Milestone of India - Navarathri Brahmotsavams - ‘Pushpaka Vimanam' for Lord Balaji at Tirumala.

TIRUMALA: ‘Elegance' marked the procession of Pushpaka Vimanam organised on Wednesday evening on the sixth day of the ongoing annual ‘Navarathri Brahmotsavams' of Lord Venkateswara.

The processional deities of Lord Malayappa flanked by His two divine consorts on either side mounted atop the exquisitely decorated Pushpaka Vimanam was taken around the Mada Streets. The Vimanam,which measured 28-feet-high with a width of 10 feet, was artistically made up of coconut leaves and was ornamentally decorated with several quintals of aromatic flowers. TTD imported some special varieties of flowers from Bangkok and other European countries that went into the making of the floral Vimanam. Prominent among others who participated in the festival include the TTDs Specified Authority Chairman J.Satyanarayana, joint executive officer K.Bhaskar and Chief Security and Vigilance Officer M.K.Singh. Special rituals like ‘Vasanthotsavam' and ‘Asthanam' were also conducted.

OM NAMO VENKATESAYA !

Milestone of India - Milestone in Indo - Vietnam ties.

SINGAPORE: India and Vietnam on Wednesday decided to extend the frontiers of their defence-related cooperation. As the centrepiece, New Delhi agreed to expand assistance to Hanoi in its ongoing military modernisation, according to sources.

The modalities of toning up cooperation were discussed, from a broad political perspective, by Defence Minister A. K. Antony and his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi. Their talks followed India's participation in the first-ever Asia-Pacific Defence Ministers' meeting, which ended in the Vietnamese capital on Tuesday.

Mr. Antony later called on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. They discussed regional and international issues of common interest in the context of India's ongoing participation in the East Asia Summit process and New Delhi's growing links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations .

Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and India's Ambassador Ranjit Rae assisted Mr. Antony in these talks. Both countries expressed satisfaction at the progress made so far under their defence cooperation memorandum of November 2009.

Specifically, India now agreed to share its expertise in defence-related information technology and the usage of English for military purposes. Such cooperation was seen as a promising possibility, sources said.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the model of India's assistance to Indonesia, specifically an army-oriented IT lab, would apply to Vietnam as well.

There was no authoritative word on whether Vietnam would, like Malaysia, seek to capitalise on India's expertise in the training of pilots for Russian-made combat aircraft.

However, sources said the two sides discussed military training, as different from joint exercises, as a key aspect of cooperation.

In a press release, the Defence Ministry later announced that India “will provide support to Vietnam to enhance and upgrade the capabilities of [its] services in general and navy in particular. New Delhi would also help Hanoi in its programme of capacity-building for repair and maintenance.

New Delhi agreed to host the Vietnamese Army for joint training in mountain and jungle warfare at a suitable Indian location next year. India offered to help Vietnam in mastering the art of United Nations peace-keeping operations.

Cooperation between the defence institutes of the two countries was also agreed upon.

Vietnam, for its part, wanted more port-calls by the Indian warships and offered maintenance-and-repair facilities at its ports.

Milestone of India - Milestone in Hindu, Muslim and Christian Unity. (Mangalore - Karnataka)

MANGALORE: Even as the 3,000-year-old Mangaladevi temple dons the glitter of yet another festive season, its committed devotees seek to underline the syncretism of this ancient temple. Once patronised by the kings of the Alupa dynasty (A.D. 650-1399), it was taken over by the Government after Independence and is run by a trust. The city of Mangalore, once known as Mangalapuram, owes its name to the Mangaladevi temple.

Speaking to The Hindu over the clamour of the ongoing Navaratri celebrations, which is attracting over 40,000 devotees a day, temple's managing trustee Ramanath Hegde says: “Even in times of the worst sectarian conflict in the region, Muslim and Christian devotees would visit the shrine.”

Mr. Hegde says Mangaladevi considered a deity of fertility. There was a belief that girls of marriageable age would find a suitable husband if they pray here. “Girls wearing burkha can often be seen visiting the temple with their parents and family,” Mr. Hegde says.

