VIJAYWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA, September 3, 2004: More than one million pilgrims took a holy bath today in the ghats here on the auspicious “Sravana Sukaravaram” day, the seventh day of the 12-day Krishna Pushkarams, being celebrated to mark the transit of Jupiter from Leo to Virgo constellation. With this, the number of those who had taken a holy dip on the first seven days of the once-in-12-year river festival in and around this temple city touched the 7.5 million mark, official sources said. Pilgrims from far and near continued to throng various ghats in this temple city since dawn for offering “pindapradhanam” for their ancestors and for performing other rituals, including ganga pooja as part of the river festival. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists performed “Maha Aarati” for the revered river.

BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA, September 3, 2004: The tiny toddlers in Orissa will no longer see a cane in the hands of their teachers as the State government on Thursday imposed a ban on corporal punishment in educational institutions. Chief Minister Navin Patnaik asked the officials of the school and mass education department to see that the children studying in government and private schools are not subjected to physical or mental torture by their teachers and, instead, they are dealt with in a subtle and delicate manner.



This move by the Orissa government is seen as a major victory for the child rights activists who have been campaigning against corporal punishment across the State. Recently, Save the Child, an international child rights body, had invited all the legislators of Orissa Assembly to a symposium to interact with school children where some students narrated how they suffered from mental trauma because of corporal punishment. Some children, as well as the child rights activists, had then urged the State government to make a legislation to ban physical punishment in schools. In response to their demand, Speaker of Orissa Legislative Assembly Maheswar Mohanty, who presided over the meeting, had observed that awareness, not any legislation, could solve the problem. He, however, had assured the delegates that he would see that the State government issues an executive order to ban corporal punishment.



The Andhra Pradesh government through a gazette notification issued in February, 2002 - has reportedly imposed a ban on physical punishment. The children’s consultations held in Sambalpur, Cuttack and Koraput districts had identified physical and psychological punishments as the most prevalent form of violence that affects their development and well-being in the later years. Children who participated in these consultations said this affected their school performance as the fear of punishment dominated their mind rather than learning. Many of them had said that they dropped out of school because of physical and mental torment.

NDIA, August 27, 2004: Gold has been treasured, sought after and coveted from the beginning of human history. It gave birth to the science of chemistry. To this day, it is the only guaranteed hedge against inflation in any culture anywhere in the world. In India, however, it is much more than just a precious metal. It is part of the cultural fabric and an inseparable part of the belief system. It is the essence from which the universe was created, says this article. From the root word Hri meaning imperishable, comes Hiranya the ancient name for gold. Brahma is referred to as Hiranyagarbha–the one born of gold.



“Gold has always been an integral part of Indian society even outside religion and mythology,” says Dinesh Parikh, a bullion consultant and authority on gold. “It has been considered auspicious because it has formed the basis of the concept of stridhan, the woman’s endowment at marriage that is a buffer against a rainy day. Gold is, therefore, an essential part of the Indian social fabric. There are established patterns for gold acquisition at festivals, especially Diwali, all over India, Durga Puja in the East and Onam and Pongal in the South,” says Parikh. He stresses that the main drivers for gold acquisition in India remain festivals and occasions like weddings.



Indira Bhojwani, a jewelry retailer, observes that “the new Italian and French styles and even platinum jewelry don’t really suit the Indian psyche. They’re nice and they certainly have stirred some interest, but the bulk of Indian jewelry buying is still rooted in tradition–something that has undoubtedly been modified and shaped by fashion trends and a design element over the years.” This kind of rooting of many current fashion-driven trends in religion and tradition is apparent in the navratna jewelry. Says Bhojwani, “The navratna gems are representative of five planets–Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter–as well as the sun, the moon and separately, the ascendant (rahu or dragon’s head) and descendent (ketu or dragon’s tail) phases of the moon. Each stone draws energy from the cosmos and in their specific, traditional pattern, the navratna are said to be an unending storehouse of energy, enhancing the life of the wearer. For this combination of gems to be efficacious, they have to be set in gold.” For the full article, click on “source” above.

CALCUTTA, INDIA, August 28, 2004: Puja organizers this year will have to pay a fee for immersing icons in the Hooghly, neighborhood ponds and lakes. The decision has been taken at a recent meeting between the police and the state pollution control board (PCB). Officials said the funds raised by Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) and other civic bodies around the city would be spent on maintaining the waterbodies and checking pollution. “We’ll soon send a circular in this regard to the CMC and other civic bodies,” said a PCB official. Mayor Subrata Mukherjee, also chief organizer of a community puja in south Calcutta, said the civic body was yet to receive any circular. “The CMC doesn’t mind charging puja organizers for immersing icons. But we have to offer them some service in return. Otherwise, the organizers will feel unnecessarily burdened. I request the government to hold a meeting with the CMC,” he added. PCB officials pointed out that the straw-and-bamboo frames of the icons, clothes and decorative pieces, including garlands, pollute the river, lakes and ponds. The green board, however, will not fix the fee. “It will be decided by the civic authorities in consultation with the organizers,” a police officer said.