VHP Leader Praveen Togadia booked for hate speech in Maharashtra

Amid mounting pressure from the Centre, the Maharashtra police Thursday booked Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia for allegedly hate speech at Nanded district in Maharashtra, official reports said.

According to report, the Maharashtra police came into action after the direction came from State government.

A First Information Report has been lodged against VHP leader who allegedly spitting venom against a particular community.

Earlier, Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh Thursday has said that Maharashtra Government must take action against Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) President Praveen Togadia if his speech is inflammatory because everybody is equal in the eyes of law.

“Well, as you know law and order is a state subject. All state governments have free choice to take action and are bound to take action if anybody raises inflammatory speeches. And I am sure the state government will take the appropriate action in any case because everybody is equal in the eyes of law,” he said.

To a poser on the VHP upping the ante with the BJP, Singh said: “I think all mainstream political parties should stay away from these kinds of statements and all of them should come on board and do away with these kinds of statements. Politics is most serious thing. Everybody seems to be talking about development, but we hear these fringe players all the tensions being focused on them.”

“Well, we can’t blame the BJP. Whenever elections come, their only issue remains the Ram Mandir. And so, it’s not something new that we are seeing that is happening. Whenever the elections are due, the BJP comes back to its old ideology of building the Ram temple,” he added.

According to reports, Togadia allegedly attacked Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) politician Akbaruddin Owaisi and members of a particular community at a public meeting at Bhokar town in Nanded district.

Owaisi was arrested on charges of making a hate speech in Andhra Pradesh’s Adilabad district last month.

Demanding swift and stringent action against Togadia over his hate speech against members of a particular community, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh had earlier on Wednesday said no religious fundamentalists should be allowed to play with communal accord in the country.

–With ANI Inputs–

 

Madras High Court refuses to Stay Ban on Vishwaroopam

Madras High Court refuses to Stay Ban on Vishwaroopam: Court to View the Film on 26^th Jan

Madras High Court refused to give stay on the decision of Tamil Nadu government’s 15 day ban on Vishwaroopam movie.  Justice K Ventatraman said in the order that only after watching the movie it can be decided whether the movie is having any scenes that affect the sentiments of the Muslims or not.  The court will view the movie on 26^th January, 2013 and judgement will be given only after watching the movie.  The judgement will be given on 28^th January, 2013.

Justice K Venkatraman also commented that it is true that 15 day ban on the movie is sure to cause agony to the petitioner. The producers will have to suffer monitory losses also due to the postponement of the release of the film.

Releasing of Vishwaroopam is stopped by two weeks by government of Tamil Nadu.  The movie which is schedule to be released on 25^th January, 2013 was banned for two weeks.  Kamal Hasan who acted and produced the film said that there is no truth in the allegations that the movie insulted the Muslims.  They will feel proud when they watch the film.  He said some people are talking against the movie for their political benefits.  He said he was hurt by the decision of the Tamil Nadu government to ban the movie.

Advocates of Kamal Hasan filed a petition in Madras High Court challenging the decision of Tamil Nadu government to ban Vishwaroopam movie by two weeks.  During the arguments, the lawyer of Kamal Hasan said that since the movie is given a certificate by the sensor board, state government has no right to ban the film.  The film will be showed to the judge and the final judgment will be given on 28^th January, 2013.

Vishwaroopam movie is banned for two weeks even in Pondicherry.  This decision was taken by the government of Pondicherry.  The film was scheduled to release in 500 theatres on 25^th January, 2013 but is postponed due to the ban on the film.

Vishwaroopam movie is only banned in Tamil Nadu.  The movie will be released in Telugu as per schedule.  The movie will be released by Siri media in Andhra Pradesh.  Meanwhile central government of India suggested Tamil Nadu government to review the decision of banning Vishwaroopam movie.  It said that the decision of central censor board regarding the screening of the film is final and everyone should follow this.  Central information and broadcasting minister Manish Tiwari said this while taking to journalists in New Delhi.

