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Our friend César Cantú sent us this image today, and it seemed perfect to share on the day where nothing apocalyptic happened. Hopefully, the day turned out for all our readers as only a chance to have a party and share a few jokes, to realize the specialness of those around you, or just to finish up your holiday preparations. As someone once said, “Live long and prosper,” and as 2012 comes soon to a close, that is our wish to all of you. (That, and please don’t believe any of those crazy doomsday prophesies anymore.)

(CNN) -- It's the end of the world as we know it. And yet the world feels fine. Friday was supposed to be the day life on Earth ceased to exist. The predicted apocalypse -- which spawned a disaster movie "2012," a TV show tracking "Doomsday Preppers" taking extraordinary measures for the end-of-a-lifetime event and numerous jokes on social media and elsewhere -- stemmed from the end of an important phase of the ancient Mayan calendar. Founded around 2000 B.C. and still active, though its numbers and influence have waned significantly over the past several hundred years, the Mayan civilization measures time in cycles called "baktuns" of 394 years each. The winter solstice that occurred Friday marks the end of the 13th baktun. Tourists pack Mexico for Mayan 'doomsday' Alien rumors fuel doomsday theory Mayans prepare for end of calendar 2040 looks good, too: Asteroid is going to miss us "It will happen!" a CNN.com comm...

Runners of Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School were awarded a proclamation by Alameda's Mayor Marie Gilmore for winning the school's first-ever State Cross Country Championship. From Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School The Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School community filled Alameda city council chambers as it supported the men's cross country team on Dec. 11, when the runners were awarded a proclamation by Alameda's Mayor Marie Gilmore for winning the school's first-ever State Cross Country Championship. "The men on this championship team run with integrity, skill and they excel not only on the course, but in the classroom and the community," said Gilmore.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police are searching for the thieves who burglarized a South Florida shoe store. The thieves broke into a Footlocker store along Northwest 199th Street and Second Avenue, Friday. Police said the crooks connected a chain to the back door, yanked it open and took off with seven pairs of the new Air Jordan sneakers. (Copyright 2012 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

WASHINGTON — After a weeklong silence, the National Rifle Association announced Friday that it wants to arm security officers at every school in the country. It pointed the finger at violent video games, the news media and lax law enforcement — not guns — as culprits in the recent rash of mass shootings. Multimedia N.R.A. Calls for Armed Guards in Schools N.R.A. Calls for Armed Guards in SchoolsClose VideoSee More Videos » .Document: Text of the N.R.A. Speech The Lede Blog: Updates on Connecticut Shooting Aftermath (December 21, 2012) Shop Owners Report Rise in Firearm Sales as Buyers Fear Possible New Laws (December 22, 2012) Obama Asks Supporters to Push Congress on Gun Control (December 21, 2012) Related in Opinion Editorial: The N.R.A. Crawls From Its Hidey Hole (December 22, 2012) Charles M. Blow: Guns, Smoke and Mirrors (December 22, 2012) .Gail Collins: We Wish You a Gun-Free Christmas (December 22, 2012) .Joe Nocera: Guns and Their Makers (December 22, 2012) ....

South Indian actress and Bollywood Diva Sridevi made a huge come-back with Talk-Of-The-Nation film 'English Vinglish' and on the other hand, Actress Flora Saini also makes a small come-back with superstar Salman Khan starrer 'Dabangg 2'. The actress started her career with South Indian films and has done approximately 50 films down south till date which includes Gajendra (With Vijaykanth), Kuselan (With Rajinikanth) and Money Money, More Money (With J.D.Chakravarthy). Flora was also launched in Hindi by ace director Rajat Mukherji's 'Love In Nepal' (2004), But the film never made a mark at the box-office. The actress now plans to shift the base in Mumbai and is targeting Bollywood as she awaits Dabangg 2 release. On being asked about her missing in Bollywood, Flora replied, "I've been doing films in other regional languages. Now I'm doing a Telugu film, so it feels good to be back." But this is not all, Immediately after Dabangg 2 r...

