Page 167 - Religion Belief
Jharkhand Disom Party's bandh disrupts train services
Train services in various parts of West Bengal and Jharkhand were disrupted today as a result of a bandh called by the Jharkhand Disom Party, demanding recognition of tribals' 'Sarna Dharma' as a religion, a South Eastern Railway official said. Sarna Dharma is centred around the worship of nature. The Jharkhand Disom Party has called the dawn-to-dusk bandh in Jharkhand, Bengal, Assam and Odisha in association with some other outfits to demand 'Sarna Dharma' as a religion. At least eight passenger trains were cancelled and three express trains, including New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express and Puri-New Delhi Purshottam Express were diverted through different routes, the South Eastern Railway spokesman said here. The SER spokesman also said the railway has short-terminated five other passenger trains at different stations in its Adra division owing to blockades at several stations by bandh supporters. Bandh supporters blocked train movement at Kantadih, Indrabil and Madhukunda ...
Pope Francis to induct new cardinals in June
Pope Francis on Sunday made an announcement that he would elevate 14 churchmen to the rank of cardinals in the Catholic Church.The new cardinals are from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Iraq, Pakistan, Japan, Madagascar, Peru, Mexico and Bolivia, according to a section of media reports.The Pope noted that the places from which the new cardinals come "Expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men and women on earth."The consistory, that is, the ceremony for the creation of new cardinals, will take place in Rome on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the report said.Eleven of those new cardinals are under 80, which states that they will be active participants in a future conclave to choose Francis's successor.This will be Francis's fifth consistory after previous events in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.The total number of cardinals will be 227 after the induction of the new cardinals in June.
TTD to print 3D pictures of all precious temple ornaments:
The TTD Board that governs the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in nearby Tirumala today said it would print 3D pictures of all precious ornaments at the temple as a safety measure. "The temple administration, as a safety measure, has decided to create a file of 3D pictures of all the jewels," Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Executive Officer, AK Singhal told reporters at Tirumala. He also said if Agama (vedic scriptures defining traditions and rituals in a temple) pundits gave their nod, TTD would telecast on its SVBC channel all the rituals including the Suprabhatham, Thomala and other Sevas conducted for the main deity of Lord Venkateswara. Singhal said he would soon hold talks with the Agama pundits on the proposed live telecast of the rituals performed for the main deity.
GOC Eastern Command visits Indo-Myanmar border in Nagaland
The GOC of the Army's Eastern Command Lt Gen Abhay Krishna today visited forward areas along Indo-Myanmar border and assessed Assam Rifles' operations there, Defence sources said here. A visit by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the Spear Corps Zone did not, however, materialise "due to unforeseen technical contingencies," a Defence release said. Lt Gen Krishna, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, visited forward post at Lungwa along the international border between the two countries in Nagaland and the Assam Rifles sector headquarter at Tuensang as part of his visit to the Spear Corps Zone, the press release said. Lt Gen Krishna, who also interacted with the locals at these places, was briefed "on ongoing operations by Assam Rifles commanders responsible for border management operations on the ground." The commander, who was accompanied by General Officer Commanding of Spear Corps Lt Gen Gopal R, expressed satisfaction with the work being done by
Pope to appoint 14 new cardinals
Pope Francis announced today that he will hold a meeting of the Church's top council to appoint 14 new cardinals next month, including from Iraq, Pakistan, Madagascar and Japan. In the event of a conclave of cardinals to name a new pope, 11 of the new 14 being under 80 years of age would be eligible to take part. "I am happy to announce that on June 29 there will be a consistory meeting to appoint 14 new cardinals. Their origins reflect the universality of the church," Pope Francis said in an address in Saint Peter's square. Among the new cardinals will be Iraq's Louis Sako who has often met Pope Francis to discuss the situation in the war-torn country and the plight of its Christian community. From Pakistan comes Joseph Coutts of Karachi with Desire Tsarahazana from Toamasina in Madagascar and Thomas Aquinas Manyo from Osaka in Japan. As well as having the key role of choosing a new pope, cardinals often also hold the highest administrative offices in the church. Pope Francis, the ..
Pak's Punjab govt releases Rs 20 million to renovate Krishna temple
Pakistan's Punjab province government has released Rs 20 million to renovate a Krishna temple in Rawalpindi city and expand it to accommodate more Hindu worshippers on festivals and religious occasions, a media report said today. Krishna temple is the only functioning Hindu temple in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. There are two prayers held at the temple every day - one in the morning and one in the evening - which are attended by six or seven people. Mohammad Asif, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Deputy Administrator, said the government has released Rs 20 million to reconstruct the temple at the request of a Member of Provincial Assembly, Dawn reported. He said reconstruction work would begin soon. A team has visited the site and pointed out a plan to start work. The main room where idols are kept will be sealed until reconstruction ends, the paper said. "Once reconstructed, the temple will be able to accommodate more people," Asif was quoted as saying by the .