5 Wealthiest Temples of India

India is globally recognized as the ‘Land of Temples‘ and Indian are known to be immensely fanatic about their religion. India is also known as the land of Gods and Goddesses and therefore servers as an ideal option for pilgrims. Every year millions of visitors throng Indian temples owing to the rich heritage and cultural significance these temples carry. People of various religions and beliefs offer many precious assets to the temple as a token of their respect and faith.
Take a look at some of the richest temples of India.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Kerala

Padmanabhaswamy Temple is credited with the title ‘The richest Temple in India’ and in the world as well. This temple is situated in the heart of thiruvananthapuram, kerala and has created history with its vast and enormous wealth that was retrieved from this temple recently.
This temple shot to fame on 7th July 2011, after the assests were discovered from 5 secret cellars of the temple where treasure worth more than Rs. 1,00,000 crore was found, that’s around US$22.3 billion in total, without even calculating the antique value of the objects. With this Padmanabhaswamy Temple became the richest temple beating the likes of the Tirupati Balaji temple that was till now touted to be the richest.

Interesting Fact

The treasure that was found
Antique gold ornaments
Sack full of Diamonds
Golden idol of Mahavishnu worth Rs. 500 Crore
Golden Crowns
Golden Bow
17 kg of gold coins(dating back to the East India Company period)
Gold in shape of rice trinkets(Weighing one tone! )
18 feet long golden necklace weighing 2.5 kg
Thousands of pieces of antique jewellery studded with diamonds and emeralds
Golden Vessels

Tirumala Tirupati Venkateswara Temple, Andra Pradesh

Tirupati temple is the most sacred and second richest temple of India. It is situated in Andra Pradesh and is the major pilgrimage destination of South India also known as ‘Tirupati Balaji Temple.’ Lord Balaji is worshipped in this temple, popular bollywood actor Amitabh Bachhan is a devotee of the diety and has reportedly donated around Rs 51 lakh to this temple.

Interesting Facts

Tirupati’s Venkateswara deity is clad with about 1000kgs of gold!
Every day around 150,000 laddus are made at the temple to serve the devotess

The revenue from the sale of laddu annually is more than 11 million rupees.
It is said that people drop bags of gold and at times even diamonds at the feet of Sri Venkateshwara.
Around 50,000 pilgrims visit the temple every day and
The temple gets up to Rs 650 crore in donations every year.

Saibaba Temple, Shirdi

Sai temple of Shirdi is among the top pilgrimage sites of the world. This temple is a beautiful shrine that was built in 1922. The temple is located approximately 296 Kilometers from Mumbai City in India. It is the third wealthiest temple in India where millions of devotees of different religions and castes visit everyday. Shirdi is flocked by devotees and curious tourists who journey to this holy land of Shri Saibaba. The temple has gold and silver jewellery worth approximately Rs 32 crore and silver coins worth more than Rs 6 lakh.

Interesting Fact
Like most of the perfect saints Sai Baba left no authentic record of his birth and early life before arriving at Shirdi. Nobody knows weather was Hindu, Muslim or Christian. So people of all religion visit shirdi.
On an average there is an inflow of over 40,000 devotees which reaches to a million during festivals.
The temple gets donations worth Rs 350 crore every year.

Siddhivinayak, Mumbai

The Siddhivinayak Temple is located in Prabhadevi, Dadar, Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was originally built by Mr. Laxman Vithu and Mrs. Deubai Patil in November 19th, 1801. Well known celebrities and VIPs visiting this temple is a common sight here. The dome over Ganesha is coated in 3.7 kilos of gold that was donated by a Kolkata-based businessman. On an average, the monumental Siddhivinayak Temple sees anywhere between 25,000 to 2 lakh devotees flocking in everyday to just get a glimpse of their beloved Ganesha. Sources at the Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan put their annual income at Rs 320 crore

