A Japanese Soldier Who Continued Fighting WWII 29 Years After the Japanese Surrendered, Because He Didn’t Know

Hiroo Onoda was a wartime Japanese officer who surrendered only in 1974, having hunkered down in the jungles of the Philippines for nearly three decades in defiant honour of the Imperial Army. His exile in northern Lubang Island, 150 kilometres south-west of Manila, was a rebellious response to the American invasion in February 1945.

For the next 29 years Onoda survived on a diet of rice, coconuts and meat, and tormented the Filipino forces on his trail. 

He maintained his rifle, ammunition and sword in impeccable order and when finally discovered - still wearing his now tattered army uniform - stated that his mind had been on "nothing but accomplishing my duty". Hiroo Onoda was born on March 19, 1922 in the village of Kamekawa in the Wakayama prefecture of south Japan. At 20, he enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army and attended the Nakano School in Tokyo, the main training camp for intelligence agents. His mission to Lubang in 1944 was to oversee the destruction of the island's pier and runway in the event of a likely assault.

When the Americans arrived, Onoda and his unit of three (Yuichi Akatsu, Shoichi Shimada and Kinshichi Kozuka) remained at large. The quartet noticed that island activity lessened that autumn (Japan surrendered on August 15) but refused to acknowledge defeat.

In 1949, Akatsu surrendered and his reappearance started the first of many searches, including airdrops of written pleas. Shimada and Kozuka were killed later in encounters with police search parties and Onoda was officially declared dead in 1959.

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He was found in 1974 through the efforts of Norio Suzuki, a Japanese student with aspirations to be an explorer. Where the Philippines' police and military had failed, Suzuki succeeded in four days.

Onoda set his rifle on the young adventurer but was assuaged by his calm approach. "Onoda-san," Suzuki said, "the emperor and the people of Japan are worried about you." Onoda would not surrender, however, until he had a direct order from his commanding officer. The following month Suzuki returned with Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, by then a bookseller. Taniguchi assured Onoda that the Imperial command had ceased all combat activity and he should lay down his arms. On his return to Japan, Onoda was feted, and briefly tipped to run for the Diet, the Japanese bicameral parliament. Fiscal rewards also materialised through a military pension and publication of his best-selling memoirs, No Surrender: My Thirty Year War (1974).

But Onoda failed to settle into life in a modern, technology-saturated Japan. The year after his return, he moved to a Japanese colony in Brazil and became a cattle farmer. In 1976 he married Machie Onuku, a Japanese tea-ceremony teacher. On a visit to Lubang in 1996 he gave $10,000 to an island school. In 1984 he returned to Japan to open the Onoda Nature School, an educational youth camp.

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Why we celebrate new year on January 1 ?

Because Julius Caesar said so.

Early Roman Calendar

Since long before Caesar’s time, date keeping was dicey. In fact, the 355-day Roman calendar that immediately preceded Caesar’s Julian, worked on a four year cycle where every other year, an additional month was inserted between February (Februarius), the last month of that calendar year, and March (Martius), the first month of the year; this was done in order to catch the calendar up with the Earth’s orbit of the Sun. That additional month, called the Mensis intercalaris, brought in the missing 22 or 23 days, and to even things up, took another five days from February in the years it was present.

Since the calendar had been designed to ensure the proper observance of religious dates, priests, called pontifices, were responsible for declaring when the interclarismonth should begin and end. Since these priests were also involved with politics, they sometimes:

Misused their power by intercalating days or not intercalating them, merely in order to lengthen or shorten some magistrate’s year of office, or to increase the gains of some government contractor, or to inflict loss upon him.

By the time Caesar came around, the Roman calendar was in shambles, and in 46 BC, Julius Caesar commanded that it be changed.

Caesar set the New Year to January 1.  Why? Since 153 BC, January 1 was the day new consuls in Rome took office and Romans had commonly used the name of the two consuls to identify a specific year in question.  Thus, by officially making January 1 start the New Year, it simply lined up with the consular year.

As to why the consular year started on January 1 instead of the original Roman Calendar New Year’s day of March 1, this isn’t known.  That said, there are references that seem to imply that January 1 may have begun marking the New Year as early as 189 BC, which precedes when the consular year started beginning on that day.

One proposed reason for this switch is that January is thought by most to have been named after the god of transitions and beginnings, Janus, during the reign of the second King of Rome, Numa Pompilius, who lived from 753-673 BC.  Thus, it was naturally enough for the Romans to eventually decide to make the switch. However, whether this is the reason or not is very much up for debate.

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Ranveer Singh to host Big Boss?

If sources are to be believed, this will become the 'Lootera' star’s first big step into the very lucrative world of Indian television. Also, Salman Khan’s exit from the show is now almost certain.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor was earlier approached by the show, but talks fell through due to problems in money and available dates (mostly the money).

According to reports, Salman Khan was taking home a salary of Rs 5 crore per episode for season 7. Will Ranveer, with a bevy of new hits, ask for more?

