No life without wife

Life is not so rosy for David Beckham these days. With wife Victoria away for the Spice Girls Reunion tour, dad recovering from a heart attack and Christmas around the corner, Becks has found that the instability has made his obsessive compulsive disorder worse.

The LA Galaxy star, 32, is so anxious that he can’t relax until everything is in its exact place —particularly on his private jet. On a recent trip, he demanded spotless upholstery and symmetrical crockery.

An insider says, “David likes his jet arranged so that everything looks neat and when a meal is served to him he insists that there is a row of glasses of different sizes on the tray.

“He spends time lining up the cutlery, crockery and salt and pepper before he will even begin eating. Beyond that he likes as little clutter as possible on the jet and insists on the magazines and newspapers being arranged in a straight line across the counter before he boards the flight.”

Becks has spoken out in the past about his battle with OCD, a complaint which drives sufferers to carry out bizarre and repetitive rituals.

But since being away from Victoria, 33, and his sons Brooklyn, eight, Romeo, five, and Cruz, two, his condition has become even more acute. And the festive period just adds to David’s stress levels.

The insider said, “Christmas always makes David nervous and stressed because there are so many family conflicts and emotions flying about.

David’s father who suffered a heart attack back in September refuses to be at Christmas lunch with his mother and it is always better if Victoria’s family and the Beckhams are kept apart, especially Ted and Tony. This makes his OCD a lot worse.”

DAVID BUYS EACH SPICE GIRL A BRACELET

David Beckham bought each of the Spice Girls a gold bracelet to celebrate their comeback concert.

Becks treated every girl to the stunning piece of jewellery, which he presented to them just before they took to the stage in Vancouver, Canada, on Sunday.

Victoria revealed her spouse is very close to her bandmates, joking, “David feels like he is married to all five of us.”

The rest of the band — Geri Halliwell, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Mel C — were thrilled with their presents and proudly showed them off.

Geri said, “When we did our first show in Ireland in 1998, I remember David coming over to rehearsals and supporting Victoria from the beginning. He is like family. You have to have balls of steel to be with the Spice Girls!”

After presenting the group with the gifts, David took his place in the audience to proudly cheer on his wife.

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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I miss being pregnant

Heidi Klum has confessed she misses being pregnant and wants more babies. The Victoria’s Secret model has two sons with husband Seal— two-year-old Henry and one-year-old Johan — and a three-year-old daughter Leni from her relationship with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore.

Heidi, 34, said: “I do miss being pregnant. Children are very addictive. Once they start growing up, you miss when they were little. So, maybe...”

The German supermodel also revealed her singer husband treats daughter Leni as his own daughter, but is rather rough with his sons because he wants them to grow up tough.

She said, “Seal is Leni’s father. Seal and I feel very lucky that we found each other. He’s my best friend. He would never go in through a door first. He always opens the door for me and steps back so I walk through.

“He is the same with Leni, but he is a little harder and rougher with the boys. I’m always reminding Seal that they’re little, but he says, ‘They need to rough it up a bit.’ “

The ‘Project Runway’ presenter also revealed her expensive 10-carat diamond engagement ring — which Seal helped jeweller Lorraine Schwartz design — doesn’t sparkle because she is too scared to take it off and clean it.

She added to the USA Today newspaper: “It’s so dirty because I never take it off. I’d rather have a dirty ring than lose it down the sink. Look, it’s like a big cloud.”

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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Dhoom Machale

New Delhi: While car makers in India are in the race to introduce low-cost vehicles, including the Rs 1-lakh car from Tata, Japanese bike maker Yamaha has introduced two bikes priced over Rs 10-lakh to restart its ride in India.
Yamaha Motor India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Company, which had been struggling to woo Indian customers, now wants to re-establish itself in the premium segment with the launch of the two sport motorcycles – MT-01 and YZS-R1 – priced at Rs 10.5 lakh each (showroom price).