Golden Temple, Punjab

Golden temple which is commonly known as Harmindher Sahib is located in Amritsar, Punjab and it attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the country and world. The charismatic Golden temple is a prominent pilgrimage destination which is fully alive with religious passion and purity. This unique and charming place becomes even more beautiful and captivating during night time when it is completely lit up with its striking gold dome illuminated.
The holiest shrine in the Sikh religion has its walls decorated with wooden panels and elaborates gold and silver work. A combination of Muslim, Hindu and European design principles were used in the construction of Golden temple .The palanquin that bears the Adi Granth is set with precious stones and has a golden canopy supported by silver poles. This holy place gets as many as 40,000 visitors a day.

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தமிழன் என்று சொல்லுடா,தலை நிமிர்ந்து நில்லடா..

நம் வரலாற்றை தெரிந்து கொள்ள இந்த முறை உங்களை 20,000 வருடங்களுக்கு முந்தைய கடலில் மூழ்கிய ஒரு உலகிற்கு அழைத்துக்செல்லவிருக்கிறேன்,

என்னுடன் சேர்ந்து பயணிக்க உங்களின் பொன்னான 5 நிமிடங்களை ஒதுக்குங்கள் ,இங்கு தான் உலகின் முதல் மனிதன் பிறந்ததாக வரலாற்று ஆய்வாளர்கள் தெரிவிக்கிறார்கள், இங்கு தான் நம் மூதாதையர் வாழ்ந்தனர்.இங்கு தான் நாம் இன்று பேசிக்கொண்டிருக்கும் நம் தமிழ் பிறந்தது.இங்கு தான் இன்னும் பல வரலாற்று அதிசயங்கள் நிகழ்ந்துள்ளது,ஆம் இது தான் ” நாவலன் தீவு ” என்று அழைக்கப்பட்ட ” குமரிக்கண்டம். கடலுக்கடியில் இன்று அமைதியாக உறங்கிக்கிகொண்டிருக்கும் இது,ஒரு காலத்தில் பிரம்மாண்டமாக இயங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்த ஒரு தமிழ் கண்டம் !!.

இன்று தனித்தனி நாடுகளாக உள்ள ஆஸ்திரேலியா, தென் ஆப்ரிக்க, இலங்கை,மற்றும் இன்றுள்ள சில சிறு, சிறு தீவுகளை இணைத்தவாறு இருந்த ஒரு பிரம்மாண்டமான இடம் தான் ” குமரிக்கண்டம் “.ஏழுதெங்க நாடு,ஏழுமதுரை நாடு,ஏழுமுன்பலை நாடு,ஏழுபின்பலை நாடு,ஏழுகுன்ற நாடு,ஏழுகுனக்கரை நாடு,ஏழுகுரும்பனை நாடு என இங்கு நாற்பது ஒன்பது நாடுகள் இருந்துள்ளது !! பறுளி, குமரி என்ற இரண்டு ஆறுகள் ஓடியுள்ளது !!.குமரிக்கொடு,மணிமலை என இரண்டு மலைகள் இருந்துள்ளது !!. தென்மதுரை,கபாடபுரம்,முத்தூர் என பிரம்மாண்டமான மூன்று நகரங்கள் இருந்தன.உலகின் தொன்மையான நாகரீகம் என்று அழைக்கப்படும் சுமரியன் நாகரீகம் வெறும் நான்காயிரம் வருடங்கள் முந்தையது தான். நக்கீரர் ” இறையனார் அகப்பொருள் ” என்ற நூலில் மூன்று தமிழ்ச் சங்கங்கள் 9990 வருடங்கள் தொடர்து நடைபெற்றதாக கூறியுள்ளார். தமிழின் முதல் சங்கம் இந்த கடலடியில் உள்ள ” தென் மதுரையில் ” கி.மு 4440இல் 4449புலவர்கள்களுடன் , சிவன், முருகர், அகஸ்தியருடன் 39மன்னர்களும் இணைந்து, ” பரிபாடல், முதுநாரை,முடுகுருக்கு,கலரியவிரை, பேரதிகாரம் ” ஆகிய நூல்களை இயற்றப்பட்டது .

