The girls, many of whose family members serve at the ashram 'Barsana Dham' -- a 200-acre Hindu ashram located in Austin in the US state of Texas -- alleged that they were molested by Prakashanand Saraswati, who is known to his devotees as Shree Swamiji, when they grew up there in the mid-1990s.
The situation in Orissa's Kandhamal district, which was hit by communal riots 3 years ago, has vastly changed and central forces have been withdrawn from there, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday. "The situation has vastly changed," Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told the apex court which is monitoring the situation in the district ever since it was affected by the riots following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
2020 has dimmed the animated bulbs that create magical images and transform Kolkata into a mesmerising fairyland during Durga Puja.
Seven persons have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for two years by two fast-track courts in Phulbani for their involvement in the communal riots in Kandhamal district in 2008.Twenty one others were acquitted by the fast track courts, which disposed off five cases of rioting, violence and house burning in the aftermath of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati in August, 2008.
Ali Zoren Khan scaled a peak even his idol Sachin Tendulkar couldn't at his age. The 15-year-old created a record of sorts on Friday by scoring an unbeaten 461 for Nagpur Cricket Academy against Reshimbag Cricket Club in an inter-academy tournament, conducted by the Vidarbha Cricket Association.
'There are several minds which are polluted by certain groups and people who get pleasure in creating tension and war in the country, and these people are handpicked for spreading terror.'
The Mumbai police have cracked a two-month old murder case in suburban Thane with the arrest of Vinayak Parab, 24, who allegedly killed 75-year-old Saraswati Bawdekar.On May 22, Bawdekar was killed in her daughter's house at Vrudavan in Thane, while her family members were out shopping. She had been stabbed multiple times and her gold chain was missing. Though the police initially suspected that it was a robbery, they soon ruled that out.
Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Friday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "messiah Indians had been waiting for to appear for a thousand years" who has solution to all their problems.
Debutant author Amish Trivedi discusses life at IIMs, his career amd the core philosophy behind his novel The Immortals of Meluha.
Nearly 40 days after violence erupted in Kandhamal district following the assassination of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati, the judicial commission on Friday began inquiry into the incidents, official sources said.
Normal life was affected across Orissa on Monday due to the 12-hour bandh call given by saffron outfits, including ruling coalition partner Bharatiya Janata Party, to protest the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.There were reports of stray incidents of violence from communally-sensitive Kandhamal, where the VHP leader and four others were gunned down by a group of armed persons on Saturday.
The movie has its heart in the right place. Unfortunately everything else is not.
The new-look, $10 million Minneapolis Hindu Temple is a labour of love and faith, discovers Arthur J Pais
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Wednesday accused the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Orissa of working under "pressure" from missionary elements and the Centre to protect real "killers" of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and demanded a central law to ban religious conversion.
'I am sure this unwanted controversy will only make me stronger.'
A look at few gurus who have attracted controversy in recent times.
Who were the people of ancient Indian civilizations? Has archaeological evidence confirmed the existence of common features of Vedic and Indus culture(s)? Is there an indigenous continuity of the culture in India and Pakistan or did the people come from outside the subcontinent? A two-day international conference on the Indus Valley Civilization, organized by the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angles, California, will attempt to answer some of these questions.
'If Mr Modi and Mr Shah have made a poisonous, polarising campaign their brahmastra for 2019, Mamata Banerjee is showing them its limitations,' says Shekhar Gupta.
More than 5,000 security men were deployed and a helicopter pressed into surveillance on Wednesday in riot-hit Kandhamal district of Orissa as Christians there prepared to celebrate Christmas amidst a feeling of insecurity.The government sealed all entry points to Kandhamal, which witnessed large-scale violence following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmananda Saraswati.The state government has identified Sambalpur and Sundergarh as sensitive districts.
Bowing to pressure from various quarters, the Sangh Parivar on Friday night called off their proposed Orissa bandh on Christmas day following talks with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The state-wide bandh had been called by Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Sradhanjali Samiti in protest against alleged failure of the state government in arresting the culprits and conspirators involved in the killing of Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal district.
Security measures have been heightened in Prayagraj and surrounding areas for the auspicious occasion.
Jalanga or its neighbouring villages do not have a single bank branch. The nearest bank branch, that of UCO Bank, where Das has an account, is located at Bhadrak, around 20 km from the village.
MBA aspirants share their experiences and apprehensions for CAT 2009.
The arrest of Hindu activists in connection with the Malegaon blast has put several investigating agencies on rewind mode. If the revelations by Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit are to be believed then several bomb blasts in the country need to be reinvestigated.
The disquiet over the Kandhamal riots, mutually acceptable seat-sharing for the Lok Sabha polls and the poor show of the saffron ally in recent civic elections could have contributed in equal measure to the parting of ways between Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party after 11 years.
In the first conviction ten months after riots rocked the Kandhamal district in Orissa, a tribal leader has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment by a local court in Phulbani on charge of setting ablaze a house of a man belonging to a minority community.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Puri Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, along with his disciples, paid obeisance to the idols on their respective chariots.
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
Here are glimpses of some of the celebrations.
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.
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