Warning that global warming and terrorism have become the world's biggest concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said shedding the "holier-than-thou" attitude is the key to overcoming these issues and resolving conflicts.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said 166 criminals were killed and 4,453 injured in encounters with the Uttar Pradesh police in the past five years, highlighting his government's zero-tolerance policy on crime.
Made of silver with a coat of gold, the historical sceptre will be installed near the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker on May 28, the same day the new Parliament building will be dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Maha Kumbh is celebrated in a cycle of 12 years at four river-bank pilgrimage sites across India. The fair will conclude in the last week of April.
After a gap of 65 years, the pious Makarsankranti dip at Gangasagar, the second largest after Kumbh Mela, will again take place during the evening hours on Tuesday, the Chief Priest of the Kapilmuni Temple said.
The first 'shahi snan' of the ongoing Kumbh Mela began in Nashik on Saturday with thousands of devotees, including 'mahants' of various akhadas, thronging the ghats of the River Godavari to take the holy dip.
'This is necessary for protecting the Hindu religion'
India is in the midst of its biggest crisis since Independence. It is a national emergency and begs to be dealt with. Politics can wait. Lives need to be saved. We need to vaccinate India at a pace faster than any country in the world, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Rarely have we seen such intoxication over power, which ignores the cries of those dying, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Pilgrims at the ongoing Maha Kumbh mela in Allahabad faced a tough time on Wednesday due to the nationwide strike called by central trade unions which has brought movement of Uttar Pradesh roadways buses to a standstill.
A sea of pilgrims converged at Sangam for a holy dip on Friday on the occasion of Basant Panchami joined by ascetics belonging to various sects for their third and last Shahi Snan of Maha Kumbh, where a sadhu was killed in a fire in the wee hours.
In a move that has ruffled many feathers, the Mahanirvani Akhara of 'naga' sadhus has conferred the honorific title of 'Mahamandaleshwar' on controversial self-styled godman Swami Nithyananda.
The Uttarakhand high court on Monday stayed the Chardham Yatra reversing a cabinet decision to open it partially for residents of three districts from July 1.
Opposition parties on Monday blamed the Railways and the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh for the "avoidable" stampede during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad that left 36 people dead and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
Consumer companies see Rs 1,500-crore sales opportunity.
The exhibition of artefacts -- in physical and digital formats -- will be done on the same floor level where the leaders' meetings will take place, and they will walk through this 'cultural corridor' while moving into and out of the summit room, official sources said.
The last auspicious day of the ongoing Kumbh Mela was full of action
Miffed over opposition parties blaming Sunday's stampede in Allahabad, which claimed 36 lives on administrative laxity, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said there should be no politics over a tragedy.
"The death of two persons after falling in drain was run as breaking news by channels saying that deaths took place due to stampede in Kumbh. Due to this news, people started moving to the railway station following which pressure increased there," Khan told media persons on Monday night.
Security has been beefed up at all the sensitive places, including national capital New Delhi and Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, as a precautionary measure since early morning on Saturday after the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Sharat Pradhan reports on how the Maha Kumbh at Allahabad is fast turning into a political playground
In the midst of the ongoing controversy over Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's remarks on 'Hindu terror' and the offensive launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu organisations asking that the home minister be sacked, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will visit Allahabad for the ongoing Kumbh Mela which is currently on and has attracted crores of devotees. Renu Mittal reports.
Ahead of the Kumbh Mela from January-March 2019 at Prayag, the tanneries have been asked to shut down to stop discharge of effluents into the Ganga.
A breach in an embankment along the Ganga caused by recent heavy rainfall which threatened to inundate a large area and affect Maha Kumbh pilgrims in Allahabad, has been plugged by a 60-member team of Army's Red Eagle Division who worked through the night averting a disaster.
The Bharatiya Janta Party on Thursday demanded that a sitting high court judge should probe the stampede at Allahabad railway station which killed 37 people on Sunday night.
The Kumbh Mela is expected to draw close to 100 million visitors in all, including pilgrims, politicians, celebrities and corporate leaders, from around the world.
A public interest litigation was moved before the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court Tuesday, seeking a high-level judicial probe into Sunday's stampede at the Kumbh Mela that left 36 dead and 39 injured.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has directed two ministers in his cabinet as well senior officials in his administration to visit Allahabad in the wake of a stampede at the city's police station. The tragic stampede has claimed the lives of 36 pilgrims who were on their way back after attending the Maha Kumbh Mela at Allahabad on Sunday night.
Dr S Q R Ilyas, head of the BMAC and a senior member of the board, feels that the Sangh Parivar should not have raked up the Ram temple issue. In a candid chat with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Dr Ilyas said the recent proclamation by the RSS, VHP and BJP was a desperate measure to rake up the issue of Hindutva once again
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday backed the BVishwa Hindu parishad's resolution for building a Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying its construction is like establishing the 'Indian identity'.
Rediff.com takes a look at the grand preparations ahead of the mega festival, just 16 days away, as pilgrims and god-men have already started congregating at the holy site.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is finally off to United States to narrate the success story of the 2013 Kumbh Mela at the HarvardUniversityBusinessSchool on April 26.
The actor met his girlfriend and soon-to-be wife Anwita during the making of Love Sex Aur Dhoka.
'Suddenly you become part of a very large humanity.' Bathing in the Ganga at the Maha Kumbh Mela left a lasting impression on Harvard investigators, finds Arthur J Pais.
During this day, elated Hindu monks and pilgrims take holy dip in Ganges to wash away their sins and make offerings to the gods.
Over 70 lakh people took dip at the holy 'Sangam' on the last of the 'Shahi Snan' during the on-going Kumbh mela in Allahabad on Friday.
An Indian Police Service officer on Friday found himself in the thick of controversy after he reached Sangam in his car despite the high court ruling that no vehicles other than those of police and ambulances be allowed to ply in the Kumbh Mela area on main bathing days.
Bansal said: "Till now death toll has reached 36. There has been no collapse of foot-over-bridge or any railing on the station. I want to clear that stampede occurred due to people reaching in large numbers. We had made arrangements before start of the Kumbh. We have come to know that people turned in large numbers resulting in stampede."
In a major mishap, at least 24 people are feared killed after a railing of the foot-over bridge collapsed due to excessive crowds at platform no 6 in Allahabad railway station.
Over two crore Hindu devotees took their cherished holy dip at the 'Sangam' in Allahabad on Sunday on 'Mauni Amavasya', widely believed to be the most auspicious of all days at the 55-day long Kumbh Mela.
