German Industrial & UK industrial output rose in December as Economy Improved Latest News Images

German Industrial & UK industrial output rose  in December as Economy Improved.German Industrial & UK industrial output Latest News.German Industrial & UK industrial output Images. 

German industrial production rose in December, adding to signs that Europe’s largest economy is gathering pace.

German industrial production rose in December:

Production increased 0.3 percent from November, when it fell 0.2 percent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists forecast a 0.2 percent gain, according to the median of 37 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. November output was revised down from an initially reported 0.2 percent increase. From a year earlier, production fell 1.1 percent when adjusted for working days.

German Industrial Growth

The economy is rebounding from a contraction at the end of last year. Business and investor sentiment improved more than forecast in January and the unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent, matching a two-decade low. Factory orders rose 0.8 percent in December as demand from the euro area, Germany’s biggest export market, surged 7 percent, the Economy Ministry said yesterday.

Recent indicators “lead us to expect that the German economy expanded noticeably again in the first quarter after a presumably large minus in the final quarter of 2012,” said Ralph Solveen, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “Uncertainty about the future of the monetary union and its constraining effect on investment is obviously lifting more quickly than we had previously assumed.”

Manufacturing output rose 1.2 percent in December, with investment-goods production up 1.9 percent and consumer-goods output jumping 3.9 percent, today’s report showed. Production of basic goods declined 0.7 percent and energy output dropped 3.4 percent. Construction slumped 8.9 percent from November.

German Industrial Growth in December

UK industrial output rose 1.1% in December:

The rise - which includes figures for energy production and mining - was higher than many economists' predictions of a 0.9% rise.

Manufacturing output rose 1.6% for the month, after falling 0.3% in November.

Analysts say the increase will raise hopes that the economy can avoid another recession.

Despite December's rise, for the three months to the end of the year, industrial output was 1.9% lower than the previous quarter.

This was the biggest fall since the first quarter of 2009, and was in large part driven by temporary shutdowns in North Sea oilfields.

However, James Knightley, senior economist at ING, said: "With more North Sea oil and gas production set to come on stream over the next couple of months, we anticipate another decent figure next month.

"Furthermore, with the purchasing managers' index for January also showing growth, this offers further indication that the UK will probably avoid the fate of dipping into recession three times in the space of five years."

UK Industrial Output Growth

Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec, agreed: "The significant rebound in manufacturing output over December is welcome, which should help to dispel fears over a triple-dip recession."

But Peter Dixon at Commerzbank was more cautious: "The key point is manufacturing output is still 1.5% lower than it was a year ago, so although it was a good month in December, the trend clearly has not been very friendly over the last 12 months."

Separately, ONS data released on Thursday showed that the UK's trade deficit in goods narrowed in December as forecast.

The goods trade deficit shrank to £8.89bn from £9.27bn in November. The consensus forecast among economists was a gap of £8.93bn.

The surplus on trade in services remained the same in December at £5.7bn.

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BlackBerry 10 Mobile Phones Storm Which & What is it Curve Prices/cost in India 8310/8300 9000 bold

BlackBerry 10 Mobile.BlackBerry 10 Phones.BlackBerry Storm.Which is BlackBerry & What is it BlackBerry.BlackBerry Curve.BlackBerry Prices.BlackBerry cost in India.BlackBerry 8310.BlackBerry 8300.BlackBerry 9000 bold.BlackBerry Photos.BlackBerry Images.BlackBerry latest Model.

Introduction:
Gosh, it still seems a bit mind boggling to know that BlackBerry has been pretty much non-existent in the last year, seeing that they’ve been proactively taking the time out to develop its new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 mobile platform from the ground up. Naturally, it’s a big undertaking in itself, much like any new platform, but as we’ve seen, it has to contend with the already existing platforms out there. To make matters worse, consumers have a minimum threshold in what they expect to see out of the experience, which is obviously version 1.0 at this point.

Blackberry 10

Regardless of that, BlackBerry has an established user base that’s been faithful all this time while patiently waiting – so at least they an existing pool to target. Google has shown us the complexity of its Android platform, iOS continues to be simplicity at its best, and Windows Phone aims to take the number three spot with its stylish appeal, but where is BlackBerry 10 going to fit in all of this?

The Visuals and Presentation:
Taking look at BlackBerry OS 7, which is running on the recent Curve 9315, it’s undeniably antiquated when pitted against its contemporaries. Luckily, the Waterloo based company threw out its antiquated design style and presentation in favor of one that’s gushing with a good balance between visuals and presentation. One part, BlackBerry 10 has a simplistic look similar to iOS with its app panel, yet, there’s more complexity with its layout, which gives the platform more depth. Sprinkling some pizzazz to everything, BlackBerry has done a tremendous job of throwing in a variety of detailed transition effects. From the way the animation of the app panel stack on top of one another, to the cool fading one used by the lockscreen, it gives some much-needed eye candy to a modern platform.

