Month: December 2013

Scottish women kept spirit of whisky and bourbon alive

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A US writer has asserted in his book, titled ‘In Whiskey Women: The Untold Story Of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch And Irish Whiskey’, that it was the Scottish women who kept the spirit of bourbon and whisky alive despite the drink’s macho image.

Fred Minnick, an award-winning wine writer, said that Scottish women were amazing when it came to running businesses and often catapulted their respective brands into national and sometimes international importance, the Scotsman reported.

Penelope Cruz credits breastfeeding for staying slim

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Penelope Cruz has revealed that breastfeeding has helped her to slim down after two pregnancies.

The 39-year-old actress said that she has breastfed her son for 13 months and plans to do at least the same with her daughter, as it is an amazing thing for babies.

Sh added that it is good for the mother because it regulates her body again after pregnancy, Contactmusic reported.

The actress has also been eating really healthily but is still enjoying a lot of food. (ANI)

France voted best place to emigrate

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France has topped the poll of the best place to emigrate.

In a poll by the Overseas Guide Company (OGC), the city was followed by former favourite, Spain, then Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Portugal, while Australia and New Zealand have sunk again.

The survey suggested that people wanted to be closer to home and family, even though they are emigrating.

The OGC which bases its predictions on requests for information found that 33 percent of all the enquiries were for France, the Daily Express reported.

JFK suffered from chronic low back pain

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A new research suggests that John F. Kennedy had chronic low back pain from a very young age.

A rheumatologist from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a clinical psychologist at the University of Michigan’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center has written in an article that his back pain may have had a role to play in the President’s death.

Kennedy was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease, “spastic colitis,” in addition to back pain.

Nicole Scherzinger, Lewis Hamilton `back together` post Thanksgiving dinner

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Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton are reportedly back together after a Thanksgiving dinner at the racer’s parents’ home in Hertfordshire.

The ‘X Factor’ Judge was invited to the home of Hamilton’s dad Anthony to celebrate the US holiday with the former Formula 1 champ and she stayed the night, the Mirror reported.

The 35-year-old looked overjoyed as she left the house the next morning to go to work on the music show.

A source has said that Hamilton invited the former Pussycat Dolls star over, as he wanted to make sure she had a happy Thanksgiving and wasn’t lonely.

Recipe: Gobhi Pakora

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Ingredients:

1 Gobhi (Cauliflower)
1 Cup Besan (Chickpea flour)
1 Cup water
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
4 cups oil for frying
1 tsp Mango (Aamchur) powder
Salt

How to make Gobi Pakora:

Wash Cauliflower and cut into pieces.
Add water to besan and make a thick batter.
Add red chili powder,mango powder.
Blend it well.
Heat the oil.
Dip each piece of cauliflower in batter.
Fry these pieces one by one till they turn golden brown.
Serve hot Gobhi Pakora with green chutney.

Real names of Hollywood celebs revealed

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Do you know what is Audrey Hepburn real name or what is 50 Cent actually called? Well, wonder no longer. The Huffington Post has compiled a list of celebs with their real names. Audrey Hepburn’s real moniker is Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston and 50 Cent’s real name is Curtis James Jackson III.

Singer Pink’s birth name is Alecia Moore and Charlie Sheen’s Carlos Irwin Estevez, Snoop Lion’s actual moniker is Calvin Cordozar Broadus. Controversial singer Miley Cyrus was named Destiny Hope Cyrus and Katy Perry was Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. (ANI)

Ethan Hawke opens about marriage with ex wife Uma Thurman

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Ethan Hawke has opened up about his six years marriage to former wife Uma Thurman.

According to Mr. Porter’s November 2013 issue, the 43-year-old actor, who had fallen in love with the 43-year-old actress on the set of their film ‘Gattaca’, said that it was a great moment in both of their lives and they had fallen madly in love and wanted to do all that.

Hawke said that they tried to be optimistic, as everyone wants to believe in love and the possibility of love and the older one gets, the more they realize how powerful love is, Us magazine reported.

‘Reset’ Pakistan’s India policy, Nawaz Sharif told

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A leading Pakistani newspaper Sunday asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to “reset” policies vis-a-vis India as well as other “enormously complicated” issues.

Sharif has been in office for five months, and it was time he took direct charge of issues such as militant threats, Afghanistan, India and Balochistan, the Dawn said in an editorial.

Pakistan’s new army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, may take time to settle down, it said, adding the prime minister must not waste time but “examine and reset” the country’s policies.

China manufacturing index steady at 19-month high

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China`s manufacturing growth in November maintained its strong pace from the previous month to stay at a 19-month high, official figures showed on Sunday.

The purchasing managers` index (PMI) was at 51.4, unchanged from October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website.

It was up from 51.1 in September and the highest since reaching 53.3 in April 2012.

A reading above 50 signals expansion while a figure below indicates contraction.

Shah Rukh Khan says Dubai has best audience

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Shah Rukh Khan has claimed that he never gets a better audience than Dubai at a press conference at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Ahead of their Access All Areas concert, the 48-year-old actor said that Dubai has always been kind to him and asked the audience to keep coming in big numbers, Gulf News reported.

Khan also said the idea for the song ‘Lungi Dance’, from his recent film ‘Chennai Express’ was born in Dubai. (ANI)

RIL, OVL bid for oil blocks in Myanmar

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Reliance Industries has bid for three oil and gas blocks and ONGC Videsh Ltd for two in Myanmar’s maiden offshore licensing round.