Grimm's Fairy Tales is featured in the latest Google doodle, on 200th anniversary of first publication of the famed classic. Grimm's Fairy Tales is the popular name of a 19th century German book called Children's and Household Tales (Kinder und Hausmärchen in German). The book was written by German brothers Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm. In Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Grimm brothers collected many of Europe's most popular fairy tales including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog-Price, Goldilocks And The Three Bears, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rumpelstiltskin and many, many others. The first volume of the first edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales was published in 1812 containing 86 stories; the second volume of 70 stories followed in 1814. The seventh and final edition under the brothers' watch was published in 1857 and it contained 211 stories split across two volumes. These editions were ext...

NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Madhusudan Mistry said Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was wearing the "garb of development" but his politics continued to be communal that could not change. While dismissing the rising Modi-for-PM chorus as "impossible", Mistry said, "He (Modi) is wearing the garb of development but the underlying reason for his victory is communal divide. He keeps harping on it. The use of words for the Centre is deliberate - sultan, sultanat, miyan. Why did he raise the issue of Sir Creek? That's because it pertains to Pakistan." He said it would be the country's "blackest day" if Modi became PM. Drafted into the Rahul Gandhi-chaired election panel for 2014, the AICC leader said Congress erred in neglecting the organization in cities and gave a free run to BJP. "We are weak in cities. We did not pay adequate attention there. That is the main reason for our defeat. We should have focused on urban ce...

Around the world Friday, believers, tourists and the curious are observing the end of a major cycle in the 5,125-year-old Mayan Long Count calendar that some predicted would be the end of the world. Late Thursday, a ceremony was held in northern Guatemala at an ancient Mayan temple marking the end of a period known as the 13th Baktun. While experts have debunked the notion, some books and films have interpreted the event to mean the apocalypse, or end of days and many places are acknowledging the day. Early Friday, tourists flocked to the ancient Greek town of Sirince in western Turkey believed to be an area that will be spared the apocalypse.

Bags 17 out of 27 seats in Kheda, Anand, Panchmahals and Dahod districts in central Gujarat Congress tightened its hold over parts of central Gujarat as it swept the Gujarat Assembly elections 2012 in Kshatriya-dominated Kheda and Anand constituencies and in tribal Panchmahals districts but suffered losses in its bastion Dahod. The party wrested three seats from the BJP in the region while conceding two to the saffron party. Congress stalwart Shankersinh Vaghela and BJP leader Jetha Bharvad were among prominent winners from the region. Of the 27 seats in the four district, 17 went to the Congress while the BJP bagged the remaining 10. In the 2007 elections, the Congress-NCP alliance had won 18 out of 30 seats while 12 were with the BJP. The opposition party had best results in Kheda and Anand districts where it won five seats each in the twin districts of the Charotar region. The party increased its count to four seats in Panchamahals by bagging Morvahadaf. This figure of ...

New Delhi: 7.08 pm: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Yogendra Yadav says steps to prevent such crime should have been taken much earlier. "Steps to stop such crime needs to be taken not just in Delhi, but all over the country...there is an immediate need of speedy trial in such cases," said Yadav. 7.00 pm: Women protesters at India Gate demand capital punishment for the crime. Speaking to CNN-IBN, one of the protesters said, "This is a heinous crime and the maximum punishment must be given for the same...capital punishment." 4.39 pm: Demanding stern punishment for the culprits of the Delhi gangrape, people from different walks of life, especially women and students, protested at different places across Uttarakhand. VideoPhotoGallery Aam Aadmi Party member Yogendra Yadav said that steps should have been taken earlier and demanded speedy trial in rape cases. 4.00 pm: Prashant Bhushan says, "The reason why our political class doesn't push for ...

Bruno Mars failed to knock country star Taylor Swift off the Billboard throne this week. Mars' second album "Unorthodox Jukebox," debuted in the No. 2 slot with 192,000 copies sold, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. Swift's latest album, "Red," held on to the No. 1 position this week with sales of 208,000. This was its fifth non-consecutive week at the top of the chart since it was released in October. Hip-hop artist The Game entered the chart at No. 6 with his fifth studio album, "Jesus Piece," selling 86,000 copies. One Direction's "Take Me Home" was in the fourth slot with 127,000 sold. Filling out the top five were Michael Buble's "Christmas" at No. 3 and Rod Stewart's "Merry Christmas Baby" at No. 5. Two more holiday albums -- Blake Shelton's "Cheers, It's Christmas" and Lady Antebellum's "On This Winter's Night" -- were in the top ...

