Page 151 - Religion Belief

Former MP Krishna Kumari dead

Former Jodhpur MP Krishna Kumari, of Congress, has died following a heart attack. She was 92.

Notes suggest Burari family could be replicating 'badh tapasya'

Racing to unravel the mystery surrounding the deaths of 11 people at a north Delhi home, police have struck upon notes that suggest the Bhatia family might have been trying to replicate the "badh tapasya". Police said the two registers found at a temple inside the house had notes mentioning 'salvation', 'badh tapasya', 'shunya'. "The notes state that if one follows a set of rituals, their problems would be solved and God would be happy. It seems that the rituals went awry. The notes mention how after climbing the stool and covering one's face and taping the mouth, and wrapping a chunni around one's neck, one has to climb down and help others," an officer privy to the probe said. The notes mention about doing a 'jaap' before starting the rituals and think about 'shunya', so that other thoughts do not cloud their minds. The oldest entry in the registers was made in August 2015 and the latest on June 30 this year. The family is believed to have performed the rituals on June 30, a day ...

Burari deaths: Handwritten notes detail process of 'attaining salvation'

The handwritten notes found at a north Delhi home where 11 members of a family died under mysterious circumstances detailed a set of rituals a person needed to follow to attain "salvation", a police official said today. The notes were found in two registers and stated the rituals should be performed either on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. "The notes said that on the day of performing the ritual, one won't cook food at home and the phones will be kept on silent mode for six hours. The notes also instructed that one person had to stand guard to ensure that others have hanged themselves," said the official privy to the investigation. They detailed how by following the rituals, one would not actually die "but would be saved by God and attain something great". They had instructions on how an elderly person, who has problems in climbing a stool, can perform the rituals. The 11 people aged between 15 and 77 were found hanging from an iron-mesh in the ceiling of their home in Burari area ..

Pak's non-Muslim voters rise by 30 pc; Hindus maintain majority

The number of non-Muslim voters in Pakistan has gone up by 30 per cent to reach 3.63 million, with the Hindus at 1.77 million maintaining their majority among the religious minority electorate, authorities said ahead of the July 25 general elections. The Christian community is at the second spot with 1.64 million voters followed by the Ahmadi community with 167,505 registered voters, The Express Tribune reported citing data released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The number of voters belonging to religious minorities has climbed to 3.63 million in 2018 from 2.77 million in 2013, it said. According to the report, the number of Hindu voters before 2013 polls was 1.40 million. Hindu voters make up the largest chunk with 1.77 million voters, with the majority of them settled in Sindh, where 40 per cent reside in Umar Kot and Tharparkar districts. Similarly, a large number of Christians are in Punjab. However, there are over 200,000 Christian voters in Sindh's different ...

Rupani visits Indian hospice in Jerusalem

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani visited an Indian Hospice in Jerusalem over the weekend.Spread over an area of 7000 square meters and located close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the hospice has been set up on a site where Sufi saint Khwaja Fariduddin Ganjshakar, popularly known as Baba Farid, prayed and meditated in the year 1200.For centuries it has remained a resting place for Indian pilgrims who visited Jerusalem to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque.Rupani met Muhammad Munir Ansari, the current custodian of the hospice, who belongs to Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.The Ansari family has been taking care of the hospice since 1924. In 2011, Ansari was conferred with the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman by then President Pranab Mukherjee.In the visitors book at the hospice, Rupani wrote, "It is very fortunate that the Indian Hospice is being maintained so well by the Ansari family. I am thankful to them for keeping the spirit of Indian architecture, heritage and culture alive here. Indians have always been .

Lord Venkateshwara temple opened in Kurukshetra

The Lord Venkateshwara Tirupati Balaji Temple was opened in the Hindu holy town of Kurukshetra in Haryana on Sunday.

