Britney Spears Splits From Fiance Jason Trawick

EFT Report: Pop idol Britney Spears has confirmed her split from her fiance of one-year Jason Trawick, the couple who have been dating since May of 2010 had announced their engagement in December 2011.

The 31-year-old ‘Toxic’ hit-maker said in a statement; 'Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement. I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends.'

Britney has also stepped down from her role as a judge on the reality-show X Factor after only one season.

Britney Spears Splits From Jason Trawick

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Jet Airways Starts Mangalore-Dubai Flight From Jan. 3

India's leading private carrier, Jet Airways will start a daily flight from Jan. 3, 2013 for six days in a week, from Mangalore in coastal Karnataka to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 170 economy seats will fly six times a week to Dubai and back.

The flight (9W532) will depart from Mangalore at 8 pm and arrive at Dubai at 10.30 pm (local time) on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Departure on Tuesday will be at 7.40 pm and arrival in Dubai at 10.10 pm (local time).
On Friday, the flight will, however, take-off from Mangalore at 7 pm and land in Dubai at 9.30 pm (local time). Return flight will depart from Dubai at 10.30 pm and land in Mangalore at 3.30 am on Saturday.

On the return leg, the flight (9W531) will depart from Dubai at 11.30 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive in Mangalore next day at 4.30 am.

The airline currently operates daily direct flight to Dubai from New Delhi and four services a day from Mumbai.

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New Year Festival Concert in Mumbai on Jan. 1

BP Salon Orchestra is set to perform during Western Music Concert in Mumbai on New Year Day, Jan. 1, 2013.

The B. P. Salon Orchestra, conducted by Parvez Doctor, led by Nandkishore Talgaonkar and hosted by Khursheed Wadia, with guest artists, soloists and choir, presents a concert of classical, semi-classical and light music.

The program will include marches, waltzes, violin and harmonica solos, seasonal medleys, junior items by students of Rumaa Dey, Marilynne Chhabra and Parvez Doctor and sing-along items.

Date & Time:

Jan. 1, 2013; 6.30 pm onwards

Venue:

Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai

Ticket for the concert ranges from Rs 200 to Rs 300.

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India T20, ODI Squad Against Pakistan Announced

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Indian cricket team for the two Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs against Pakistan from Dec. 25, 2012 to Jan. 6, 2013.

India T20 squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu

India ODI squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Amit Mishra

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Golden Kela Awards 2012: Dabangg 2, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn Nominated

The fifth edition of the Golden Kela Awards will be announced in March 2013. Golden Kela Awards are the Indian version of Hollywood's Razzies - Golden Raspberry Awards, popular in the west for awarding the worst of the year in the filmmaking industry.

Worst Actor Category:

Ajay Devgn for "Son of Sardaar" and "Bol Bachchan"
Akshay Kumar for "Housefull 2," "Rowdy Rathore," "Joker" and "Khiladi 786"
Imran Khan for Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
Sanjay Dutt for "Agneepath"
Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan for "Student of the Year"

Worst Actress Category:

Anushka Sharma for "Jab Tak Hai Jaan".
Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty for "Cocktail"
Farah Khan for "Shirin Farhad Ki Nikal Padi"
Alia Bhatt for "Student of the Year"
Sonakshi Sinha for all her films in 2012

Worst Film Category:

Joker
Housefull 2
Son Of Sardaar
Khiladi 786
Dabangg 2
Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Worst Director Category:

Shirish Kunder for "Joker"
Arbaaz Khan for "Dabangg 2"
Karan Johar for "Student of the Year"
Kabir Khan for "Ek Tha Tiger"
Sajid Khan for "Housefull 2"

Most Irritating Song Category:

"Chinta ta chita chita" ("Rowdy Rathore")
"Son of sardaar" ("Son of Sardaar")
"Anarkali disco chali" ("Housefull 2")
"Disco deewane" ("Student of the Year")
"Hookah bar" ("Khiladi 786")

Most Atrocious Lyrics category:

"Ishq wala love" ("Student of the Year")
"Halkat jawani" ("Heroine")
"Bipasha Bipasha" ("Jodi Breakers")
"Pon pon" ("Son of Sardaar")
"Chinta ta chita chita ("Rowdy Rathore")
"Hookah bar" ("Khiladi 786")

Worst Sequel Category:

Dabangg 2
Housefull 2
Jannat 2
Jism 2
Raaz 3
Kya Super Kool Hain Hum
Bhoot Returns
1920 Evil Returns


Why Are You Still Trying? Award Category:

Karisma Kapoor
Chandrachur Singh
Aftab Shivdasani
Shiney Ahuja
Prachi Desai
Jackky Bhagnani

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'Barfi!' Out of Oscar Race; 9 Shortlisted for Foreign Category

Director Anurag Basu's "Barfi!" has failed to qualify for the best foreign language film category for the 85th Academy Awards, according to the latest Oscar shortlist.