Blackberry 10 Features

Beyond the glitz, we like how BlackBerry 10 incorporates a handful of gestures, which contributes to a higher learning curve from the onset, but once they’re mastered, it becomes second nature. At the same time, this heavy usage of gestures helps to give the platform its definition. However, we’re not too fond of how notifications are executed with the platform. At first glance, the thought of the BlackBerry Hub aggregating everything is great, but when it comes to accessing them, it’s a tiny bit of a laborious process – mainly due to the many gestures needed just to get to the BlackBerry Hub. From here, you can view everything in a unified inbox within the BlackBerry Hub, or simply check them out separately in the different categories. When it comes down to it, notifications should be previews that are quickly accessed, not this lengthy process with BlackBerry 10.

Rather than concocting something predictable, BlackBerry executes the task of multi-tasking differently. Again relying on gestures, the way it handles it reminds us of what was used by webOS, as a quick swipe up gesture from the bottom bezel “minimizes” an app and places it as an “Active Frame” in the homescreen. Naturally, switching is fast and simple with this routine, but at the same time, it would’ve been nice to see many apps take advantage of the Active Frames. For example, the weather app turns into a mini widget of sort – thus, providing relevant content at a glance in the homescreen. Meanwhile, other apps are simply in their “minimized” state.

Blackberry 10 Pics

Checking out the lockscreen, which displays notifications, the clock, and date, it’s fairly benign with its offerings. Yes, you can launch the camera app at a moment’s notice in the lockscreen by pressing and holding down the icon, but it still would’ve been nice to give users the option to place additional content in the lockscreen – like weather information. And finally, that leads us to the platform’s personalization aspect, which is lagging behind Android and Windows Phone – though, it’s similar to iOS. Essentially, personalization is limited to changing the background wallpaper and rearranging the icons in the app panel. Needless to say, it would’ve been snazzy if there’s just some unique way for them to personalize the look more.

The Core Goods:
Rummaging through BlackBerry’s 10 set of core organizer apps, there isn’t a whole lot to expect out of them, since they all provide the usual staple of functions we’d expect to see with other platforms. Therefore, if you’re using the Calendar, Calculator, Contacts, Clock, and Weather apps, you won’t be particularly blown away with their offerings and styling.

Considering that BlackBerry 10 adheres to an all-touch experience, they made sure to do justice with the messaging experience. Even though there are going to be BlackBerries with physical keyboard (think the Q10), the layout of the on-screen keyboard does its best to emulate the look and feel of a physical one, which is evident by the silver space bars between rows. On one side, it’s nice to see that typing is smooth with the usual tapping of our fingers, but alternatively, the voice dictation service works rather well too. If you simply prefer typing, there’s also the platform’s new way of offering predictive text, which pops up words over specific buttons. Indeed it’s useful, but we find our pace to be slower – whereas typing the normal way, we’re faster, especially when it offers great auto-correction too!

Email has always been one of those bread and butter things with BlackBerry, knowing that, we’re not disappointed with how it’s done in BlackBerry 10. Setup as always is a breeze with this, since we only need to provide our email address and password for it to automatically get things situated. As for the actual layout of the email app, it’s nothing out of the ordinary with its scrollable listing.

Web Browser:
Boy do we remember using the web browser on the original BlackBerry Storm! Why’s that you ask? Well, that’s because the experience was downright terrible – frustrating on so many levels too! Fortunately, the BlackBerry 10 web browser is a huge leap forward, as it performs handsomely to not only live up to the expectations of its rivals, but surpass them as well. First and foremost, page loads are extremely quick – while rendering is done in the blink of an eye. So much so that we can start scrolling and pinch zooming as soon as things start popping up – and there’s rarely any sluggish performance! Showing its worth, the browser also boasts a variety of “sharing” functions and a friendly “reader” mode that rearranges pages for a column view. However, we were hoping to see some gestures being incorporated, since it’s heavily used by the OS – such as one where we can switch between tabs quickly.

Blackberry 10 The Latest

Camera:
Sadly, the BlackBerry 10 camera interface is too lacking with its feature set. Specifically, it doesn’t command a plethora of shooting modes and manual settings to appease serious photogs. In addition, we’re not thrilled by how it handles focus and exposure adjustment, which requires us to press and hold the square box in the UI to move it around. Sure, we have the neat feature of “Time Shift,” which takes a variety of snapshots before and after to get the best faces in the shot, but it’s not something as valuable as something like being given manual controls for exposure, ISO, and metering. Likewise, it’s not as cool as having a panoramic mode or Google’s Photosphere. 

Music Player:
Quite frankly, BlackBerry could’ve spent some more time with the music player, seeing that it’s as cookie cutter with its layout and presentation. When it comes down to it, the presentation is bland – and nothing more. When there are so many flashy looking music players, like cover flow with iOS, the Modern UI of Windows Phone, or the cool 3D effects with Android’s stock music player, the BlackBerry 10 music player is stale in comparison.