இதில் அனைத்துமே அழிந்து விட்டது .இரண்டாம் தமிழ்ச் சங்கம் ” கபாடபுரம் ” நகரத்தில் கி.மு 3700இல் 3700புலவர்கள்களுடன் ” அகத்தியம்,தொல்காப்பியம்,பூதபுராணம்,மாபுராணம் ” ஆகிய நூல்களை இயற்றப்பட்டது . இதில் ” தொல்காப்பியம் மட்டுமே நமக்கு கிடைத்துள்ளது.மூன்றாம் தமிழ்ச் சங்கம் இன்றைய ” மதுரையில் ” கி.மு 1850 இல் 449 புலவர்கள்களுடன் ” அகநானூறு, புறநானூறு,நாலடியார், திருக்குறள் ” ஆகிய நூல்கள் இயற்றப்பட்டது.இவ்வளவு பழமையான தமிழனின் வரலாற்றை பெருமையுடன் உலகிற்கு தெரியப்படுத்த வேண்டிய இந்திய அரசு எந்த அக்கறையும் காட்டாமல் இருப்பது வேதனையான விஷயம் !!!!..இந்திய அரசு வெளிக்கொண்டுவராத நம் வரலாற்றை நாமே இந்த உலகிற்கு பரப்புவோம் ,இனிமேல் நாம் 2000 வருடம் பழமையானவர்கள் என்ற பழங்கதையை விட்டு விட்டு 20,000 வருட உலகின் முதல் இனம் ,நம் தமிழ் இனம் என்று பெருமையுடன் கூறுவோம்.வரலாற்று தேடல் தொடரும்………!!

South India, the Best Place for Children to Live In

South India is found to be the best place for children to live in as 4 of the 5 best performing states in India‘s first national child rights index, are from Southern region of the country. The Child Rights Index (CRI) published by NGO HAQ placed Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh among the top five best performing states in India with Maharashtra being only state from the west.

                                                                                             

Karnataka is ranked the best state for children to live in for its least number of cases of crime against children, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

The detailed study finds that economic growth does not necessarily ensure child rights performance as it’s shown in the case of Kerala which ranks first in the national child rights but stands 9th in its GDP status while Maharashtra, which ranks first amongst the states in GDP, is ranked third in child rights. Moreover, the state is also ranked among the worst 5 states in sex ratio and second worst cohort at rank 20 in child marriage which clearly points out a severe lack of attention to children. Uttar Pradesh with the second highest GDP in the country, ranks18th in child rights and ranks 27th in provision of health care. Jharkhand is the only state whose economic status matches its child rights rank – both at 17.

                                                                                                

Not so surprisingly, all the worst performing states are the north-eastern states – Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Sadly, of the five states that fall in the not so well performing category, three are once again north-eastern states. They are performing badly in almost all indicators. This is a clear indication that despite the promised attention to North-East and separate budget allocations, they have among the lowest GDP ranks, and children’s status in those states needs urgent attention.

The study suggests that there is an ethnic composition to the poor state of child rights and health as it’s shown that a significant proportion of the population of the states performing badly in education are tribals – Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh, are essentially tribal states with tribals constituting 26.3 percent and 64.2 percent of the population respectively.

And when it comes to health of children, the five worst performing states are Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, where tribals account for a significant portion of population in many of these states.

However, the states ranked as top in overall index have many things to be worried about as Kerala, despite its high literacy, was ranked last in gender equality in prevention of child marriages and 12th in its overall rank, as well as ranks high in the percentage of girls that are married (47.04 percent).