Abdul Karim (name changed) is married to a Hindu. “Nobody would solemnise our marriage and we were both unwilling to go in for a civil wedding,” he says with his six-year-old daughter in tow. Although he follows Islamic traditions, Mangaladevi has a special place in his heart and he never misses the major festivals here.

Pointing out that the Swayamvara Mantap of the temple is famous, Mr. Hegde says, “We have solemnised several marriages between Indians and foreigners. The only thing we insist on is that the wedding must be conducted as per Hindu customs.” The temple has the distinction of never having prevented the entry of lower castes.

Milestone of India - Navarathri Brahmotsavam - Garuda Seva for Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.

TIRUMALA: The temple town of Tirumala witnessed an unprecedented turnout of people for the auspicious ‘Garuda Seva' festival observed on Tuesday, the fifth day of the Brahmotsavams of Lord Venkateswara.

Devotees, particularly from the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and various parts of the State, started descending atop the temple town since Tuesday morning. The second ghat road leading to Tirumala experienced heavy vehicular traffic.

Crowds start swelling

On the other hand, tens of thousands of devotees reached the hill town on foot. The crowd started swelling as the day progressed and the open-top galleries constructed along the Mada streets encircling the holy shrine, exclusively for the benefit of devotees, were full to their capacity by evening. The processional deity of Lord Malayappa mounted atop the Golden ‘Garuda' vahanam was taken around the Mada streets in a celestial procession. The deity was adorned with very rare and precious jewels, including the centuries old Makara Kanti, Lakshmi haram, Sahasranamavali haram, besides other diamond-studded ornaments.

Vehicles regulated

Several areas in the town were choked and all the parking lots were packed. The traffic police imposed curbs and regulated the movement of vehicles. The town reverberated with pilgrim activities and wore a festive look.

Devotees entering the Mada streets were thoroughly frisked by the local police and the TTD security sleuths at all the entry points.

Earlier in the morning, the Lord was brought out in a grand procession donning the ‘Mohini' avatharam.

The deity was mounted atop the exquisitely decorated ivory palanquin and was taken around the Mada streets encircling the shrine. About 3,000 security personnel, including the district police, have been drafted for bandobust duty for the festival.

Milestone of India - Milestone in Hindu - Christian Unity. (Kerala - India.)

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, on Tuesday, set an example for sparring religious groups by making arrangements for the cremation of a doctor of the Pushpagiri Medical College (PMC) Hospital in Thiruvalla as per Hindu rites. The initiative came from the Metropolitan Archbishop of Thiruvalla Thomas Mar Coorilos, who asked the PMC authorities to make funeral arrangements on the hospital premises itself.

B. Brijesh Kumar Singh, 61, from Bihar, had served Pushpagiri for 28 years. He was found dead on Saturday at a hotel room in Kochi where he had been waiting for next day's flight to his home town, Patna, for the Navaratri festival.

The cause of death had been identified as cardiac arrest, said Fr. Thomas Kodinattumkunnel, PMC Chief Executive Officer.

The younger brother of the deceased, R.P. Singh and his nephew, Mayan Singh, reached Thiruvalla on Tuesday. The church arranged a Brahmin priest for leading the funeral rites on the hospital premises in the presence of a large number of clergy as well as the PMC staff and students.

Fr. Santhosh Azhakath, PMC director (Human Resources), was in charge of the arrangements for the cremation.

The Archbishop, accompanied by Fr. Kodinattumkunnel, was present throughout the ceremony and offered flowers, sesame and ghee as directed by the Brahmin priest. The Christian priests and nuns followed suit.

Wrapped in a red silk cloth, the doctor's body was kept on a specially prepared funeral pyre and was lit by his nephew after a 40-minute ceremony.

The Archbishop also led a prayer service, chanting verses from the Srimad Bhagavad Gita and the Holy Bible. Fr Azhakath said the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church believed that respect and trust among different religious groups was the prime necessity to evade problems in this age of communal divide.

Dr. Singh is survived by his daughter and parents. His brother and nephew would leave for Bihar with the funeral ashes, said Fr. Azhakath.

Milestone of India - Commonwealth Games - Women's 4 x 400 team runs to gold.

