Tid Bits

Melbourne, July 20: Single women would rather prefer the company of a dog than men, according to experts.

Sydney Petcare owner Richard Durant said that more and more single women in Australia were in favour of the four-legged loyal and reliable companion.

“In the past year 60 per cent of our new business has come from young single women. It’s a growing trend I’ve noticed over the last few years. These are women who live busy lives,” The Courier Mail quoted him as saying.

Agra, July 21: A woman has put on display at a college here what she claims is the “world’s longest” greeting card. It is meant for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

“The size of the card is 127 metres by 1.5 metres. I have used sketch pens, water colours, stencils and oil paint — all mixed up. I admire Chief Minister Mayawati a lot and I am going to present this to her on her birthday,” Chaya Gupta told IANS.

“It is a passion that kept me busy for nine months. I worked for about six hours a day till late in the night, without any formal training in art,” she said.

Mumbai, July 20: ‘A for Aishwarya’ is what your kindergarten kid may be learning in school these days. According to latest news, the names of Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan are being used to teach alphabet in several schools using private publishers’ books.

The revelation done by a BJP member in the Rajya Sabha has created quite a curiosity and has put a question mark on the education system of India.

Florida, July 20: A Florida dentist is being sued for allegedly dropping tools down the throat of an elderly patient twice.

Relatives of 90-year-old Charles Gaal Jr recently filed the suit in circuit court accusing Dr Wesley Meyers of negligence. An answering message at Meyers’ office in Winter Park said Saturday that he was on vacation. He did not reply to a message from press seeking comment.

The lawsuit says the doctor dropped an “implant screwdriver tool” in 2006 and a “mini-wrench” in 2007.

Los Angeles, July 19: After six years together, the relationship between a pair of gay male penguins at San Francisco zoo apparently is over, with Harry leaving Pepper for another penguin – Linda.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that the relationship between Harry and Pepper, who lived side-by-side, protecting eggs abandoned by other penguins, came to a shocking end when Harry moved into a neighbouring nest with recently-widowed Linda.

London, July 18: Henry Allingham, who just last month became the world’s oldest living person at 113 years, has died, his nursing home near Brighton City said Saturday.

Allingham had gained the status as the planet’s oldest living person in June after Tomoji Tanabe of Japan died, also at the age of 113.

-IANS

Thirisuur, July 17: Elephants are surely being pampered in Kerala. While nearly 65 of them will go for a month long rejuvenation programme at the Guruvayoor temple, Thrissur town Friday had a special prayer for the elephants attended by thousands of devotees.

The Vadukunathan temple here had a special prayer Friday for 46 elephants. This prayer, attended by nearly 10,000 devotees, is done once in four years. Thrissur is over 300 km from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

Tokyo, July 17: Japanese toymaker Takara Tomy said Thursday that it would launch a talking version of its Bowlingual gadget that can “translate” dog barks into the human language.

The new model analyses six emotions, including joy, sadness and frustration, and speaks phrases such as “Play with me.” The original only showed them on a screen.

” Dog owners can enjoy the toy at a dog run and a park ”
Tomy spokeswoman Chie Yamada

“Dog owners can enjoy the toy at a dog run and a park,” said Tomy spokeswoman Chie Yamada.

Mumbai, July 17: Drama queen Rakhi Sawant will shock the audience with another of her crazy stunts in Rakhi Ka Swyamvar.

If marrying through a television reality show wasn’t crazy enough Rakhi will observe Karvachauth for not one but five potential husbands. Although Karvachauth a festival that celebrates women’s love for husband is months away but Rakhi has decided to prepone it this year.

Bangalore, July 17: About 40 per cent of harassed husbands in the city are techies, study finds. Techies earning fat salaries are the most harassed among Indian husbands.

A study carried out by Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), a city based NGO, reveals that software professionals make up about 40 per cent of the total number of harassed husbands.

Huge pay packets make techies soft targets, say members of the foundation who carried out the study over 15 months.

London, July 17: Cutting across party lines, MPs in the House of Commons have voted for ‘Tamasha’, a popular Indian restaurant in south London, as the winner of the annual Veetee Tiffin Cup competition.

The contest, instituted by Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz, has become a popular event in parliament as lawmakers prepare to leave the corridors of power for their summer holidays.

Moscow, July 17: An American man was charged more than $23 quadrillion for a pack of cigarettes that he bought at a filling station using his Visa card, a TV report said.

When he checked his online bank account, Josh Muszynski discovered that he was $23,148,855,308,184,500 in the red, the WMUR-TV said on Wednesday.

“I thought my card had been compromised. I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card,” he said.

Muszynski turned to the sales assistant at the store, but “she said she couldn’t help me at all. She didn’t know anything about it,” he explained.

London, July 16: A woman with two wombs has given birth to a “one in a million” baby girl. Lindsay Hasaj, 27, who was diagnosed with a dual reproductive system last year, delivered Mirela Elizabeth by Caesarean section.

Only one in a million women have Hasaj’s condition, which halves the chances of fertilisation.

But she astonished doctors by having a straightforward operation, after check-ups throughout her pregnancy. Speaking at home in Finchley, Hasaj’s husband, Tony, 30, said: “We’re absolutely delighted. Mirela is beautiful and healthy, and everything went very smoothly.”

