Page 130 - Religion Belief
Modi meets Bangladesh PM in Nepal, reviews bilateral ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties, including ways to boost economic and cultural cooperation. The two leaders met in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, on the sidelines of the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit. "Held talks with PM Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu. We reviewed the full range of India-Bangladesh relations and ways to boost economic as well as cultural relations," Modi tweeted. Earlier, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had tweeted, "A fraternal relationship anchored in history, culture, language and shared values! In a warm bilateral meeting between PM @narendramodi and PM of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, both leaders took stock of the bilateral relationship." The Summit will witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the setting up of BIMSTEC Grid ...
Murshidabad: 2 detained with fake currency notes
The Murshidabad police on Wednesday arrested a Bangladeshi national and a Jharkhand resident and recovered fake Indian currency notes with the face value of Rs 8.03 lakh from them."Raheem Sheikh, who is a resident of Chapai Nawabganj district in Bangladesh and Mijal Sheikh from Jharkhand's Rajmahal city were arrested on Wednesday. We have recovered fake currently of Rs 8.03 lakh from them - 379 notes of Rs 2000 denomination and 90 notes of Rs 500 denomination," Murshidabad Superintendent of Police Shri Mukesh told ANI.Mukesh added that they are looking forward to have a 10-day remand of both of them.
Pope Francis says divorce has become fashionable
Pope Francis said on Wednesday during his general audience on St. Peter's Square in Vatican City that divorce had become fashionable, while the ideal was that families stay together as one unit.
Voyeur rabbi victims reach $14.25 million settlement
Victims of a prominent Washington rabbi who for years secretly videotaped women as they used a ritual bath reached a $14.25 million settlement with four Jewish organisations, their lawyer has confirmed. The settlement covers over 150 women filmed by Bernard "Barry" Freundel, along with other women who undressed where the hidden camera was located even if they were not taped, attorney Alexandra Harwin told AFP yesterday. Freundel was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2015, after his voyeurism went undetected for years. Rabbi at the Kesher Israel synagogue in Washington's upscale Georgetown neighborhood, he placed his secret camera near the mikveh, a bath used to achieve ritual purity in Judaism. The case has shocked the city's Jewish community, in which Freundel was a highly respected figure who taught at several universities in the area. The class action lawsuit initially sought $100 million in damages, but the organizations' insurance policies "provided far less coverage
US Church divided over claims that pope ignored sex abuse
The controversy over an alleged high-level cover-up of Church sex abuse in America has revealed a deep rift among US bishops that reflects both the damage done by the pedophilia scandals rocking the Vatican -- and the country's current political divisiveness. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was the Vatican envoy in Washington between 2011 and 2016, sparked a firestorm when he claimed last week that Pope Francis ignored his warnings in 2013 about alleged abuse by then prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick. In July, the pontiff accepted the resignation of McCarrick, now 88. He has been accused of "gravely immoral" behaviour with seminarians and priests. Vigano's claims have raised speculation of a campaign against the pontiff by Church conservatives in the United States, which is home to the fourth largest Catholic population in the world, according to US government data. "It is a time of turmoil for all of us," says Paul Elie, a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, ..
Annual festival at Vailankanni basilica begins
: The 11-day annual festival at Our Lady of Health Basilica in Vailankanni in the district, a major Christian pilgrimage town in Tamil Nadu, commenced tonight with thehoistingof the holyflag. Thousands of devotees from various parts of the country witnessed the event. Bishop of Thanjavur M Devadass Ambrose presided over theflaghoistingceremony. After special prayers, the 22-feet long and 14-feet broad holy flagwas taken in a procession around the church. Following theflaghoistingceremony, holy mass, litany and benediction were conducted. The chariot procession, the main event of the festival will take place on September 8. District Collector C Suresh Kumar said tight security arrangements had been made for the festival. Devotees from across the country including Mumbai, Goa and Puducherry are expected to attend the festival. Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) is plying special buses from various places including Chennai, Madurai, Karur, Tiruchirappali, ...
