Biden leads largest-ever Diwali celebrations in White House
About 200 Indian Americans attended the reception. "This is the first Diwali
reception of this scale in the White House ever to be held,” Biden said.
WASHINGTON, D.C, Oct 24: The Indian festival of Diwali was celebrated at the
White House on Monday. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice- President
Kamala Harris and several of the Indian-American staff in the administration
attended the celebration. The reception began just after 5 pm local time (2:30
am IST).
Addressing a reception to celebrate Diwali at the White House, Biden said,
“We are honoured to host you. This is the first Diwali reception of this scale
in the White House ever to be held.”
The President lit a lamp (diya) to mark the occasion of the festival of lights
and said, “By marking the victory of light over darkness, Diwali is a reminder
that each of us has the power to dispel darkness and bring light to the world,
whether here in America or around the world.
"It is a choice. We make that choice every day. It's true in our lives and
in the life of this nation...It was my pleasure to celebrate this joyous occasion
at the White House today.
"Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we
are all created equal and the harsh reality that racism and fear have long torn
us apart."
Kamala Harris, whose mother was an Indian, said, "I have personally such fond
memories of celebrating Diwali as a child."
"Tonight, we join with more than 1 billion people around the world ... to celebrate
the fight of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and light over darkness,"
she said.
Jill Biden told the guests at the reception that "this community helps light
our way forward with courage and kindness, with persistence and faith, with
love."
The event was held in the East Room of the White House. A cultural performance
of dance was also held. About 200 Indian Americans attended the reception.
Diwali was celebrated during President George W Bush's time in office too.
Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump also had held Diwali celebrations.
Diwali is celebrated by the Hindus, Jains and the Sikhs around the world, especially
in India.
Diwali, a festival of lights to commemorate Lord Ram's return
Originally conceived as a national festival, during Diwali people traditionally
light earthen lamps (diyas) around their houses to commemorate the mythological
return of Lord Ram to the kingdom of Ayodhya after killing the demon Ravan in
Lanka and also completing his 14-year exile. He is believed to have arrived
on the 20th day after killing the demon, which is celebrated as Dussehra, victory
of good over evil. This year Dussehra was celebrated on October 5 and therefore
Diwali comes on October 24. The astronomical calculations of the Hindu almanac
in fixing the festivals shows consistency from the days of antiquity. It falls
in October or November as per the international Gregorian calendar.
The mythological stories, however, differ from region to region. Over time,
Diwali, also called Deepavali or Divali, has come to symbolise victory of good
over evil, knowledge over ignorance and light over darkness. It is also celebrated
as a Hindu religious festival associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity.
Lakshmi pujas are performed.
The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.
A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924)
(Today's headlines )
Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...
Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.
Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.
ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See:
New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)
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