Prayers, drum beats, celebrations mark Maha Saptami in Bengal
Kolkata, Sep 27 (IANS) The Durga Puja spirit picked up on Wednesday which marked Maha Saptami — day two of the Puja — as attired in their best people visited puja marquees to pray to…
Religion
Muslim group manages Durga Puja committee in Bihar
By Imran Khan Patna, Sep 27 (IANS) In a shining example of communal harmony and brotherhood, a group of Muslims have been managing the Durga Puja committee of a temple in Bihar and helping the…
Saudi King issues order allowing women to drive
Riyadh, Sep 27 (IANS) Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Tuesday issued a royal decree allowing women to drive in the kingdom. The decision has overturned a longstanding policy that has become…
Aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh must be redoubled: UN
Geneva, Sep 26 (IANS/AKI) The UN refugee agency on Tuesday urged countries to double their aid to nearly half a million Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh from violence in Myanmar, warning that hardship…
Durga Puja begins in West Bengal
Kolkata, Sep 26 (IANS) Dressed to the nines and swaying to the thrum of dhaaks (drums), residents of West Bengal plunged into merriment on Tuesday marking the first day of Durga Puja – the biggest…
Retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay gets bail in 2008 Malegaon blast case
Mumbai, Sep 26 (IANS) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on grounds of parity. A Division Bench…
UN: 480,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh
Dhaka, Sep 26 (IANS) The UN office in Bangladesh on Tuesday said 480,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority have crossed into the country from Myanmar over the last month. The Inter-Sectoral Coordination Group said…
MP businessman, wife become Jain ascetics, leave behind toddler
Neemuch/Surat, Sep 26 (IANS) There is no age for choosing to renounce the world, says the family of Madhya Pradesh businessman couple Sumit Rathore and his wife Anamika who have become Jain ascetics, leaving behind…
Honeypreet moves Delhi High Court for anticipatory bail
New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Honeypreet Insan, the “adopted daughter” of the now jailed Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, on Tuesday moved an anticipatory bail plea in the Delhi High Court…
Brands keep festive spirit high on Durga Puja with ‘localised approach’
Kolkata, Sep 26 (IANS) From giving fans a chance to experience an aerial view of Durga puja, launching an app to locate nearby pandals and helping consumers with maps and major attractions in the city,…
Haryana Police conducts raids in Delhi for Honeypreet, Aditya Insan
Chandigarh, Sep 26 (IANS) The Haryana Police on Tuesday conducted raids in the national capitalin a bid to arrest fugitive Honeypreet and Aditya Insan, close aides of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram…
‘Vatican has not blocked online heresy petition’
Vatican City, Sep 26 (IANS/AKI) The Vatican has not blocked access to an online petition accusing Pope Francis of heresy in his 2016 teaching letter Amoris Laetitia, sources said on Monday. The encyclical opens the…
Copter service for Durga Puja revellers in Tripura
Agartala, Sep 25 (IANS) The Tripura government will operate a helicopter service for Durga Puja revellers and sightseers to enable them get an aerial view of tourist spots and puja celebrations here, an official said…
Sonagachi sex workers scale up Durga Puja
Kolkata, Sep 25 (IANS) For the first time in five years, sex workers of Sonagachi, considered Asia’s largest red-light area, will be able to scale up their Durga Puja to a major celebration that they…
Bengal’s Durga Puja carnival now a Didi show
By Milinda Ghosh Roy Kolkata, Sep 25 (IANS) Known to maintain a punishing work schedule, the Durga Puja festival has kept West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee busier than usual. Apart from attending to pressing…
Trump expands travel ban to N.Korea, Chad
Washington, Sep 25 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has issued a new order banning almost all travel to the country from seven nations, including North Korea and Chad, saying that the citizens of these countries…
Bengal governor greets people ahead of Durga Puja festivity
Kolkata, Sep 24 (IANS) West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Sunday greeted the people of the state ahead of Durga Puja festivity and wished that people of all communities would “wholeheartedly participate” in the…
Orthodox Church supremo besiged in church by opposing faction for hours
Kochi, Sep 24 (IANS) The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India’s supreme head Baselios Marthoma Paulose II was on Sunday besieged in the St Mary’s Varikolly Church near hereby members of the opposing Jacobite faction…
Giriraj Singh questions Durga idol immersion order
Patna, Sep 24 (IANS) Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Sunday questioned the Bihar government’s order to immerse Durga idols by September 30, saying Hindus cannot be pressurised to change rituals in the name of administrative…
Celebrate Navratri with enthusiasm: Modi
New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked the nation to mark the ongoing Navratri festival with enthusiasm. “Navratras are on. It is a time to pray to Ma Durga. On…