BlackBerry World & Third Party Apps:
BlackBerry World is now the one-stop hub for apps, games, music, and video content. With videos, it’s nice that certain titles can be bought or rented. Luckily, it seems as though BlackBerry World offers a wide range of movies and television shows – both new and old. Currently, it’s mentioned that there are over 70,000 apps available in BlackBerry World, which is a comforting figure for a new platform and all, however, it doesn’t have the breadth of popular apps like its rivals. At the moment, though, we’re pleased by what’s available – these include apps like Facebook, USA Today, Flixster, and Accuweather.

Needless to say, we can’t be too demanding with a platform that’s still getting its feet wet, but as we look at some of the other third party apps meant to work with the QNX-based PlayBook, such as the Pandora client “Apollo,” it shows us that not all apps have been optimized for BB10. Regardless of that, the general consensus of apps appear to be polished and make good use of the touch-friendly interface. Likewise,games like Radiant Defense and Angry Birds Star Wars run fantastic. In the end, it’ll boil down to how quickly BlackBerry can bring over many of the popular apps we’re accustomed to using with other platforms – like Instagram, Pandora, and Netflix.

Maps, Voice Control, & NFC:
When we know what the competition is offering, it’s undoubtedly disappointing to see that there isn’t much to like about BlackBerry Maps. Honestly, we’re confused by it, since it lacks things like transit directions and satellite view – yet, it offers voice guided turn-by-turn directions. Knowing what’s out there with the competition, BlackBerry Maps seriously needs to work to at least become usable on an everyday basis

Blackberry 10 Images

Likewise, we can say the same thing about BB10’s voice control service, which offers just the bare necessities. Out of everything, it’s just not as smart as Siri or Google Now, since the majority of requests results in a simple response to search them on the web.

Although it’s going to be a new concept with most old school BlackBerry users, BB10 fully takes advantage ofNFC, which is a comforting thing to find. Obviously, we can share photos, videos, and music tracks by simply using the NFC feature, but in addition to that, the “Smart Tags” app enables users to custom set NFC embedded tags to do something specific – like sending contact info, opening a web site, or sending an email. For now, it’s very bare in what it can do, but we hope some additional functionality will be thrown in later.

Conclusion:

The more we think about it, we can’t help but draw comparisons of BlackBerry 10 to webOS , since there are similarities. Visually, BB10 is an enticing platform that greatly makes use of the touch experience, which is evident by the amount of gestures in play with it. Considering this is a version 1.0 platform, BlackBerry manages to deliver something that’s inviting and modern enough to tangle with the competition.

However, knowing that they had over a year to develop this platform, it would’ve been nice to see a more comprehensive features set – so it can at least be a valid argument for a smooth transition to those used using other mobile platforms. Needless to say, if you’re comfortable using the full arsenal of apps and functionality with your existing platform or choice, say Android or iOS, it’s going to be rather difficult making the switch. On the flip side, if you’re willing to take the gamble, with the hope of BlackBerry expediting the further development of its platform, we’re certain it’ll ultimately prove to be a justified response.

Once highly regarded as the platform of choice by business and enterprise users, as we’ve seen in the shift over the course of the last several years, BlackBerry has relinquished its hold to some of its main rivals. Still, they’ve tweaked the experience in BB10 to strongly make it a focal point – such as the case with BBM’s new video chatting and sharing services. Going back to where we started, this all reminds us and brings back memories about webOS. Right now, BlackBerry is in a tight spot, but the new platform seems equipped enough at the moment to build buzz amongst its existing user base. Simply, it’s a valiant effort on their part, but the future hinges on how proactive they’ll be in continuing development to make BB10 a complete OS from top to bottom.

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Mary Leakey fossil hunter honoured with Google doodle on her 100th birthday Pics/Photos NewsProfile

Mary Leakey A fossil hunter. Mary Leakey honoured with Google doodle. Mary Leakey honoured with Google Doodle on her 100th birthday. Mary Leakey Pics. Mary Leakey  Photos. Mary Leakey News. Mary Leakey  Profile.Mary Douglas Leakey was recognized in her lifetime as one of the world’s most distinguished fossil hunters.  Because of her many important discoveries and her dedication to field research, she is considered a giant in the study of human origins.

Mary Leakey (6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct ape now believed to be ancestral to humans, and also discovered the robust Zinjanthropus skull at Olduvai Gorge. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominines. She developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints. In 1960 she became director of excavation at Olduvai and subsequently took it over, building her own staff. After the death of her husband, she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to establish the Leakey tradition by training her son, Richard, in the field.

