GANESH CHATURTHI

Vinayaka chaturthi or Ganesh festival is celebrated on the fourth day after the full moon in the month of Sravana(August-September).As far as Hindus are concerned, a nation is built on the foundations of spirituality. Ganesh Chaturthi makes clear the nature of the propitious relationship between spirituality and nationhood. Ganapati is the leader of the Ganas,which means community. A nation is a community of people.Therefore,worshipping nationhood is Ganesh Worship. A huge efficacy of Ganesh is made and it is worshipped through rituals and cultural performances. The end of the festival is marked by immersing the effigy in an ocean or any other large body of water. This ritual illustrates the spiritual principle that worship of God with form eventually culminates in the realization of God without form

GOLDEN EGG

A rare edition of 19th century master piece The Birds of America fetched US Dollar 7.9 million at a Christie's auction in New York. In 2010,another copy of first edition-which went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London-sold for US Dollar 11.5 million. The book,by American Ornithologist John James Audubon,depicts more than 400 species of birds and is considered a master piece of Ornithology art.

CHARLES DICKENS

For Charles Dickens fans, it was certainly the best of times. On 7th February,2012, the World celebrated the Th birth anniversary of the greatest English novelist of the Victorian era.

In London,Prince Charles visited the poet's corner in the Westminster Abbey and laid a wreath at the writer's grave,signalling the start of anniversary celebrations that spread from India to Russia and Argentina to UAE. "Despite the many years passed,Dickens remains one of the greatest writers of the English language,one who used his creative genius to campaign passionately for social service.His characterisation is as fresh today as it was on the day it was written",said Charles.

MAN'S PAL

Dog ,man's best pal for 30000 years: They are not just man's best friend,but dogs are the oldest pals too, says a new study. In their study a team at Arizona University claims that dogs have been man's best friend for at least 30000 years-in fact,the canines were domesticated before any other animal. Researchers have based their findings on an analysis of two skulls unearthed in separate digs-first an ancient dog skull found in Siberia dating back 33000 years and then a similar find in Belgium.

POPCORN

Researchers have found evidence that suggests communities living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorns some 6700 years ago,about 1000 years earlier than previously predicted.They arrived at this conclusion after unearthing corn husks,stalks,cobs and tassels (pollen-producing flowers on corn) dating 6700 to 3000 years ago,at Paredones and Huaca Prieta,two sites on Peru's northern coast.

"The evidence was unearthed during the past three years" study researcher Dolores Piperno told Life science. The characteristics of the corncobs suggest that the sites ancient inhabitants prepared and ate corn in several ways, including making corn flour and pop corn.The researcher also found corn micro-fossils containing starch grains and phytoliths which are microscopic particles formed by plants and mainly composed of silicon dioxide. The Peruvian popcorn is the oldest macro-fossil evidence for popcorn in South America.

Electric Theatre

Mount Road Post Office in Chennai was built in 1900 by Warwick Major as Electric Theatre,the first ever cinema house in South India. This building was bought in by Post and Telegraphs Department. For many years it housed Mount Road Post Office.

Chepauk palace

Muhammad Ali Wallajah (1749-1795),the first soveriegn ruler of the Carnatic,built the Chepauk palace in 1768. The original complex with two blocks was spread across 121 acres extended upto Pycrofts Road,Triplicane,Chennai.

100 YEARS OF NATIONAL ANTHEM

India's National Anthem turns 100 today. Rabindtanath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana was first performed on 27th December,1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.On January 24,1950,it was adoted as the National Anthem. What we know as our National Anthem is only the first of five verses composed by Tagore.
There are several renderings of the full song,including some by great artists like D.K.Pattammal,Bhimsen Joshi,Dr.Balamurali Krishna,Pandit.Jasraj,Lata Mangeshkar-in their trademark style.
The song has had its share of controversy. Since it was composed by Gurudev at the time of King George V'S Coronation Durbar,there was some debate over whether it was in praise of Indian Mother Lnad or to welcome the Emperor. Of course,since Tagore translated the song as Morning Song of India,that controversy was put to rest soon.

STUDDED TOILET

First,Japan gave the world high-tech toilets. Now a crystal toilet-studded with more than 72000 pieces of Swarovski cut crystal and valued at over $100000. Toilet manufacturer INAX teamed up with the Austrian jeweller to create the ornate fixture,which is on display in a showroom in the posh Ginza shopping district,an effort to draw more customers in a year fraught with economic gloom and natural disaster. In a nod to traditional belief,the sparkling toilet was created to please the "God of toilets",said Kazuo Sumimiya,Director of the showroom for the Lixil Interior Fixture company of which INAX is a part."In japan we believe a deity exists in the toilet.That's why keeping toilet clean and taking good care of it have been a Japanese custom since long ago," he added.

SHORTEST WOMAN

Jyoti Amge of Nagpur is celebrating her 18th birthday by winning the title of World's shortest woman from the Guinness World Records.Guinness representative measured Amge at 62.8 cms(24.7 inches) tall,7 cms(2.76 inches) shorter than the 22 year old American who held the title since September. It is not Amge's first Guinness record,until Friday(16/12/2011) she was considered the World's shortest teenager,but on turning 18 qualified for the new title.
Guinness says in a statement,Amge has grown less than 1 cm(0.4 inch) in the last two years and will grow no more due to a form of dwarfism called Achondroplasia.
The previous holder of the World's shortest living woman was 69.49 cms tall Bridgette Jordon,from the US State of Illinois.