Both 998cc-powered YZS-R1 and 1680cc-powered MT-01 would be brought in India as completely built units. Yamaha would initially retail these sport bikes from its five dealers in the four metro cities.

‘‘We want to re-establish ourselves as a company which delivers high quality and high performance product,” Yamaha Motor India CEO and MD Tomotaka Ishikawa told Mumbai Mirror. “We have plans to introduce more high-end bikes, including the FZ-1, FZ-6 and R-6, in India. But it all depends on the demand pattern of these two super sports bikes.”

Currently, the government levies 110 per cent duty on these bikes. ‘‘Favourable market demands and further duty reduction can help us roll out such super motorcycles in the next few years,’’ he said.

Ishikawa said the company targets to sell 24 super-bikes in a year and expand its dealership for these bikes to 50 by 2010.

Yamaha is the first two wheeler company to introduce this genre of super sports and torque sports performance bike in India.

YZF-R1 and MT-01 have gained immense popularity globally and have been instrumental in successfully demonstrating the technological superiority of Yamaha worldwide, the company said.

Notably, most two-wheeler makers, including Hero Honda, Bajaj and TVS, are still enjoying their rides between the 100cc and 250cc segment.

“The rising number of big-bike enthusiasts coupled with increasing levels of income makes India one of the most important markets for Yamaha,” Ishikawa said.

With the new launches, Yamaha aims to enrich Indian biker’s riding experience by adding a lifestyle quotient, he said.

He clarified they would continue to focus on the commuter segment and launch new vehicles in the volume segment next year.

He added Yamaha is looking at refining the motorcycling culture in India by bringing in advanced and visually appealing machines.

Yamaha made its foray into India in 1985 and pioneered the volume bike segment with the launch of its 100cc 2-stroke motorcycle RX-100. Since then, it has introduced an entire range of 2-stroke and 4-stroke bikes in India. Presently, its product portfolio includes Crux, Alba, G5 and Gladiator.

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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Dabur to set up twenty wellness shops in Mumbai in three years

New Delhi: Home-grown FMCG major Dabur India plans to set up 20 outlets for specialty beauty, health and wellness retail business in Mumbai in the next three years.

H&B Stores Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dabur India Ltd, will launch the ‘new-u’ outlets, offering a wide range of health and beauty solutions under one roof. The first ‘new-u’ will roll out in Delhi by the end of January next year, followed by other cities including Mumbai.

‘‘We will launch four to five stores by the first quarter of FY-2009 in Mumbai, and 15 more stores in the city in the next two years,’’ H&B Stores CEO Peter Baker told Mumbai Mirror.

The sizes of these outlets will vary between 1,200 sq ft and 6,000 sq ft, Baker said.

Positioned as a retail destination for health, wellness and beauty requirements, new-u will have an attractive interior design while offering a soothing ambience for shoppers, the company said.

The stores will have over 20,000 products in various categories, such as colour cosmetics, personal and family care, fashion accessories, ayurvedic, pharmaceuticals, etc.

‘‘On an average, we are expecting a turnover of nearly Rs 22,000 per sq ft per annum from the outlets. We are aiming at a turnover of about Rs 1,000 crore by 2,010 and around 150 H&B Stores,’’ he added.

When asked how the company would compete with the existing retail outlets, Baker said, “We will offer products at a price which is 20-25 per cent cheaper than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).”

The retail initiative of H&B Stores will include non-Dabur products as well, Baker added.

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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Centre may relax cap on SEZ lands

New Delhi: The Centre may allow special economic zones (SEZs) to be bigger than the current limit of 5,000 hectares, a Commerce Ministry official has revealed.

“Since the resettlement and rehabilitation policy is in place, the government may think of relaxing the upper limit of 5,000 hectares for SEZs,” Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said at the India Economic Summit here on Monday.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines, Pillai pointed out that out of 472 SEZs that have been formally approved, only 34 are multi-product and specified that there are only three-four cases of people wanting the sizes to be increased.