All three remaining finalists came to play, but Fifth Harmony may have sealed the deal with their soulful cover of the Beatles' 'Let it Be.' By Gil Kaufman The three remaining acts on Wednesday night's (December 19) season two "X Factor" performance finale could not have been more different: a 13-year-old Broadway baby with a soulful wail, a girl group put together on the fly and a hard-working dad with a throwback country sound. The show opened with a moving tribute to the victims of last week's Sandy Hook Elementary killings, with this year's finalists singing Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" while dressed in angelic white outfits. And then, with a $5 million recording contract at stake, the pressure was on during a triple-performance evening that saw Carly Rose Sonenclar, Tate Stevens and Fifth Harmony bring their best in an effort to emerge victorious on Thursday's finale.

LAS VEGAS — A 20-year-old Boston University sophomore and a self-described "cellist-nerd" brought the Miss Universe crown back to the United States for the first time in more than a decade when she won the televised contest Wednesday. Olivia Culpo beat out 88 other beauty queens to take the title from Leila Lopes of Angola during the two-hour competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Culpo wore a tight navy blue mini-dress with a sequined bodice as she walked on stage for the competition's opening number. Later in the night, she strutted in a purple and blue bikini, and donned a wintery red velvet gown with a plunging neckline. Culpo's coronation ends a long losing spell for the U.S. in the competition co-owned by Donald Trump and NBC. An American had not won the right to be called Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997. Culpo was good enough during preliminary competitions to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who mo...

Another year older and Christina Aguilera still hasn't run out of new hairstyles to try! Sharing the sam birthday as Brad Pitt, 49, and Katie Holmes, 34, the "Your Body" singer turns 32 on Tuesday, Dec. 18. "Thank you Fighters for the many sweet birthday messages today!" she tweeted to her fans with a link to a video of them wishing her a happy birthday. "Let There Be Love to you all! XoXtina." PHOTOS: Christina Aguilera's body evolution In an interview with ABC News in October, the mother to son Max, almost 5, said she doesn't mind getting older. "I am enjoying being a woman now. Every year I think, this is going to be a great year, a new chapter. And it is," the Mouseketeer-turned-teen pop sensation. "I enjoyed being young but I would never relive my teens. Those are hard years for everyone." PHOTOS: Her sexy video looks Aguilera has had quite the big year with the release of her seventh studio album, Lotus, and th...

Star-studded finale included performances from Rihanna, Smokey Robinson, Peter Frampton and Bruno Mars. After three months of heated competition, which included blind auditions, battle rounds, knockouts, killer live performances and tributes, the third season of "The Voice" came to a close with the crowning of a new potential superstar. Would it be pop songstress Cassadee Pope, Scottish rocker Terry McDermott or soulful family man Nicholas David? After a two-hour, live performance-packed finale that generated the most votes cast in the show's history, host Carson Daly revealed that Pope is "The Voice," making Blake Shelton a two-time-winning coach; McDermott and David finished second and third, respectively. 'The Voice' Crowns Its season three Winner "I don't know [what to say]," Pope said smiling but looking stunned. "I feel amazing. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Thank you Blake, the producers, hair and makeup, ...

Nicholas David and Smokey Robinson Perform on The Voice Season 3 Live Finale, Dec. 18, 2012 Nicholas David and Smokey Robinson Perform on The Voice Season 3 Live Finale, Dec. 18, 2012 Nicholas David and Smokey Robinson Perform on The Voice Season 3 Live Finale, Dec. 18, 2012 Photo Credit: Tyler Golden/NBC © NBC Universal, Inc. Nicholas David joined one of his idols, Smokey Robinson, singing the soulful artist’s “Cruisin’” on The Voice Season 3 live finale tonight, Dec. 18, 2012. Nicholas proved himself as good as the greats, keeping up with Smokey note-for-note as they crooned the classic tune. Dressed in a fitted red blazer and rocking his signature shoulder-length 'do, St. Nick looked right at home as the pair cruised together on stage. What did you think of this performance? Tell us below!