India to help Cambodia renovate Lord Shiva temple
India today signed an MoU with Cambodia to help the South East Asian nation on restoration and preservation of an ancient Lord Shiva temple, a world heritage site. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held wide-ranging talks with her Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn. The temple in remote Preah Vihear, which is also known as the 'Temple of Preah Vihear', dates back to the first half of the 11th century AD. Situated on the edge of a plateau that dominates the plain of Cambodia, it is dedicated to Lord Shiva. According to the UNESCO, the temple is composed of a series of sanctuaries linked by a system of pavements and staircases over an 800 metre long axis. Its complex history can be traced to the 9th century, when the hermitage was founded. This site is particularly well preserved, mainly due to its remote location and is exceptional for the quality of its architecture, which is adapted to the natural environment and the ...
TN Guv urges people to lead simple life
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit today urged people to lead a simple life, which could help eliminate corruption. The country was marching on the path of development and for that to continue successfully, corruption should be eradicated, he said after unveiling the statue of freedom fighter G S Lakshmana Iyer at Gobichettipalayam in the district. The governor said people should worship God every day as it would held reduce violence and crimes including corruption. Advising people in the country to lead a simple life, he said by doing so, corruption can be eliminated. He praised Lakshmana Iyer for taking steps to abolish manual scavenging during his tenure as Chairman of Gobichettipalayam Municipality. "We should educate ourselves and protect our culture," he added.
Pakistani Islamists rally against anti-Islam cartoon contest
Members of a Pakistani Islamist group that made surprising gains in last month's national elections are preparing to march toward Islamabad to rally against Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who plans to hold a Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition in November. Muslims across Pakistan have denounced the contest, calling it an attempt to defame Islam because physical depictions of God or the Prophet Muhammad, even positive ones, are forbidden in the religion. Today's rally will be the first test of how Pakistan's new prime minister, Imran Khan, interacts with the Tehreek-i-Labaik Pakistan party, which supported Khan in the July 25 vote. Khan has sought international support against the cartoon competition and his government has lodged a protest with the Dutch ambassador but resisted demands to expel him. Tehreek-i-Labaik in 2017 disrupted life in Islamabad by rallying against an omitted reference to the Prophet in a constitutional bill.
FGM: Court should not decide validity of religious practice on PIL: Dawoodi Muslim group
A group of Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community members today told the Supreme Court that the courts should not decide the constitutionality of a centuries-old religious practice of female circumcision through the public interest litigation (PIL) route. The group said said female circumcision is practised by a few sects of Islam including the Dawoodi Bohra community and the validity of this be examined, if at all, by a larger Constitution bench. A bench headed Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a PIL filed by a Delhi-based lawyer challenging the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) of minor girls of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, was told by senior advocate A M Singhvi that the validity of a religious practice cannot be examined in a PIL jurisdiction. "The object of female circumcision (FC) and male circumcision (MC) is a religious practice in Islam and they are related to purity aspect," Singhvi, appearing for over 70,000 Dawoodi Bohra Muslim women, told the bench which also ...
Pb Assembly passes bills to make desecration of religious texts punishable with life term
The Punjab Assembly here today unanimously passed bills proposing amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to make desecration of religious texts punishable with life imprisonment. The Assembly passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, moved by the state PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla. Significantly, the Punjab Assembly in 2016, when the previous SAD-BJP government was in power, had passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016. The amendments at that time were approved to seek life imprisonment for desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. However, the Centre raised objection, saying the punishment of life imprisonment could not be limited to the desecration of holy book of just one religion and should instead be for all religions. Both the earlier bills now stand withdrawn Chief Minister .
City court to hear plea of sacked Calcutta Diocese clergyman
A city court will hear on September 4 a suit filed by Reverend Ashoke Biswas challenging his removal from the post of commissary of Diocese of Calcutta. Biswas moved the court of sixth judge of city civil court following his removal from the post yesterday by the Church of North India (CNI). Challenging his removal, Biswas moved the court through lawyers N N Chakraborti and S Dutta Chowdhury claiming that his termination before his retirement at the age of 68 was illegal and prayed for revocation of the decision. The Synod, the highest decision-making body of the CNI, had yesterday removed Biswas from the post and appointed Rev Probal Dutta as the new commissary for Calcutta Diocese till a new bishop is appointed. Biswas, who was to retire in 2016 as the bishop, had been given two extensions by the Synod. The CNI can file its opposition to Biswas' prayer by September 4.
