Frantic search for brother ends in relief

Mumbai, May 29 — “It’s God’s grace,” said Jagdish Ray. Thirty-seven-year-old Ray, a Kolkata-based software engineer who was visiting Mumbai for work, was relieved to know his younger brother, Sandip, had survived the accident involving the Howrah-Mumbai Gyaneshwari Express at West Midnapore on Friday. Sandip (33), a Commerce graduate, was coming to Mumbai for an interview. He was travelling in coach A1. Jagdish had a tough time all morning trying to find out whether his brother was safe. “I have been frantically trying to contact anybody who could help me with updates on my brother,” Jagdish said. Jagdish had boarded the same train on Wednesday and was to reach Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on Friday morning. “My train was on the outskirts of Mumbai when I learnt about the derailment from my fellow passengers. I realised that Sandip was on the same train,” Jagdish said. “I was hoping Sandip had missed the train.”

Sandip’s relatives managed to trace him among the injured. “I was relieved when they informed me that Sandip had sustained injuries but was safe. I told my relatives to admit him to a private hospital,” he said, adding he would fly to Kolkata soon.

Kim Kardashian hated her body as a child

Melbourne, May 20 (ANI): Socialite Kim Kardashian has revealed how she hated her body as a child because of her ever-growing boobs.

Kim, 29, revealed to Shape magazine that she was 10-years-old and very embarrassed by their size.

She also told the mag about how she prayed to God to stop them from growing, and even tried to restrict their growth herself.

“I remember crying in the bathtub… I took a washcloth, made it hot, put it over my chest and prayed, ‘Please don’t let them grow any bigger. They’re embarrassing me’,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her as revealing. (ANI)

Hudson couldn”t stop laughing while filming spanking scene in new film

London, May 18 (ANI): Kate Hudson found it hard to film a violent scene with Casey Affleck in new movie ‘The Killer Inside Me’ because she couldn’t stop laughing.

Affleck spanks the actress, while lying semi-naked on a bed in the scene.

“There were a couple (of spankings) in there when I thought, ”God, Casey!” He got a bit of power behind it. It was definitely real,” the Daily Star quoted Hudson, as saying.

She added: “It depends on your sense of humour where you draw your boundaries. After about the 20th spank we all started to laugh because you become quite comfortable with the idea and it becomes about the technical side of things.

“I”ve known Casey for so long that you can”t help but laugh every now and then. I”m pretty comfortable with my body. I”m imperfect. The imperfections are there. People are going to see them, but I take the view you only live once, and, hey, I”m getting spanked today!”

Hudson plays the girlfriend of a psychotic killer, played by Affleck, in the film. (ANI)

8-yr-old grows new kidneys after old ones fail

London, May 18 (ANI): An 8-year-old girl demonstrated a miracle to doctors when she grew two new kidneys after her original kidneys failed.

Angel Burton was a victim of painful infections and innumerable scans ever since she was a little girl, but when she was to undergo an operation to create an artificial valve, the doctors were amazed to find that she had grown 2 new kidneys.

The new kidneys are fully functional – a sign that she is cured.

Around 1percent of people have an extra “duplex” kidney, but it is very rare for them to be fully formed.

“It’s a real miracle. It’s absolutely amazing that none of her scans picked the extra kidneys up.

“Now you would never know she had been ill at all.

“We’re just so grateful to have ­Angel back to her happy, healthy self,” The Daily Star quoted her mother, Claire Burton.

The child was diagnosed with bilateral reflux, which meant the valves to her bladder were not working properly and urine leaked into her kidneys, causing painful infections.

Angel had to have regular kidney scans.

“They told us her kidneys were permanently damaged,” said Claire.

“I remember Angel coming around and I told her what they’d found. She said: ‘God gave me the healthy kidneys and forgot to take the old ones away.”’’

Consultant Prasad Godbole, from Sheffield Children’s Hospital, who operated on Angel, said, “Duplex kidney rarely comes to light.

“I was surprised we had it in Angel because none of the previous X-rays had shown that. Her kidneys are working fine.” (ANI)

The best I have ever played: Hussey

Michael Hussey still cannot believe that he has guided Australia to the Twenty20 World Cup finals with his hurricane knock against Pakistan but he is quite sure that the 24-ball 60 is the best innings of his career so far.

