Maoists and cadres of the Young Communist League stormed into the temple at 4 pm on Thursday escorting the new priest to replace Indian pundits, who have led prayers at the historic shrine for the past 300 hundred years, and this move triggered immediate protests from Hindu bodies and people residing in the vicinity of the temple. The new priest has not yet started the actual worshipping job as he is not acquainted with the tradition and rules of the shrine, locals said.
The prime minister's gifts to the temple are estimated to cost Rs 4.09 crores!
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday sought to rake up an issue accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not greeting Muslims on the occasion of Eid while noting that he had offered prayers in Nepal's famed centuries-old Pashupatinath Temple on Monday.
Asked about the clash between Chinese and Indian soldiers at Galwan Valley in Ladakh last month, Pawar said, "When I say there should be no politics over the issue, it is because we can attack them. But the entire country will have to pay a heavy price when there is retaliation to the attack."
Modi said Nepal must identify its needs and priorities to deliver results.
There are several other famous temples across India that disallow non-Hindus to enter their place of worship, Rediff.com lists some of them.
EC officials said the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am on Thursday and results are expected only by late evening.
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Thursday met leaders of all 31 political parties to discuss key issues, including a key power trading pact, to be taken up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his maiden official visit to Nepal.
The earthquake with epicentre at Lamjung, around 80 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu, and had its impact inseveral cities in Bihar and West Bengal and eastern India. Anumber of aftershocks were felt for a long time after the quake.
After returning from Nepal, a group of 12 pilgrims on Thursday narrated their "near-death" experience as they recalled the April 25 earthquake due to which colossal structures fell like "pack of cards".
For people living in Kathmandu, the destruction of the iconic Dharhara Tower, was not just a physical loss, but also loss of the nation's tangible cultural history, robbing it of its architectural jewels.
The trauma of the deadly earthquake and continuous aftershocks in Nepal have left many of the survivors paranoid and some even mentally disturbed, who are now being treated by psychotherapists pressed into service by humanitarian agencies.
Around six lakh people have been housed in over 2000 relief camps in the two states.
The Cricket Association of Nepal has been left red-faced after using star Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag's picture in a Nepal national team jersey in its annual souvenir. The annual souvenir 2013, published by CAN, has a Sehwag action picture, wearing a deep blue jersey of the Nepal cricket team, on its cover.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by ace Reuters photographers.
The government clarified in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that it stood for equal respect for all faiths and that the PM did in fact wish Muslims on Eid.
With neighbourhood being the priority of his foreign policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Nepal on Sunday on a two-day visit during which the two countries are expected to sign agreements in sectors like power and India may announce economic aid.
'There is an observable difference between Nepalis and Lankans and the rest of us.' 'It would serve us well to understand where this difference comes from and, if it is something that is better in some way, how it is that we can access it,' says Aakar Patel.
'Why exclude those who are curious about our faith but not born into it, to experience the temple?'
Arsh Ali's work is about getting reliable evidence about the ancient Buddhist link between India and Egypt, discovers Veenu Sandhu.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera made an 11-day road voyage across some of South Asia's most deserted, challenging, terrain, always under the gaze of the sacred, dazzling Himalaya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala on key strategic issues after which ten agreements, including a pact on $1 billion assistance to Nepal, were inked.
The two districts which are the part of Nepal's Bagmati Zone have suffered extensively in the April 25 earthquake which left a trail of death and destruction.
Modi said Nepal and India can benefit if they cooperate and work together for the promotion of five Ts: Tradition, Trade, Tourism, Technology and Transport.
During his visit, Mukherjee visited the hotbed of Madhesi protests Janakpur and met ex-servicemen of Gurkha regiments in Pokhra.
'We are moving away from the path of democracy and towards Hindu religious dictatorship,' scientist P M Bhargava, who announced his decision to return the Padma Bhushan, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
A new 7.3-magnitude earthquake and seven powerful aftershocks struck Nepal on Tuesday killing at least 50 people and triggering panic in the Himalayan nation already devastated by a monster temblor less than three weeks ago that had claimed over 8,000 lives.
'I'm a rascal, I'm going to play a paramahansa?!'
When people say the two-day visit was been successful in taking back the bilateral relationship to the political plane, essentially the reference (mostly left unsaid) is to the wresting of initiative from the intelligence 'agencies', whose meddling had hurt bilateral ties, says the distinguished editor Kanak Mani Dixit.
Do Modi's foreign visits actually serve India or they nothing more than expensive tools for domestic positioning and image-building, asks Shehzad Poonawalla.
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