Preparations on for Jagannath Rath Yatra
Prayagraj: Preparations for the Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra organised by the members of Shri Jaganath Ji Rath Yatra Mahotsav Samiti (Bada Rath) are in full swing. The rath yatra will be taken out in the city on June 27.
President of the samiti, Krishna Bhagwan Kesarwani, told TOI that the yatra will be taken out in the city from Hewett Road to Mutthiganj Chota Chauraha with full pomp and show. He added that there would be a seven-days shringar of Lord Jagannath and other deities on June 28, 29, 30 and July 1, 2, 3 and 5.
The committee has engaged local artisans to make eco-friendly idols of Bala Ji, Ram Ji, Narsingh Avatar etc.
Currently, local artisans are also crafting eco-friendly crowns (mukut), thrones (singhasan), and jewellery from wastepaper and soil.
The artisans have been working on jewellery, crowns and thrones for the past month.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
British couple and children who lost their lives in air crash laid to rest in Malad
1 2 3 Mumbai: Four British nationals who lost their lives in the Ahmedabad air crash were laid to rest in Malad on Wednesday. The fledgling family of Javed Ali Syed, 38, his wife Mariam, 35, and their little children Zayn, 6, and Amani, 4, had embodied the Indian middle class dream of making a better life abroad. The two children were among the youngest victims of the tragedy. Raised in Iraniwadi, Goregaon, Javed studied hotel management in London and acquired British citizenship. He was manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel while Mariam, 35, worked at Harrods. The couple lived in Kensington, London. "They travelled to India to celebrate Eid ul' Azha on June 7 with the family as well as to treat Javed's ailing mother who had recently suffered a heart attack," said cousin Saood Memon. At 5pm Wednesday, they were buried at the Jamaat-Ul-Muslimeen Kabrastan in Malad West. Hundreds of mourners crowded the courtyard. Four caskets covered in crimson cloth were borne upon the shoulders of mourners. As the imam intoned prayers, everyone recited along. Among them stood Javed's elder brother Imtiaz Ali Syed, exhaustion evident in his eyes. "Right now, given this situation I can't even talk to you properly," he said to TOI. "My mind is completely preoccupied in making sure we send them off well." Javed's mother Farida was not informed of the calamity that had befallen them until Monday. Imtiaz arranged for a cardiologist and psychologist to be present while breaking the news to her. Imtiaz had jetted to Ahmedabad on the night of June 12 and was there for five days with his uncles. Once the DNA tests were matched, the bodies were flown to Mumbai and kept in a Byculla morgue, then brought home for the last rites. He had put away his mother's phone and shielded her from all social contact lest she collapse of shock. On Wednesday, though, the distraught lady was unable to let go of her son's coffin. Javed's grandmother too wept bitterly. In Iraniwadi, hundreds of people arrived to convey their condolences. Several others gathered in their balconies and windows. Yasmine Hassan, the sister of Mariam, arrived from London to bid farewell. She nearly fainted, then mourned for the kids, screaming, "Meri jaan the woh (they were my life)! Please bring them back. Mere bachche chale gaye (my children are gone)." A neighbour said, "They came to India after so long to celebrate such a wonderful day and met such a horrible situation." Another said, "Only because they couldn't get a direct flight from Mumbai to London, they chose to go to Ahmedabad. This move cost them their entire family." Meanwhile, on Thursday, the remains of co-pilot Clive Kunder will be buried at Sewri Christian Cemetery around 3.00 pm. In Dombivli, the last rites of airhostess Roshni Songhare will be performed in the local Shamshan Bhumi. There was a delay in despatching her remains after the DNA verification procedure. The body of Badlapur-based AI cabin crew member Deepak Pathak has not been identified yet.
