Odds & Ends
$6 Million Butt
A hotel employee in Britain is insuring her bottom for $6 million after landing a job to test the softness of hotel beds.
Loo Lessons
An Australian university is teaching foreign students how to use the toilet correctly after janitors complained that they were leaving them soiled.
Bollywood in the Sky
Nearly 50 Finnair crew dressed in salwar kameez and traditional Indian attire gyrated and frolicked through the aisles to the delight of surprised passengers.
A Brief $10 Billion Ride
Parijat Saha, who expected only Rs 10,000 ($200) in his account, rushed to an ATM machine to verify, and sure enough he had $10 billion in the bank.
Non Violence Works
Major nonviolent campaigns have achieved success 53 percent of the time, compared with 26 percent for violent resistance campaigns.
Techie Hinglish
With the growing popularity of cell phones, the word recharge is entering the Hinglish lexicon, as in recharge your brain, for example. Likewise, Hi-fi,
No More Shoe Laces
A Madhya Pradesh Minister criticized after a videotape showed a young boy tying his shoes has pledged never to wear shoes with laces again.
A Sari from Paris
The French fashion house Hermes has launched 28 limited-edition printed saris for the Indian market starting at $6,500.
No Laughing Matter?
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has directed the Indian Embassy in Washington to lodge a protest with NBC over the “quite unfortunate and quite objectionable” satire.
Sleepless in Lucknow
scores of people in housing colonies patrolled the streets and chanted slogans to stay awake in Lucknow.
Indians Told To Avoid Keeping Jewelry at Home
Thames Valley Police, one of the largest police departments in the UK, is advising Indian families to avoid keeping high value jewelry at home after a spate of robberies targeting the community in the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
Doc is in the Clear
Overseas Indian physicians may soon be allowed to practice and teach at medical schools in India. The union cabinet has endorsed a proposal from the National
2011 Bizzaros
Ziona Chana, a 66-year-old Indian with 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren, has topped Ripley’s Believe It or Not’s 11 strangest stories for 2011.
This Cheer is for Real
Three Indian researchers in Scotland have designed a laser test to distinguish genuine Scotch whisky from counterfeits.
Tagore Haunted by Depression
Bhattacharya attributes the bard’s chronic loneliness to “disappointment with the support he received from his people.
Indians Fuel America’s Growth
Nearly half of America’s top 50 venture-funded companies have immigrant founders, and Indians top the list.
Dow Caves on Olympic Branding
Dow owns Union Carbide, the company that owned and ran a pesticide plant in Bhopal, where a gas leak in 1984 killed thousands of people in the world’s worst industrial disaster.
10 Indian Stars
Ten Indians made the cut in Forbes list of “tomorrow’s brightest stars.”
Britain’s Best Primary School
A primary school with predominantly Indian and Asian children has been rated as Britain’s best performing primary school.
Harvard Boots Swamy For ‘Hate Speech’
Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Science has voted to drop courses taught by controversial Indian politician Subramanian Swamy because of his controversial column in an Indian newspaper attacking Muslims.
Russian Court Rejects Gita Ban
A Russian court has dismissed a petition to ban the Bhagvad Gita as extremist.
Time for Murder
A Lancaster University student shot dead may have been murdered for failing to give the gunman the correct time.
Bikram Yoga Steams
The 65-year-old yoga guru has filed a federal lawsuit to block Yoga to the People.
70-Year Visa Wait
A skilled Indian national would need to wait 70 years to receive a green card, according to a US policy research group.
Good Times in Pink City
Mumbai ranked second, Patna third, Chandigarh fourth and Delhi fifth in the happiness rankings.
The $1 Million Stain
The cleaning woman mistook it for a stain and scrubbed it clean. “It is now impossible to return it to its original state,” according to a museum spokesperson.
Hyperactive Robber Syndrome
A 20-year-old British robber was relieved from community service because he was too sleepy to work.
Curry College
British communities secretary Eric Pickles, is proposing establishing a curry college to train British chefs in the art of chicken tikka masala.
$400,000 Prayer Beads
A Mumbai company is hawking a $400,000 rudrakshas, or prayer bead, necklace made from seeds of the rudrashka (Elaeocarpus ganitrus) tree.
Airline Holds Passengers Hostage
Each passenger had to fork out $205. Passengers who didn’t have the money in cash, were asked to secure money from ATM machines.
100,000 Marriages
An estimated 100,000 marriages are set to be held during November, which astrolgers consider an auspicious period, based on the position of Mars.
Earliest India Photos
The photographs belong to the estate of Lord Dalhousie, the seventh governor-general of India.
Dumb & Dumber
Katju said: “Unfortunatelymost people in India are of a very low intellectual level, steeped in casteism, communalism, superstitions and all kinds of feudal and backward ideas.”
Rajaratnam’s $20,000 a Day Get-Out-of-Jail Card
Hedge Fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam may have received the longest sentence for masterminding the biggest insider trading scandal in U.S. history, but his $45 million in charitable giving helped shave several years off his prison term.
Viagra of the Himalayas
It is popular in the Himalayan regions and China for its aphrodisiac properties and known as the Viagra of the Himalayas.
Hare Krishna Hare, Bhare
The court said Krishna’s affinity for milk products particularly weakens a trademark infringement claim in relation to dairy products
No One’s Child
Social activists says villagers who prefer boys gave derogatory names to the girls at birth to express their disappointment.
Heavenly Marriages
According to a study by marriage portal Jeevansathi.com, over 60 percent of profiles posted on its site have identified the people under the manglik and non-manglik astrological categories.
Trophy Wife
Dalwara Singh mixed the drugs into the meals of his wife of 17 years, but was caught by his teenage daughter, who tipped off her mother, who called police.
$ 4.5 Million Nano
The Tata Group has unveiled a Rs 22 crore Nano car made with gold and silver, and studded with precious stones.
Delhi Worst for Parking
New Delhi and Bangalore are the worst cities for parking, according to the IBM Parking Index, which ranks the emotional and economic toll of parking in 20 international cities.
Seeing Stars
So, would he go back to his profession? “Of course, that is my bread and butter
Flying Rani
A UK based IT professional has driven a three-wheeled Indian auto rickshaw “Flying Rani” 10,000 kms from London to New Delhi