The film, featuring Ranbir Kapoor as a deaf and mute boy and Priyanka Chopra as an autistic girl, earned rave reviews and enjoyed box office success.

Of the 71 films that qualified for the Oscars from across the world, nine have been shortlisted, which will further compete to make it to the final five nominations.

The nine selected films are "Amour" (Austria), "War Witch" (Canada), "No" (Chile), "A Royal Affair" (Denmark), "The Intouchables" (France), "The Deep" (Iceland), "Kon-Tiki" ("Norway), "Beyond the Hills" (Romania) and "Sister" (Switzerland).

The final list will be announced on Jan. 10, 2013.

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IPL-6 From April 3-May 6, 2013; KKR-DD to Play Opener

Indian Premier League, often described as the mecca of the Twenty20 cricket format, sixth edition will start from April 3, 2013 with reigning champs Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Delhi Daredevils in the opening match at Eden Gardens.

This edition of IPL will see soft-drink giants Pepsi as the title sponsor and will have 9 teams with Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise making its debut. The players' auction for Pepsi IPL-6 will be held on February 3, 2013.

Each of the nine teams will play each other twice, home and away. The final is also scheduled to be played at Eden Gardens on May 6, 2013.

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13th Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai on Jan. 13; SRK to Pay Tribute to Yash Chopra

The 13th Zee Cine Awards ceremony will be held at Panchgani near Mumbai on Jan. 6, 2013. The ceremony will be aired on Jan. 20 on Zee TV.

Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan will pay tribute to legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra through a performance at the 13th Zee Cine Awards.

Yash Chopra passed away on Oct. 21. Shah Rukh and Yash Chopra worked together in films like "Darr," "Dil Toh Pagal Hai," "Veer-Zara" and most recently "Jab Tak Hai Jaan," which was Yash Chopra's last directorial venture.

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BlackBerry 10 Launch Event in New York City on Jan. 30

Research in Motion [RIMM] has officially announced the BlackBerry 10 release date. The BlackBerry maker sent out invitations for the global BlackBerry 10 launch event in New York City on Jan. 30, 2012.

RIM didn’t provide any details on the event, but its tagline is, “Re-designed. Re-engineered. Re-invented,” and they are expected to unveil a full touch-screen device and another that could resemble its current Bold handset.

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Uninor to Shut Operations in Kolkata, West Bengal From Jan. 19

Telecom firm Uninor will close down operations in Kolkata and West Bengal circles from Jan. 19, 2013 as "no new spectrum (was) being (made) available through auctions."

The company would issue a public notice to all its customers in Kolkata and West Bengal, requesting them to exhaust their mobile phone's balance by Jan. 18 and utilize mobile number portability to another operator.

In the Kolkata and West Bengal circles, the company, in which Norwegian telecom firm Telenor holds a majority stake, has a total subscriber base of 5.6 million.

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Beijing Book Fair 2013 From Jan. 1; Over 650 Publishers to Participate

The 2013 Beijing Book Fair will open on Jan. 11, 2013 featuring 500,000 books by over 650 publishers, including more than 60 overseas publishers including from India.

More than 3,500 book stores and government procurement agencies from both home and abroad will also attend the fair.

Nearly 40 purchasers are from outside the Chinese mainland, including the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Canada, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The fair will be staged in an exhibition venue of 50,410 square meters in the China International Exhibition Center.

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Nissan to Launch Duster SUV in India by Diwali 2013

Japanese automaker Nissan will launch the compact Duster SUV in India by October 2013, coinciding with the auspicious time of Dussehra and Diwali.

Nissan would launch a rebadged version of the Duster (codenamed NH79). The new vehicle will get major cosmetic tweaks both to the inside and outside, but will remain the same underneath.

The NH79 will slot in below the Renault Duster due to the Renault-Nissan hierarchy. The compact SUV is also likely to fare better than its French sibling as it will be cheaper and the fact that Nissan has better presence in India.

Also, Nissan might introduce a 4x4 and automatic variants (the Duster already has them in Europe) for the NH79 when it is launched.

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Indo-Pak T20 Tickets Available Online From Dec. 13

More than 7,000 tickets for the first India-Pakistan T20 tie at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Dec. 25, 2012 will be sold online from Dec. 13.

Maximum tickets for public—7,187—will be sold online at www.bookmyshow.com for stands across the stadium at different fares, while 5,500 tickets for gallery stands, priced at Rs 250, will be sold on Dec. 21 through counters at the stadium.

Online tickets are priced between Rs 1,600 and Rs 15,000 with those for corporates priced at Rs 12,500 and executive lounges at Rs 6,000, and terrace seats at Rs 9,000.

Tickets for about 500 fans from Pakistan will be issued through the PCB.

The match between the arch rivals will be played in the night from 7 pm onwards on Christmas day.

The second T20 will be played at Ahmedabad in Gujarat on Dec. 27 and the three one-dayers in Chennai on Dec. 30, Kolkata on Jan. 3 and New Delhi on Jan. 6, 2013.