Mary Leakey(Fossil Hunter) Google doodle 

She was born Mary Douglas Nicol in London on February 6, 1913. She was the daughter of a popular landscape painter, Erskine Nicol, and Cecilia Frere. Mary herself was interested in art and archaeology at an early age. As a child she frequently travelled to France with her parents.  There, she visited a museum of prehistory and was allowed to participate in archaeological digs where she found ancient stone tools. She also visited the French caves at Font de Guame and La Mouthe, which are famous for their prehistoric paintings.  As a result of her father’s death in 1926, Mary and her mother moved back to London.  She rebelled against the constraints of the Catholic schools to which her mother sent her. In 1930, she began auditing university courses in archaeology and geology. She soon established herself as an authority on flint points and was recognised for her mastery of scientific illustration. She was introduced to Louis Leakey in 1933. Louis invited her to join him in Africa to draw the stone tools he had found. Three years later (after Leakey’s divorce from his first wife Frida) they were married. They had three sons (Jonathan in 1940, Richard in 1944, and Philip in 1948).

Among her many scientific accomplishments, Mary is credited with the discovery of Proconsul africanus in 1948, Zinjanthropus boisei (now known as Australopithecus boisei) in 1959, Homo habilis in 1960, and an amazingly well-preserved 89-foot long trail of early human footprints found at Laetoli (1979). These footprints have been dated to about 3.6 million years old and their discovery proved conclusively that our ancestors were at that time practicing bipedal locomotion. Mary and her team continued to find important hominid and prehistoric animal fossils until her retirement from active fieldwork in 1983.

Mary Leakey(fossil Hunter) honoured with Google Doodle
on her 100th Birthday

Upon retirement, she moved to Nairobi from Olduvai Gorge, where she had lived for nearly 20 years. In retirement, she continued to contribute to science, writing articles about her lifetime of incredible discoveries. She died in 1996 at the age of eighty-three.

Childhood:

Mary Leakey was born Mary Douglas Nicol on February 6, 1913, in London, England to Erskine Edward Nicol and Cecilia Marion (Frere) Nicol. Since Erskine worked as a painter, specializing in watercolor landscapes, the Nicol family would move from place to place, visiting numerous locations in the USA, Italy, and Egypt, where Erskine painted scenes to be sold in England. Erskine Nicol developed an amateur enthusiasm for Egyptology during his travels. Mary Leakey was a direct descendant of antiquarian, John Frere, and cousin to archaeologist, Sheppard Frere, on her mother's side. The Frere family had been active abolitionists in the British colonial empire during the nineteenth century and established several communities for freed slaves. Three of these communities remained in existence as of Mrs. Leakey's 1984 autobiography: Freretown, Kenya, Freretown, South Africa, and Freretown, India. She also was a distant relative of baronet Henry Bartle Frere.

The Nicols spent much of their time in southern France. Mary became fluent in French. She identified more with the adventurous spirit of her father, going for long walks and explorations with him and having long talks. She disliked her governess and had less sympathy for her mother.

In 1925, when Mary was 12, the Nicols stayed at Les Eyzies at a time when Elie Peyrony was excavating one of the caves there. Peyrony did not understand the significance of much of what he found, and was not excavating scientifically during that early stage of archaeology. Mary received permission to go through his dump. It was there that her interest in prehistory was sparked. She started a collection of points, scrapers, and blades from the dump and developed her first system of classification.

That winter, the family moved to Cabrerets, a village of Lot, France. There she met Abbé Lemozi, the village priest, who befriended her and became her mentor for a time. The two toured Pech Merle cave to view the prehistoric paintings of bison and horses.

Education:

In the spring of 1926, in Mary's 13th year, her father died of cancer. The services were read by Lemozi. Erskine's brother, Percy, came to take them back to London. Cecilia sold Erskine's paintings and moved to a boardinghouse in Kensington. She placed Mary in a local Catholic convent to be educated, following the example of her own life. Later, Mary boasted of never passing an examination there. Mary could not even excel at French, although she spoke it fluently, because her teacher frowned upon her provincial accent. She was expelled for refusing to recite poetry, and then expelled from a second convent school for causing an explosion in a chemistry laboratory.

After the second expulsion her mother hired two tutors, who were no more successful than the nuns, and mother and daughter visited Stonehenge. Mary's only particular interests were drawing and archaeology. Formal university admission was impossible with Mary's academic record. Her mother contacted a professor at Oxford University about possible admission. After being informed that it was not even worth her time applying, Mary had no further contact with the university until it awarded her an honorary doctoral degree in 1951. So the small family moved to Kensington where she could attend lectures unregistered in archaeology and related subjects at University College London and the London Museum, where she studied under Mortimer Wheeler.

She applied to a number of excavations to be held in the summer. Wheeler was the first to accept her for a dig at St. Albans at the Roman site of Verulamium. Mary's second dig was at Hembury, a Neolithic site, under Dorothy Liddell, who coached her for four years. Mary's illustrations of tools for Dorothy drew the attention of Gertrude Caton-Thompson, and in late 1932 she entered the field as an illustrator for Caton-Thompson's book, The Desert Fayoum.