After the success of Ram Leela and the critical acclaim he apparently earned with Lootera, Ranveer, according to the Bigg Boss bosses, is certainly the new heartthrob of youth.

Ranveer’s reps, however, are quiet about the deal.

“It’s too early to comment on these developments. Nothing has been finalised yet,” a close source from Colors said.

Ranveer himself has been unavailable for comment.

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Hrithik ,Priyanka entertain guests at a wedding

Bollywood Greek God Hrithik Roshan took a break from the Shimla schedule of Bang Bang and airdashed to Udaipur on Wednesday morning to attend the wedding of an NRI couple whose identies are a closely guarded secret.

While the celebs remained tight-lipped about whose wedding it was, a local paper identified them simply as 'Gaurav and Heena'. Hrithik was at his entertaining best as he took the microphone.

The guests were also treated to live acts by Priyanka Chopra and Alia Bhatt. Karan Johar was the emcee for the evening. Also present, were Manish Paul and choreographer Terrence Lewis. 

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan voted fourth most beautiful woman of the world

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has made it to the fourth position in a recent poll of the world's most beautiful women. Conducted by Hollywood Buzz, the survey saw participation from more than four million people, who selected the most intelligent, desirable and successful women of 2013-14. Aishwarya was only beaten by Monica Belluci, Kate Upton and Angelina Jolie.


Commenting on this Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said, "The results of this poll by Hollywood Buzz was brought to my notice by my well-wishers whatsapping me. Believe it or not...and I must admit it's overwhelming to hear that over 4 million people across the globe have voted and listed me amongst their top choices."

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Arunachal Pradesh MLA's son died after he was allegedly beaten up by some shopkeepers

 An Arunachal Pradesh MLA's son died here after he was allegedly beaten up by some shopkeepers following an altercation sparked by their taunts on his hairstyle, in yet another incident of targeting of people from the north-east.


Police registered a case of murder in connection with the death of Nido Tania, son of Congress MLA and parliamentary secretary in health and family welfare department, Nido Pavitra, on Thursday as the incident sparked a furore with allegations of discrimination against people from the region.


Two shopkeepers were arrested this evening in the case as police faced flak for alleged inaction. Delhi government also recommended a magisterial inquiry into the incident.


The relatives of the youth, who was a BA first year student at a private university, alleged that he had an altercation with some shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi on Wednesday after they made fun of his hairstyle, following which they allegedly thrashed him.


Police had reached the spot and brokered compromise after which Tania returned to his Safdarjung home with his friends. However, he did not wake up in the morning. When his friends took him to AIIMS, he was declared brought dead. 

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CM Kiran will protest a dharna in Delhi

While Lagadapati did not confirm the date, sources in the CM camp said the dharna will take place once Parliament is convened and takes up the Telangana bill for consideration. "Before that, the APNGOs would have mobilized the support of several national parties against the division of the state and there will be a combined effort to defeat the bill in the Parliament as was done in the state assembly," said the sources.

Any such move of sitting on a dharna in Delhi by the CM would be a big cause of embarrassment for the UPA, especially when the Parliament session is on, and give the opposition BJP ample opportunities to take potshots at the Manmohan Singh regime.

Irrespective of the outcome on the Telangana bill in Parliament, Kiran Kumar Reddy is said to be moving towards the finale of his political strategy that could culminate in the announcement of a new political party.

As per the plan announced earlier, a Samaikyandhra Run will be organized across the region in support of keeping Andhra Pradesh united.

TV advertisements are being broadcasted indicating the arrival of a new political party and billboards, too, have been put up across the Seemandhra region.

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Aravind kejriwal's 'India's most corrupt' list

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday read out his list of 'India's most corrupt', and it included high profile politicians from the Congress, the BJP and their allies, and urged his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members to treat this year's general election as a revolution to cleanse the nation's politics.

Kejriwal's list included Congress leaders' Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Veerappa Moily, Salman Khurshid, Kapil Sibal, Kamal Nath, BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, B.S.Yeddyurappa, Anant Kumar, Anurag Thakur, and others like Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah and Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Addressing a party meet ahead of discussions in the Delhi cabinet on the party's proposed anti-graft Jan Lokpal Bill that seeks to punish corruption with a maximum sentence of life in jail, Kejriwal said: "Don't let a single corrupt politician enter Parliament." "We have not come to play politics, we have come to remove corruption.

Our aim should be that not a single corrupt person exists in parliament," he added. He further said: "We need to change all this. We have not come to fight in the elections.

The people of the country will fight this election." "We are providing an option to the people of the country, and the country has to work to make sure that not one corrupt person is elected to parliament," he added.

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Do you know the 'Camel Bird ' which can run faster than a horse and roar like a Lion?

The ostrich is the giant of the bird world. A large one may weigh three hundred pounds and stand eight feet tall, but almost half of the height is neck.

