Scientists believe the unique geological locations where they are situated makes them worthy of veneration.
As the virus ravaged rural areas, the state BJP figured out it was impossible to underplay or escape its impact on its political plans.
Though there was no fare hike proposal in the Rail Budget this time, passengers will have to cough up more for travelling on new trains with added facilities in the coming days.
Built by the French railway technology company Alstom, it will host a 90-metre-long digital wall for train operation, said to be the second largest in Asia.
We need to give a booster shot to all our frontline workers first as if they fall victim to Omicron, the health system will collapse, points out Ramesh Menon.
Around 12 lakh pilgrims and devotees took the holy dip at Gangasagar with the most auspicious time of Sun's transition to Makar Rashi (Capricon) continuing till 7.04 pm on Tuesday, officials said.
'Scientifically the effect and change of Delta plus has to be watched through our INSACOG system. This has to be detected and we have to see its presence in the country'
Weeks after the second wave peaked in many parts of the country, we are rapidly forgetting what happened to our hospitals, cautions Mihir S Sharma.
Shifting positions on religiosity and Covid may confuse the Hindutva citizenry, but you can rely on Bengal to turn a non-arguable issue into a raging controversy, notes Kanika Datta.
Shortage of ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, vaccines, doctors, nurses and crematorium space in India has dominated headlines around the world in the past few weeks with Covid-19 cases surging beyond control and the government failing to deliver. Yes, election rallies, Kumbh Mela, blatant flouting of social distancing and mask protocols coupled with a messy vaccination process are said to be responsible for the health crisis of colossal proportions that India is facing today. But an analysis of Budget speeches made by finance ministers over 75 years also offers a glimpse of how low on the priority list healthcare has featured for the political class and policy-makers, which is a significant reason for the current situation.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 14 images
'This experience is horrifying. Doctors need psychiatrists to handle the trauma they are going through in the face of this pandemic'
Closure of tanneries pulls down domestic finished leather exports and local price of raw-skin.
Hardly anyone wears a mask and most brush off concerns over a pandemic. It is not just scepticism over the existence of the pandemic. A common refrain across villages is the fear of vaccines, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi.
The nine-day Mahamaham festival, known as the 'Kumbh Mela of the south', concluded In Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu on Monday, with conduct of the most important event 'theerthavari', witnessed by lakhs of people.
You need, first of all, to figure out how we messed it all up so badly. You need to fix accountability. None of that is happening, says Vir Sanghvi.
Top officers across various ministries participate in the meeting that started at 8 pm on Saturday. The meeting is currently underway. The country is currently witnessing a second and more severe wave of the pandemic.
'When there is so much anxiety, the Government of India should assure people on the vaccine issue and help the states demanding more supply that they will be provided the required quantities.' 'Any Centre-state conflict at this point of time is counter-productive and enhances people's anxieties that should be avoided.'
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh today accused the National Democratic Alliance government of turning the programme to clean Ganga as a "Hindutva project" by attempting to polarise politics through the initiative on the holy river.
Chouhan had earlier announced constitution of 'happiness ministry' on the lines of Bhutan, the only country to have the gross national happiness index.
'The government is of the view that distilleries around Hapur and Bijnor would pollute groundwater in the vicinity and its spill over into the sacred Ganga. Hence, we are looking to close these distilleries to prevent them from discharging water into the open area,' said a senior UP government official.
The decision came a day after the Allahabad high court asked the Centre and the state government to file counter affidavits within a week on a petition challenging the decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.
Fadnavis said the 'minute details' will be gone into before an inquiry is ordered.
'...by combining religious and political missions -- to destroy the Babri Masjid and establish Ram Rajya.' 'Hindutva was successful in creating synergy with the aspirations of devotees,' Dhirendra K Jha, author of Ayodhya: The Dark Night, tells Kanika Datta.
It said there is no part of the country that he did not visit during the 125 days between December 25 and May 1 as he crisscrossed from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Jamnagar to Silchar, while speaking to students to scientists, farmers, entrepreneurs, foreign heads of state and political workers.
'The government had a vaccine from January.' 'The government should have given the vaccine to all population above the age of 45, right from the start.' 'Each state has its own problems, but as far as vaccine coverage in India is concerned, there have been mistakes.'
The one-minute-long ad features a young Hindu girl, dressed in a white t-shirt, who chooses to get stained in Holi colours in order to protect her young Muslim friend who has to go to the nearby mosque to pray. The advertisement ends with its classic tagline, 'Daag achche hain' (stains are good).
Winning against Covid means thinking ahead, at least six months, putting in place the likely scenarios of what might happen, and then planning. Planning is the role of the government. Having planned, it should communicate what and why. Then, get out of the way, recommends Naushad Forbes.
The arrests followed searches in Amrut Nagar, Kausa, Moti Baug and Almas Colony areas in Thane's Mumbra township and in Aurangabad's Kaisar Colony, Rahat Colony and Damdi Mahal areas on Monday late night and Tuesday early morning.
Area residents and environmental groups have resisted the coal power plant ever since it was originally proposed in 2006 due to worries about land clearance and pollution
Many senior officers believe the chief should have taken a stronger stand against using army resources to help what one officer calls "a government-friendly godman".
The PM appealed to people to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
This is a national leadership gone so wrong that India's most powerful prime minister in four decades has personally taken charge of medical oxygen shortages, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Let me assure the nation on behalf of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha that our protests have not weakened at all or lost steam.'
He accused the Congress of putting up obstacles to the temple's construction through 'its lawyers' in the Supreme Court.
There will remain those, though, who will remain in opposition to this massive endeavour for world peace with an aim not to improve, but to scuttle the project. But for the rest of us, a cultural and spiritual event of this significance and scale is a feast for the mind and soul, say Sankrant Sanu.
Recently, Hindu religious seers had threatened to boycott the ceremonial Kumbh snan if the Ganga was not clean.
On Wednesday, September 18, the Supreme Court denounced manual scavenging as 'most uncivilised and inhuman'. 'It is the notion that they are born to do this which needs to change.'
Dips in the Kshipra river during Simhastha are said to wash away all sins!
To believe that the key job of his senior ministers is to ensure that his image be kept intact whatever be the outcome of his policies is to expect too much even of someone as ambitious as Narendra Modi, asserts Rashme Sehgal.
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