The event is expected to start on Monday.
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.
Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa and a host of other ministers also took a holy dip on the occasion.
The Fair & Lovely Foundation announces the Project Saraswati scholarships for women graduates and undergraduates who have the aptitude and ambition to excel in society.
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.
Government has approved Cairn Energy's one-billion dollar development plans for four of the 18 oil discoveries made by the British firm in its Rajasthan block.
Advani's parikarma plans, however, have received support from the RSS, with its leader Suresh Soni saying the Sangh may consider joining him.
After hearing arguments of both the defence and prosecution, the magistrate at the Sessions Court, Chengalpattu, Akbar Ali, reserved the orders for January 27.
Over 25 lakh people had reached the Sangam Nagari on Monday night itself. They braved the early morning chill and fog to be the earliest to have a holy dip.
By any standards, the crowd was far bigger than what the festival has witnessed ever since it began on January 3.
The Tamil Nadu government had appointed advocates P S Nagarajan and K S Ramasamy as special public prosecutors for the case, which was transferred to Pondicherry by the Supreme Court on a petition from the seer last year.
Even the saffron-clad Swami Hari Chaitanya, who was spearheading the much-hyped 'Clean Ganga' campaign, eventually gave up his boycott call.
Since early Sunday morning, people from different parts of the city and adjoining areas were seen entering the nearly 30 bathing points (ghats) from four entry gates amid tight security arrangements by the administration.
Police said the Govardhan Peeth, the seat of the Sankaracharya of Puri, was not the target.
'The death of Tulsi Ramsay signals the end of an era.'
Security was tight at the mela ground as policemen kept a close watch from towers and through CCTVs.
Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati was on Thursday denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram for performing early morning poojas to the presiding deity.
Authoroties attributed the pollution to the lowered river level on account of reduced flow of water from the frozen source of the rivers in the Himalayas.
"Though I was not physically tortured, I was mentally and psychologically tortured in police custody. The police officials induced me to speak over mobile to several persons, which I declined with folded hands," he was quoted as saying by NDA MPs.
"Though I was not physically tortured, I was mentally and psychologically tortured in police custody. The police officials induced me to speak over mobile to several persons, which I declined with folded hands," he was quoted as saying by NDA MPs.
First Class Judicial Magistrate G Uthamaraj extended the remand till Dec 23 through the video-conferencing facility from the Chengalpattu sessions court.
Over ten lakh devotees witnessed the world famous annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath held in Puri on Sunday with fanfare, religious fervour and enthusiasm amid tight security as the practice of people climbing the chariots was stopped in a major reform initiative.
The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the state of Tamil Nadu on a petition filed by K G Kumaraswamy alias Appu, prime accused in the Sankararaman murder case.
In his application, Vijayendra said he apprehended arrest following the alleged confessional statements made by Appu and Ravi Subramaniam, both accused in the case.
Mutt advocate A Shanmugham told the \nthe Special Investigation Team probing the cases against the Kanchi seers that the summons were not legally enforceable.
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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.
He also demanded that Ganga Sagar, a place of Hindu pilgrimage, be declared a holy place like Haridwar
Appu, alias Krishnasamy, was interrogated in a hotel in Mamallpuram in Kanchipuram district throughout Sunday night.
Principal Sessions Judge P Murugesan dismissed the bail petition saying it was not maintainable.
The HC rejected the seers' bail application on Wednesday.
The police questioned two Kanchi Mutt officials in connection with the assault on former Mutt official Radhakrishnan
"It was not a decision I took happily. But circumstances compelled me to do my duty," said the Tamil Nadu chief minister.
K Premkumar, heading the investigation into the Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi has been arrested, has been brough back as the SP, Kanchipuram.
An application in this regard will be moved before Kanchipuram First Class Judicial Magistrate G Uttamarjan when the senior pontiff is produced before the court, mutt officials said.
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.