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Afridi, Razzaq, Nazir Dropped for India ODIs

Pakistan dropped experienced all-rounder Abdul Razzaq for the upcoming One Day Internationals (ODIs) in India, the first bilateral series between the neighbors since 2007.

Veteran all-rounder Shahid Afridi, 32, was also omitted for the one-dayers but retained his place in the Twenty20 squad. Disastrous batsman Imran Nazir was also dropped from the squad.

India and Pakistan will play three one-dayers and two Twenty20 games in the series. The first is a T20 match in Bangalore on Dec. 25, 2012.

ODI Squad:

Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Younus Khan, Haris Sohail, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali.

T20 Squad:

Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Babar and Ahmad Shahzad.

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Dubai Shopping Festival 2013 From Jan. 3–Feb. 3; SRK to Perform on Jan. 17

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan will kick off the world premiere of his tour—"Access All Area"—with a performance at the ensuing 18th Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2013.

Khan's special show is expected to be tentatively scheduled on Jan. 17, 2013—midway during the DSF which commences on Jan. 3 and ends on Feb. 3.

This year, the DSF is being marketed as "Dubai At Its Best" and the month-long event promises to be the biggest ever in its history since 1996, bringing the best across its sectors for locals and visitors alike.

The major highlights this year include the world's highest catwalk at 442 meters at the iconic Burj Khalifa, and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, a PGA European Tour sanctioned event with a $2.50 million prize pool with big names like Tiger Woods in attendance.

Besides Shah Rukh Khan's concert, DSF 2013 will feature various mega-events like Layali Dubai, street carnivals, street and midnight fashion shows, sporting attractions and cultural events from different countries.

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International Rock Art Festival 2012 Begins in Delhi; Entry Free

Indira Gandhi National Centre has organized International Rock Art Festival 2012 from December 7, 2012 to January 25, 2013.

Schedule:

*Conference on Rock Art—December 7–11, 2012
*Workshop—December 7–12, 2012
*Exhibition—December 7, 2012 to January 25, 2013

Venue:

Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, C.V. Mess, Janpath, New Delhi

Entry is free for all.

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Manipal University to Offer 12 New Courses

Manipal University will add 12 new courses from the academic year 2013–14. The addition of 12 new courses will take the total number of courses in the university up to 332 in 18 streams.

The new courses are: Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design); Bachelor of Science (Fashion Design—Couture); Diploma in Fashion Design, B.Tech in Computer and Communication Engineering, M.Tech in Advanced Thermal Power and Energy Systems; Bachelor of Health Sciences; Executive M. Arch (Advanced Design); MA in European Studies; MA in Sociology; Masters in National Security Studies; M.Pharm (Industrial Pharmacy); and MSc in Biophysics.

Manipal University will hold a common entrance test and counseling for admissions to B.Tech in Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal; Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Sikkim; and Manipal University, Jaipur.

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Delhi-Chandigarh Route to Get AC Double Decker Train Soon

To cater to the growing number of passengers between Delhi and Chandigarh, Railways has decided to start an AC double decker train between the two cities.

The 12-coach AC double decker train with fire alarm system is expected to be pressed into service by February next year, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

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Sabarimala Pilgrimage 2012 in Kerala From Nov. 16

The famous Sabarimala temple pilgrimage season is all set to begin when the sanctum sanctorum opens in the early hours of Friday, Nov. 16, 2012.

The pilgrimage season coincides with the first day of Malayalam month 'Vrishickam' (this year it falls Nov 16).

Situated on the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, at an altitude of 914 metres above sea level, Sabarimala temple is four kilometers uphill from Pamba in Pathanamthitta district.

It is one of the most famous Hindu pilgrim centers in India and has earned the tag of 'Mecca for Hindus.'

The temple, which bars the entry of women who have attained puberty, is accessible only on foot from Pamba.

Even though the temple is now open on the first few days every month of the Malayalam calendar, the peak pilgrimage season begins on the first day of the Malayalam month in November and ends in January.

Like the previous season, the unique online Q-booking has also been opened. Last season 7.43 lakh pilgrims used this facility, while 32 lakh pilgrims could book their darshan this season.

Pilgrims desirous of obtaining an advance Q-coupon for booking a darshan can log on to www.sabarimala.keralapolice.gov.in and book their time of darshan.

The Indian Railways, on account of the pilgrim season, will put more number of bogies in trains to facilitate smooth travel for the pilgrims from the nearby states. Likewise, the state-owned transport corporation has also made elaborate arrangements.

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Bruce Willis’s 'A Good Day to Die Hard' to Release on Feb. 14

Bruce Willis will once again portray the character of detective John McClane in the fifth installment of the very successful Die Hard movie franchise. The flick titled ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ will be hitting the big screen across the world come February 14, 2013.

According to sources, this time Bruce Willis (57) will be seen taking on the Russian underworld and stopping a nuclear weapons heist. Australian actor Jai Courtney is seen playing his estranged son in the flick.

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