The diyas or earthen lamps, a must in Diwali festivities, can be bought for as low as a few rupees to as high as nearly Rs 10,000 a piece. Besides various high-street markets in the city, a number of online shopping websites including eBay and Amazon have also stacked up Diwali diyas for sale.
The communal violence in Kandhmal in the aftermath of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his disciples, has so far claimed 26 lives, Orissa Home Secretary Tarun Kanti Mishra said in Bhubhaneshwar on Monday.
Alarmed over fresh violence ahead of the festival season, the Orissa government on Monday asked the Centre to allow it to retain Central para-military forces dispatched in the wake of Kandhamal riots till October end, official sources said. Orissa has already received 40 companies (one company comprises 90 personnel) of Central para-military forces after communal violence erupted following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati.
The Orissa government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that the situation in Kandhamal district of Orissa, where violence broke out following the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmananad Saraswati on August 24, has considerably improved.According to the affidavit of the state government, VHP leader Praveen Togadia was not permitted to take out a procession with the ashes of the slain Swami on September 7. There has been no fresh violence.
Amid suspicion of Maoists' involvement in the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananada Saraswati and four others at Jaleshpeta ashram in Orissa's Kandhamal district, the police on Wednesday issued sketches of two suspected killers. "The crime branch has issued the sketches seeking information from the public on the two suspected persons," DGP Gopal Chandra Nanda said.
A new outfit calling itself M2 and claiming to support the Hindus and tribal people has surfaced in Orissa, raising doubts on whether the Maoist cadre in the state are divided. The outfit came out in support of the Hindus and tribal people after the Communist Party of India-Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder of religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August.
It is time to welcome back Ma Durga, who is on her annual five-day visit to her father Himalaya's home, with her sons Ganesh and Kartik and daughters Saraswati and Lakshmi.
The Orissa government on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that it will not allow Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia's proposed yatra carrying the ashes of slain Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in the state. Following the assurance, a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan directed the state government to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in the riot-hit Kandhamal district.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Orissa government to place its report, relating to steps taken to protect the lives of people belonging to the Christian community in riot-hit Kandhamal district, by Thursday.The apex court also asked the state government to submit an affidavit on whether permission was granted to Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia for his proposed yatra, carrying the ashes of slain leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
Prohibitory orders were on Sunday clamped in communally-sensitive Kandhmal district and security tightened across Orissa after the killing of a prominent Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader and his five associates sparked protests in the state with a prayer house being torched.
The invaders killed us but never portrayed Hindus as terrorists. This secular dispensation is celebrating Diwali with that label gifted to Hindus. It will not remain unanswered. Hindus as a mainline faith never never never believed in any kind of cowardice that's the hallmark of terrorism we see today, says Tarun Vijay
The Home Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Orissa, met the victims living in relief camps set up after a series of communal clashes following the killing of 85-year-old VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati in August last year.
The incident comes against the backdrop of a raging debate on lack of scrutiny of the curriculum and content taught in schools.
A Facebook user, who had allegedly posted hate comments against Christianity, was on Tuesday slapped with a case after the community leaders lodged a complaint accusing him of disrupting peace and harmony.
Cognizant Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Cognizant, has extended a financial aid of approximately Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) to Maharashtra-based non-governmental organisations.
Photographs of the saffron cadres brandishing rifles, swords and even lathis (sticks) in the camps in some Bajrang Dal-managed schools had gone viral on social media and news channels.
All entry points to the riot-ravaged Kandhamal district of Orissa were sealed and security tightened in view of a special prayer meeting to be held later on Friday to pay homage to slain VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati.
Protesters torched 24 houses in Kandhamal on Saturday as the death toll in the week-long communal violence rose to 14, with the recovery of two more bodies in the Orissa district.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was headed for the curfew-bound district to review the situation in the affected areas and the Ashram at Jalespeta, where Vishwa Hindu Parishad Laxamanada Saraswati was gunned down along with three others on August 23, leading to the violence.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Orissa government to ensure protection for the Christian community in the state and said withdrawal of paramilitary forces should only take place in co-ordination with the Centre
Asking the Orissa government to order an expeditious probe into the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others in Kandhamal district, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Sunday expressed outrage over the incident.Advani said, "The fact that he was assassinated on the auspicious day of Janmashtami while celebrating the festival, reveals an ominous motive behind the incident, suspected to have been committed by Maoists."
While there was no official communication about the closed-door meeting, speculation was rife that the Kanchi seer had been sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with some secret formula for an amicable settlement to the centuries-old dispute that had triggered several incidents of communal violence across the country in the past.
Yoga guru Swami Ramdev has criticised religious conversion by inducement and said he would work to build a healthy and stronger India by taking the benefits of yoga and ayurveda to more than six lakh villages in two years.
'Ayodhya will once again become Ram's city.'
The next general election must be held by May of 2009, and we already appear to have a clear choice. The National Democratic Alliance announced that L K Advani will be the prime minister should it come to power. Now, there is a fair degree of clarity that Dr Manmohan Singh shall lead the United Progressive Alliance if it should be returned to office. But how about the Third Front? Transparency is no friend of the Third Front!
'The death of Tulsi Ramsay signals the end of an era.'
A letter under the name of Al Qaeda reached the office of Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, shankaracharya of Puri's Gobardhan Peeth Math, threatening to destroy the math.
The participants lauded the government and the people for ensuring harmony after the apex court verdict on Saturday.
Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati is among the accused in the case.
While lashing out at Mamata Banerjee, the prime minister said he was going for a rally in Dum Dum later in the day but was not sure if the West Bengal Chief Minister will allow his helicopter to land.
The Fair & Lovely Foundation's Project Saraswati scholarships for women graduates and undergraduates.
Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa and a host of other ministers also took a holy dip on the occasion.
Balika Saraswati said people who live in India and praise Pakistan should be "hit with shoes" and sent there.
Political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, cricketer Virat Kohli and Carnatic musician K J Yesudas were among the 89 people who were selected for this year's Padma awards.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Dwarkapeeth Shankaracharya are at loggerheads over the issue of temple construction.
The former Miss World has shaped the lives of many.
He said he failed to understand the "process of judgement" of the crowning of the Miss World contest in 1997, in which Diana Hayden had got the award.
Hindu priest Prakashanand Saraswati, 79, has been charged with 20 counts of indecency with a child and released on a whopping $1 million bail bond by a United States court. Known to his followers as Shree Swamiji, the priest is accused of groping two underage girls on several occasions in the 1990s. The case stems from an investigation that started in May 2007, sealed indictments were issued in April after which an arrest warrant was issued against Saraswati.
Prakashanand Saraswati, 79, founder of the Barsana Dham centre in north Hays County in Texas -- one of the biggest Hindu temples in the US -- was arrested at an airport in Washington, DC last week. Known to his followers as Shiree Swamiji, the priest is accused of groping two underage girls on several occasions in the 1990s.
3 persons were convicted while six others were acquitted by a court in Cuttack in connection with the nun rape case in Odisha's Kandhamal district during the 2008 communal riots.
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