Another year older and Christina Aguilera still hasn't run out of new hairstyles to try! Sharing the sam birthday as Brad Pitt, 49, and Katie Holmes, 34, the "Your Body" singer turns 32 on Tuesday, Dec. 18. "Thank you Fighters for the many sweet birthday messages today!" she tweeted to her fans with a link to a video of them wishing her a happy birthday. "Let There Be Love to you all! XoXtina." PHOTOS: Christina Aguilera's body evolution In an interview with ABC News in October, the mother to son Max, almost 5, said she doesn't mind getting older. "I am enjoying being a woman now. Every year I think, this is going to be a great year, a new chapter. And it is," the Mouseketeer-turned-teen pop sensation. "I enjoyed being young but I would never relive my teens. Those are hard years for everyone." PHOTOS: Her sexy video looks Aguilera has had quite the big year with the release of her seventh studio album, Lotus, an...

Every interception Mark Sanchez threw, every terrible decision that he made Monday night, doubled as a challenge to the Jets’ front office. Cut me, Sanchez almost seemed to be daring them. His performance in the Jets’ 14-10 loss to Tennessee that knocked them out of playoff contention — five turnovers, including three in the final 7 minutes 26 seconds — was, given the stakes, the most discouraging of his career. It invalidated Coach Rex Ryan’s stubborn support of him — admirable on one level, foolish on so many others — and created a situation so untenable that even the Jets came to realize their folly. Perhaps realizing that their fans — at least those who show up to MetLife Stadium on Sunday — might revolt if Sanchez started against equally feeble San Diego, the Jets opted on Tuesday to demote him in favor of Greg McElroy. Over the last month, Sanchez has gone from the Jets’ quarterback of the future, as deemed by the owner Woody Johnson, to not even that of the presen...

Irate customers blast the photo-sharing service's new terms of service, which appeared to give the company the right to turn users' images into ads. Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, seen above at a technology conference in France this month, tried to calm the uproar caused by the firm's new terms of service. “Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over your photos,” he wrote in a blog post Tuesday afternoon. “We respect that your photos are your photos. Period.” (Eric Piermont, AFP/Getty Images / December 5, 2012)

Arvind Kejriwal’s claim that if his Aam Aadmi Party comes to power, corrupt politicians will be prosecuted in six months is nothing but rhetoric. It clearly shows that he is a novice in politics. V.P. Singh claimed that he would prosecute all those guilty in the Bofors case within 15 days of coming to power. Although he sincerely tried to bring the guilty to book, the case is still hanging fire. The student leaders of Assam Gana Prishad who came to power on the promise of eradicating corruption could do nothing to wipe out corruption. In fact, they ended up facing allegations of corruption. Mr. Kejriwal will have to work with the same old bureaucracy even if he comes to power. It will create enough hurdles which no Minister can overcome easily. Mr. Kejriwal should think before making promises which he may not be able to keep. M.K.B. Nambiar, Mahe Mr. Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party could be a good alternative to the national parties that spend valuable parliamentary time ...

Bigg Boss gave another chance to fashion consultant Imam Siddiqui to re-enter the Padosi Ghar last week after he apologised to everybody and promised to mend his ways. But he has been once again thrown out of the mud house over his continued uncontrollable behaviour. However, the twist in the tale is that the choreographer will not leave the show Bigg Boss 6. Rather he will enter modern house. Imam Siddiqui continued with his wild ways on day 50 in the Bigg Boss Padosi house. He told Aashka to take out her personal stuff from the bathroom and clean it. Other housemates like Vrajesh Hirjee, Santosh Shukla and Dinesh Lal Yadav, who were irritated by his rude behaviour with Aashka, started scolded him. They even requested Bigg Boss to throw him out again. But the Bigg Boss seemed to giving him enough time to curb his ways. Hence, he asked other inmates to bear with him with patience. Imam Siddiqui did not stop there. He wore a strange scarf on his face and started provoking othe...

