Consumer companies see Rs 1,500-crore sales opportunity.
Lakhs of devotees thronged the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati on Sunday at Allahabad for a holy dip on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri, bringing the Maha Kumbh to a close.
Bharatiya Janata Party councillor Madhav Prasad, who was accused of murdering a party worker just two days before the 2012 Municipal Corporation of Delhi's polls, has been acquitted by a Delhi court, which found the complaint against him to be false and has directed that action be taken against the complainant.
The Mahakumbh to me has always evoked memories of what an older era of Hinduism must have been, its strength in its diversity and acceptance, its spirit resting not in priests but in individual bhakti, a faith totally alien to intolerance and bigotry, says Sagarika Ghose.
The Maha Kumbh, considered to be the largest religious gathering on earth, will begin at the Sangam in Allahabad from January 14. Photographer Rajesh Karkera and Archana Masih capture the scenes from the ghat in the run-up to the religious festival that is the pinnacle of many spiritual dreams.
The Kerala high court on Monday directed the state government to file a statement regarding details of cases filed by the Suriyanelli rape victim against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien before the magistrate and higher courts.
Tripathi, with tattoos on her hands, is one of the most influential figures in the LGBT community in India.
The party also declared sitting MP Praveen Nishad as its candidate from Sant Kabir Nagar
"People were walking on the footbridge when suddenly police charged with batons. Because of that baton charge, the public panicked and the stampede happened. In that stampede these people were killed," eyewitness Amit Kumar said.
A large number of devotees are taking a holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers in Allahabad on the auspicious occasion of ''Mauni Amavasya'' on Sunday.
Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the election of Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee as the President of India.
Sukanya Verma presents a playlist of 100 Lata Mangeshkar songs from different decades of Hindi films -- songs that make me sing, smile, sob and sigh.
Maha Kumbh Mela, that began at Sangam in Allahabad on the Makar Sankranti day on Monday, is expected to attract nearly 11 crore people, setting a new record for world's largest gathering. Sharat Pradhan reports from the evnie of the mega 55-day festival.
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.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad will declare Gujarat a "Hindu state" by 2015 besides having its presence in all 18,000 villages of the state in the next two years, the outfit's leader Pravin Togadia claimed.
A petition was filed in Kerala high court seeking a direction to the state and director general of police to conduct investigation against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the Suriyanelli rape case in the light of the victim's charges against him in the 17-year-old case.
The rich and the pauper, the austere and the ostentatious, the atheist and the seer, the iconoclast and the idol worshipper, all find warmth and solace in the icy waters of the Sangam, notes Tarun Vijay.
The yagna was organised by lawmaker R Vetrivel, a Jayalalithaa loyalist who has spent a fortune on prayers for his unwell leader.
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.
Two persons were killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on Sunday as three crore pilgrims converged for a holy dip at Sangam on the auspicious occasion of 'Mauni Amavasya'.
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.
The hanging of Afzal Guru has prompted the Uttar Pradesh government to beef up security in and around the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, where nearly two crore people are expected to be converging over the next 24 hours to take a dip on what is considered the 'most auspicious' day of the 55-day-long festival that began on January 14.
Billed as the largest gathering of humanity in recorded history, Maha Kumbh has commenced in Allahabad. Over the next few weeks, pilgrims will jostle to take a dip at Sangam the confluence of two polluted rivers of the country, the Ganga and the Yamuna. Bharat Lal Seth analyses why the rivers will remain dirty.
Raja Ram Tiwari has helped as many as ten lakh lost people find their family members in the confusion and clamour of such holy gatherings, says Sharat Pradhan
The all-embracing spirit of Maha Kumbh has caught on with the armed forces which have thrown open up parts of a fort built by Mughal Emperor Akbar at the holy Sangam, giving pilgrims and tourists access to the historic Patalpuri Temple and the Saraswati Koop.
The eight-week-long festival is beginning from Monday, in which thousands of devotees will bathe at the Sangam -- the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
Traders' body says retailers have supported boycott; eateries, supermarkets seek more time to decide.
Rediff.com's Sharat Pradhan who is visiting the Magh Mela, witnessed the Naga babas busy twiddling away on their smartphones, corresponding with their supporters, using modern techniques such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
Asees was caught by locals after the accident and was being thrashed when the police reached the spot, a senior police officer said.
Three pilgrims died en route to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 88, officials said on Thursday.
Infighting in the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of municipal elections in the national capital cost a party worker his life when he was stabbed to death allegedly by some people after an argument with sitting party councillor and candidate.
Six pilgrims died en route to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the death toll during the pilgrimage to 30 this year, officials said.
An audit report of the Delhi Jal Board states that failure in timely construction of underground reservoirs and booster pumping stations has resulted in an unequal distribution of water, reports Priyanka.
AAP's Atishi, who had unsuccessfully contested last year's Lok Sabha polls from the East Delhi constituency, was fielded from Kalkaji in place of sitting MLA Avtar Singh Kalka. She won the seat by a margin of over 11,300 votes.
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
The fast, to be held at the Jantar Mantar, would see a large number of students and politicians, Dr Sangam Prithviraj, chief of the Students Joint Action Committee for Telangana confirmed.
During her three-day visit, Priyanka will cover a distance of 100-km by boat in Ganga from Prayagraj to Varanasi.
To repeated questions, the SP chief asserted that the Congress was 'very much in the alliance'.
Relations between fishermen from India and Sri Lanka used to be friendly in the 1970s, informs S P Royappan, president of the District Country Boat Fishermen Sangam- Pamban. Pamban is a small village in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district. Royappan has been engaged in the business of fishing for 20 years and has headed out to the sea for the last 15 years. The friendly equation between the fisher-folk of the two countries was disrupted.
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