Matriarch:

Through Gertrude, Mary met Louis Leakey, who was in need of an illustrator for his book, Adam's Ancestors. While she was doing that work they became romantically attached. They shared common interests and values: a love of freedom and dislike for rules, an egalitarian frame of mind extending even to animals, a desire for adventure, and a passion for archaeology. Louis was still married when he started living with Mary, which caused a scandal that ruined his career at Cambridge University. They were married when Louis' wife Frida divorced him in 1936.

From then until about 1962 Louis and Mary faced trying circumstances together. 

Early in their relationship he nursed her through double pneumonia. They had three sons:Jonathan in 1940, Richard in 1944, and Philip in 1949. The boys received much of their early childhood care at various anthropological sites. Whenever possible the Leakeys excavated and explored as a family. The boys grew up with the same love of freedom their parents had. Mary would not even allow guests to shoo away the pethyraxes that helped themselves to food and drink at the dinner table. She smoked very much, first cigarettes and then cigars, and dressed as though on excavation.

Louis was not always faithful to Mary, as he had not been to Frida. 

In 1960 they agreed that Mary would become director of excavations at Olduvai. From then on she operated more or less independently, taking over the dig. After Louis became known as a womanizer the intimate side of the marriage was effectively over. For example, Louis became briefly involved with Dian Fossey. Meanwhile, Mary's life consisted mainly of her children, her dogs, and her archaeology. Louis died on 1 October 1972 of a heart attack. Mary continued the family's archaeological work.

Mary carried on after Louis, becoming a powerful and respected figure. By then Richard had decided to become a palaeoanthropologist. She helped his career significantly. Her other two sons opted to follow other interests.

Death:

Mary died on 9 December 1996 at the age of 83, a renowned paleoanthropologist, who had not only conducted significant research of her own, but had been invaluable to the research careers of her husband Louis Leakey and their sons Richard, Philip and Jonathan.

Last but not least....,

British archeologist Mary Leakey has been honoured by Google on her 100th birth anniversary with a doodle depicting her discovery of the Laetoli footprints.

Mary Leakey was born in London, England on February 6, 1913. Her interest in archeology began at the age of 12 when she visited an excavation site in Les Eyzies. She began collecting points, scrapers, and blades from the site and developed her first system of classification.

Mary Leakey is credited with discovering the first fossilized Proconsul skull, Zinjanthropus skull, and many other hominine fossils and tools.

She died at the age of 83 in 1996.

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Royal Rumble 2013 Latest News WWE Championship Photos/Images Videos The Rock CM Punk Undertaker

Royal Rumble 2013 Latest News.2013 WWE Championship.Royal Rumble 2013 Photos.Royal Rumble 2013 Images.Royal Rumble 2013 Videos.Royal Rumble 2013 The Rock.Royal Rumble 2013 CM Punk.Royal Rumble 2013 Undertaker.Royal Rumble 2013 Its Show Time.

Last Sunday, WWE presented the 26th annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view live from Phoenix. Not only did it surpass last year's vast disappointment of a show, but it certainly set the stage for the remainder of the year as well.

THE ROCK Vs CM PUNK

Of course, almost all of the outcomes were pretty predictable, but the important thing is that they all made sense and were logical. The action itself in each of the matches was what made this event worth watching and definitely worth the purchase.

While watching the show, I noticed a handful of highlights that could be seen as interesting or intriguing to any ordinary WWE viewer. For those of you who may follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I have an obsessive knack for fun facts regarding various past WWE events.

Here, I'll attempt to entertain and enlighten you with knowledge, as I present my observed monumental, record-breaking, history-making moments from this year's Royal Rumble event.

Royal Rumble 2013

Royal Rumble 2013 Spoiler: Two Former WWE Stars Confirmed as Surprise Entrants

The first two surprise entrants for the 2013 Royal Rumble have been confirmed. The news leaked earlier today via the subscriber-only newsletter from PWInsider.com, before being picked up by several other sites as well.

Both men left the WWE in 2010 and are both former Intercontinental, United States and tag team champions.

Cagesideseats.com ran the details from the newsletter on their site. 

The article states the two confirmed surprise entrants will be Shelton Benjamin and Carlito.

A look back at WWE's most infamous commercial

THE ROCK

Commercials during the NFL’s championship game have become as much of an annual tradition as the big game itself. Each year, hundreds of millions of viewers anxiously await the first commercial break, looking for laughs or the first glimpse at upcoming summer blockbusters. But in 1999, no ad created more buzz than the 30-second spot that offered a rare look inside WWE’s world headquarters in Stamford, Conn.