Issue of Muslims offering prayers being politicised: Khattar
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said today the issue of Muslims offering prayers at open places was being "politicised" by some people. "The matter of offering prayers at open places by Muslims, which is a social, not political, issue is being politicised by some people and taken in the wrong direction. No one has the right to hurt religious sentiments...and such matters can be settled only through peaceful dialogues," he said at an event in Chandigarh. Khattar said that the population is increasing, including the number of people belonging to the Muslim community. "With the number of people offering prayers increasing, the number of places available for offering prayers has become small," he said according to a state government release. The Gurgaon District Administration has identified 37 places where Muslims can offer prayers. Apart from this, they can also offer prayers at masjid, eidgah and private places. Khattar said the government's role is not only to carry out ...
Scoreboard in the Indian Premier League match between sunrisers hyderabad and kolkata ...
Scoreboard in the Indian Premier League match between sunrisers hyderabad and kolkata knight riders here tonight. Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan lbw b Prasidh 50 Shreevats Goswami c A Russell b Kuldeep Yadav 35 Kane Williamson c A Russell b Searles 36 Manish Pandey c Rinku Singh b Prasidh 25 Yusuf Pathan c Uthappa b Narine 2 Carlos Brathwaite c Karthik b A Russell 3 Shakib Al Hasan c Narine b Prasidh 10 Rashid Khan c Karthik b Prasidh 0 Buvneshwar Kumar run out 0 Siddarth Kaul not out 0 Extras: 11 (B-4, LB-1, W-5, NB-1) Total: 172 for nine Fall of wickets: 79-1, 127-2, 141-3, 147-4, 161-5, 168-6, 172-7, 172-8, 172-9 Bowling: Nitish Rana 1-0-5-0, Prasidh Krishna 4-0-30-4, Andre Russell 3-0-31-1, Sunil Narine 4-0-23-1, Piyush Chawla 2-0-19-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-35-1, Javon Searles 2-0-24-1.
Slain Salvador archbishop, Pope Paul VI to be made saints
Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated by a right-wing death squad as he said mass, and Pope Paul VI will be made saints in October, Pope Francis announced today. Described as a simple man close to the poor, Romero stood up for peasant rights in the face of a right-wing backlash which painted him as a radical supporter of "liberation" theology in the small, impoverished central American nation. His killing during a service in March 1980 shocked the world just at the start of a bloody civil war which claimed some 75,000 lives in the period 1980-92. Some three million people fled the country. A United Nations probe concluded that Romero's murder was ordered by Roberto D'Aubuisson, then commander of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). There has been considerable opposition from the right to any special church recognition for Romero and his work but Francis -- the first Latin American pope -- beatified him as a "martyr" in 2015 to popular acclaim. Beatification is the ...
All Catholic bishops in Chile resign over sex scandal
In an unprecedented move in the modern history of the Catholic church every bishop in Chile has offered his resignation to Pope Francis, in a case involving sex abuse scandal, media reported.
24 Christian youths 'disappear' mysteriously in Karachi
Leaders of the minority Christian community have alleged that 24 of their youths have been picked up by mysterious masked security officials since March 30 from a Christian neighbourhood in Karachi. The leaders, who met with senior police officials at the Karachi District Inspector General East's office yesterday, claimed that the families of the missing youths have alleged that the disappearance started from March 30 when six youths were picked up. They informed the police officials that the affected Christian families in the Youhandabad neighbourhood of Gulshan-e-Iqbal say that on April 15, four youths were arrested and on May 8, 14 youngsters were made to disappear. According to the residents of the neighbourhood in question, these men who appear to be security officials, show up wearing masks in the dead of the night, riding in cars without licence plates. They break down doors across the neighbourhood and enter homes with reckless abandon. The affected families claimed that the ..
Mysterious disappearance of Christians in Youhanabad, community puts forth grievance
Members of Christian community based out of Karachi in Pakistan met District Inspector on Friday to inform about mysterious disappearances of Christians and "raids" conducted in Youhanabad.As reported by Dawn, residents of Youhanabad Christian colony, located in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Block 13-G, protested against disappearances of young Christian men.Superintendent of Police Murtaza Bhutto moderated the discussions while Father Saleh Diego, Parish Priest at St Paul Parish, represented the community.The members alleged that within a span of few weeks, 24 young Christian men were picked up by police on various pretexts or sometimes without any clarifications.They further informed that some men, who appeared to be security officials, showed up wearing masks in the dead of the night, riding in cars without license plates.The accused then broke down the doors across neighborhood and abducted the men.The family members further alleged that these incidents started taking place since March 30 when .
Roads linking places visited by Sikhism founder to be renamed 'Guru Nanak Marg': Pb govt
As part of its plan to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru, the Punjab government has decided to rename as 'Guru Nanak Marg' the roads linking various places across the state, which the Sikhism founder had visited. The Congress government in Punjab has also decided to take up these places for special development, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced today after chairing a meeting of the executive committee formed to finalise modalities for the celebrations to be held on a global scale. Singh also constituted a high-level committee to coordinate with various organisations to build public support for the mega celebrations. The celebrations will be centred around the theme of 'Nanak Naam Chardikala, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala' (the essence of Guru Nanak Dev's ideology of all pervasive love, harmony, peace, compassion and amity). The committee has been tasked with collaborating with experts and historians, as well as representatives of the Shiromani ...