NEW DELHI: The ambience was electric. So were the performances.

There was a medal rush by the Indians at the Commonwealth Games here on Tuesday and for a brief moment, one almost lost count.

A gold by the women's mile relay team and four bronze medals marked the concluding day of track and field action at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The bronzes came from triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, javelin thrower Kashinath Naik, both in the men's section, and from both the sprint relay teams.

Rich haul

What India could not achieve in more than fifty years at the Commonwealth Games, it managed to do in just five magical days in Delhi. The country had won just nine track and field medals at the Games, starting with Milkha Singh's gold in 1958, before Delhi, but now, with only the marathon to go on Thursday, India already has 12 medals, including two golds.

“It's unbelievable, I've never seen some of the girls run like this before,” said P.T. Usha, after watching the 4x400 relay women take the gold.

A.C. Ashwini, a hurdler, ran the race of her life to overtake Nigerian Dammy Abogunloko and give India the lead midway through the third leg. Mandeep Kaur, the anchor, continued the good work as the host pocketed its second gold of these Games and its first-ever relay victory in the Games history. Manjeet Kaur and Sini Jose ran the first two legs.

“We're very happy, we were sure of the bronze, the gold is a big surprise,” said Mandeep after the golden run which was timed at 3:27.77s. “Our baton exchange was very good.”
Ashwini's confidence was a notch higher. “We expected to win the gold. We knew we'd win if we beat Nigeria. And we did.”

The medals were so quick in coming, five of them in around two hours, that the nearly 45,000 spectators at the stadium were left dazed, drunk in pure joy.

Stunning show

H.M. Jyothi was dazed too, after leading the women's 4x100m relay team to the bronze, its first sprint relay medal in the Games' history. India's short sprinters have often been so mediocre that the country sometimes doesn't even field teams at the Commonwealth Games.
But on Tuesday, with S. Geetha, Srabani Nanda, P.K. Priya and Jyothi on track, it was a different day.

“I asked Geetha whether this is all a dream,” said Jyothi.“I couldn't believe it. I was unwell too, had fever, throat pain and a toothache yesterday. I wasn't even sure whether I'd be able to run today.”

It could have been a silver but for Ghana's Janet Amposah dipping at the tape, denying India that honour.

Meanwhile, the men's sprint relay team did one better. The quartet of M. Rahamatulla, Sathya Suresh, Shameermon and Abdul Najeeb Qureshi not only won the bronze but also bettered the National record, their second in as many days.

“We believed in ourselves,” said Shameermon. “Yesterday, the baton exchange was not good. We worked on that and it paid off.”

The team clocked 38.89 secs improving upon the 39-second barrier for the first time.

There was plenty of action on the field too. Former Asian champion Renjith Maheswary was jumping for joy after his career-best 17.07m leap in the third round of the men's triple jump which won him the bronze.

That effort broke Renjith's own three-year-old national record of 17.04m. The 24-year-old upset England's former European runner-up Douglas Nathan (PB 17.64) and Grenada's Randy Lewis (PB 17.49) on his way with a massive third-round jump.

Renjith's effort was probably the country's best performance in athletics at these Games.

Around the same time, Kashinath won the men's javelin bronze with a fifth round throw of 74.29m.

Milestone of India - India elected to U.N. Security Council.

NEW DELHI: India was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday with an overwhelming number of countries endorsing its sole candidature from the Asian group.

In polling for 10 seats that took place at the U.N. headquarters in New York, India received the highest number of votes — 187 out of 192 — among all countries in the fray.

“This resounding endorsement of India's candidature at the United Nations reaffirms the overwhelming support India enjoys in the international community,” External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said at a late night press conference here soon after the results were known.

While thanking all the member states who supported India's candidature, Mr. Krishna said the country would have to live up to the responsibility entrusted by such a large number of countries. He also hoped India's objective approach would pave the way for its entry as a permanent member.

“India will demonstrate to the world that India is good for the world,” he added.

Corrections and Clarifications

The news report, “India elected to U.N. Security Council” (October 13, 2010), wrongly mentioned that polling was held for 10 seats at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday. It should have been 5 seats.