Chasing an intimidating 191 for six, Australia were on the rack at 105 for five in the 13th over and needed 70 runs from five overs at one stage.

Going into the final over of the innings, the Aussies needed 18 runs to win. But Hussey turned the match on its head with unalloyed pyrotechnics, putting the issue across Pakistan with one ball to spare.

“That is probably the best I have ever played. I earlier considered the Ashes Test in Adelaide where I hit the last ball for a six as my best ever cricket innings. But this was the semis and a very crucial match for us. It is the best innings I have ever played,” he said.

Hussey said he wasn’t confident that Australia could achieve the target and still can’t believe that his team has actually made the finals, where it will take on England tomorrow.

“Even I had plenty of doubts on whether we could score the runs. I can’t believe it myself.”

Looking back at the incredible knock, Hussey said he took time to get his eye in before he started hitting the ball all over the park.

“Initially, I take a few balls to get in. That is what I was trying to do, to get the strike. By the end of the innings I was trying to hit every ball. It happened to go my way. I am very, very happy,” said the beaming middle-order batsman.

Asked about his thoughts going into the last over, Hussey said he just wanted to hit every ball out of the stadium.

“I just wanted to try and hit every ball for a shot. If he had bowled yorkers and they were perfect, there wasn’t much you can do about it. But he (Saeed Ajmal) missed his length just by little bit.

“I told myself, God please hit the last ball with the middle of the bat. I didn’t know what it felt like till I did it. I was delighted to see the elation on my teammates faces when they ran in. I am so excited to be in the final,” said Hussey.

Hussey said he enjoys playing Twenty20 cricket.

“I have always enjoyed playing Twenty 20 cricket. My first love is Test cricket, first and foremost. But Twenty20 is a great format for the kids to enjoy and take to it. “Hopefully, they take the game up. It is an awesome concept. The players are getting better by the day at it. Batting and bowling skills continue to improve. I reckon it will keep getting better,” he said.

Meanwhile, skipper Michael Clarke commended his trusted match-winner.

“I willed myself not to watch the final over. But when I saw one six come after another, I got into the game. It would have been hard to believe at one stage. It was an amazing day today. It is a freakish performance, unbelievable to achieve by a cricketer in any form of the game. Thanks to Hussey, we are in the final,” said the Australian captain.

‘Boobquake’ cleric defends earthquake-promiscuity link

Washington, May 15 (ANI): The Iranian cleric, who claimed last month that promiscuity and immodest dress cause earthquakes, has defended his argument.

Kazem Sedighi insists God may be holding off on natural disasters in the West in order to let people sin more and relegate themselves to hell.

Sedighi’s preaching created a buzz on the web last month, as blogger Jennifer McCreight of Indiana asked women to show as much cleavage as possible through a Facebook page named Boobquake, reports Fox News.

Seidighi had said: “Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.”

Now, the cleric is back defending his concept.

Sedighi notes that some might ask why there aren”t more earthquakes and storms striking Western nations that are “up to their necks” in immorality.

He says the answer is that God allows some of those who “provoke His wrath” to continue sinning “so that they (eventually) go to the bottom of Hell.”

Meanwhile, on the lines of ‘Boobquake,’ a new Facebook group called for ‘Brainquake’, a day for women to “show off their resumes, CVs, honors, prizes, and accomplishments.” (ANI)

Naomi Campbell to follow kabbalah?

New York, May 13 (ANI): Only two years ago Naomi Campbell compared kabbalah to Alcoholics Anonymous, but the supermodel is now reportedly meeting Madonna”s kabbalah mentor, Eitan Yardeni.

According to sources, Campbell met Yardeni at Manhattan”s Kabbalah Center shortly before flying to Europe with her Russian billionaire boyfriend, Vladimir Doronin, reports the New York Post.

In 2008 Campbell had criticised the sect, saying, “I knew about kabbalah before Madonna got involved. Kabbalah is not a religion, it”s a program. I don”t like to get hooked on things like that. It re minds me of AA, but just with differ ent words.

“They”ve got the same principles . . . I just believe in God. I am religious. I pray most days and do my thing. But each to their own.” (ANI)

Tendulkar gives his fans a tweet

India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, revered by millions of fans in his home country and across the world, has joined the ranks of the “Twitterati” on microblogging site Twitter.