ISKCON organises 3-day Janmashtami festival at Mayapur
More than 50,000 devotees are expected to visit the Mayapur premises of ISKCON on the occasion of the three-day Janmastami festival from September 2, an ISKCON statement said. Several spiritual, devotional and cultural programmes will be held during the period. Janmashtami will be celebrated with traditional enthusiasm and gaiety in all the 700 centres of ISKCON across the world, the statement issued from the ISKCON's headqurters at Mayapur in Nadia district said. The statement said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed his best wishes to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on the occasion of Janmashtami. In a letter, the Prime Minister said "I am sure that the festival will fill the minds of all devotees with spiritual fulfilment and greater enthusiasm for service of humanity.
Guru is viewed as god in India: Naidu
Hailing 'gurukula' (traditional school) as an ancient and a unique system of education in India, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said guru (teacher) is considered god in human form in the country.
Vajpayee's ashes immersed in Nagaland river after protest
BJP leaders immersed the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Dhansari river instead of the Doyang in Christian-dominated Nagaland after protests from a few local groups, who said the practice was alien to Naga culture and tradition, a party leader said today. BJP had planned to immerse the ashes in Doyang river, the largest in the state, which flows through Wokha district. Following protests from locals, the urn containing the ashes was immersed in Dhansari river near Dimapur yesterday, the BJP leader said. Lothoa Hoho, the apex tribal body of Wokha district, and Lotha Baptish Churches Association had opposed the immersion of ashes in Doyang river, saying it was unknown to Naga culture and tradition. The opposition Naga Peoples Front today charged the BJP with "hurting" the sentiments of Naga people by bringing the ashes of the former prime minister for immersion in the state. "Vajpayee was a renowned leader and highly respected and admired by not only his party ...
Dance drama on Krishna's life to present his two identities
Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra's annual dance drama on Hindu god Krishna will kick off at the Kamani Auditorium here on Wednesday, and will showcase his personality as the "Krishna of the Mahabharata" and "the butter-stealing Krishna".
'Save me': Kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirl pleads for freedom
A Nigerian Christian schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram in February has called on the government to secure her release, local media said today, citing a purported audio recording of the hostage. Leah Sharibu, 15, was among more than 100 schoolgirls abducted from their hostel in the town of Dapchi in the restive northeast on February 19. The only Christian among the hostages, she remains in captivity months after all the other girls were released. In an unverified recording the jihadist group sent to local media late Monday, Sharibu made a passionate plea to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to work towards her freedom. "I plead with... the government and the president to have pity for me and save me from my situation," Sharibu said in the Hausa language widely spoken in the north. Sharibu faltered and repeated herself in the recording, suggesting she was reading from a prepared text. If verified, it would be the first evidence that Sharibu was alive since she was ...
World Hindu Congress: A message of unity anew, 125 years after Vivekananda's speech
A century-and-a-quarter after Swami Vivekananda's rousing speech to the World Parliament of Religions here in 1893, the World Hindu Congress has declared its objective to re-connect the 1.1 billion Hindus worldwide with their common heritage and their spiritual link to people of all other denominations.
US cardinals defend themselves over cover-up storm
US cardinals have defended themselves against accusations of a Catholic Church cover-up on sex abuse detailed by a conservative bishop who has called on Pope Francis to resign. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, a progressive, expressed "shock, sadness and consternation" yesterday at the wide-ranging allegations, which he said "cannot be understood as contributing to the healing of survivors of sexual abuse". "Together with Pope Francis, we are confident that scrutiny of the claims of the former nuncio will help to establish the truth," Tobin said. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, said Saturday he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington -- who himself faces calls to resign for covering up abuse while formerly bishop of Pittsburgh -- denied any knowledge that his predecessor had been either sanctioned or accused of abuse. "During his entire tenure as ...
Nagaland BJP immerses Vajpayee's ashes secretly
After protests by the churches and different tribal bodies, the Nagaland unit of the BJP on Monday restricted the programme to immerse the ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to a secret one in the Christian-dominated state.