Wednesday, October 3, 2007

I will return to this blog after five days...

I am leaving for the airport for a five day business trip to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. I will get back to this blog on my return.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

International Non-Violence Day...

Today, the world celebrates International Non-Violence Day, on the occasion of the 138th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

His message: "I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life."

Monday, October 1, 2007

Wackiest path to record books...

Australian John Allwood smashed 40 watermelons with his head in just one minute. Using only one hand, Germany's Thomas Vogel unfastened 56 bras in 60 seconds.

When it comes to the world's weirdest achievers, nothing beats the ultimate accolade — a place in Guinness World Records for demonstrating bizarre skills.

Nothing is too wacky.

Can you catch 77 grapes in your mouth in under a minute, keep nine yo-yo's spinning at the same time, hold your breath for more than 14 minutes or throw a washing machine? Then Guinness has a spot for you.

The annual compendium, whose latest edition is published on September 28th, even has a section entitled Trivial Pursuits. Few would argue with the title as Guinness lists the globe's finest practitioners at putting the cover on a duvet, kicking yourself in the head and throwing paper aircraft into a bucket.

Italian Michele Santana wins an entry for typing 57 books backwards.

Indian yoga instructor GP Vijayakumar snorted eight fish up through his mouth and out of his nostrils in a minute. American Jackie Bibby shared his bath with 75 live western diamondback rattlesnakes.

The latest edition also has a four-page pullout of the world's grossest records.

China's Wei Shengchu gains notoriety for most acupuncture needles in the head and face.

Man steals 1,500 pairs of shoes, caught

A man in USA pleaded guilty of stealing more than 1,500 pairs of girls' shoes from schools in a deal that calls for prosecutors to recommend probation.

Erik D. Heinrich, 26, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty on September 27th to three counts of burglary and was scheduled for sentencing on October 23.

He was arrested after a security video showed him entering North High School on May 20 and leaving with some items. Police tracked him through his vehicle registration, searched his home and a rented storage unit and found the shoes.

Police have said Heinrich worked for a cable company and collected keys to the schools as he responded to calls. He used the keys to break into three Waukesha public high schools and one middle school six times during the past two years, according to a criminal complaint.

Police discovered the break-in at North High School after several female students reported that the locks on their lockers had been cut and their shoes stolen.

Heinrich has a previous shoe-stealing conviction, in 2005, that was dismissed at prosecutors' request after he completed a year of probation, counseling and 50 hours of community service.

Russian woman's 12th baby weighs 7.75 kg

A small Russian city has welcomed a large new citizen: a 7.75-kilogram (17 pound, 1 ounce) baby whose mother had already delivered 11 other children.

Tatiana Khalina, 42, delivered the girl at a maternity clinic in Aleisk, a town of 30,000 people in the Altai region in southern Siberia, a nurse at the clinic said on September 27th.

Some Russian media reports said it was the heaviest baby on record, but that could not be confirmed.

Nurse Svetlana Gildeyeva said the birth went smoothly, and mother and the child were fine. She said the baby, Nadezhda, was transferred from the small clinic to a maternity hospital in Barnaul, a larger city.

The girl is developing normally, said Irina Kurdeka, a doctor at the Barnaul hospital.

The daily Moskovsky Komsomolets quoted the local social services chief, Marina Alistratova, as saying the family had modest means. She said Khalina's husband was on contract with a local military unit.

"We have presented them with a good washing machine, a food package and a card," Alistratova told the newspaper. "We will keep supporting them in the future."

Average weight for newborn babies is around 3.2 kilograms (7 pounds, 1 ounce), according to international statistics.

The Guinness Book of Records says the heaviest baby ever was born in the United States in 1879. It weighed 10.4 kilograms (23 pounds, 12 ounces) and died 11 hours after birth. The book also listed 10.2-kilogram (22 pounds, 8 ounces) babies born in Italy in 1955 and in South Africa in 1982.

Sunday, September 30, 2007