The 37-year-old opened his account sachin_rt on Tuesday with the post: “Finally the original SRT is on twitter n the first thing I’d like to do is wish my colleagues the best in the windies.”

Tendulkar, nicknamed the “Master Blaster”, is recovering from injury and not part of India’s squad taking part in the World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean, which began last week.

But the record-breaking cricketer, considered one of the sport’s greatest ever players, said he was struggling with the new technology, although he managed to post a photograph of himself.

“My kids r happy that I m finally on twitter.They hv been tryin 2 get me 2 join twitter or facebook for ages.I m still gettin the hang of it,” he added.

In a sign of his popularity, Tendulkar had more than 41,000 followers by mid-afternoon Wednesday, including leading Bollywood stars, just 16 hours after his first “tweet”.

Last week the sporting icon had a new variety of mango named after him.

A number of people said they had specifically joined Twitter to follow Tendulkar’s posts.

One, using the name shine82h, commented: “GOD IS ON TWITTER,cant ask for more ! BIG FAN ! Wish you all the best ! You sir are truly THE GREATEST!”

Tiger Woods ‘meets divorce lawyer’

London, May 3 (ANI): Tiger Woods seems to have finally realized his marriage is over.

The scandal-ridden golfer — who cheated on wife Elin Nordegren with dozens of different women — recently met with divorce lawyer Jeff Fisher.

Fisher is the same attorney who represented golf god Greg Norman in his split from his first wife Laura.

According to sources, Tiger and Elin — who is currently in her native, Sweden, with the couple’s two young children — are set to came face to face later this month for a divorce showdown.

Elin is said to be keen to return to Sweden permanently — but Tiger has issues with this, as he wants to be able to see his children regularly.

“She”s returning from Sweden within two weeks and that”s when events with Tiger will come to a showdown,” the Sun quoted a source as saying.

Meanwhile, sources are adamant that Elin, 30, is definitely divorcing Tiger.

An insider said: “It”s 100 per cent happening. Elin and her mum met with a lawyer before they went to Sweden. It”s going to take a long time to go through. But she will go through with it. She will do it slowly and carefully.” (ANI)

Its “squeaky bum time” for Tory leader Cameron: Sir Alex Ferguson

London, Apr 28 (ANI): Manchester United manger, and staunch Labour Party supporter Sir Alex Ferguson has criticized Tory Leader David Cameron, saying it was a “squeaky bum time” for him.

With pre-election polls indicating that all three major parties are neck-to-neck, Fergie told The Daily Mirror “What was the old Harold Wilson saying- a week is a long time in politics? My god, it must have been a long few days for Cameron.”

The sharp-tongued manager went relatively easy on Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg, saying that “I must be honest, I don”t see this Clegg thing. I mean he was fine, and spoke well enough, but I was no clearer what he was about than I was at the beginning.”

Sir Alex described Gordon Brown as “solid and strong”, while Cameron “looked really weak under pressure and that is the last thing you want in a prime minister” reports The Daily Express. (ANI)

Pierce Brosnan says his second Bond movie wasn’t fun

London, April 26 (ANI): Actor Pierce Brosnan, who played the role of James Bond in four of the super spy series, has revealed that he struggled to promote his second 007 movie ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ – because he didn”t like it.

The 56-year-old actor has said that he loved shooting for Golden Eye but the following sequels were not as good, reports The Daily Express.

“I remember starting the first day on that film in an aircraft, flying a jet and it was 102 degrees, and I”m wearing a helmet and sweater, and then I”m being strangled over and over again, and I thought, ”Oh my God, this bloody character is going to kill me’,” Brosnan told Venice Magazine.

“The press tour for that film was 22 countries. When I did it I knew the movie wasn”t up to speed; it wasn”t as good as GoldenEye and you have to bang the drum loudly to get the attention,” he added.

The last Bond movie Brosnan did was Die Another Day in 2002.

“I never felt that I really nailed it,” Brosnan said looking back to his Bond roles. (ANI)

Katy Perry squeezes her feet into shoes two sizes small for fashion

New York, April 26 (ANI): Katy Perry”s desire to look glamorous saw her slipping into shoes that were two sizes small for her feet.