Broadcast during the height of The Attitude Era, WWE’s commercial featured a handful of the biggest Superstars of all time, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Mankind, The Rock and The Undertaker, walking through the halls of WWE headquarters as bedlam ensued in the background. The spot lived up to its purpose —capturing the spirit, not only of The Attitude Era, but also of WWE overall. The chaotic scene of The Texas Rattlesnake whacking a shiftless executive with a chair and a blind referee roaming the halls captivated viewers around the world and created urban legends about what takes place inside the Stamford office building.


Of course, the employees crashing through conference room windows were created for dramatic effect, though we’d be remiss if we said we never saw a sleeper hold in the cafeteria. Nevertheless, even though the commercial aired more than a decade ago, WWE staff are still asked, “Do Superstars work there?” or “Are there wrestling matches in the office?”

Royal Rumble 2013 Rock vs Punk

To say the commercial left an impact is an understatement — and it wasn’t the only memorable WWE event to transpire as the Denver Broncos handily defeated the Atlanta Falcons. During halftime on USA Network, a special event dubbed “Halftime Heat” featured then–WWE Champion The Rock battling Mankind in an infamous Empty Arena Match. Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy defeated The Great One with the aid of a forklift to capture his second WWE Championship.


When the game was over and the Denver Broncos held the Lombardi Trophy high, NFL Hall of Famer John Elway cemented his legacy, but the evening ultimately belonged to WWE.

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Coca-cola NDTV support My School campaign Season 2 For Building a Happier Tomorrow

Coca-cola NDTV 'Support My School' campaign. Coca-cola NDTV support My School Season 2. NDTV support My School For Building a Happier Tomorrow. SACHIN on the Campaign in Season 2 Special.For Building a Happier Tomorrow...This is Good Start and it goes on in a Right way as it had a Better Start.

 'FOR BUILDING A HAPPIER TOMORROW'

Support My School

India is a young country and one of the primary drivers of a young nation is education. The Right to Education is now enshrined in the Indian constitution and is one of the principal requirements for a nation to flourish and achieve its economic and social potential.

To ensure that education reaches every child, it is imperative that the children study in healthy and active schools, schools that offer basic amenities and a healthy environment for children to come to school. The quest to make a difference in revitalizing rural and semi-urban schools led to formation of the partnership among NDTV, Coca-Cola and UN-Habitat.

NDTV Support My School 

SEASON 2 TARGET: 250 Schools

                                   Final Count 272
The partnership took the shape of the campaign “Support My School” in January 2011. The campaign was designed to channelize strengths of the partners and come up with a model of healthy active schools across the country.

Today through Support My School, over 100 schools spread over 10 states can lay claim to better access to sanitation, water, playing facilities, libraries, computer centers and a more welcoming and learning environment.

Support My School-Sachin

Over the last year, Support My School has evolved from being a campaign into becoming a platform. Pearson Foundation and Tata Teleservices added a new dimension to the campaign. Several likeminded organizations, foundations, citizens and citizen groups have extended their support that has led to the schools being revitalized.

The challenge now is not to stop at 100 schools, but capture the learning and build on the success. We strongly believe that challenges are best solved when all stakeholders put their collective might behind finding locally relevant solutions.

We aspire to work together to take this campaign forward and help create a welcome and caring environment in schools for our children.

THE JOURNEY
Several studies have revealed that lack of basic amenities like Toilets, Access to Water and Basic Infrastructure create an unwelcome environment in schools, which leads to higher rate of absenteeism, finally resulting into drop outs.

Girl child in such areas suffer the most. It is estimated that over 50% of rural schools in India have non-functional or no toilets. As the girl enters adolescence, she at many times involuntarily sits at home just because there are no proper, separate toilets for girls in rural schools. Lack of proper water and sanitation facilities in schools in rural India continues to remain a huge challenge.

Coca-cola NDTV Support My School

With an extensive preparation of almost a year, the partners in their quest to bring a positive change launched SUPPORT MY SCHOOL (SMS) Campaign on 24th January, 2011. The campaign soon found support from several quarters and eminent cricketer Sachin Tendulkar joined as the campaign ambassador.

Support My School was launched with an initial corpus of Rs. 10 million/USD 200,000 by Coca-Cola India and UN HABITAT. The campaign ultimately set its ambition to raise at least INR 50 million/USD 1,000,000 from people at large, key stakeholders, corporate sector and other groups.

The funds raised through a multistakeholder engagement were planned to be then deployed to revitalize over 100 healthy and active schools in rural and semi-urban towns directly impacting thousands of students across the country

Coca-Cola India, NDTV and UN-Habitat came together to launch a unique campaign 'SUPPORT MY SCHOOL' to raise awareness and funds to provide revitalization of schools in rural and semi-urban India with an emphasis on proper sanitation, access to water and sporting facilities. Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) was then appointed the Implementation Partner and Sulabh International as the Knowledge Partner for this campaign.