Lord Venkateswara temple opens to public in Kurukshetra

Lord Venkateswara Tirupati Balaji Temple under Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust, Kurukshetra, was opened to public today. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the temple would become a hub of tourists and devotees, especially from north India. Built near Brahma Sarovar and spread over 5.52 acres of land, the temple is biggest in north India. An amount of about Rs 34 crore would be spent on the construction of this entire project, out of which Rs 18 crore has already been spent, an official statement said. It took hard work of thousands of contractual labourers and 1,500 tonnes of graphite brought from Tamil Nadu to complete the miniature replica of the famous Tirupati temple, it said. The chief minister said with the construction of this temple, Haryana would also be known for pilgrimage to Balaji at the international level. Earlier, the Chief Minister, along with Haryana's Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Kumar Bedi,

Let nuns perform sacrament of confession in Church: Kerala outfit

Citing the alleged sexual abuse of a married woman by five priests of a church, women members of a Kerala-based outfit today sought reform of the centuries-old method of sacrament of confession, saying nuns be allowed to perform the penance for women. Representatives of the Kerala Church Act Action Council, an outfit comprising members from various church denominations who stand for reforms in the Church, said there was a possibility of intimate confessions by women being "misused" in the present form. Last month, a man from Pathanamthitta district accused five priests of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala of using his wife's secret confession to blackmail and sexually abuse her. Vice-chairperson of the Kerala Church Act Action Council, Indulekha Joseph said this incident could not be viewed as an isolated episode and similar incidents might have been taking place across denominations for decades. Joseph termed the practice of only priests performing sacrament of ...

UN chief to visit Rohingya camps in Bangladesh on Monday

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Sunday he will visit Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday to assess for himself the gravity of the problem.Guterres said that the United Nations intends to ramp up prressure on Government of Myanmar to speed up the repatriation process."We're keeping up pressure on Myanmar...we need to put more pressure on Myanmar to make them understand what they should do on this issue," he was quoted by the Daily Star as saying during his meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her office.Prime Minister Hasina's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told media here that Guterres had also said that the United Nations and the World Bank will continue their support to Bangladesh over the Rohingya issue.Earlier, Prime Minister Hasina apprised both Guterres and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim about the current situation of the Rohingyas and mentioned that these people started entering Bangladesh in 1977.Sheikh ...

Muslim teacher translates 'Ramayana' into Urdu

To spread the message of communal harmony and brotherhood, a Muslim teacher and author has translated the Ramayana into Urdu. Mahi Talat Siddiqui, a teacher who hails from the city, said it took her two years to complete the work. She hoped more people from the Muslim community would now become aware of the goodness of Ramayana. Talat had received a copy of the epic from Badri Narayan Tiwari, a resident of Kanpur, who advised her to translate it into Urdu language so that it becomes more accessible to members of the Muslim community. "Just like the holy texts of all religions, Ramayana also gives us a message of peace and brotherhood," Siddiqui told PTI adding she experienced happiness and peace after writing the text in Urdu. I have focussed on the aspect that the translation shouldn't change the original meaning of the text, she said. Talat has written seven books including 'Yadon ke jharokon se', 'Adabi-sangam', 'Gantav ki aor', 'Mukhrit hote shabd' and 'Main bhi hazir tha wahan".

Nun who alleged sexual abuse records statement

A team of Kerala Police officials on Sunday recorded the statement of a Catholic nun who had alleged that she was repeatedly sexually abused by a bishop.

Religious leaders take peace pledge in Italy

Leaders of the world's major religious traditions gathered in Assisi, the home of St. Francis, to pray, celebrate, meditate and pledge to work together on the principle that loving, kindness and compassion can overcome discord and lead to human unity and peace.They pledged to share this peace pledge with world leaders, the United Nations, religious leaders, parliamentarians and billions of other people, and invited them to join the movement for loving, kindness, compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation.Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh reminded us that first and foremost those who want peace must themselves be at peace and that peace within and amongst religions, is a pillar of world peace.Swami ChidanandSaraswati said, "We can either be at peace or be in pieces. The choice is now."Before coming to Assisi, the peace pilgrims flew to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and to the Greenland Ice Sheet to witness the enormity of the tragedy of its melting.Eskimo Elder Angaangaq Angarkkorsuaq said: "It is

Delhi minorities panel seeks ASI response on steps taken in Khriki mosque issue

The Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) has sought the response of the Archaeological Survey of India on steps taken to dispel claims that the Khirki mosque -- a well known Tughlaq era monument -- was a fort of Rajput warrior Maharana Pratap. DMC chairman Zafarul Islam Khan said a suo motu notice has been issued to the ASI based on reports that some locals claim Khirki mosque to be a fort of Maharana Pratap. The monument, popularly known as Khirki mosque or fort, is situated in South Delhi's Khirki village. It was built by a high ranking official of Delhi Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq in the 14th century. "DMC has asked ASI to explain what action it has taken so far to refute the claim that the said mosque was a fort of Maharana Pratap," Khan said. The commission has also sought to know what steps have been taken by the ASI to prevent erasing of the word "mosque" from its signboards, by miscreants. "Reports have been consistently published saying that the word mosque is being repeatedly ...