Nepal province govt upset over Indian TV channels showing Muktinath visuals
The chief minister of Nepal's Province No 4 has expressed his discontent over Indian television channels broadcasting visuals from inside the holy temple of Muktinath during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung expressed dissatisfaction after the Indian media aired footage of the temple in Mustang district which went live on their channels despite restrictions on using cameras within the temple complex. Many temples in Nepal prohibit people to capture photos of prime religious sites. Modi had reached at Muktinath temple early morning on May 12 and performed a special homage, which was telecast live by Indian news channels. Muktinath, is a holy shrine which attracts both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims alike. Hindus consider the deity of the temple as Lord Vishnu, while Buddhists worship it as their deity Padmasambhava. However, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Romy Gauchan, who hails from Mustang, said he does not agree with the .
Chile's bishops resign en masse over sex abuse cover-up
Every Chilean bishop offered to resign today over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal, in the biggest shakeup ever in the Catholic Church's long-running abuse saga. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones in Rome had signed a document offering to resign and putting their fate in the hands of the pope. Francis can accept the resignations one by one, reject them or delay a decision. It marked the first known time in history that an entire national bishops conference had offered to resign en masse over scandal, and laid bare the devastation that the abuse crisis has caused the Catholic Church in Chile and beyond. Calls had mounted for the resignations after details emerged of the contents of a 2,300-page Vatican report into the Chilean scandal leaked early today. Francis had accused the bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring investigators to minimize abuse accusations and showing "grave ...
Hasina's 38th homecoming day observed on May 17
The 38th homecoming day of Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina was observed on May 17.After six years in exile following the assassination of her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and her family by some disgruntled army officers on the night of August 15, 1975, Hasina returned home on May 17, 1981, as per Dhaka Tribune.Senior leaders of the ruling party, Industries Minister, Commerce Minister, Awami League Presidium members, Bangladesh Medical Association greeted Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban, marking the day.Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid praised the Prime Minister and said the country is moving ahead because of her far-sighted and strong leadership.Various other programs including a discussion at the Krishibid Institution of Bangladesh (KIB) were held on the occasion.
Pope vows 'change' in Chile church after paedophile scandal
Pope Francis on today promised "changes" to the Chilean church to "restore justice" following a child abuse scandal that has come to haunt his papacy. However, in a short letter addressed to 34 Chilean bishops, whom the Argentinian pontiff met in groups from Tuesday to Thursday, he gave no indication of eventual consequences for those suspected of keeping silent about the abuse. "I thank you for the full availability that everyone has shown to adhere to and collaborate in all the changes and resolutions that we will have to implement in the short, medium and long term, necessary to restore justice and ecclesiastical communion," the pope said in a statement in Spanish circulated by the Vatican. He said the meetings had been a "frank" exchange about "the grave events that have damaged ecclesiastical communion and weakened the work of the Church of Chile in recent years". "In the light of these painful events concerning abuses -- of minors, of power and of conscience -- we have gone ...
Kerala minister invites K'taka Cong, JD(S) MLAs to 'God's Own Country' to avoid poaching
Kerala Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran tonight invited Congress and JD(S) MLAs from Karnataka to "God's Own Country" to avoid "horse-traders", amid speculation that the newly-elected lawmakers may travel to Kochi to prevent any poaching bid. The invitation followed unconfirmed media reports that the Congress and JD(S) MLAs were being moved to Kerala by bus after being denied permission by aviation regulator DGCA to use charter planes from an airport near Bangalore. However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official said any DGCA permission is not required for charter operations within India. "Heard news frm diff sources that the elected representatives of K'taka are travelling to #Kerala. As the tourism minister of the state, we are happy to welcome them & aid them, there won't be any trouble of horse traders here! (sic)," Surendran tweeted from his unverified Twitter handle soon after reports surfaced about a possible Kerala shift of the MLAs. Earlier on May 15 also the Kerala ..
Lord Ram's birthplace can't be shifted, deity's counsel tells SC (Lead, correcting year in Para 7)
There is no particular religious significance or importance attributable to the Babri Masjid structure in Ayodhya, while 'janmasthan' (birthplace) of Lord Ram is a particular place of religious significance for the Hindus, so it can't be shifted, the deity's counsel told the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Ayodhya: Hindu groups oppose plea to reconsider 1994 verdict
Hindu groups, which are parties to the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute, today opposed in the Supreme Court the plea of their Muslim counterparts that the 1994 verdict holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam be referred to a larger bench. M Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir, had assailed certain findings of the 1994 verdict in the case of M Ismail Faruqui holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam. He had told the special bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer that the observations made in the land acquisition matter pertaining to the Ayodhya site, had a bearing on the outcome of the title case. Besides, these were already referred to and relied upon by the Allahabad High Court in its judgement on the Ayodhya dispute. "So far as this aspect (mosques are not integeral ..