Mecca crane collapse 107 dead at Saudi Arabia's Grand Mosque

The video shows that At least 107 people died and more than 230 people were injured when a crane collapsed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Mumbai 11th Sep 2015(Sana Sayed):  The huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque - the largest in the world - that was filled with worshipers at the time.

The head of Saudi Arabia's civil defense said strong winds and heavy rains had caused the collapse.

Mecca is currently preparing for the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to arrive in the Saudi city from all over the world later this month.

The collapse happened at 17:23 local time (14:23 GMT), said Director-General of the Saudi Civil Defense Authority, Lt Sulayman Bin-Abdullah al-Amr.

It happened at a time when many worshippers were there for Friday prayers.

The toll for the dead and injured, tweeted by the Civil Defence Authority (in Arabic), continued to rise throughout the evening.

Shortly before the crash, the city had been hit by unusually high levels of rainfall and winds of up to 83kph (50mph), Lt Amr said.

A video posted on YouTube, which could not be independently verified, appeared to record the moment the crane fell, with a loud crash heard in the background followed by panic and shouting.

Images circulating on Twitter showed what looked like numerous bodies and blood on the floor of the mosque.

Lt Amr said an investigation was being carried out to assess the damage, and the "extent of the safety of these sites".

Mecca is preparing to welcome Muslims from around the world for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which begins in about 10 days' time.

Islam requires that every Muslim capable of doing so performs a pilgrimage to the site at least once in their lifetime.

Saudi authorities began a major expansion of the site last year to increase the area of the mosque by 400,000 square metres (4.3 million square feet), to allow it to accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once.

India’s largest FMCG Company Parle Products sets up first kids Parle G Factory

The partnership will aid kids in stepping higher on the
ladder of nutrition by helping them understand
the making of Parle-G biscuits. 

Mumbai 10th Sep 2015(Sana Sayed): Parle Products, India’s largest Food Company, today announced its partnership with KidZania Mumbai, a Global Indoor Theme park that inspires, educates & empowers children, helping them understand & manage their world better. 

Zupervisor teaches a child to make Parle G biscuit

The collaboration has established first Kids Parle G factory in KidZania Mumbai. The Parle G factory experience at KidZania will allow kids to have first-hand experience of various biscuit making processes. This will help kids to understand and appreciate how their favourite Biscuit is made by Parle Products.

A child tries her hand at making Parle G
 biscuit at the launch in KidZania Mumbai

The process involves measuring the wheat and sugar in two beakers which will be given to the kids. They will experience how to operate a flywheel and flatten the dough, post which they would be trained in pulling the lever to bring down the molding and cutting dye. Training kids on baking, cooling and packaging processes will also be covered at the establishment. Kids will also perform a nutrition test on the Parle-G biscuits and will scale the size of the biscuit to check if it fits the particular standard laid down for the biscuits. This popular household biscuit at KidZania Mumbai is a step closer to teaching kids the intricacies involved in its production and thus will enhance the cognitive, psychomotor and emotional skills of kids.

As a part of its consumer engagement program, Parle aims to provide first-of- its kind experience that will allow kids to understand the procedure of biscuit making as well as form a closer bond with the brand.

Mr. Mayank Shah Deputy Manager Marketing along with
Mr Sanjeev Kumar, CEO KidZania at the Parle G
 launch at KidZania

Mr. Mayank Shah Deputy Manager Marketing, commented, “Parle has been one of the favorite biscuit brands for various generations. We are delighted to be associated with this innovative concept as this will help us target the newer generation. We at Parle Products believe in giving children free hand to explore world on their own, nurture creativity and follow their passion. Given this great fit with our Brand philosophy, we are excited to be a part of such an initiative. Parle has always been on the forefront when it comes to consumer engagement and satisfaction. Unified with reality and entertainment, this initiative will provide guidance to kids on the biscuit industry in an informative way.”

Speaking on the new launch, Viraj Jit Singh – Chief Marketing Officer, KidZania India said, KidZania is all about empowering children through hands-on experience and open doors for them to new opportunities.  The scaled down size of the Parle G biscuit factory will teach the next generation of bakers the intricacies  of the biscuit making process, the independence of being creative and  the importance of understanding the nutrition value of what they consume..”