Doubting the difference delusion -- some evidence (Column: Bookends)

Divided (and seeking to divide themselves) by every conceivable difference possible, the human race can still be found to exhibit a deep-rooted similarity in some of its fundamental attributes -- say, thought, faith and purpose. Shared experiences and beliefs can be found in cultural works beyond literature, cropping up in some unexpected places -- in national and religious epics, film songs and hymns, and the like.

Lucknow: Proposal to install Laxman statue outside mosque draws flak

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) proposal to install a statue of Lord Laxman outside the historic Teele Wali Masjid here has drawn flak from the Muslim community.A Muslim cleric, in an interview to ANI, claimed that any such installation would create a hindrance to people offering prayers at the mosque."In Islam, we cannot offer namaz (prayers) in front of a statue. This is a big problem for us," said Maulana Fazl-e-Mannan of Teele Wali Masjid.He further said that even though he has made a request to officials in this regard, he would bring the matter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's notice.On Saturday, the Lucknow Nagar Nigam in its meeting passed a proposal for the Laxman statue.The proposal, which was put forward by BJP leaders Ram Krishan Yadav and Rajnish Gupta, will be presented in the state assembly soon.The aforementioned mosque has been in the news earlier too when BJP veteran Lal Ji Tandon's book Ankaha Lucknow claimed that the centuries-old place of worship was ...

Sacrilege cases: Commission submits report to Punjab CM

Final report on the critical Bargari sacrilege and the Behbal Kalan firing incidents has been submitted by Justice (retired) Ranjit Singh Commission to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday.

'Ram Mandir subject to faith, BJP never made it a political issue'

Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla on Saturday said the issue of Ram Mandir is a subject of faith for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who according to him, never used it like a political issue to get votes during elections."The issue of Ram Temple is a subject of our faith. It is a holistic subject for the BJP. It was never something that we raised just at the time of elections. But, everyone should know that Ram Temple can only be made either by dialogues or court's verdict," Shukla said here.On a related note, the Supreme Court had on May 17 adjourned the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid land dispute case.The next hearing will be held after summer vacation.The Babri Masjid, built by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya in 1528, was, on December 6, 1992, allegedly demolished by Hindu Karsevaks, claiming that the mosque was built after demolishing a Ram temple that originally stood there.

UAE Foreign Minister visits IIS Bengaluru

UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan on Saturday visited Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) in Indian Institute of Science (IIS) in Bengaluru.The Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) was established in 2010 to pursue interdisciplinary research across several disciplines with a focus on nanoscale systems.Sheikh Abdullah, who arrived in the national capital on June 24, is on a week-long tour and has visited several cities, including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai.On Saturday Sheikh Abdullah called on Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister K Palaniswami at the Secretariat in Chennai.He has also met with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in Hyderabad.On June 25 Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs in Delhi and touched upon a range of bilateral cooperation including in trade and investment, defence and people-to-people ties.The Prime Minister expressed ...

Kerala bishop says nun targeting him for action taken

A Kerala bishop accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a Catholic nun has countered that the allegation was brought by the latter only to target him for taking action against her.

UNESCO lists Korean mountain Buddhist temples as World Heritage sites

Seven ancient Korean mountain temples, which typify the way Buddhism in the country has merged with indigenous beliefs and styles, were listed as UNESCO world heritage sites today. The seven mountain temples -- Seonamsa, Daeheungsa, Beopjusa, Magoksa, Tongdosa, Bongjeongsa, Buseoksa -- were all established during the Three Kingdoms period that lasted until the 7th century AD. UNESCO made the announcement at a meeting in the Bahraini capital Manama. Buddhism was imported to the Korean peninsula in the fourth century and accepted by the ancient kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, establishing it as the national religion for more than 1,000 years. During the religion's heyday in the fifth and sixth centuries many houses of worship were built under strong state patronage, accelerating the importation of Buddhist culture, architecture and style. Over time elements of traditional Korean beliefs merged into the religion, forming the Tong Buddhist doctrine, meaning consolidation or ...