Even as pomp and gaiety marked Christmas celebrations, Jingle Bells have added to the spirit of the holy festival for over a week now across the coast. And this Christmas cheer is destined to continue for another week until the setting in of the New Year.

While night masses on Wednesday heralded the arrival of the festival, shops and houses across the city were decked up with star-shaped lamp shades and other materials even as churches and other Christian institutions glittered with illumination.

Christmas carols could be heard in every neighbourhood in the evenings. Troupes of boys and girls dressed in red and white, accompanied by none other than Santa Claus, went around the town spreading the message of the birth of Jesus.

Jingle Bells; O Holy Night and Silent night were some of the popular carols sung by the youngsters. The touring troupes, which set out with the onset of dusk, moved from one house to another till about 10 p.m. ushering in the joy of Christmas among the faithful.

Most Christian households encouraged these troupes by giving donations even as Santa Claus pampered children with gifts. The collections were pooled in the respective churches and were distributed to the poor, said Ronald Fernandes, a writer. However, there was no compulsion that one has to make donations to the carol troupe, he added.

On Thursday, teams mounted on three open trucks toured the city from Kulshekar singing carols as part of a programme organised by the United Christian Association. Every church had at least one troupe and some more than one, in the jurisdiction of Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore which has 114 churches, said Fr. William Menezes, public relations officer of the diocese. The troupes predominantly consisted of college students and young professionals. The carol singing would continue till the end of the year, Fr. Menezes added.

Carol singing reportedly dates back to the 13th century (AD 1223) when St. Francis of Assisi in Italy, known as the Saint of the poor, started the practice, he said. Thereafter the practice underwent many changes, including the lyrics, the language (from Latin to English) and such.

City-based mathematician and researcher Michael Lobo had in 2012 brought out A Thousand pages of Songs and Popular Music: A Historical and Thematic Analysis, which takes readers through the history of carols dating back to medieval times.

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The decks are cleared for Telangana, the youngest State in the Indian Republic, to showcase Bonalu in the form of a tableau at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 26. The last time an Andhra Pradesh tableau was seen at the parade was about seven years ago with Bathukamma as the theme.

An artist with about three decades of experience, M.V. Ramana Reddy, has been bestowed the distinction of designing the tableau. He has been invited to present his design at New Delhi on January 3, 2015 before the 13-member committee. When asked to how he zeroed in on the subject, Mr. Reddy said Bonalu was topical for more than one reason and hence the proposal was sent to the Ministry for Defence.

The Bonalu tableau would have two Potharajus and seven others on the tableau, including musicians and those who would be in a sigam (trance). Over a dozen others would probably be dancing before the tableau, he said. Potharaju according to tradition is considered a protector of the weaker sections and particularly of women.

Considering the increasing instances of atrocities against women, I thought it would be appropriate. I have tried to showcase the true culture and tradition of Telangana on the tableau and I hope it is approved, he said. The live performers before the tableau would include musicians playing the punga, dappu, pagadam, thasha and a sorcerer who cast spells on people.

Mr. Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had as early as on October 15 written to Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, who was handling the portfolio before Manohar Parrikar, urging the Ministry to permit the 29 State of India to present its cultural tableau. The artist said that others who had put in their efforts included Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya and MPs Kavita and Jitender Reddy.

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Episode 92 - TOP 5 DECKS FROM CITIES!
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BYU player decks Memphis player after losing in 2OT
Brigham Young University claims to spread the mormon message... By sucker punching players at the end of football games?

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Decks have been cleared for merging some areas under the jurisdiction of the Madurai district police with the city police to make the city police limits co-terminus with expanded Madurai Corporation. .

The hiccups in transfer of police personnel along with whole or part of police stations have been resolved. We have already transferred police personnel in and out of those stations that are to be merged with the city police, an officer said.

The district police, in consultation with the city police, had planned to make the merger official on December 1, 2014 after having finalised the number of officers, policemen, vehicles, arms, buildings and communication equipment to be transferred.

However, the decision was postponed at the eleventh hour after a section of policemen raked up the transfer issue.

It was said that a section of the disgruntled police personnel was about to raise the issue through MLAs in the Assembly. Hence, the decision was deferred to avoid any embarrassment to the government in the Assembly, a police officer said.

The officials found that the transfer of policemen from the city Armed Reserve to the city taluk police, considered to be an elevation, had been done only till the 2003 batch. In the rural district, police personnel of even 2008 batch of the Armed Reserve had been transferred to the district police unit.

This meant that junior police personnel in the district police will have an advantage over their senior counterparts in the city with a gap of up to five years in seniority. This issue has now been sorted out, a police source said.

It is now only a matter of time for the merger to take place, the officer said.

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Eight Toyota and Lexus Models Earn Institutes Highest Top Safety Pick+ Four Toyota and Scion Vehicles Named Top Safety Picks

TORRANCE, CA -- Dec. 23, 2014: On the 12th day of Christmas, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave to Toyota, 12 awards awarding. In fact, the automaker won more awards than any other automaker, including the most of the Institutes highest honor.

In all, eight Toyota and Lexus vehicles earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating. IIHS in particular recognized the Prius V for its significantly improved performance all-around in the small overlap crash test naming it a Top Safety Pick+. The Toyota Sienna was also the only minivan awarded the 2015 Top Safety Pick + designation. IIHS also recognized four additional Toyota and Scion vehicles as 2015 Top Safety Picks.

Toyotas twelve awards overall were the most in the industry for 2015.

At Toyota, our focus remains on the safety and peace of mind of our customers, said Dino Triantafyllos, Toyotas North American Chief Quality Officer. Were pleased the IIHS has recognized the strong and improved safety performance of our vehicles in a range of crash tests.

2015 Toyota / Lexus Top Safety Pick+ winners are: Lexus CT (built after Sept. 2014), Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius v, Lexus RC, Toyota Highlander, Lexus NX and Toyota Sienna.

2015 Toyota / Scion Top Safety Pick Winners are: Toyota/Scion: Scion FR-S, Scion tC, Toyota Avalon and, Toyota RAV4 (built after Nov. 2014).

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Toyota Decks the Halls with IIHS 2015 'Top Safety Pick' Awards