He added that the government would decide whether this will be done on a case-by-case basis or enact a specific policy in this regard. Three to four of these SEZs have an area of 5,000 hectares, including Reliance Industries and DLF.

On land acquisition policy, which is expected to come up for discussion in the current session of the Parliament, he said: “We will have a fresh look after the bill is passed on a case-by-case basis.”

Pillai said farmers would also be given an option of becoming stakeholders in the company that comes up on their land. He said. the government has so far given formal approval to 404 SEZs, while 160 have received in-principle approval and 172 have been notified, in which work has started.

“By March, SEZs will create 1.5 lakh jobs and, by Dec 2009, more than 6 lakh jobs will be created,” he said.
The SEZs have already attracted $13 billion in investments, of which $3 billion is foreign direct investment.

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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AP docs operate on 3-legged boy

Hyderabad: Notwithstanding the agitation by junior doctors, surgeons at the Niloufer Children’s Hospital in Hyderabad, on Tuesday performed a rare surgery on a 6-year-old boy who had three legs and four feet. The corrective surgery is being conducted in three phases, with a gap of six months between operations. In the first phase on Tuesday, P Niranjan’s third limb was removed and the pelvic girdle refashioned.

A team of nine orthopaedic specialists and plastic surgeons, led by Dr A Narendra Kumar, conducted the operation. Kumar had performed a similar surgery in 2002 on a baby with three hands.

Niranjan hails from a poor family in Mahbubnagar district. His left leg has two feet facing each other and a third leg was attached to his back.

Kumar explained, “The rarest point is to attempt to form two limbs — he has two pelvises and three legs. And as per investigation reports, he has bones for four legs.” In the second phase, the two feet facing each other will be corrected, followed by restoration of the knee joints.


Seven infants die
Meanwhile, hospital authorities admitted that seven infants had died in their care in 48 hours after junior doctors went on strike following their tussle with MLA Afsar Khan.

Hyderabad district collector Chandravadan and Niloufer Hospital superintendent S Narasimha Rao categorically said that the deaths could not be attributed to the agitation.

“In the last three months, we recorded an average of 10 infant deaths every day. But during the strike period, seven died in two days,” said Rao, “The reduction in the number of deaths can be attributed to the additional services put in by professors and assistant professors who would otherwise be busy with classes.”

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, who reviewed the situation with authorities, directed that children with serious ailments should be sent to private hospitals.

Meanwhile, AP Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy has taken a serious view of the MLA’s alleged manhandling of the Niloufer doctors. “Under any circumstances, legislators are supposed to maintain balance and restraint,” Reddy said, “They cannot lose their cool, even when provoked. I will discuss this with the leader of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen [the party to which MLA Afsar Khan belongs] in the Assembly.”

Junior doctors at the state-run Niloufer Hospital went on a lightning strike on Sunday night, after Khan and his followers allegedly manhandled two doctors and abused lady doctors. The Nampally police registered cases under IPC Sections 353, 506, 509 and 323 against Khan, but agitating doctors insisted that he be booked under non-bailable cases and be disqualified as an MLA.
with agency inputs

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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I am not disabled, says woman whose feet face backwards

Beijing: A woman, born with a rare condition, has refused to be classified as disabled.

Wang Fang, 27, of China, was born with her feet facing the wrong way, but has learned to live with her condition and recently refused a disability pension.

Wang, who has a five year-old son with normal feet, said, “I can run faster than most of my friends and have a regular job as a waitress in the family restaurant. There is no reason to class me as disabled,” Wang said in a report published in the Daily Mail.

Doctors and her family feared she would not be able to walk properly when she was born, but now agree that she can outrun anyone she knows.

“I can walk as well as anyone else, and even run faster than them. I’m like everyone else — except of course that I put my shoes on backwards.”

Source: mumbaimirror.com

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