The 25-year-old singer was seen sporting 2,495-dollar Jimmy Choo “Zap” shoes, with heels that light up, at Hollywood”s Tea Room for the Super Street Fighter IV launch after-party.

Perry, however, told guests such as Kid Rock, Adrian Grenier and David Guetta the reason for wearing the sample-size shoes.

“These shoes are two sizes too small, but God, it”s worth it,” the New York Post quoted Perry, as saying. (ANI)

John Cleese pays £3,300 taxi fare from Oslo to Brussels!

London, April 17 (ANI): English actor John Cleese is said to have reportedly paid 3,300 pounds as taxi fare from Oslo to Brussels after he was stranded in the Norwegian capital by the volcanic ash plume from Iceland.

Cleese, 70, was in Norway to appear on the Scandinavian talk show Skavlan, and when the cloud descended, closing airspace around the city, he is said to have taken a cab on April 16.

“We checked every option, but there were no boat and no train tickets available,” the Guardian quoted him as telling Norwegian TV2 in a telephone interview posted on the network’s website.

“That’s when my fabulous assistant determined that the easiest thing would be to take a taxi,” he said.

The taxi carried two extra drivers for the 930-mile journey.

“It will be interesting. I’m not in a hurry,” Cleese said, adding that from Brussels he planned to take the Eurostar train to London, where he hoped to arrive on April 17.

“I will think about a joke you’ve probably already heard: how do you get God to laugh? Tell him your plans,” he added. (ANI)

Stolen war medals recovered

A Canberra war veteran whose service medals were stolen last month says he is overjoyed to have them returned.

John Prout, 85, received the medals for his Army service during World War II and for more than three decades with the RAAF, serving in eight countries.

The medals were stolen from his MacKellar home but police recovered them on Tuesday.

Mr Prout says the medals mean everything to him.

“These were the main thing and I was both surprised and then overjoyed,” he said.

“Thank God that someone must have been looking after us up there because I never thought I’d ever get them back.”

The Defence Department had planned to issue a replica set of medals, but Mr Prout will now wear the originals on Anzac Day.

I’m going to be worth £16m next year: Susan Boyle

London, Mar 29 (ANI): Scottish singer Susan Boyle is convinced she will be worth 16 million pounds by next year.

After Boyle, 48, released her debut album ‘I Dreamed A Dream’, it became the biggest-selling CD of 2009 in the U.K., and has now sold more than 8.5 million copies globally.

The singer, who has reportedly been living off an allowance from Simon Cowell, will receive her first big payout from her worldwide sales when she turns 49 on April 1.

“I’m no April fool – I’m going to be worth 16 million pounds next year,” the Daily Star quoted her as saying.

And she is looking forward to buying a new five-bedroom, three-bathroom riverside property in her hometown of Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland.

“Susan was teased from a child because of her birth date and told she would never amount to much in her life. She can still remember the taunts as if they were yesterday,” her brother, Gerry, said.

“But she rang me last week and was so happy. She said, ‘Gerry, if people look at me now they’ll realise I’m no idiot, no fool. I can buy whatever I want.’ I felt so happy for her.

“She’s had a lot of knocks in life and deserves everything good coming her way… The figures are staggering – eye popping.

“When Susan was told she dropped the phone and danced a jig around her front room, even though money is not her god and never will be,” he added. (ANI)

Thousand-year-old idol discovered in Tamil Nadu

Chennai, Mar 26 (ANI): An ancient idol of Lord Vishnu, believed to be 1,000 years old, was uncovered during the desilting of a temple tank in Tamil Nadu’s Kooram village in Dharmapuri District.

Workers of the Water Supply and Drainage Board found the idol while de-silting the tank of the famous Koorathazhvar Temple in Kooram village.

Temple authorities claim that there is also a 2,000-year-old idol of the God Kesava Perumal in the tank, as well as other 1,000-year-old Koorathazhvar idols.

All idols reportedly belong to the Pallava dynasty.

“The 2,000-year-old Lord Kesava Perumal idol, and the 1,000-year-old Lord Koorathazhvar idols are there in the temple tank. So far we have recovered one of the ancient idols and people are expecting a lot and do prayers for the idol for the blessing of the Lord,” said Krishnamachari, a temple official.