Writing and making thrillers is never easy. It has to be gripping, should engage the viewers and has to steer away from predictability. And Reema Kagti’s ‘Talaash’ scores in all these aspects. Related Stories`Talaash` expected to earn Rs.15 crore on opening day Hype around `Talaash` proof it`s well-promoted: Aamir Khan Written by Reema and Zoya Akhtar, ‘Talaash’ grips you from the very first shot and keeps you hooked through the two and half hours of its runtime. A tale of loss, betrayal and revenge, the film explores the many versions of truth and questions the obvious, leaving the viewer thinking of things unexplained. Superstar Armaan Kapoor’s car nose dives into the sea one late night in Mumbai. While initial reports suggests it to be an accident, Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhwat (Aamir Khan), who is investigating the case, finds a murky case of blackmailing which may have a connection with the accident. While investigating the case, he comes in contact with Tehmur ...

If Reddeppa (Milind Gunaji) mixes business, politics and crime, Krish Jagarlamudi mixes theater drama, dance and a bit of anger and angst in 'Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum'. The trailers deluded us into believing that we are in for an aggregate of 'Aakali Rajyam' kind of frustration and 'Osey Ramulamma' kind of rebellion. It turns out that 'Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum' is more a measured tribute to Surabhi (a theater form) rather than a tantalizing take on a crony capitalist regime that defrauds the nation and beefs up the coffers of bandicoots. It is an irony that while Krish is a cerebral individual in real life, his heroes are invariably self-centered and who always have to be awakened by the heroine's prose or someone else's poetic words. It would not matter much in a film like 'Gamyam', if the male lead is just another cynic who is guiltless about his lowly preoccupations. A canvas like 'KVJ' requires a hero who comes wit...

NEW DELHI: Reliance Life topped the chart of private life insurance companies against which customers have filed largest number of complaints in 2011-12, the government said today. According to the data provided by Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena in the Lok Sabha, as many as 50,807 complaints were reported against Reliance Life in 2011-12, followed by HDFC Standard Life (35,218) and Bajaj Allianz (22,390). • SBI Life Insurance PlansGet Rs 1 Crore Life Cover@Rs. 543/M Compare 46 Insurer Under 1 Minute! SBI.TermInsuranceIndia.co.in • Term Insurance ComparisonGet yourself covered for 1Crore By paying less than Rs.550 a Month paisabazaar.com/Term-Insurance However, all these companies attended to almost all of the complaints in the same year, the data revealed. The data further showed that a total of 2,57,313 complaints were against the 23 insurers in 2011-12 of which 2,56,196 were attended to. There were 2,936 complaints related to death claims against Ba...

The railways is going to set up its training institute to impart training to its officials.For this an Indian Railway Institute of Financial Management will be set up in Secunderabad. The training officers will be imparted training to improve finance and accounting skills so as to make them efficient and effective with integrity.. The state-run transporter will also start a specialized programme to depute middle-level finance officers abroad for training. Vijaya Kanth, Financial Commissioner, Indian Railways, said this while celebrating Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) day. Vijaya Kanth said this type of training is imperative to keep pace with the developments in the world.

Mumbai, Dec 3: HDFC Life has launched two unit-linked pension plans based on new guidelines by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority. HDFC Life Pension Super Plus is a regular premium unit-linked plan that offers death benefit of total premiums paid to date accumulated at a guaranteed rate of 6 per cent per annum. HDFC Life Single Premium Pension Super, a single premium unit-linked plan, offers benefit of 101 per cent of total premiums paid on vesting, the company statement said. The life insurance company has also launched a traditional annuity plan, HDFC Life New Immediate Annuity Plan. As per IRDA’s new guidelines, customers need to purchase immediate annuity from the proceeds of the Pension Plan from the same company. A survey -- HDFC Life Value Notes Life Freedom Index -- conducted earlier this year revealed that consumers are sceptical about the adequacy of their financial plans to meet their desired standard of living throughout their lifetime, the company ...