The ostrich used to be called the "camel bird." Like a camel, it has a long neck and a humping walk, and can go for a long time without water. The male has a glossy black body and white wing and tail plumes. The female is dull gray and white. Legs and neck are mostly bare. Birds like ostriches and kiwis have feathers all over their bodies, unlike flying birds, whose feathers grow in patches.

Ostriches have large eyes with long black eyelashes. The beak is quite flat. An ostrich has only two toes on each foot, and one of them is much larger than the other. On this toe is a short toenail, something like a hoof.
Ostriches eat plants and small animals. They like to travel with herds of antelope or zebras and other grass-eating animals. The hoofed animals stir up little creatures that the ostrich likes to eat. The other animals like to have ostriches with them. The tall birds can see for miles in the flat country where they live. They can see danger coming a long way off. When the ostrich runs, the other animals know they should run too.

An ostrich can run faster than most horses and male Ostrich can roar like a Lion. A large ostrich will sometimes take steps twenty-five feet long!

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Appl - Ford - Wal-Mart join Obama's pledge

Apple, Ford and Wal-Mart will Friday lead 300 US companies ready to sign up to President Barack Obama's pledge not to discriminate against long-term unemployed job seekers. 

Obama said he will meet representatives of the firms at the White House on Friday to agree on a series of best practices designed to halt discrimination against those who have been out of work for months or even years in the wake of the financial crisis. 

"We know that one of the biggest problems right now in the jobs market is the long-term unemployed," Obama told to reporters. 

"Folks are looking at that gap in the resume and they are weeding them out before these folks even get a chance at an interview." 

He said that among the companies committing to the pledge were the top 50 in the country. 

The initiative is part of Obama's pledge made in his State of the Union address this week to take executive actions to ease the disparity gap between the rich and poor in America. 

The president gave the interview in Wisconsin, the third stop in a four-state swing designed to promote aspects of the program he unveiled in the showpiece address on Tuesday night. 

Earlier, Obama signed an executive memorandum directing Vice President Joe Biden to carry out a review of US job training programs. 

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Amanda Knox found guilty of murder again by an Italian court

An Italian appeals court convicted former exchange student Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on murder charges Thursday night.

Prosecutors said the couple had killed Meredith Kercher in November 2007. They were convicted two years later of murder, but those charges were overturned on appeal in 2011.

A judge said Thursday that Knox, also convicted of slander, was sentenced in absentia to 28 1/2 years in prison. Sollecito's sentence was 25 years.

Knox, who was at home in Seattle, Washington, said her conviction would bring no consolation to the Kercher family.

"I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict," she said in written remarks. "Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. ...There has always been a marked lack of evidence."

She called the legal proceedings a travesty.

"This has gotten out of hand. Most troubling is that it was entirely preventable," she said. "I beseech those with the knowledge and authority to address and remediate the problems that worked to pervert the course of justice and waste the valuable resources of the system."

Knox also said that Kercher's family had suffered greatly.

"Their grief over Meredith's terrible murder will follow them forever. They deserve respect and support."

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New Delhi has stolen the inglorious title from Beijing

A new study says New Delhi has outstripped Beijing and gained the inglorious title of the world's most polluted major city.

At its worst, air pollution in New Delhi this winter was 60 times higher than the level considered safe, the research from India's Center for Science and Environment (CSE) reveals.

The most harmful airborne pollutants, categorized innocuously enough as PM2.5, averaged 575 micrograms per cubic meter in the Indian capital from November to January.

That compared with a -- still dangerous -- concentration of 400 micrograms at peak levels in Beijing over the same period.

Airborne danger

PM2.5 refers to the diameter in microns of nasties such as ammonia, carbon, nitrates and sulfate -- particulates small enough to pass into the bloodstream and cause diseases such as emphysema and cancer.

A city such as London has an average PM2.5 level of 20 micrograms, which is considered safe.

Beijing looks as though it could permanently lose lose its mantle as the world's smoggiest big city if it keeps up the good work the CSE report describes.

The Chinese capital has made "consistent and aggressive efforts" to improve air quality, the CSE says, including limiting annual car sales, banning odd or even number-plated vehicles during "red alert" pollution periods and fining local governments for failing to curb smog.

New Delhi, by contrast, is marked by "weak ... stringency ... and enforcement" of pollution controls.

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Kareena trying too hard to deny pregnancy reports?

Kareena Kapoor Khan's absence at award functions as well as her recent pictures have sparked pregnancy rumours. Not only is she glowing but she seems a bit on the fuller side. However, the pretty actress, who is married to Saif Ali Khan, rubbishes these rumours and stresses that she is not pregnant.

In an interview to DNA, calling it a "sensitive topic", Kareena maintains that she has no interest in being a mother in the near future. She says that Saif and she already have two children (Saif's children from his previous marriage) and hence are not in any hurry to have children.

Further speaking to DNA, Kareena says the reason she is not attending any awards functions is because she is not performing there. She says that everyone knows actors attend events only when they get paid to perform and she is not taking money to perform anywhere.

Calling Saif and herself a modern couple, she says they will have children later and says all the speculation about her figure will end when she 

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