Jagadish Shettar : in a queue of givers! Banagalore: In the past five years, the BJP has doled out several goodies to mutts — totaling over Rs 500 crore. The party may be expecting sweet returns in the forthcoming elections but the mutt heads are singing a different tune: that of being apolitical. The largesse has come under severe criticism from the opposition, but the beneficiaries defend the largesse and dispute the claim that government money is intended to create a vote-bank among devotees. “What’s wrong in the government giving money to mutts? But the government should... 

    Surya Namaskar: either or!! Patna: It would appear that the criteria for Indianness and plain Indian citizenship are becoming more and more stringent these days. Bihar BJP may be credited with adding a fresh clause to the pre-requisites for being Indian – you must do Surya Namaskar. The reasons oscillate between health and Indianness quite freely of course. While everyone wants better health, it is the imposition of a specific healthy practice that hurts the minorities and others, who may want to forgo the draconian health requirements. And anyway, why not make ‘sheershsan’... 

  Sea of humanity: Kumbh Sangam, Allahabad: The biggest show on earth, the most profound spectacle of faith has begun. Maha Kumbh 2013, the largest congregation of people on the planet for a single cause, began at Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad city on Monday. Maha Kumbh 2013, being held after 12 years, will go on for next two months and will conclude on Maha Shivaratri on March 10. This time, the Kumbh is longer by 11 days, and people will congregate at the site for 55 days. Over 10 crore (100 million) believers will converge in the city of Allahabad (Prayag) situated at the holy confluence... 

  Maitreya Buddha: 2nd century AD After a nine-year wait for land to set up the Maitreya Buddha project in Kushinagar, a dejected International Maitreya Foundation has decided to move the project to Bodhgaya in Bihar. The project with an estimated cost of $195 million included building a 500-feet tall bronze-plated statue of Buddha as its centrepiece apart from a monastery, library and facilities like an audio-visual theatre, hospitality services, lush green parks and meditation pavilions. A hospital and a school for children from nearby villages were also part of the plan. The spiritual director... 

 Tinsukia, Assam gripped by Chhath fever   Tinsukia: with the Bihari migrant labour finding new destinations like Bangalore, NODA and Surat, the migrant’s Assam story with its roots going back to early 20thcentury or even earlier has been neglected. The only time a Bihari makes news in Assam is when he gets killed or attacked by the violent local factions. But all over Assam, Tinsukia even among the Biharis is known as ‘the second Bihar’ despite the periodic attacks faced by the migrant. According to a report in the local press, Tinsukia district was recently ‘gripped by the... 

Celebrating Chhat in Sonepat, Haryana   Sonepat: around 15 km from Sonipat town and located on national highway No 1, is a village called Badmalik which has made special arrangements for Chhath this year.  The special arrangements for the festival include digging up a pond near the village, where women can perform puja and other rituals on Tuesday. The reason – the village has been home to a large number of migrants, who had already outnumbered local population in about two decades’ time. The sarpanch is still from the local Jat community but nearly half the members of the... 

Nepal’s postage stamps on Chhath: leave Indian philately far behind!   Kathmandu/Delhi/Patna: even as the Delhi government plays politics over Chhath, refusing to admit its significance by declaring a holiday, Delhi Corporation, dominated by the BJP Delhi government has allotted 47 ghats including six new ones for Chhath arrangements this year. According to estimates, every year over 30 lakh people observe the festival in many parks across the city. While The MCD has willingly cleaned up the ghats before the puja, the Shiela Dixit led Congress government in Delhi refuses to join the festive... 

Chhath this time: clean ghats and advertise, a package for corporates!   Patna: among the nicest things about a major festival is how we clean up our houses and neighbourhood. But the not so nice thing is that the festival itself generates loads of garbage that gets dumped at the corner of lanes at a strategic point where it will bother everyone equally. What thus gets done is more than undone by the end of the festival. Diwali for example starts on a spiffy note and by the end of it, you get lanes and roads where a thick mosaic display of waste from crackers keeps lying for weeks. Talking... 

10th June: Bihar tourism website in Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, German and… Patna: according to a recent report, the Tourism Department in Bihar will carry information on its website in a number of languages targeted at a wide range of tourists – Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and German, and more. So far the web site content has been available only in English. Bihar also attracts tourists from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tibet and Taiwan and these visitors’ needs will be catered to very soon. According to official sources, the IT Manager of BSTDC will launch the updated site on June 10. Bihar... 

  Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Patna Diocese   Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, traditionally believed to have been founded by St.Thomas,one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ,is an independent church belonging to the Eastern family of churches.It has its headquarters at SCS campus, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India.   Establishment of the church:- Mar Thoma Church was established on 29th,1970 in Patna. Location and Timing:-   Mass is offered every Sunday morning from 6:30a.m till 8:30a.m in the Christ Church campus, near Gandhi Maidan. The spire of the church can be easily seen. The...