Monday, December 4, 2012 marked the end of an era when Ricky Ponting walked out for the last time in an international match at the fall of Shane Watson’s wicket – a reality not lost on the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) crowd as they rose in unison to applaud him. South African captain Graeme Smith gathered his team in a guard of honour and they applauded Ponting to the crease. At his pomp, Ponting would tear into the opposition after the Australian openers had laid waste the opposition bowling. The 257 runs at Sydney against India and 156 at Old Trafford against England spring immediately to mind. The Old Trafford innings was more circumspect as he was fighting for a draw. Where there were highs, there were also lows and the Australian cricketing fans might best remember Ponting for only the second captain to have surrendered the Ashes three times for such is England – Australia rivalry. Technically, he just lost it twice and failed to regain it the third tim...

Ananya Bhattacharya When back in 2008, Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sunday’ pulled off an ingenious spoof on Bollywood’s quintessential pseudo-versatile-genius, people might have had a genuine laugh or two. Little did they know that while Arshad Warsi was caustically speaking about his partner, Irrfan Khan’s acting prowess as the music director who produces his own film, directs it on his own, provides music to it and acts in it; Himesh Reshammiya might actually have been eavesdropping. And perhaps the result of that overheard conversation is this gigantic pain in the neck called ‘Khiladi 786’. Manshukh Desai (Himesh Reshammiya – need I say more?!) is a wedding planner, an aide in his father’s business. Just that all he can do is break up marriages with his incompetence or some gaffe or the other. So when one such wedding falls apart, Desai is kicked out of his home. Hitting the streets with a bottle of desi liquor and trying to re-enact a Devdas might be anybody’s forte but Himesh’s – th...

Google celebrated a true tech pioneer with a Monday Doodle commemorating the 197th birthday of Ada King, the Countess of Lovelace — more commonly known as Ada Lovelace. Lovelace is often credited with being the first computer programmer. She worked with Charles Babbage, who laid out the plans for the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine — two machines designed to store numbers and data that were the forerunners to the modern computer. Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, though her parents separated shortly after her birth. She was raised by her mother, Annabelle Milbanke Byron, described by the Encyclopedia Britannica as “mathematically inclined” and determined to raise Lovelace with a focus on the sciences to combat whatever artistic temperament she may have inherited from her father. •Horoscope for all 2013Claim your Free Reading from this accurate & talented Astrologer now AboutAstro.com/horoscope At the age of 17, Lovelace was among the first to gras...

New Delhi: From the first program that Ada Lovelace created for the Analytical Engine to present day laptops and tablet PCs, Google has doodled the evolution of computers on the occasion of the world's first computer programmer's 197th birth anniversary. The doodle shows Ada Lovelace writing the pioneering computer program with a quill pen seated on a desk and the paper scroll she is writing her algorithm on twirls in the shape of the letters of the Google logo. Ada King, the countess of Lovelace, was born on December 10, 1815 in Piccadilly Terrace, Middlesex, England and was the daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron, but as her parents separated soon after her birth and she did not get to know her father well. • Video • Photo • Gallery The Google doodle shows Ada Lovelace writing the pioneering computer programs with a quill pen. Her original name was Augusta Ada Byron and on her marriage to William King she became Ada King and later her husband became an earl,...

Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth, known for his unassuming attitude and charming aura, celebrated his 62nd birthday Wednesday with close friends and family at his residence here. "Though early in the morning he stepped out on to his balcony to wave to his fans outside his house, he spent the rest of the day with his family and select friends from the industry," a source from the industry told IANS. Nevertheless, Rajinikanth fans had every reason to celebrate to the fullest. Members of a Rajinikanth fans association cut cakes and unfolded banners in different parts of the city to mark this special day. "`12.12.12` is a very special day and our superstar`s birthday falling on the same day makes it much more auspicious. This day comes only once in 100 years and, therefore, we wanted to make the best of it," Sarathy, a member of Rajinikanth fans association, told reporters. "We also performed puja in the temple, wishing our superstar health, happiness an...