                                                                                   

Maharashtra, although ranked third in child rights, has pathetically failed to address falling sex ratio and child marriage. As a matter of fact, all the five best performing states, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are not performing well in early childhood care and controlling child marriage. Kerala and Goa, the two best performing states in health, is found to be performing quite poorly in provision of health infrastructure. On the other hand, Himachal Pradesh, which is one of the five best states in healthcare, is ranked in the last five in HIV/AIDS intervention.

When it comes to education, Delhi put up a poor show. Although the stae is doing well in making education available to its children, it does not have enough teachers and hence ranks as one of the lowest in the pupil teacher ratio of 1:100.

The north-eastern states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are ranked in the top five in provision for early childhood care; however, lag behind in their attention to preschool education for the 3-6 year old children.

While states such as Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Delhi plus the Union Territories of Chandigarh, and Puducherry have achieved 100 percent level of registration of births, Bihar and Jharkhand are still below the 50 percent mark.

India’s 10 Hottest FDI Destinations; Maharashtra tops

FDI in different states of India have increased steadily since the early 1990s when the Indian economy was opened up to foreign investments. Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are among the leading states that have attracted maximum FDI.

1. Maharashtra:

Foreign Direct Investment in Maharashtra covers Mumbai, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu. The total FDI Inflows in Maharashtra economy from April 2000 to January 2011 was estimated to be around 199.322 crore which is approximately $44,592 million. The percentage of Mumbai out of the total inflows is 35 percent. Maharashtra received the lion’s share of the foreign direct investment inflows into India.

2. New Delhi:

Delhi economy has been estimated to be around 111,937 crore which roughly comes up to $24,700 million from April 2000 to January 2011. The investments covers Delhi, parts of UP and Haryana. New Delhi forms 19 percent out of the total inflows.

3. Karnataka:

Foreign Direct Investment in Karnataka from April 2000 to January 2011 has accounted for 36,139 crore which is approximately $8,114 million. Karnataka forms 6 percent of the total inflows. Sectors that attracted high levels of FDI include services, telecom, metallurgical industries, power, computer hardware and software, and construction activities.

4. Gujarat:

Foreign Direct Investments in Gujarat from April 2000 to January 2011 was estimated to be around 30,969 crore which is around $6,996 million. Gujarat ranks fourth in terms of FDI Inflows in India. Major investments are made in the former capital and the largest city in Gujarat, Ahmadabad. Gujarat forms 5 percent of the total inflows.

5. Tamil Nadu:

Foreign Direct investments in Tamil Nadu are done in Chennai and Pondicherry. The total investments made from April 2000  to January 2011 are estimated to be around 29,914 crore which comes to around $6,645 million. Tamil Nadu forms 5 percent of the total inflows.

6. Andhra Pradesh:

Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in Andhra Pradesh has been estimated to be around 25,605 crore which is approximately $5,749 million calculated from April 2000 and January 2011. Andhra Pradesh ranks fifth as a recipient of FDI Inflows in India. Andhra Pradesh forms 5 percent of the total inflows. Major investments made in Hyderabad. The highest FDI of $2.92 came from Mauritius, followed by Singapore ($1.08 billion), U.S. ($636 million), Japan ($515 million) and the Netherlands ($481 million) in April-August 2010-11.

7. West Bengal:

The Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in West Bengal also cover the territories Sikkim, Andman&Nicobar Islands. It is estimated that about 6, 339 crore which is about $1,481 million. West Bengal forms 5 percent of the total inflows.

8. Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh:

Foreign Direct investments in these states are about 4,223 crore from April 2000 to January 2011 which is around $922 million. They form 1 percent of the total inflows.

9. Goa:

Foreign Direct investments in Goa is estimated to be about 3,316 crore from April 2000 to January 2011. It is around $723 million. Goa forms 1 percent of the total inflows.

10.Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh:

Foreign Direct investments in these states are estimated to be 2.961 crore from April 2000 to January 2011 which is around $643 million. They form 0.5 percent of the total inflows.

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