The Innocent Bystanders

 Spy thriller from James Munro a.k.a. James William Mitchell.

John Craig is a tough hard as nails British spy set out to find a missing Russian scientist who has the knowledge to convert desert into life. Impracticable as it sounds, Craig is on a mission and in the process he travels to Turkey, America, Cyprus with Department K following him with two young recruits, and Force Three also on his trail. KGB is also interested in the missing scientist.

The scientist Aaron Kaplan is one of the ten men who broke out of a deadly prison in Siberia of whom apart from him, only two survived the escape. Force Three sends in Miriam Loman as the all in one help of Marcus Kaplan, brother of Aaron, who has not seen his brother for 25 years. Joanna and Royce are sent in by the Department.

There are plenty of thrills and spills and action in this fast paced adventure thriller from James Munro. The action moves from one location to another pretty fast. My first one of James Munro, and its good. Goodreads 3/5  

9.19 kms

 

9.19 kms for the morning. There was a slight drizzle going almost throughout the race, so that helped cool the temps. Its a bliss to run in slight rains, like nothing can beat it. 

Escaping Eritrea

 

PBS Frontline documentary on the brutal dictatorial regime of President Isaias Afwerki in Eritrea.

He has been in power since 1991, since the independence of the country from Ethiopia and has apparently led a harsh one party rule in the country. There are apparently no independent media, no judiciary, no civil society and no constitution also. No elections have been held ever since independence. 

People are jailed on some pretext or other and kept in confinement for years together without any charge being brought against them. People are kept inside hot rooms in deplorable conditions. There are many prisons dotted around the country where political prisoners and religious prisoners are kept. 

Prisoners are routinely beaten and interrogated for hours together and women are raped and traumatized by the regime soldiers. There is no human rights, no rights at all for anybody. Its called the North Korea of Africa. 

Few people tried to escape and they smuggled in video footages which forms the most part of this documentary. The UN is into it threatening to take the President to the International Court for the crimes against humanity. 

There was some hope for peace when Ethiopia brokered a peace agreement a couple of years ago, but ostensibly things have not changed much during the recent years after the peace accord. Its a nice documentary with video footages, secret interviews, voice over commentary etc. Worth watching. 

Midnight in D'jibouti

 

A breathtaking documentary on D'jibouti, a tiny nation on the Horn of Africa. 

D'jibouti has an unique geographical importance because the geological tripoint is located here when three tectonic plates meet together. The tectonic interaction is at the lowest elevation of any place in Africa and second lowest depression on dry land (source: wikipedia). It also has the hottest point on the earth's crust. 

It has got a huge coast with Red Sea in the north and the Gulf of Aden in the east. The D'jibouti port is located strategically just below the Mediterranean so it becomes a legal and illegal spot for trade. Smuggling of gasoline is done in exchange for whisky, vodka and liquor which is sent to the Gulf states. 

Smuggling of exotic animals takes place from here to the Gulf and the Orient, and luckily in D'jibouti they have an animal refugee centre, where wild animals which are caught in the process of trafficking are housed there. 

Villagers in plenty are after khat, a kind of localised opium which is grown in plenty and trade takes place. Being a very hot place, not much activity takes place in the afternoon, which are spent in enjoying the khat.

Pearl, lobsters, shark fishing are important activities and fetch a good price in the market, especially with the international hotels located along the beaches. The country has plenty of breathtaking beaches dotted along the coast line. 

Salt is another trade, especially refined salt, which does not require much processing. All in all, a newly independent country, with not much of manufacturing activity, but plenty for tourists, and lot of illegal trade especially in drugs and arms which make it a focal point for the international agencies like UN to monitor. Good documentary, as the narrator follows a few examples and takes us around their daily life activities. Typically like what a good documentary should be. Worth watching. 

You can watch it here 

8.78 kms

 

8.78 kms in extremely humid weather in Mumbai. It was totally dry, airless and humid. Some wee bit of light breeze towards the end and very light showers for the last 1.5 kms. Have a great day folks. Running is fun, its the best stress buster that you can have. 

Grand Sweep of Nature

 

Breathtaking documentary on wildlife in the northern peninsula of the Tibetan plateau. 

Stunning videos and story from the tough, harsh upper reaches where survival is difficult with very little water. Tibetan antelopes look to migrating hundreds of kilometres to the lower levels in order to survive and grow. 

There are breathtaking array of wildlife in this harsh landspace all their unique story of survival. There are elephants, wolf, bear, antelopes, and then vultures, raven et al. Bear and wolf are the top of the food chain, so one kill of an animal fills the stomach of so many animals. Its absolutely magnificent, the story of survival in the wildlife. 

Its part of the series called Forces of Nature by Free Documentary on youtube, so planning to watch all of them. You can view them here 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbvrgK-PvcY

tax compliances extended

 https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1755925

The Central Government, in continuation of its commitment to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, has, on consideration of representations received from various stakeholders, decided to extend timelines for compliances under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) in the following cases, as under:

• Time limit for intimation of Aadhaar number to the Income tax Department for linking of PAN with Aadhaar has been extended from 30th September, 2021 to 31st March, 2022.
• The due date for completion of penalty proceedings under the Act has also been extended from 30th September, 2021 to 31st March, 2022.

Further, the time limit for issuance of notice and passing of order by the Adjudicating Authority under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 has also been extended to 31st March, 2022.

Notification no. 113 of 2021 dated 17th September, 2021 has been issued in this regard and can be accessed at www.incometaxindia.gov.in.