Hindus throng temples to offer Dussehra
prayers
New
Delhi: Hindu devotees thronged various temples in New
Delhi on Friday to offer final prayers on the ninth and
last day of the ongoing Navratra festival, which is dedicated
to the Goddess Durga. On Thursday evening, crowds had gathered
at beautifully illuminated temples that had been adorned
with flowers and glittering earthen lamps. Offerings of
sweets and fruits were made on the occasion. The Navratra
festival falls on the ninth day of the moonlit fortnight
in October-November and marks the end of eight days of fasting
observed as a mark of respect for the Goddess. Hindus believe
that fasting and simple living during the Navratras ensures
a communion with God and a place in heaven. "People fast
during these nine days which brings them closer to the Goddess,
it allows them to be one with the divine itself," Srinivas
Garuna, a priest said. "The Goddess blesses us. During these
nine days she stays with us, amongst us and bestows us with
her blessing and do all we can to honour her, "added Vipin
Kumar Sharma, a devotee. It is also observed as a day of
thanksgiving to the Almighty and every Hindu household across
the country offers the first meal of the day to Durga before
distributing it amongst little girls who are believed to
be an incarnation of the Goddess. Celebrated as Durga Puja
in the east and Navratra in the north, the nine-day festival
is amongs the biggest in India as cities, towns and villages
all come alive with celebrations during which thousands
of glittering tents are put up as makeshift temples and
dances and revelry are held every night. Legend has it that
the "Asuras" or demons from the nether world invaded Heaven
after a hundred year-long war. The Hindu trinity of Brahma,
Shiva and Vishnu created the Goddess Durga to vanquish the
demons.
People in Mysore took out a colourful procession to celebrate
the Dussehra festival today. Hundreds and thousands of people
gathered in the city to watch the world famous Jumbo Savari
as part of Vijaya-dashmi, day of the grand finale to the
ten-day Dussehra festival. Dussehra is the state festival
of Karnataka. The jumbo Savari along with march of tableaux
depicting the state's tradition and culture goes all along
the five kilo meter route. The Mysore Dussehra is also unique
in that the processions taken out are very colourful with
traditional folk dancers and caparisoned elephants joining
the procession. The procession, observed in the style of
the erstwhile Maharajas since centuries, winds its way through
the city's streets and end at the local king's palace. "We
are here for the special event of Dussehra in Mysore which
is not only unique in India but all over the world," said
Penolibia, a tourist from Germany. Thousands of people participated
in the Ram Lila procession in New Delhi ahead of burning
of the effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakaran and son
Meghnad to mark Dusshera.
J-K
asks for Rs 62.4 million aid to modernise madrasas (Go
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Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir government has asked for Rs 62.4 million
financial aid from the Centre for modernisation of madrasas.
"A Rs 62.4 million proposal has been sent to the Centre
for modernisation of madrassas run by Wakaf Board. We want
to develop madrasas into centre of theology and scientific
knowledge by providing them teaching and infrastructural
facilities," Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was told
during a meeting of the board. The Chief Minister called
for better management of Wakaf resources and said that 100
hectares of orchards belonging to the board in different
parts of the valley should be brought under cultivation.
Five
Pakistanis held with fake currency (Go
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New
Delhi: Police arrested five Pakistani nationals with
a huge amount of counterfeit Indian currency, here on Friday.
Police said the Pakistanis, including three men and two
women, used to visit India and stay in hotel with fake identity
and shop using fake notes. Over 200 notes in the denomination
of Rs. 1,000 were seized from the Pakistanis. "Close to
200 currency notes of Rs. 1,000 denomination have bee recovered
from them. The total amount is about Rs. 201,000. One of
these men had bought a bag from a vendor. The vendor got
suspicious and contacted the police. Examination by our
experts revealed that the currency was fake," M.M.Oberoi,
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Delhi, told reporters.
Oberoi said the Pakistanis used to visit India along with
their families to avoid attention. Police said the men has
duped over a 100 people using fake notes. Oberoi said the
arrested persons were booked under various charges of fraud
and smuggling. He said the investigations were on to find
their links with cross-border smugglers.
Left
leaders call on Aiyar over possible oil price hike (Go
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New
Delhi: Senior CPI leaders A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja called
on Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in the Capital
today to discuss the probable price hike in petroleum products.
Aiyar assured them that there would be no increase till
the month end. "This is a first step in talks with the Left
and we hope to continue it. On 31st the oil marketing firms
will decide on next fortnightly prices. We have time till
then. I am going to Moscow and then Srinagar. I thought
we'll talk before that. When I come back, we will talk to
the other Left friends. I will meet the Prime Minister and
brief him. Then either he or the ministry will decide on
the prices. And a decision will be taken between the 31st
midnight and 1st of next month," said Aiyar. With crude
prices touching 55 US dollars at the New York Mercantile
Exchange, the Left parties are grudgingly accepting the
imminent need for an upward movement in petro prices. The
minister tried to convey to the Left leaders the various
options available with the government.
