By Sanmora Kutty | Kolar
Kadlekai Parishe (groundnut fair) begins with much fanfare. Mounds of groundnuts have arrived on Bull Temple Road, and the footpaths and bylanes around the road resemble a village fair ahead of the Kadlekai Parishe on Monday.
On the eve of the fair, which is held on the last Monday of the month of Karthika in the Hindu almanac, a sea of humanity descended on Bull Temple Road. However, the late evening shower played a spoil sport as the downpour caused inconvenience to those walking on the almost choked road, while traffic went out of gear in the surrounding areas.
Vendors from Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Mandya and from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have brought fresh, roasted, jaggery-coated and boiled groundnuts — costing between Rs. 20 to Rs. 60 a measure (seru). Also available are puffed rice, sweets and savouries.
By Sonakshi Mili | Trivandrum
SPECIAL REPORT In a shocking trend, elderly parents are being dumped by their families in the Guruvayur temple complex. On any given day, thousands of devotees throng Guruvayur to seek Lord Krishna’s blessings. But a few visitors have a hidden agenda during their pilgrimage to the 17th-century temple in Thrissur district of Kerala — dumping their aged parents in the temple premises.
“Every month, at least 15 new destitutes end up staying at Guruvayur as the temple offers free meals at noon and evening,” says TT Sivadasan, chairman of the Guruvayur Municipality. “Many of them are those who have been kicked out of their homes by their families or dumped by their children.”
By Shamsher Singh | Ranchi
Fishermen on outskirts of Jharkhand’s booming capital have deviced an innovative yet-dangerous way to earn their livelihood. Using live electricity wires, fishermen rely on current generated once these wires are sunk in water to draw out fishes.
Once a shock is generated in water by these wires, fishes are forced on surface by the intensity. A team of fishermen, present near the bank, catches them as soon fishes are spotted.
While it is a traumatic experience for fishes, fishermen revealed that they have to be extremely cautious to not to touch the water.
By M H Ahssan | INN Live
SPECIAL REPORT Young urban Indians virtually live on Facebook and Twitter. It's no surprise then that all major political parties are spending millions of rupees on social media campaigns in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But will Twitter and Facebook help sway votes like it did for Barack Obama in the US elections, given that India is a predominantly rural nation?
Four more years — this was Barack Obama’s tweet after he won the presidential election for the second time. This was before he formally addressed the United States of America. Needless to add, he set a precedent in not only the political spheres, but also the ever-increasing digital space. Over the years, there has been a sea change in the way politicians — in India and abroad — interact with the general public, thanks to the advent of social media.
By Mishti Vemur | Dispur
A primary school teacher in north-central Assam’s Sonitpur district has allegedly used a noose on Class 4 students to explain how freedom fighters were hanged to death during the British rule.
The district administration has ordered a probe into his ‘dangerous’ practical approach. “District elementary education officer Ashim Chetia has been asked to probe the incident. Action will be taken on the basis of the report he submits,” Lalit Gogoi, deputy commissioner of Sonipur, said.
By Khalid Al Shaikh | Taif
DEVELOPING STORY An unidentified number of Ethiopian illegals attacked a Saudi man and engraved a Christian cross on his chest with an edged piece of metal before fleeing the scene on Saturday, according to Saudi Police sources, some infiltrators caused this heinous crime.
The group, believed to have illegally infiltrated the country, stopped the man as he was driving out of his small village, Casablanca in Al-Hada area, and hit him on his head, causing him to lose consciousness.
By Shaurya Mehta | Delhi
It’s usually rather quiet at Shiro in Hotel Samrat during lunch hours, but as soon as you make yourself comfortable around the warm iron griddle in the teppanyaki corner, the section instantly stirs to life. Though we had started out on a quest to sample a few creations from the recently introduced Asian Grill menu over a quick and quiet lunch meeting, the afternoon turned out to be unexpectedly loud and stretched out.
By Arhaan Faraaz | Hyderabad
What if a Telangana state is still on paper? The race to be the first Chief Minister of the fledgling state is well and truly on. Prominent T leaders are falling over one another to make it to the good books of the Congress high command so that their names figure first when a decision on the all-important post is taken.
The bifurcation report is still being given final touches by the Group of Ministers (GOM) and the Telangana bill is yet to reach the Cabinet.