Besides RIL and OVL, state-owned explorer Oil India Ltd and gas utility GAIL India have bid for three exploration blocks each in separate joint venture with local companies, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Energy.

Cairn India, which was among the 61 firms pre-qualified to bid for 11 shallow water and 19 deep water blocks on offer in an international tender, however, did not bid.

Bids for the licensing round closed last week.

Sharon Osbourne reveals painful vaginoplasty to world

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Sharon Osbourne has revealed that her vaginoplasty had been the most painful cosmetic procedure for her.

When asked by fellow-guest Colin Farrell on The Graham Norton Show, the 61-year-old TV personality said that the pain was just excruciating, the Mirror reported.

The ‘X Factor’ judge was asked if she thought it was worth it, to which she replied that her husband thinks so, but said that it’s back to the way God wanted it to be. (ANI)

Kim K goes commando in bathroom selfie with Kanye West

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Kim Kardashian went commando for a selfie with fiance Kanye West in the bathroom.

The 33-year-old reality TV star wrote bathroom selfie right before Yeezus hits the stage, along with a picture which showed off her cut-out dress and the 36-year-old rapper standing bemused behind her.

The ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star was going commando beneath her black body con dress, which featured super-sexy slashes all down the sides, the Daily Star reported.

Cancer risk increases as baby boomers age

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Bringing attention to the response towards cancer care, the frequency of cancer is increasing at a tremendous rate.

As 10,000 baby boomers reach 65 each day, cancer is said to be increased by 67 percent between 2010 and 2030.

Cancer is diagnosed at a higher rate, accounting for more survivors, and results in more deaths than in younger patients.

`Mangalyaan` successfully exits Earth’s gravity on journey to red planet

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India’s first-ever spacecraft to Mars, ‘Mars Orbiter Mission’ or ‘Mangalyaan’, has successfully ventured out of Earth’s gravity and on its way to the 10-month-long voyage to the red planet.

The probe, which will enter Sun’s orbit on course to Mars, will reach the planet on 24 September 2014, the BBC reported. The 72 million dollar MOM will carry out experiments, including a search for methane gas in the planet’s atmosphere.

End travel curbs, demand Pakistan, India journalists

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Journalists from India and Pakistan have demanded an end to restrictions on communications and travel between the two countries.

The demand was made in a joint declaration by the Karachi Press Club (KPC) and the Mumbai Press Club at the end of a week-long visit by an Indian journalists’ delegation to Pakistan Saturday, the Daily Times reported Sunday.

KPC president Imtiaz Khan Faran and Mumbai Press Club president Gurbir Singh signed the declaration.

Lady Gaga says she feels like herself again

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Lady Gaga has claimed that she finally feels like herself again while posting a picture wearing an Anime inspired outfit on Instagram.

The 29-year-old singer said that a lot of changes are happening in her life with crazy schedules, but she feels like herself with nobody holding her back, the Mirror reported.

The ‘Poker Face’ hitmaker also recently appeared on the Muppet show and tweeted that Jim Henson has to be one of the most far out dudes of all time. (ANI)

Steep fall in onion prices in last two weeks

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Onion prices have fallen by almost 50 percent in the last fortnight to Rs 40 per kg in retail markets in the national capital region, with new crops arriving.

Onion cost Rs 70-80 per kg two weeks ago.

Potatoes prices have also declined to Rs 19-20 in the NCR from Rs 40-44 a kg a fortnight ago.

Tomato, however, remained costly at Rs 58-60 a kg. Its prices were more or less the same two weeks ago.

Maid charged with making ISD calls worth hundreds of dollars

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A 27-year-old South Asian housemaid has been charged with theft in a court here for stealing her employer’s SIM card and making international phone calls worth more than USD 2,000.

The owner of the SIM, a 27-year-old Emirati police officer, continued receiving bills totalling USD 2022.87 for August and September months on a card believed to be lost.

M-cap of nine blue-chip firms surged Rs 47,404 crore last week

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The market valuation of nine of the top 10 most valued companies in the country advanced by Rs 47,404 crore last week, with more than a third of the gains accounted for by state-owned energy giant ONGC.

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of TCS, Reliance Industries, ONGC, ITC, Infosys, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC gained. Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the sole loser among the top 10 companies.

ONGC’s market value shot up by Rs 17,411 crore to Rs 2,55,381 crore, the top gainer on the list.

Social media still doesn’t drive e-commerce sales: Study

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Despite the frenzy around social media obsession and the red-hot IPOs, they still fail to drive e-commerce sales, a research firm has revealed.

IBM had said that social advertising on sites like Facebook and Twitter had no impact on online Black Friday sales in the last year, and the same is apparently true for this year as well. According to AllThingsD, IBM tracked traffic and sales at about 800 e-commerce sites, and found that only about one percent of visits to e-commerce sites this week came from social networks.

Hasina offers Home Ministry to opposition in interim govt

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As tension escalated in Bangladesh over the general elections, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has offered the Home Ministry to the BNP-led opposition alliance in the interim government to persuade them to participate in the January 5 polls.

Reassuring the opposition a free, fair and credible election, Hasina asked them to participate in the upcoming parliamentary polls and join the all-party government. “Which ministries do you want? Even if you want the home ministry, we are ready to give it,” she said.