Most sought after Indian voter

Mizoram is one of the Indian states that went into polls recently. In Baktawng village situated close to the state capital Aizawal, lives a man who I believe is the most sought after voter in whole of India.

Almost all the election candidates and party stalwarts in the area are always seeking his help to get elected.

What is the reason for this?

Zionnghaka Chana, 70, is the husband of 39 wives and 127 children and grandchildren. Chana is a voter like no other in Mizoram who can deliver a sizable bloc of support for any candidate.

“We were witnessing a rush of politicians seeking votes in the past few days,” Chana said from his 100-room home in the hills of Baktawng village.

"During every election we are much in demand as the winning margins of politicians in this state are slim, so even 100-odd votes matter to them,” Chana said.. "When we go to vote, we always cast our ballots for the same candidate or party.

That means more than 160-odd votes are assured from one family,” said one of Chana's wives, Rinkmini. Like most voters at this election, Chana said he wanted a clean government and development so that his family could prosper. The sect, founded by Chana's grandfather in the 1930s, has some 1,700 members including four generations of the Chana family, many of whom carve wooden furniture and make pottery items.

Robot to protect children

The police personnel and security officers may not like to hear this news but the fact remains that South Korea has decided to use robots to protect their children.

It has been reported that world’s first robot has been deployed in one of the middle schools in South Korea to protect the children. The robot named OFRO has been placed as a pilot before launching it into the market.

According to the developers the robot could be useful in alerting staff in case outsiders intend to seduce students. Chief Executive of Du Robo, Kang Jung-Won, said that one of the possible scenarios is that in case OFRO spots someone trying to seduce a student it will immediately alert school’s officials. After the robot has alerted teachers, they have several opportunities: whether to warn the offender via loudspeaker or send school’s security guards.

The firm’s officials stated that their invention is the world’s first robot that is used for the purpose of guarding an educational institution. The speed of OFRO is 5km/h. The robot is able to patrol pre-programmed routes or it can be controlled by a human, i. e. manually. A camera and microphone are attached to OFRO so to maintain connection with teachers or a security firm.

Kang Jung-Won stated that after the developers pass the feasibility test, they are going to commercialise OFRO. The smart-robot will have a retail price of around $100,000.

Meanwhile in another pilot project designed to bolster the burgeoning robot industry, 21 elementary schools in the south-eastern city of Daegu have “hired” twenty-nine robots to teach English.

Developed by the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the white, egg-shaped robot is known as Engkey. The robots stand more than three feet high and have the avatar face of a Caucasian woman. They are remotely controlled as they wheel around the classroom, speaking and reading books to students. The robots are full of educational surprises. In addition to reading books, the robots use pre-programmed software to sing songs and play alphabet games with the children.

The four-month program was sponsored by the government and cost 1.58 billion won (1.37 million dollars). Still in experimental stages, if things work out, Engkey may become standard school equipment.

Who can pick up an egg using a three-ton crane?

Fang Chunlin is an expert crane operator who works for one of China’s oil companies. His normal duty involves transporting of heavy metal pipes from one place to another. Recently he performed an unbelievable feat.

To the amazement of his colleagues he picked up an 50-gram egg using the heavy machinery, usually used to carry heavy goods.

Despite the huge difference in weight, he was able to balance the delicate egg between two metal parts of the crane without the shell cracking.

Fang Chunlin's expert use of heavy machinery amazed his colleagues. Whenever he is not transporting metal pipes he practices to sharpen his skill to pick up small objects with his giant crane.