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On Navratra, thousands visit Vaishno Devi

     Katra (J and K): Thousands of pilgrims thronged the town on Sunday to visit the shrine of Vaishno Devi on the second day of the nine-day festival of Navratras. Katra, which lies in the foothills of Trikuta, is the base camp leading to the cave shrine. Though visited by devotees all around the year with about 4000- 5000 pilgrims visiting the shrine daily, the number jumps during the Navratras. Navratras, which began on Saturday, is celebrated with religious fervour twice in a year, during the spring and the autumn season. Prayers, processions and musical programmes mark the festival, which symbolises the triumph of good over evil. Authorities said they had taken adequate measures to provide requisite facilities and security to the pilgrims. "As there is a high rush during Navratras, we have additional deployment of paramilitary troops keeping that in mind. We have made arrangements in several places which we feel need security," said S.K. Mehra, Additional Superintendent of Police, Katra. The nine-day festival signifies nine manifestations of Goddess Durga who stands for "shakti" or power. She is depicted as riding a raging lion, holding weapons in her ten hands. 'I have come in a group. We would pray that all the devotees reach safe and sound. We want to come back again," said Rohit, a pilgrim. The shrine of Vaishno Devi is one of the oldest shrines of the country, located at a height of 5,300 feet. The abode of goddess Durga is in a 100 feet long cave with a narrow opening. The cave has an average height of 5.5 feet only and has ankle deep water. The pilgrims are allowed in batches through the cave.

India, China agree to sign guiding agreement on boundary issue (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: India and China have agreed to ink a pact on Guiding Principles on boundary issue. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will sign the agreement tomorrow. The two sides agreed on the guiding principles during a meeting of Special Representatives of the two countries - M K Narayanan and Dai Bingguo, here which began hours before the arrival of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in New Delhi. External Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna termed the talks between Narayanan, National Security Advisor, and Dai, Chinese Executive Vice Foreign Minister, as "fruitful with a view to finalising the documents on Guiding Principles for signatures tomorrow." Earlier, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran had met his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in Beijing last month to do the groundwork for the guiding principles. The principles envisage mutually acceptable manner between the two countries to resolve the boundary issue. The representatives began the meeting a day after the Chinese Premier signalled China's readiness to resolve contentious rows, and boost trade.

     Wen Jiabao, who visited Sri Lanka's tsunami-ravaged areas earlier on Saturday, arrived in Bangalore, the heart of India's IT industry. Bangalore's software campuses have helped India join China among the world's fastest-growing economies. The premier said in a statement that China was ready to work with India to "settle questions left over from history". Relations between the world's most populous countries are warmer than ever before, with both emerging as economic and diplomatic heavyweights on the world stage and discovering the language of co-operation rather than competition. The most obvious manifestation of their renewed friendship could be an agreement on the "guiding principles" to settle a four- decades-old dispute over their 3,500-km border, over which they fought a brief war in 1962. Wen is due to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday. Wen and his 150-member delegation will discuss ways to expand trade between two of the world's fastest-growing economies, with the eventual establishment of a free trade area on the agenda during his trip. The two nations, one a one-party communist republic and the other the world's largest democracy, are politically apart but are expanding trade fast. Two-way trade has been growing at 30 percent a year for the past eight years and could surpass 30 billion dollars by 2010 from the current 13 billion dollars, eventually allowing China to overtake the US as India's largest rading partner.

Nepal clash toll rises to 97  (Go To Top)

     Khara (Nepal): Nepali soldiers recovered another 47 dead bodies of Maoists who were killed in a raid on an army base two days ago. It took the toll of rebels killed to 97 in the deadliest clash in the country in five months, an army official said. The army said on Friday it killed at least 50 Maoists in the overnight clash after the insurgents attacked their base with rocket launchers and mortars, near the base in Khara in the rebel heartland of Rukum, 340 miles west of Kathmandu. "One of our men had gone to that hill known as Kami Danda, when he spotted around 1000-1200 Maoists coming. He informed us about the matter. We asked him to delay their arrival till we get more arms," said Captain Hari Bahadur BK of the Royal Nepal Army. The actual casualty figures might never be known because the rebels usually carry fallen comrades and bury them on riverbanks or jungles to hide their losses. Soldiers said they were taken aback by the massive number and were forced to open fire on a mass scale. "They were moving forward while firing. To pin them down we used maximum firing. It made their movement very difficult," an unidentified officer said. The Maoists are fighting to topple the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom wedged between Asian giants China and India. Terrified villagers meanwhile are camping outside their homes in groups surrounded by armed soldiers. "I was terrified immensely. I am the wife of the contractor. I covered myself with quilts and waited till it all ended," said Sangeeta, a villager. The violence came as an 11-day strike called by the Maoists to protest against the King seizing power continued to disrupt supplies. The strike comes to an end on Tuesday. The Maoist revolt has claimed more than 11,000 lives since 1996. Nepal's King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency on Feb. 1, and sacked the multi-party government seizing power. The King vowed to crush the Maoist revolt.

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