Largest
Ganesha idol immersed in Mumbai
Mumbai:
Thousands of devotees witnessed the immersion of the
idols of Lord Ganesha as the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival
came to an end early on Sunday. Devotees in Maharashtra
bid adieu to Lord Ganesha amidst chanting of holy hymns
and prayers, which began before sunrise. A huge idol of
the Lord was immersed into the sea in capital Mumbai, marking
the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesha, signifying good omen
and prosperity. At least 20,000 Ganesha idols were there
in Mumbai city itself with the height of idols varying from
five to over 20 feet. People thronged beaches, despite an
alert on high tides, to immerse the idols in a farewell
ritual. "Today our beloved God will be immersed in water.
We are very sentimental but we know he will come back next
year," said Amar, a devotee. This year the devotees had
bedecked the Ganesha idols with jewellery worth millions
of dollars and also made an idol on the theme of female
infanticide to educate people against the menace. For years,
Ganesh Chaturthi, which celebrates the birthday of Lord
Ganesha was a personal or private affair, celebrated within
homes. But at the turn of the century, "Lokmanya" Bal Gangadhar
Tilak, converted it into a public event, using it as a platform
for the freedom struggle. Legend has it that Goddess Parvati,
created Ganesh from a perfumed putty- like substance. Later
Shiva unknowingly beheaded the young lad. When he realised
that the boy was Parvati's creation, Shiva brought him back
to life, by slaying an elephant and giving him the animal's
head.
Violence
in Pune and Vadodra during Ganesh immersion (Go
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Pune/Vadodra:
The end of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival was
marked by few violent incidents in some parts of the country
on Saturday night. In Vadodara and Ankleswar districts of
Gujarat, about 15 persons, including six policemen, were
injured during Ganesh idols immersion following a communal
violence. With the situation getting out of control, heavy
reinforcements were sent there to get hold of the situation.
At Mughalwada area in Vadodara, violence was reported to
have erupted when an immersion procession was passing through
the area. Police said as members of both communities indulged
in stone pelting, they resorted to lathicharge, lobbed several
rounds of teargas shells and fired three rounds in the air
to disperse them. While at Panchyati Bazar area of Ankleswar,
five people, including one PSI and three constables, injured
following a heavy pelting of stone, soda and acid bottles.
The violent mob was reported to have damaged the street
lights and several shops in the area. Meanwhile in Pune,
the people indulged in immersion of Ganesh idols protested
violently against the ban imposed by the Supreme Court on
use of loudspeakers after 10 p.m. Police vehicle were ablaze
by the protesters, while at the Alka theatre chowk the protesters
also pelted stones at the Pune municipal corporation pandal.
As per the report, the situation in the city remained tense
even on Sunday.
Advani
to resign as BJP chief by year-end (Go
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Chennai:
BJP president LK Advani today announced that he would
step down from the post immediately after the party's silver
jubilee functions-cum-National Convention at Mumbai on December
28-29. Advani, who is also the Leader of Opposition, made
this announcement in his concluding remarks at his party's
National Executive meet at Chennai. He said he would stay
on as party chief through the Bihar elections. According
to party sources, Advani attacked the RSS saying that the
impression that the Sangh fountainhead was controlling the
BJP was "neither good for either the party or it". Advani
has held the post of BJP chief five times in the 25-year
history of the party. However, he had recently come in for
a lot of criticism within the party as well as from the
RSS. Besides party's Delhi strongman Madan Lal Khurana,
senior leader
Shankara
Rehabilitation Centre in Capital (Go
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New
Delhi: Union Home Minster Shivraj Patil on Sunday inaugurated
the Shankara Rehabilitation Centre of the Shankara Vidya
Kendra in the capital. After inaugurating the rehabilitation
centre, which aims to provide artificial limbs free of cost
to the poor and needy, Patil assured that the Government
would do its best to help such organisations. The Government
has already taken a number of steps for the welfare of the
physically handicapped, and more steps would be taken, if
required, the Home Minister added. Delhi Chief Minister
Sheela Dixit, who was also present at the inaugural ceremony,
voiced Patil's words, saying Delhi Government would provide
all possible help to the poor. The Home Minister and the
Chief Minister gave away artificial limbs and tricycles
to some of the needy on the occasion. Secretary, Inter State
Council, Shri S. Lakshmi Narayan was among those present
on the occasion.
UP
Governor sacks four VCs (Go
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Lucknow:
The Governor of Uttar Pradesh, T V Rajeswar, on Sunday
sacked four Vice-Chancellors of different universities of
the State on charges of gross irregularities. The VCs of
Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University in Jaunpur, Mahatma
Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University in Bareilly, Chandra
Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology in
Kanpur, and Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture
and Technology in Meerut were dismissed following an inquiry
holding them of committing "gross irregularities". The VCs
have been "relieved of their responsibilities with effect
from September 17, 2005, for various gross irregularities",
a Raj Bhavan communique said. The Raj Bhavan statement said
that all four VCs were charged with "unauthorised and illegal
franchising" of various centres all over the country distributing
degrees like MSc, MBA, M Tech, LLM and M Phil. "These shops
or centres were opened in practically every state...In case
of Jaunpur University, alone as many as 677 centres were
opened," it said. The VCs were misusing their position and
authority for misleading hundreds of students all over the
country with degrees which were not worth the paper they
were printed on, the Raj Bhavan said. The illegal activity
was run under the name of "distance education", which was
a gross misrepresentation as these universities were not
authorised to open centres in States other than the ones
in which they were located. Meanwhile, the commissioners
of Varanasi and Bareilly were asked to take charge of Purvanchal
and Rohilkhand universities, whereas the agriculture universities
would be in charge of senior most professors during the
interim period. The inquiry over the charges of gross irregularities
was conducted by Principal Secretary (Environment) Vinod
Malhotra and Principal Secretary (Agriculture) G B Patnaik.
Fishermen
in Gujarat on high alert after heavy rains (Go
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Porbandar
(Gujarat): Authorities in Gujarat have alerted fishermen
along the coast, after a forecast of heavy showers in the
next 24 hours. Several parts of western and central India
are reeling under massive floods, triggered by heavy rains
over the last one week. In Porbandar, the administration
has requested fishermen not to venture into the sea where
strong winds are blowing at 85 km per hour. Authorities
have also begun estimating the losses at the economically-crucial
port after a mild intensity storm that lashed the area on
Saturday. "Whatever damage has been done to the property
will be repaired soon. The roads have been cleared. Electricity
poles are being erected again," said I.M.Manshuri, in charge
of the port. B.M.Chanchiya, superintendent of Fisheries
said many of the boats were missing. "More than 160 boats
are still missing. On September 17, 115 came back, but the
rest are still missing," he said. Meanwhile, at least seven
fishermen, who went missing with their boats on Friday were
rescued. Authorities said they have found bodies of two
fishermen, who were among the group of 77 men ventured into
the sea despite warnings.