THE OBJECTIVES OF SUPPORT MY SCHOOL

The campaign adopted a multi-pronged objective approach. The objectives not only included sensitizing the community at large but also sought to make Support My School to become a platform for the community to make a difference. The campaign was built around following pillars to create maximum impact. 

Build mass awareness on importance of water and sanitation and how it impacts education

Engage communities and schools in providing solutions

Bring all stakeholders on a common platform

Reach out to at least 10 million people

Raise funds to directly support at least 100 schools

A Big Thank You To All Those Who've Made A Differ
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Tendulkar takes over Mumbai Indians captaincy IPL-6 Indian Premier League Players News Photos

Tendulkar takes over Mumbai Indians captaincy. Mumbai Indians IPL-6. Mumbai Indians Indian Premier League. Mumbai Indians Players. Mumbai Indians Latest News. Mumbai Indians Photos. Mumbai Indians Captain.

Sachin Tendulkar will return as the Mumbai Indians captain for the sixth edition of the IPL, which will commence on April 3. Tendulkar, who will turn 40 during the course of IPL 6, had given up the Mumbai franchise's captaincy after IPL 2011 and his India team-mate, Harbhajan Singh, had taken over.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Tendulkar agreed to lead the team this year after Harbhajan, who had captained the franchise owned by the Reliance Industries Ltd in the Champions League 2011 and IPL 2012, expressed his inability to continue in the role.

The development on the eve of the player auction puts to rest all speculation that Mumbai Indians are likely to go all out for Ricky Ponting or Michael Clarke during Sunday's auction, as a captaincy candidate.

Tendulkar, who missed the first seven games of IPL's inaugural edition due to injury, was at Mumbai Indians' helm since its inception. After he passed on the reins to Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians won their maiden title when they claimed the Champions League T20 title in 2011. In IPL 2012, under Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians made it to the knockouts where they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the Eliminator.

Ricky Ponting into MI-SQUAD IPL-6

 Mumbai Indians appoint John Wright as head coach

Former New Zealand batsman John Wright has been appointed Mumbai Indians' head coach ahead of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League, while Robin Singh will continue to provide his services to the team.

The news came days after Anil Kumble was named the chief mentor of Mumbai Indians, and a week before the IPL auction, scheduled for February 3 in Chennai.

Nita Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians franchise, said she was pleased to have a coach like Wright associated with the team. "It's a great pleasure to have John on board with Mumbai Indians. John is immensely respected and I am sure his cricketing knowledge and experience will be of enormous help."

John Wright- Mumbai Indians Coach

Wright was the coach of the New Zealand team from 2010 to 2012. Under him, the team reached the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup but a year later, he decided not to renew his contract with the team, citing differences with New Zealand's director of cricket, John Buchanan.

Prior to that, he was the coach of the Indian team from 2000 to 2005. During this tenure, India won a Test series against Australia at home in 2001, drew a Test series in Australia in 2003-04, reached the 2003 World Cup final, and won a Test and ODI series in Pakistan in 2004.

Wright played 82 Tests and 149 ODIs for New Zealand before he retired in 1993.

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IPL AUCTION 2013 Players Who sold to Whom and Unsold Indian Premier League Latest News Photos

IPL AUCTION 2013 Players.IPL AUCTION 2013 Who sold to Whom and Unsold.IPL AUCTION 2013 Indian Premier League.IPL AUCTION 2013 Latest News.IPL AUCTION 2013 Photos.IPL AUCTION 2013 Players List and Prices.

IPL AUCTION 2013:

'I have never in my life seen this much money'

In ten minutes at the IPL auction, South Africa allrounder Chris Morris went from a franchise cricketer on a decent contract to rich beyond his dreams

Chris Morris was in the Kimberley dressing room with his Lions team-mates on Sunday morning. Little did he know he was sitting on a diamond mine.

IPL AUCTION 2013

Across the Indian Ocean, the IPL auction was taking place. Morris was one of the outsiders, with a base price of just US$20,000. That is the equivalent of R177,000 - which can buy a mid-level new car in South Africa.

