholi (Kozhikode), was applauded loudly for his rendering of the timeless ghazal sung originally by Mehdi Hassan.

For the last few weeks, several wards in Madurai city have been getting piped drinking water through a new drinking water scheme. The sweetness of the generously supplied water has led to loss of business to several suppliers of canned drinking water in the city. But, not many know that the water supplied to the houses in Madurai is directly drawn from Lower Dam of Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki district of Kerala.











