Bhubaneswar, July 6 (IANS) The stage is all set for the grand annual Rath Yatra or the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, scheduled to begin on Sunday, in the holy coastal city of Puri in Odisha.

Hundreds of traditional carpenters and painters are busy giving finishing touches to the three huge chariots of the Lords.

“The Rath Yatra, observed on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar every year, is the most important festival of Jagannath temple when the holy triad embarks on the annual nine-day sojourn to their birthplace, Gundicha Temple (the Yagnya Vedi or the Garden house of the Lord) around three kilometres far from the Jagannath Temple. The devotees cutting across all the sects and creeds get a glimpse of the divine siblings during the Rath Yatra,” Jagannath culture researcher, Bhaskar Mishra, told IANS.

As per the tradition, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabadhra and Devi Subhadra fall sick after the three are bathed with 108 pitchers full of scented water during the Snan Yatra on the full moon day of the Jyeshtha month in the Hindu calendar (considered as the birthday of the Lord Jagannath).

The deities remain in seclusion and devotees are not allowed to have the darshan of the holy triad for 15 days, popularly known as the ‘Anasara’ period, when some secret rituals are performed by a particular group of servitors called ‘Daitapati’.

The holy siblings are usually offered ayurvedic herbs, fruits etc. so that they recuperate fast from fever caused due to the sacred bath. The deities after recovering fully give darshan to the devotees popularly called ‘Nava Youvan Darshan’ which is usually observed a day before the Rath Yatra.

However, this year the Nava Youvan Darshan, Netrotsav (an important ritual carried out by the priests) and Rath Yatra are falling on the same day after a gap of 53 years throwing a big challenge before the priests and the administration to complete all the rituals to ensure the pulling of chariots start by 5 p.m. on July 7.

The state government has also declared the day after Rath Yatra a holiday as the pulling of chariots will continue the next day too.

“It is a unique and rare Rath Yatra which will be celebrated for two days (July 7-8). So, a decision has been taken to declare the day after Rath Yatra as a holiday,” Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced on Tuesday.

CM Majhi during the review meeting on Rath Yatra in Puri on Tuesday sought the cooperation of all the stakeholders including servitors, district administration and the local public for smooth and hassle-free conduct of the Rath Yatra festival.

“Such a situation last occurred in 1971 around 53 years ago when Nava Youvan Darshan, Netrotsav and Rath Yatra fell on the same day. The last time the Pahandi Bije, the ceremonial procession of holy siblings along with other deities from the 12th century shrine to their respective chariots, started at 2 p.m. while the pulling of chariots started at 7 p.m. in the evening just for the sake of ritual,” senior Daitapati servitor Binayak Das Mohapatra told IANS.

“However, this time we will try hard to complete all the rituals inside the temple an hour before 1 p.m., the time fixed for the Pahandi rituals on July 7. It is also expected that more devotees will gather on Rath Yatra as they will fail to have a glimpse of the lords on Nava Youvan Darshan,” he added.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 6 (IANS) BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena, who resigned as Rajasthan minister on Thursday, has reiterated that he took the decision in line with his poll-time undertaking to quit if he fails to ensure his party’s victory in any of the seven Lok Sabha seats in eastern Rajasthan that were assigned to him.

The 72-year-old leader also reiterated that he holds no grudge against anyone from the organisation or the Chief Minister.

Meena made the remarks after meeting BJP National President J.P. Nadda in the national capital on Friday.

He said he will meet the BJP chief again after 10 days as the latter has called him.

Meena said that he told party president Nadda that he resigned on moral grounds. “The people of the region in which I have been serving for 40-45 years turned away from me, I can’t tolerate this, so I decided to resign from my position on moral grounds…,” he said.

Meena further said that he had given a copy of his resignation to the party chief. “We had a long discussion. He has called me to Delhi again after 10 days,” he added.

Meena, a key tribal leader in the state, refuted claims that he was lobbying for the party ticket for his brother from Dausa. “This is wrong, there is no such thing. Wherever I will be sent, I will work there. There are three by-elections in ST majority areas, I will work there; we will put in all our strength to make the candidates win,” he said.

–IANS

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Lucknow, July 6 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday arrested Dev Prakash Madhukar, the key accused in the tragic stampede at a ‘satsang’ (religious congregation) in Hathras that claimed the lives of as many as 121 people, mostly women.

Madhukar, the ‘Mukhya Sevadar’, was named as the main accused in the FIR filed by the police. Earlier, a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information regarding his whereabouts was also announced.

The arrest comes a day after the police nabbed six people in connection with the stampede. They were all members of the satsang organising committee.

The stampede took place on July 2 during the satsang by self-styled godman and preacher Narayan Sakar Hari alias ‘Bhole Baba’.

According to the FIR, over 2.50 lakh people attended the congregation while the administration had permitted only 80,000 people.

Satsang organisers, according to the FIR, tried to hide the actual number of people at the event by concealing evidence and throwing slippers and other belongings of the followers of the godman in nearby fields.

