Swati Sodhi, 36, a mum of two, tells us how she went from 92 kg to 60 kg in a year.
Five organisers of the event have been arrested while the area sub-inspector of police and a district official suspended in connection with the incident, police said. The annual chariot festival of Lord Siddalingeshwara temple in Ravoor village in Chittapur taluk was organised on Thursday morning for about 15-20 minutes despite the management agreeing not to go ahead with it in view of the lockdown, a police official said.
The season of festivities has kick-started and there is a flurry of movie releases in theatres.
Banerjee, who was flanked by newly-elected MP Nusrat Jahan and her husband Nikhil Jain, said, "Togetherness and tolerance for all faiths is the real religion."
In view of a persistent rise in COVID-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Tuesday ordered that there will be no public celebrations in the national capital for upcoming festivals such Holi and Navaratri. Considering the rise in COVID-19 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also announced that Holi celebrations, on March 28 and 29, will not be permitted in both private or public places.
The restriction will have a direct impact on Eid festivities, apart from other religious gatherings.
A round-up of our favourite photographs from the week gone by.
The Sikhs bring in the festival with song, dance and fun activities.
The incident took place when thousands of followers of religious leader Jai Gurudev were on their way to Domri village on the banks of Ganga to take part in the two-day camp, police said.
India has declined assistance offered by the United Nations of its integrated supply chain for COVID19-related material, saying the country has a "robust system" to deal with the required logistics, a spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
The home ministry asked the state governments and UT administrations to inform it about different aspects of the lockdown and whether there are necessities to give exemptions to some more categories of people and services from the restrictions, a home ministry official said.
The Shahi Imam also said he will soon seek an appointment to meet Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the meeting was necessary in order to safeguard Hindus, Muslims, democracy and secularism in the country.
Amidst Covid scare, hundreds of pilgrims paid obeisance at the famous Ragnya Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Friday for the annual Kheer Bhawani mela, praying for peace in the union territory and for the pandemic to end.
In a joint statement, Biden and Harris wished a happy Diwali to everyone celebrating the festival of lights across the US, India and the world.
The massive crowds of devotees in temples, elaborately decorated tableaus and Dahi Handi revelry were all missing this year on Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, as celebrations were dampened by COVID-19 restrictions.
Amid a call from some right-wing groups to boycott halal meat, singer Lucky Ali on Monday took to Facebook to explain the meaning of the term to his fans and followers.
A century-old company -- that started as an infrastructure provider for large religious gatherings like the Kumbh Mela -- has expanded its role to keeping the premises of such gatherings litter-free.
Major mosques and idghas, which see tens of thousands of people offering namaz on Eid and then embracing each other, remained mostly empty perhaps for the first time on the festival as the government has prohibited all kinds of religious gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday said it has foiled a major terror plan during the festival season with the arrest of a 40-year-old Pakistani terrorist who has Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) links and had been living in India for over 10 years under a fake identity.
'The mandals and politicians are trying to project that this is against somebody. We are not against anybody. We do not want the celebrations to stop. It has to happen, but do it in a civilized way.'
Here are some of the glimpses of the celebrations.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday lifted the restriction on weekend worship in temples with effect from today and also permitted all shops including restaurants and bakeries to function till 11 pm.
A joint team of the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police arrested 28-year-old Mohsin Talukdar from southeastern Sunamganj district after 24 hours of a massive manhunt.
Here's this week of photos that prove we live in a mad world.
The court declined to increase the number of people or allow use of other floors of the mosque for offering prayers as sought by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta on behalf of the Delhi Waqf Board, but allowed them to move an application before the SHO for the same.
With the Omicron variant of coronavirus slowly spreading its tentacles in the country, a number of states enhanced surveillance to trace, track and quarantine contacts of COVID-19 positive persons while Delhi began genome sequencing of samples of all infected people and has prohibited Christmas and New Year gatherings.
Led by Congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney from New York, lawmakers on Wednesday announced that a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to declare Diwali, festival of lights, a federal holiday.
India's gold imports could pick up in the next few months after slumping 81 percent in June as falling prices spur buying, a government source said, adding to New Delhi's anxiety over a record-low rupee and a wide current account deficit.
'Rishi is brought up with Indian values -- Indian qualities like respect our parents, respect our uncles -- but he is more British.'
Given the fiercely competitive political environment, observers naturally associated an element of appeasement with the Shinde government's move, Shyam G Menon points out.
Religious places including mosques have been closed for over a month now. And with clerics advising all to stay home and social distancing becoming the norm, people are unable to get together for prayers and Iftar, a ritual of breaking fast every evening, that are a key part of Islam's holiest month.
Seven pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and three from Delhi were among the 12 people who died in a stampede at Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.
The apex court said that no permission for prayers would be given for any other temple in Mumbai.
"It is appalling and he has done it with tactical support of Rahul Gandhi," she said.
The accused, identified as Murtaza Abbasi, was arrested and has been sent to judicial remand for two weeks, police said and alleged that he tried to forcibly enter the temple, which was teeming with devotees during the Navratri festival, after raising the religious slogan of 'Allahu Akbar'.
The Baazigar actress will keep the idol of Lord Ganesha at her home for five days.
The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, on Thursday told the Kerala high court that the jaggery received by it had 'halal' mentioned on the packaging as they are also exported to Arab countries by the company supplying to them.
He was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 298 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505(2) statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill will between classes.
It's time for colours, lights and celebrations - Diwali is here! In these photos, see celebrations from Gujarat to London to Colombo.