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Time of India
Preparations on for Jagannath Rath Yatra
Prayagraj: Preparations for the Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra organised by the members of Shri Jaganath Ji Rath Yatra Mahotsav Samiti (Bada Rath) are in full swing. The rath yatra will be taken out in the city on June 27. President of the samiti, Krishna Bhagwan Kesarwani, told TOI that the yatra will be taken out in the city from Hewett Road to Mutthiganj Chota Chauraha with full pomp and show. He added that there would be a seven-days shringar of Lord Jagannath and other deities on June 28, 29, 30 and July 1, 2, 3 and 5. The committee has engaged local artisans to make eco-friendly idols of Bala Ji, Ram Ji, Narsingh Avatar etc. Currently, local artisans are also crafting eco-friendly crowns (mukut), thrones (singhasan), and jewellery from wastepaper and soil. The artisans have been working on jewellery, crowns and thrones for the past month.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Time of India
India's three-language promise lost in translation across states amid politics & poor planning
India's three-language policy, designed to promote multilingualism and national integration, is facing serious challenges on the ground. Despite its clear goals, the policy is faltering due to a mix of inadequate resources, lack of trained teachers, and inconsistent implementation across states, reported TOI. olitical differences, regional preferences, and administrative hurdles have turned what should be a unifying educational framework into a fragmented and often neglected mandate. As a result, the 'third language' — meant to broaden students' cultural and linguistic horizons — is frequently reduced to a poorly taught, unpopular subject, undermining the very objectives the policy aims to achieve. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Bengal: makeshift teaching, minimal incentives In West Bengal, the State Education Policy was launched as a counterbalance to the NEP , with the third language beginning only in Class 5. But finding someone to teach it is a challenge. Live Events Principals juggle staffing needs by hiring retired or part-time teachers on token honorariums. 'We brought in a Sanskrit teacher who works voluntarily, and a Hindi teacher who earns ₹5,000,' says Amit Sen Majumder of Jodhpur Park Boys' School in Kolkata. Parent cooperation is also fragile. Anjana Dutta, whose son is in Class 7, says, 'It's only taught for two years. Parents and students don't see the point. The government should make it more useful and consistent.' While Bengali remains compulsory from Class 1, and reading outcomes have seen some gains—71.3% of Class 8 students can now read Class 2-level texts, according to ASER 2024—there's widespread concern over declining engagement and teaching quality for other languages. Bihar: Gaps between policy & ground reality In Bihar, the three-language policy exists mostly on paper. Most schools offer Hindi and English, with Sanskrit or Urdu as the third language. But many don't have enough teachers—or enough students who show up. 'There are schools where language teachers wait for students and others where students wait for a teacher,' Manoj Kumar, head of the state's primary teachers' association told TOI. Maithili, a constitutionally recognised language spoken across the state's Mithilanchal region, is not taught in most schools. Linguist Bhairav Lal Das calls it a missed opportunity. 'There's rich heritage here. But our education system has no room for that heritage,' he said. Even so, Bihar has seen improvements in reading skills. ASER data shows 41.2% of Class 5 students can read Class 2 texts. Still, the curriculum does little to reflect the state's linguistic richness. Uttar Pradesh: Urdu thrives, Sanskrit struggles In UP, Urdu and Sanskrit are officially part of the curriculum in many government and private schools. Urdu, in particular, finds enthusiastic takers. 'We have 15 Urdu learners in a class of 40, and they aren't all Muslim,' Urdu teacher Mirza Shafiq Husain Shafaq in Lucknow told the news outlet. His classes sometimes stray into poetry and verse, which keeps students interested. Sanskrit, however, doesn't enjoy the same appeal. Recruitment is a bottleneck. 'It's tough to find qualified Sanskrit or Urdu teachers. Science and commerce aspirants are everywhere, but not enough students are pursuing higher studies in these languages,' said Anil Agarwal of St Joseph Institutions. Experts in the state are calling for more investment in teacher training and curriculum planning. 'Language education can't survive on enthusiasm alone,' says Agarwal. 'We need mentoring, workshops, and real policy push.' Karnataka: Native tongues sidelined In linguistically diverse Karnataka, students often speak Kannada, Urdu, or Marathi—but are expected to learn Hindi as a third language. 'It feels foreign to them. They don't hear it in daily life,' Belagavi-based teacher Hema Idagal told TOI. In coastal districts like Mangaluru , community efforts keep languages like Tulu and Konkani afloat. But it's a patchy effort. Tulu is taught in about 40 schools, but there's no structured curriculum beyond Class 10. Konkani survives in just four or five schools. 'Why not formalise our own languages?' asked Joachim Alvares of the Konkani Academy, which pays for teacher salaries without state help. Maharashtra: Early start, few resources Maharashtra mandates third language education from Class 1, but teachers say the move came without warning or preparation. 'There was no training, no staffing, just an order,' Mahendra Ganpule, a former headmaster and education activist, told TOI. In English-medium schools, Marathi becomes the burden; in Marathi-medium schools, English is the challenge. The third language, usually Hindi, is the casualty. Reading outcomes in rural areas have dipped, too—only 50.3% of rural students could read a Class 2 text in 2024, down from 2018. English reading proficiency is worse—only 12.1% of Class 5 students could read basic English sentences. 'There's no demand for some languages, so hiring doesn't happen,' says Zafar Khan, a headmasters' association president. 'No students, no teachers. No teachers, no future for the subject.' The bigger picture: A promise unmet For a country with over a thousand languages and dialects, India's education system offers little room for linguistic diversity beyond the major tongues. The NEP's third-language policy was meant to celebrate this diversity—but has instead created logistical headaches without real results. 'People don't learn languages because the government says so,' linguist Peggy Mohan told the media house. 'They learn what's around them. We're forcing children into a system designed for politics, not pedagogy.' Some educators, though, still believe in its potential. 'Multiple languages build empathy and cultural understanding,' said Prof Madri Kakoti of Lucknow University. 'They open doors to other worlds, other ways of thinking.' But for now, too many of those doors remain shut—not for lack of intent, but for lack of infrastructure, imagination, and will.