IPL AUCTION 2013 Players

Who was sold to whom

Bought

Ricky Ponting - $400,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $400,000)
RP Singh - $400,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $100,000)
Johan Botha - $450,000 to Delhi Daredevils (base price $300,000)
Michael Clarke - $400,000 to Pune Warriors (base price $400,000)
Luke Pomersbach - $300,000 to Kings XI Punjab (base price $50,000)
Phillip Hughes - $100,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $100,000)
James Faulkner - $400,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $100,000)
Glenn Maxwell - $1,000,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $200,000)
Moises Henriques - $300,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $100,000)
Abhishek Nayar - $675,000 to Pune Warriors (base price $100,000)
Thisara Perera - $675,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (base price $50,000)
Jesse Ryder - $260,000 to Delhi Daredevils (base price $100,000)
Darren Sammy - $425,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (base price $100,000)
Jaydev Unadkat - $525,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $100,000)
Pankaj Singh - $150,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $50,000)
Ravi Rampaul - $290,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $50,000)
Manpreet Gony - $500,000 to Kings XI Punjab (base price $200,000)
Fidel Edwards - $210,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $100,000)
Sudeep Tyagi - $100,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (base price $100,000)
Dirk Nannes - $600,000 to Chennai Super Kings (base price $200,000)
Nathan McCullum - $100,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (base price $100,000)
Ajantha Mendis - $725,000 to Pune Warriors (base price $50,000)
Jeevan Mendis - $50,000 to Delhi Daredevils (base price $50,000)
Chris Morris - $625,000 to Chennai Super Kings (base price $20,000)
Sachithra Senanayake - $625,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders (base price $50,000)
Christopher Barnwell - $50,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price 50,000)
Nathan Coulter-Nile - $450,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $100,000)
Ben Laughlin - $20,000 to Chennai Super Kings (base price $20,000)
Kane Richardson - $700,000 to Pune Warriors (base price $100,000)
Jacob Oram - $50,000 to Mumbai Indians (base price $50,000)
Quinton de Kock - $20,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (base price $20,000)
Dan Christian - $100,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore (base price $100,000)
Akila Dananjaya - $20,000 to Chennai Super Kings (base price $20,000)
Clint McKay - $100,000 to Sunrisers Hyderabad (base price $100,000)
Jason Holder - $20,000 to Chennai Super Kings (base price $20,000)
Ryan McLaren - $50,000 to Kolkata Knight Riders (base pirce $50,000)
Kushal Perera - $20,000 to Rajasthan Royals (base price $20,000)

IPL AUCTION 2013 Players

Unsold

Aaron Finch - base price $200,000
Upul Tharanga - base price $100,000
Martin Guptill - base price $100,000
Darren Bravo - base price $100,000
Herschelle Gibbs - base price $200,000
Adam Voges - base price $100,000
Matthew Wade - base price $200,000
Tim Paine - base price $100,000
Matt Prior - base price $200,000
Kaushal Silva - base price $20,000
Prasanna Jayawardene - base price $50,000
Dane Vilas - base price $20,000
Denesh Ramdin - base price $50,000
Dinesh Chandimal - base price $100,000
Ravi Bopara - base price $100,000
James Hopes - base price $100,000
Vernon Philander - base price $100,000
Doug Bollinger - base price $200,000
Cameron Boyce - base price $20,000
Veerasammy Permaul - base price $20,000
Suraj Randiv - base price $50,000
Devendra Bishoo - base price $50,000
Steve O'Keefe - base price $100,000
Paul Harris - base price $20,000
Rangana Herath - base price $100,000
Sulieman Benn - base price $20,000
Aaron Phangiso - base price $20,000
Farveez Maharoof - base price $50,000
Scott Styris - base price $100,000
Ben Cutting - base price $100,000
Josh Hazlewood - base price $100,000
Travis Birt - base price $100,000
Henry Davids - base price $20,000
Ben Rohrer - base price $50,000
Rilee Rossouw - base price $20,000
Kevin O'Brien - base price $50,000
Rory Kleinveldt - base price $50,000

Glenn Maxwell was Sold for 5.3 Cr ($1,000,000) to Mumbai Indians

Interested to see if he would be picked up by any team, Morris and some of his team-mates turned on an iPad and watched the action unfold live on this website. Three franchises bid for Morris - the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Super Kings' bid reached US$95,000 and then Mumbai upped to US$100,000. Gordon Parsons, the Lions bowling coach, "grabbed the iPad away from me and saw that it was up to 100,000," Morris told ESPNcricinfo. "He said, 'Good going, that's a fair amount of money.'" But that was not all.

Mumbai soon doubled the amount, then Chennai raised, and so the ping-pong went. Morris' head was spinning. "Neil McKenzie had a little joke with me when it got to 450,000 but nobody could really believe what was happening," he said.

Eventually the hammer was hit when Super Kings put $625,000 on the table. That was more than 31 times the amount Morris was initially up for. In rands, he will now earn R5.5 million which can buy anything from a luxury home to a massive investment. "I have never in my life seen this much money," he admitted. In the space of ten minutes, Morris went from a franchise cricketer on a decent contract to a multi-millionaire.

The first thing his team-mates wanted to know was what he was going to do with his riches. "I honestly don't know," he said, before giving it a little more thought. "I suppose one of the things I'd like to do is give my parents anything they should like and spoil them a little bit."

Willie Morris, Chris' father, is a former Northern Transvaal first-class cricketer, so the sporting genes in the family are strong. It took Morris junior a few years before he was recognised after going through the academy structures. He was only contracted by a franchise two seasons ago, but since then his stocks have risen steadily.

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