Devotees throng Varur for Teertha

Devotees throng Varur for Teertha
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

15 Jan, 2007 2314hrs IST

HUBLI: A new Jain pilgrim centre emerged on the map of Karnataka on Monday, with the inauguration of the Navagraha Teertha, which was thrown open to devotees at Varur near here, to promote world peace and harmony.

Dedicated to Bhagwan Parashwanath and eight other Jain tirthankaras before him, it is believed to remove graha doshas by propitiating the nine planets, by worshipping the tirthankaras presiding over them.

Former deputy prime minister Lal Kishan Advani performed the pada pooja of the newly-installed monolithic statue of Bhagwan Parashwanath, the 23rd tirthankara of the Jains, to mark the beginning of the 12-day Panchkalyana Pratishta and the Mahamasthakabhisheka.

A sort of mini-Shravanabelagola in the making, the Mahamastakabhisheaka of Bhagwan Parashwanath will be performed here after every nine years, nine months and nine days, as against the similar anointing ceremony of Lord Bahubali at Shravanabelagola every 12 years.

While Bhagwan Parashwanath is believed to preside over Ketu, Bhagwan Padmaprabhu rules the Sun, Bhagwan Chandraprabhu over the Moon, Vasupujya over Mars, Mallinath over Mercury, Mahaveera over Jupiter, Pushpadanta over Venus, Munisruvata over Saturn and Neminath over Rahu.

A brainchild of Acharya Gunadhar Nandi, it has come up over 40 acres of pristine land on the Pune-Bangalore road, 20 km from here, in less than two years. Nine teertha kundas and a college are also planned.

Advani, who also hoisted the Jain religious flag to mark the commencement of the anointing ceremony, quoted Jawaharlal Nehru to say that "pilgrim centres tied India through a silken bond and have ensured its unity in diversity over the millennia".

Responding to the Acharya's desire that eggs should not be served to schoolchildren as part of their midday meal, Advani said he was hopeful that the seer's wish would be fulfilled by the central government, which had suggested the change in the first place.

Deputy chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced a grant of Rs 2 crore in the next state budget for the development of Varur as a tourist centre. He assured the seer that he would try to persuade the chief minister to ensure that milk is served to the children instead of eggs.

BJP general secretary Anant Kumar rendered Advani's Hindi address into Kannada for the benefit of the large gathering. District in-charge minister Jagadish Shettar, MP Prahlad Joshi and a large number of Jain sadhus and sadhvis were among those present.

Twin cities usher in New Year with style

Twin cities usher in New Year with style
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

1 Jan, 2007 0020hrs IST

HUBLI: The bitter cold failed to dampen the mood as revellers left the warm comfort of their houses to chill out on New Year's Eve and all roads led to party boulevard.

Clubs, restaurants, hotels and resorts in and around the twin cities were beautifully adorned and decked up to mark the occasion.

As the hands of the clock struck twelve, the twin cities were seized with excitement and "Happy New Year"filled the air as everyone greeted each other.

Special entertainment programmes and dance parties were organised at all high-profile hotels. Hotels organising theme parties turned out to be a big success because of their blend of fun and music. The DJ's foot-tapping music made the youngsters sway to the tunes.

The cuisine was also appreciated by the family crowd. And, those at home were not left behind either. Television channels had lined up hoards of entertainment programmes to keep the viewers hooked.

"Network is busy"message greeted residents as they tried calling and sending messages to near and dear ones, particularly between 12 and 12 30 am.

In striking contrast though, thousands of poor people, especially slum dwellers, spent their night out without a roof. They had only the unsparing winter sky above their heads.

Heavy bandobust Police had deployed a massive force all over the city. Police nakas were put up at different places to ensure that the revellers did not cause nuisance on the roads.

Twin-cities sitting on fire bomb

Twin-cities sitting on fire bomb
MANU AIYAPPA - TIMES NEWS NETWORK

29 Dec, 2006 0118hrs IST

HUBLI: Around 15 fire accidents have been reported in the twin-cities in the last fortnight, leading to minor casualties and heavy loss of property.

On Thursday, office records and furniture worth Rs 25,000 were gutted in a fire that broke out in the LIC office on Lamington road.

Officials blamed it on a short-circuit. The fire was controlled in under 20 minutes, thanks to the fire-safety system installed in the building. This should be an eye-opener to several congested and high-rise buildings in Hubli-Dharwad.

Old Hubli area,which has congested streets and no fire hydrants, is most prone to fire accidents. Fire engines can barely reach accident spots and water pipes cannot be reached till areas affected.

"Everyone blames our department when there is a fire. But no one spends money on fire safety,"lamented chief fire officer Basavaraj Hampagol. Many factories in congested residential areas are also time-bombs waiting to go off.

In spite of strict orders, gas agency godowns are still situated in densely populated areas. As per the department's safety norms, there should be sand, water and carbon dioxide extinguishers in commercial buildings, depending on the space and number of workers.

They should have two or more exits, to help evacuation in case of fires.Workers in factories, marriage halls, hotels, restaurants and government offices should be trained in using firefighting equipment.

But all these safety norms have remained only on paper. No doubt city fire services have improved with the establishment of a new fire station at Old Hubli, but there is always a constraint of hydrants,water and staff.

Officials say things could have been much better with some additional funding, man and machine to meet the new requirements of the city.

While admitting these drawbacks, Hamgol said: "About 50 per cent of damage can be reduced if the buildings have proper fire-fighting system and also some common sense among public to make way for fire engines when they are attending to emergency calls."

Wish You a very Happy New Year

Wish You a very Happy New Year

Dear Friends,

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2007, Let this new year bring all the new wishes,new dreams,new opportunities,the happiness and prosperity.

Like the picture at the dawn of new year bring a new sunrise for all of us also bring our twin cities a new shine in all the aspects of development.

HERE IS ALL WISHING YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF THE READERS OF THIS BLOG A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Thank you, Have a great year ahead.

Yours,

Praveen Dodamani