Malaysia fires tear gas at protest, arrests 672

Police fired tear gas and detained hundreds of activists as more than 20,000 demonstrators massed Saturday across Malaysia's main city demanding electoral reforms in the country's biggest political rally in years.

The opposition-backed rally was the culmination of weeks of intense pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak's long-ruling coalition to make election laws fairer and more transparent ahead of national polls widely expected by mid-2012.

Demonstrators marched in defiance of Najib's administration, which has declared the rally illegal and warned people repeatedly to avoid it.

Opposition leaders accuse Najib's National Front coalition of relying on fraud to preserve its 54-year grip on power, which has been eroded in recent years amid mounting complaints about corruption and racial discrimination. The government insists the current electoral policies are evenhanded.

Authorities took extraordinary security measures to deter Saturday's rally by sealing off roads, closing train stations and deploying trucks mounted with water cannons near the Independence Stadium in downtown Kuala Lumpur, where activists sought to gather.

Nevertheless, thousands tried to reach the stadium from various parts of Kuala Lumpur, chanting "Long live the people" and carrying yellow balloons and flowers as they marched.

Police fired numerous rounds of tear gas and chemical-laced water in repeated attempts to disperse the crowds, causing demonstrators to scatter into nearby buildings and alleys before they regrouped. Police helicopters flew overhead as a brief downpour failed to deter the protesters.

Najib insisted Saturday the protesters only represent a minority, and that most Malaysians support his administration.

"If there are people who want to hold the illegal rally, there are even more who are against their plan," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.

The federal police force said in a statement that it detained 670 people in a clampdown called "Operation Erase Bersih," referring to the Bersih coalition of civic groups organizing the rally. Those arrested included several senior opposition officials.
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Balasinor: Dino tourism in India’s Jurassic park

A tiny town called Balasinor in Gujarat is home to the one of the largest dinosaur fossils sites in the world.

There's a fossilized dinosaur nesting ground and a prehistoric burial ground, but you don't know about it because no one is bothering to set it up as a UNESCO Geo Park.

According to the Geological Survey of India's Director of Palaeontology, D N Mohabey, the Gujarat Tourism Department and Gujarat Ecology Commission showed no interest in providing details on the site for a recommendation to UNESCO to set up a park around it.


“I met members of the Gujarat Ecology Commission, Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) and the Tourism Department for giving me the necessary data on the various areas including Ravioli in Balasinor taluka, where unique dinosaur fossil beds exist. But they made me run from pillar to post,” Mohabey told the Indian Express newspaper.

Paleontologists believe that at least seven species of dinosaur lived here and researchers have uncovered fossils of about 10,000 dinosaur eggs, making Raiyoli the third largest hatchery in the world.

In 2003 they also discovered a new species here, which belonged to the Tyrannosaurus Rex family. It was given the name Rajasaurus narmandensis, meaning princely reptile from the Narmada.

The site was discovered accidentally in 1981 when geologists were conducting a mineral survey of the area. Since then, the finds have attracted scientists and tourists from around the world, triggering off what the Gujarat state calls "dinosaur tourism."
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