Sydney, July 16: The male members of an ancient fish species known as sea dinosaurs impregnated females with penis like organs 380 million years ago, just like modern day sharks.

Some fish species engaged in penetrative sex and gave birth to young ones, according to a study conducted by Curtin University of Technology (CUT).

“The findings throw light on the evolution of vertebrates on earth, including our own species. This discovery provides a link in the chain of evolution,” Kate Trinajstic, a researcher in CUT, said.

Washington, July 15: Former President Bill Clinton, speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, D.C. last week, told a questioner that he is “basically in support” of gay marriage, according to a published report.

“Asked if he personally supported same-sex marriage, Clinton replied, ‘Yeah […] I personally support people doing what they want to do,’ Clinton said. ‘I think it’s wrong for someone to stop someone else from doing that [same-sex marriage],’” reported The Nation.

London, July 15: It was, said their family, a very civilised way to die. Sir Edward and Lady Downes, a shared lifetime of personal and professional triumphs behind them, held hands for their final moments together before climbing on to separate beds to drink the clear liquid containing a fatal dose of barbiturates. Within 10 minutes, watched by their weeping family, they were dead.

Rome, July 15: A romantic wedding in the Tuscan countryside ended with injuries after an attempt to launch the bride’s bouquet from a plane brought down the tiny aircraft.

Italian police say two persons were hurt in the crash of the ultralight plane after the bridal bouquet they launched got caught in the aircraft’s rear rotor.

The flowers blocked the engine, bringing the plane down by a youth hostel.

Police in the nearby town of Piombino said Tuesday the pilot was lightly injured in Saturday’s crash, while the passenger who threw the bouquet had several broken bones.

New York, July 15: First flight of all-pet airline flew from New York to Chicago yesterday.

One trip for their Jack Russell terrier in a plane’s cargo hold was enough to convince Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that owners needed a better option to get their pets from one city to another.

Yesterday, the first flight for the husband-and-wife team’s Pet Airways, the first-ever all-pet airline, took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York.

All commercial airlines allow a limited number of small pets to fly in the cabin.

London, July 14: A series of letters and postcards signed and autographed by Mahatma Gandhi were bought in an auction here on Tuesday by two leading NRIs, who will present the precious documents to the government of India.

NRI entrepreneurs Sir Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon and Prof Nat Puri bid for the priceless letters and postcards almost for double the pre-sale estimates at London auctioner Sotheby’s.

Kolkata, July 14: Believe it or not, one of the students writing an undergraduate examination in a Kolkata college is an 86-year-old woman.

Gokul Chattopadhyay got married at a young age and could not continue her education after passing out from school. She lost her husband 30 years ago.

A resident of Kakulia road in south Kolkata, she is now appearing for the BA General Part-I examination at the Netajinagar College for Women.

“We are really surprised to see her enthusiasm in this old age. She is as motivated as any other student,” Sudin Banerjee, a college official,

Washington, July 13: If you’ve ever wondered who’s in control, you or your cat, a new study points to the obvious. It’s your cat. Household cats exercise this control with a certain type of urgent-sounding, high-pitched meow, according to the findings.

This meow is actually a purr mixed with a high-pitched cry. While people usually think of cat purring as a sign of happiness, some cats make this purr-cry sound when they want to be fed. The study showed that humans find these mixed calls annoying and difficult to ignore.

Udaipur, July 13: Udaipur, known as the “Venice of the East”, was voted the world’s best city for travellers in 2009 in an online poll by Travel + Leisure magazine, trumping last year’s winner Bangkok.

The island of Bali in Indonesia topped the Galapagos to be named best island in the annual poll, in which casual and laid-back destinations prevailed.

Magazine readers also voted Bushmans Kloof Cedar Mountains, in South Africa, as the world’s top hotel while Singapore Airlines grabbed the best airline award again.

Sydney, July 12: The girl who appeared to have caught the eye of US President Barack Obama and that of his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the G-8 summit in Italy has been identified as a 17-year-old social activist.

Mayora Tavares shot to fame overnight after a photograph depicting Obama seemingly looking at her bottom while Sarkozy also appeared to be taking in the view was published on news websites across the globe.

London, July 11: A waxwork of Michael Jackson made to mark his planned “This Is It” London comeback concerts went on show in the British capital.

The US singer, who died on June 25, had been due to play 50 gigs at London’s O2 Arena from July 13.

The depiction of Jackson at Madame Tussaud’s waxwork museum shows him in his prime in a classic performance pose, matching the “This Is It” concert posters.

Only Queen Elizabeth II, who has been replicated 20 times by Madame Tussaud’s, has been depicted more than Jackson.

New Delhi, July 11: Nearly 11 million Indians vacationed abroad in 2008 as compared to 9.78 million in 2007, the Lok Sabha was informed.

Minister of State for Tourism Sultan Ahmed said in 2006, about 8.34 million Indians holidayed abroad, while the number went up to 9.78 million in 2007.

The figure jumped to 10.65 million last year, he added.

As for foreign tourist arrivals, these had risen between 2006-08 but had declined this year.

From 4.45 million in 2006, the numbers had gone up to 5.08 million in 2007 and to 5.37 million in 2008.