At first glance, 62-year-old Rajinikanth seems an unlikely superstar. He's not conventionally handsome, has few starry airs and displays a remarkable absence of flashiness. Those who haven't watched a Rajini movie are left perplexed by the frenzied crowds every new film draws. But there's no denying Rajini Sir's appeal, extending up and beyond the south of India, a feat managed by only a handful of non-Bollywood actors. The son of a police constable, Rajinikanth came from the most humble of beginnings. He was born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad on December 12, 1950. His parents were Maharashtrians living in Bangalore. His mother died when Rajinikanth was just five and the impoverished family struggled for years to make ends meet. A young Rajinikanth worked a number of odd jobs before ending up as a bus conductor with Karnataka's transport corporation. A born performer, Rajinikanth would keep his bus passengers entertained and the first suggestions that he become an act...

The font for Aaj Tak is designed to look strong, upright and with a little quirk of stubbornness BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | December 18, 2012 Aaj Tak the leading Hindi News Channel for 12 successive years has added another feather to its cap as the “Aaj Tak font” has been announced the winner of the “Visual Communication award” at the CII Design Excellence Award in New Delhi. The award was presented by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which has been associated with Design Summit for the past 11 years. Font for Aaj Tak is designed to look strong, upright and with a little quirk of stubbornness (akkad in hindi) for a channel that is stubborn to keep reporting the way things are and not package them in a ‘easy to digest’ form. The letterforms were designed as ‘open’ forms keeping in mind the small screen size which many Indian households still have. The design for ticker version was complex as it had to be used in small moving size The two-day event focuses on the im...

Approximately 60 couples were married in a mass wedding ceremony at the County of Santa Clara Government Center in San Jose on Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Normally, the county performs 17 weddings a day in one chapel. Today, the county married 34 couples in two chapels along with the 60 in the mass wedding who wanted to take advantage of the unique “12/12/12″ date.

Wednesday was the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012, a rare triple digit date so unique that it prompted thousands of couples in the US to tie the knot on what many saw as an extra lucky day. "Weddings are one of the most important and significant events that happen in a woman's life, and the ability to able to combine that with a once-in-a-lifetime date like 12-12-12 is something that doesn't come along very often," Brian Beitler, executive vice president of David's Bridal wedding wear, told Huffington Post website. "For a bride trying to make the most of her special day, a unique date like this, an iconic date like this, provides something that not many brides for the rest of this century are going to be able to do," he said. The wedding supply chain estimates roughly 7,500 couples will marry across the US on Wednesday, up more than 1,400 percent from the 485 couples who wed on the same date in 2011. Among the lucky couples are Alysen Hargrov...

New Delhi: With the death of Pandit Ravi Shankar, passes an era of Hindustani classical music - an era which saw the Indian musical artform going global in the true sense of the word. Ravi Shankar, born as Robindro Shounkor Chowdhury to a Bengali Brahmin family in Varanasi in 1920, was the last of the surviving ambassadors of that movement. Ravi Shankar's exposure to the world of Indian culture was through his elder brother, the dancer Uday Shankar. He started touring with the troupe when he was just ten and became an integral part of the group in three years' time. In these interim three years, Ravi Shankar had taken to playing various musical instruments. However, his life-altering experience came in 1934 when he first heard Ustad Allauddin Khan, also known as simply 'Baba' (Father in Bengali) among his disciples and the man who completely reshaped the Maihar gharana of Indian classical music and would give the world the biggest ambassadors of Indian classica...

Sitar player Ravi Shankar is to receive a posthumous lifetime achievement Grammy award, organizers of the music industry's top prize show said on Wednesday. Three-time Grammy winner Shankar, who died on Tuesday in California, is among seven artists including Carole King and the related stories • A miracle man, international superstar • Ravi Shankar, Indian music’s ambassador, takes final bow • The legend no more: Pandit Ravi Shankar • Ravi Shankar: 'The Godfather of World Music' Temptations named as Grammys Lifetime Achievement Award honorees. "He was selected before his death and notified last week he was receiving the honor," a Grammys spokeswoman, Stephanie Schell, told AFP when asked if Shankar was added to the list after his death. "As one of the world's most renowned sitar players, (Shankar) is a true ambassador for international music," the Recording Academy said in its brief biography of the Indian musician, alongside those of...