The idol discovered weighs about 200 kilograms and has a height of 3.5 feet.

Curious villagers have also come there to have a glimpse of the idol of Lord Vishnu.

“While de-silting the temple tank, we got the ancient Lord”s idol. We believe the Lord and we do offer prayers to that idol and so we also lit camphor and we believe that something good will happen for us through that,” said Sannathamman, a local.

People believed that the ancient idols heed their prayers and bless them with good fortune. (ANI)

Terrorists have no religion: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi, Mar 23 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari has said that a terrorist has no religion and can”t be classified as a Hindu or a Muslim.

“It is unfortunate that we identify people involved with certain terrorist activities according to their religious affiliations,” said Gadkari, adding that a terrorist has no caste, creed or religion.

Gadkari further said, “A god fearing Hindu will not kill an innocent Muslim and similarly, a god fearing Muslim will not kill an innocent Hindu, and if he is doing so, then he is a terrorist who does not belong to any religion.”

The BJP president on Monday stressed on the need for a modern idiom to articulate ”Hindutva” for the youth, adding that the Supreme Court”s 1995 description of Hindutva must be the standard.

“Hindutva cannot become any political party”s agenda. It was more a way of life,” said Gadkari.

The Supreme Court of India in a judgement ruled that ”no precise meaning can be ascribed to the terms ”Hindu”, ”Hindutva” and ”Hinduism”; and no meaning in the abstract can confine it to the narrow limits of religion alone, excluding the content of Indian culture and heritage.

The Court also ruled that ”Hindutva” is understood as a way of life or a state of mind and is not to be equated with or understood as religious Hindu fundamentalism. (ANI)

I don”t think I am addicted to plastic surgery, says Heidi Montag

New York, March 22 (ANI): Reality TV star Heidi Montag, who became famous for having 10 cosmetic procedures in a day, has denied being addicted to plastic surgery.

The 23-year-old, however, wants to go under the knife again but rues she can’t do it legally.

“I legally can”t right now. The limit is 800cc and I have 700cc,” the New York Daily News quoted her as saying on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”

She added: “I think I”ve reached the point [where I can stop].

“I think I”m good for awhile. I”m surger-ied out.”

She added: “I don”t think I am addicted. When you”re addicted, you have to do it every day, and thank God I don”t do it everyday. I like to do it all in one day … knock it out.” (ANI)

Doctor prayed to God to heal Beckham”s Achilles tendon

London, Mar. 20 (ANI): The surgeon who operated on David Beckham”s Achilles tendon has revealed that he prayed to God to help him heal the former England skipper’s wounds.

Dr Sakari Orava said he begged for the Lord”s help in healing Becks” Achilles tendon, which he ripped playing for AC Milan.

“It wasn”t so easy to get back to sleep. But I”m a devout Christian, so my wife and I prayed. We said it is not up to us, it”s in bigger hands to see if things go fine,” The Sun quoted Orava, as saying.

Milan bosses made a frantic phone call to the world renowned Achilles expert on Monday.

Becks, 34, tore his tendon last Sunday.

He was operated at the orthopaedic surgeon”s clinic in the Finnish city of Turku the next day.

Beckham has been ruled out playing in the World Cup.

“There is mental stress and pressure, but you can”t show it. The job needs to be done. My hands were not trembling,” he said. (ANI)

Miley Cyrus was bombarded with hate mail after gay marriage comments

London, March 19 (ANI): Miley Cyrus has revealed that she had to delete her Twitter account after she was bombarded with hate mail over her comments supporting gay marriage.

The Hannah Montana star took to her Twitter.com page last year to throw her support behind a campaign for same-sex unions.

However, the star’s comments angered some readers and she eventually deleted her Twitter account after receiving a barrage of hate-filled messages.

“That”s the reason I deleted my Twitter account because I said on there that I believed in gay marriage because everyone should have the right to love each other, and I got such hate mail about my being a bad person,” the Daily Star quoted her as telling Parade magazine.

“There has been so much controversy sometimes about what I”ve said or done because I believe there are no mistakes because God is the only one who can judge us,” she added. (ANI)