Nine
ministers inducted in Arunachal ministry (Go
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Itanagar:
The seven-day-old Gegong Apang ministry was expanded
on Friday with the induction of nine ministers. Of the nine,
Nabam Tuki, Tatar Kripa and Chowna Mein belong to "Super
16". The group so called because they sided with the Opposition
led by the former chief minister, Mukut Mithi, instead of
joining the BJP camp in 2003 like other 34 Congress members
did. The six others, who took the oath of office today,
are Tsering Gurmey, Dorji Khandu, Zarbam Gamlin, Tanga Bayling,
C C Singpho and Newali Tingkhatra. Of this nine, Zarbam
Gamlin and Tartar Kripa are first-timers in the cabinet.
Former chief minister Mukut Mithi, however, was cospicuous
by his absence at the swearing-in ceremony. The new ministry
had taken over on October 16 when Gegong Apang had been
sworn in as the Chief Minister. The names of the nine ministers
were finalised following lengthy discussion with the Congress
High Command in New Delhi.
NSCN
(IM) accepts PM's invitation to visit India for talks (Go
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Bangkok:
In a positive development in the Naga peace process,
exiled NSCN (IM) leaders today accepted Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh's invitation to visit India for further talks.
The issue was discussed during the talks the government's
interlocutor K Padmanabaiah had with T Muviah and other
leaders of the Naga outfit in Bangkok. "The outcome of today's
talks between the Indian government side and the NSCN (IM)
was very good. The talks went off very well and we have
accepted the Prime Minister's invitation to visit India,"
a member of the Naga delegation said. The member, who did
not want to be identified, said the dates for the visit
had not been decided though it was likely to be during mid
November or December. A second round of formal talks will
be held on Saturday before the two sides issue a joint statement,
he said. "We would not have gone to India without an official
invitation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But with
the invitation now, we will go," he aadded.
PM
to visit Kalpakkam (Go
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New
Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will leave
for Chennai tomorrow morning to visit the Kalpakkam nuclear
facility, which is located 80 km south of the Tamil Nadu
capital. Earlier, Dr. Singh was scheduled to visit the plant
on Friday. But PMO sources said that he had cancelled his
visit due to a bout of viral fever. He will accompany by
senior officials of the PMO including national security
advisor J N Dixit, officials sources said. Before returning
to the Indian capital, Dr. Singh is expected to be briefed
about on going programmes at the facility.
Seven
killed in explosion at illegal cracker factory (Go
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Haidergarh
(UP): At least seven people were killed and several
dozen others injured in a blast at an illegal fireworks
factory in Haidergarh village in Uttar Pradesh late on Thursday.
The factory was operating from a small ramshackle building
and had tonnes of explosives stacked in cupboards and drawers,
close to the sleeping quarters of the workers. The men had
been working overtime to meet the huge demand for next month's
Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, celebrated by bursting
crackers. Initial reports say that one of them could have
left a partially- burnt bidi or local cigaratte which triggered
the explosions. "We came home to have our food after the
Namaz (holy prayers) and then there was a loud noise and
we saw that there was a huge fire. The roof of the house
had collapsed and the men were trapped inside. Everybody
was trying to rescue the men but at least four had died
instantly," Mohammad Sadiq, an eyewitness, said on Friday.
Fire tragedies and such blasts are common at cramped fireworks
factory across India, most of which lack basic safety measures,
employ children despite a ban on child labour and are poorly
managed.
RSS
chief Sudarshan describes Leftists as 'Marxputras' (Go
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Nagpur:
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh Chief KS Sudarshan has described
Leftists as "Marxputras" and "Macaulayputras". "By chance
they are in a position today to do a back-seat driving in
the government, and therefore, are engaged in conspiring
to harm the Hindu forces," said Sudarshan in his annual
address during Vijayadashmi here. "The progenies of Karl
Marx And Lord Macaulay, because of their negative thinking
can do only destructive work and can never do a constructive
work. Why have they not transformed West Bengal during their
uninterrupted regime of 27-years," he said. Expressed concern
over Bangladeshi infiltrations Sudarshan said that the security
threat to India has increased after the Bangladesh Nationalist
Party-led government came to power in 2001.
No-trust
move against Pak NA speaker fails (Go
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Islamabad:
Pakistani Opposition's no-trust motion against the Speaker
of National Assembly Chaudhry Ameer Hussain was failed to
get backing from required number of the members. According
to The News, as the NA met on Friday morning opposition
members chanted slogans against the government and all members
gathered before the deputy speaker's dais. They were demanding
for an opportunity to all 106 no-trust movers to take part
in the debate. Deputy Speaker who was presiding over the
house however told them that only the principal movers of
the no-confidence motion would be allowed to take part in
the debate and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Chaudhry Aitzaz
Ahsan and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed led the debate from opposition.
Speaker Chaudhry Ameer Hussain was later given time to speak
in his defence. Speaker said he had always tried to conduct
the house proceedings amicably. Later, opposition members
did not take part in balloting and torn down the ballot
papers as protest. Deputy Speaker Sardar Yaqub afterwards
announced that the no- trust motion against the speaker
stands failed.
