By IANS

Pune : Although cartoonist R.K. Laxman describes his "Indian Common Man" as timeless and immortal, it was in 1958 that he created the simple yet thoughtful cartoon character, who continues to enthral generations of readers.

By IANS

New Delhi : The dawn of 2008 will see a gathering of Pakistani artistes, poets and writers among those who will observe the death anniversary of well-known Indian theatre artiste Safdar Hashmi here. It is a ritual observed every year, but it will be held on a bigger scale this time.

By IANS

Dhaka : Bangladesh has cancelled an exhibition of rare artefacts at Guimet Museum in Paris following disappearance of two Vishnu statues from Zia International Airport last week.

By IANS

Kolkata : The Kolkata Book Fair seems to have found a new venue, finally.

After a yearlong uncertainty, the world's largest non-trade book fair, has settled for Park Circus Maidan to host the literary carnival in 2008.

The 32nd edition of the fortnight-long fair, organised by the Publishers' and Booksellers' Guild, begins January 30 next.

By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS

New Delhi : Drawing room and corporate display art have just scaled new heights. In the first rent-an-art scheme in the country, corporate houses and art lovers can now take home a 'master' on rent for three months to one year and then return the art work to the bank after its 'term' expires.

By Paras Ramoutar, IANS

Port-of-Spain : Three Indian musicians will join the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Trinidad, from India to teach Indian music and dance forms to those interested in Indian culture.

The three are dancer Pooja Malhotra, musicologist Raskia Ekbote, and tabla player Sangeeta Agrawal.

By Jivraj Burman, IANS

Mumbai : Had Mohammed Rafi been alive, the legendary playback singer would have celebrated his 83rd birthday Monday (Dec 24). Perhaps, he would still have been singing.

By IANS

Puri : Orissa sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik Monday claimed that he and his students have created the world's biggest sand sculpture of Jesus Christ at a beach here.

Patnaik told IANS that he used about 600 tonnes of sand to make the 22 feet high sculpture. It took around 25 hours to complete the image of Jesus in Puri, about 56 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

By Minu Jain, IANS

Rovaniemi (Finland) : It's Christmas and the letters are pouring in at the Santa Claus village in the Arctic Circle - from Washington, Warsaw, Wellington and, yes, Warangal too.

By IANS

Dhaka : Two 1,500-year-old terracotta statues of Hindu god Vishnu, bound for an exhibition in Paris, have been stolen while in the custody of Air France at the Zia International Airport (ZIA), embarrassing Bangladeshi as well as French authorities.