The stampede occurred when several devotees scrambled to collect the soil from the preacher’s feet, which they believed could heal all their ailments. Eyewitnesses recalled how people fell one after one, with their bodies lying atop each other.

Meanwhile, the police are actively gathering information on Narayan Sakar Hari’s background, and teams have been dispatched to cities where he has potential criminal records. However, his name has not been mentioned in the FIR.

–IANS

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Chandigarh, July 5 (IANS) The Punjabi Cultural Council (PCC) and the World Gatka Federation (WGF) on Friday greeted 10 Sikh MPs, including second-time MPs Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi and Preet Kaur Gill, for their victory in the British general elections

The Labour Party’s landslide victory has secured significant representation for community members in the UK House of Commons.

In a statement, Punjabi Cultural Council Chairman Harjeet Singh Grewal expressed pride in the historic achievement of the Sikh community in the elections. He said a record 10 Sikh members, comprising five women, have been elected to the Parliament, all from the Labour Party.

Notably, Dhesi from the Slough constituency and Preet Kaur Gill from Birmingham Edgbaston have been re-elected for the second consecutive time, continuing their advocacy for the Sikhs and broader community issues within the UK Parliament.

Additionally, eight newly-elected Sikh MPs are entering Parliament for the first time, marking a significant milestone for their community.

World Gatka Federation General Secretary Baljit Singh also thanked the British voters and supporters for placing their trust in Sikh leaders who champion change, unity, and progress in Britain.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, July 5 (IANS) Amid the ongoing protests by unemployed youth and student bodies over job recruitments in Telangana, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday announced that a job calendar will be released after discussions during the upcoming budget session of the state Assembly.

He made it clear that the government is committed to filling all the vacancies in the government departments and ready to take decisions to address the issues raised by the job aspirants.

In a statement, the Chief Minister urged the unemployed youth not to fall prey to the conspiracies hatched by some political parties and vested interest groups, as he assured that the government will take appropriate decisions to ensure that no legal hurdles are faced due to the sudden change of rules during the examination period.

The statement came on a day when various groups, including the student wing of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), staged protests outside the Telangana Public Service Commission, demanding an increase in Group-2 and Group-3 jobs, allowing 100 candidates for every post in Group-1 main exams and release of a job calendar.

Revanth Reddy cautioned that the unemployed will be meted out injustice and the present job notifications will also be cancelled if the government takes wrong decisions like the previous BRS regime.

The Chief Minister said the government has already issued notifications to fill 28,942 posts as promised to the unemployed. It has also cleared all legal hurdles pending for years to fill Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 posts, he claimed.

The Chief Minister assured that the job calendar will be prepared in such a way that the job aspirants will not face any difficulties in appearing for other recruitment exams which are being conducted by the Central government and other recruitment boards.

Revanth Reddy also accused the opposition parties of playing with the lives of the unemployed for political gains when the government is striving hard to render justice to the job aspirants.

He said the unemployed youth will suffer more and the official process for recruitment will be stalled if the government takes decisions contrary to the provisions in the notifications under the pressure of political conspiracies.

He also held a meeting on job notifications with the leaders of Congress, Youth Congress, Teachers’ Joint Action Committee, and Osmania University student leaders.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister called Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and other top officials and discussed the demands raised by the unemployed youth and the ways to solve them.

The meeting reviewed the demand for the selection of candidates at the rate of 1:100 in the place of 1: 50 in the Group 1 mains exam. The officials explained to the CM that the Group 1 exam was postponed twice due to paper leak and wrong decisions taken by the previous government.

Four lakh candidates appeared for the Group 1 prelims exam which was conducted after a gap of 12 years. The TGPSC (Telangana Public Service Commission) conducted the preliminary exam recently. According to the notification, the selection for mains will be done on the basis of merit in the prelims at the rate of 50 candidates for each post.

Officials explained to the CM that the present rules permitted 50 candidates, based on merit in the prelims, for each post to appear for mains . The threat of court intervention is not ruled out if the rules are amended to select 100 candidates for each post and the risk of cancellation of notification is also there.

The officials told the CM that changing provisions in the notification will also not be legally valid, as they brought to the CM’s notice the comments made by the high court when the Group 1 exam was cancelled for the second time.

The officials said the high court cancelled the exam for the sole reason that the biometric system was not followed as per the then notification issued.

The officials also explained the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in the case of UPSC vs Gaurav Dwivedi in 1999 when the top court made it clear that giving opportunity to more people than mentioned in the notification will do injustice to those who have already qualified.

The CM and the officials also deliberated on the increase in Group 2 and Group 3 posts.

The officials informed Revanth Reddy that increasing the posts when the examination process is on will amount to violation of the notification and the chance of court intervention will be plenty.

The government increased the number of Group 1 posts because the Group 1 notification was issued afresh. There is no such flexibility to increase the posts in Group 2 and Group 3 notifications, officials said.

–IANS

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