13-yr-old Jain girl dies after fasting for 68 days during 'Chaumasa'

October 8, 2016

jaingirlHyederabad, Oct 8: A Class 8 student in Hyderabad died recently after fasting for 68 days as per Jain rituals during the holy period of 'Chaumasa'.

13-year-old Aradhana was admitted to the hospital just two days after completing her fast where she died of cardiac arrest, the family said.

At least 600 people attended Aradhana's funeral hailing her as a 'bal tapasvi'. The funeral procession was called a 'shobha yatra' - a mark of celebration.

Aradhana's family runs a jewellery business and has a shop in the Pot Bazaar area of Secunderabad. Questions are being raised why they allowed her to give up school and sit on a fast.

''It has been a practice for people to undertake severe penance when they give up even food and water. They are glorified, lauded and honoured at community meetings by the religious elders. They are also showered with gifts. But in this case it was a minor and that is my objection,'' said Lata Jain, a member of the community. ''This is suicide if not murder,'' she added.

Sources close to the family said Aradhana had earlier undertaken a similar fast for 41 days and survived.

"We did not hide anything. Everyone knew Aradhana was fasting. They came and took selfies with her. Now some people are pointing fingers at us for allowing her to fast for 68 days," Aradhana's grandfather, Manekchand Samdhariya said.

Pictures show a weak Aradhana sitting dressed up like a bride, surrounded by several others, on a grand chariot.

Newspaper advertisements issued after the girl completed the nearly 10-week-long fast show Telangana minister from Secunderabad area, Padma Rao Goud, was the chief guest at grand event for 'Paarana'- the completion of fast. Zaheerabad lawmaker BB Patil is also seen in the photos of the event.

According to Jain religious leaders, Santhara is usually meant for elderly people, who have lived their life and want renunciation.

''There should never be any element of force or coercion in tapasya or fasting. This was a tragedy and we must learn our lessons from it,'' Maharasa Ravinder Muniji of Kachiguda Sthanak said.

Child rights activist Shanta Sinha says a police case must be registered and the child rights commission must take action.

''A minor is not deemed to have a voluntary will to take decisions that can endanger their life. Religious leaders also need to re-look at what should be allowed and what is not," she said.

Comments

shaji
 - 
Sunday, 9 Oct 2016

Good job by Jain people. Every girl of this community should follow her and perform Chaumasa to get moksha.

aharkul
 - 
Sunday, 9 Oct 2016

Mr. True Indian not from earnings from saving give 2.5% for the poor as Zakath. So simple. If you cannot save money there is no Zakaath.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Karwar, June 29: The additional sessions court, Sirsi town police station and office of the deputy superintendent of police in Uttara Kannada district were sealed on Sunday after an undertrial was found positive for Covid-19.

The undertrial, accused of stealing a bike, from Hubballi was arrested by Sirsi police and had initially tested negative. He was confirmed infected when his samples were tested the second time.

He was arrested by Dharwad police in connection with a bike theft case. During interrogation it was found that he had stolen bikes in Sirsi too. Sirsi police had brought him from Dharwad sub-jail for the interrogation and was produced in the court.

The accused was in Manipal jail for some time after he was convicted there for the bike theft. While bringing him to Sirsi the police had wore PPE kits.

When he was produced in the court the judge had reportedly directed the police test him for covid as he had some symptoms.

His swab was collected and sent to the lab. In the first test the result was negative but it was positive in another test. At that time he was in Sirsi sub-jail. 10 police officials who had come into his contact have been quarantined. The police station has been sealed down and the court will be closed down on Monday and Tuesday.

All the under trails who were kept with him in the sub-jail have been isolated and their swab has been sent for the testing.

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News Network
April 24,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 24: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday held a meeting with state officials to address the situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to COVID-19, the prices of the crops have come down. It was instructed to buy those vegetables and keep them in cold storage and then sell. It was also instructed to export fruits, vegetables which cannot be kept for a long time to other states and countries.

Wherever there is a scarcity of drinking water, it was decided to supply water immediately.
Chief Minister Yediyurappa had earlier spoken to Union Minister Sadananda Gowda and took information regarding fertilisers.

As fertilisers' demand is less in the international market, the Union minister for fertilisers said that farmers will be given fertilisers at less than the actual price.

As some of the associations/guilds have violated the lease conditions by not starting the actual work which they have got the land for in Bengaluru, they have been instructed to return the land to the government where the lease conditions have been violated.

As far as the irrigation department is concerned, much water is stored in dams. It was decided to utilise the same for the cultivation of crops and for the purpose of drinking.

As far as the education department is concerned, it was instructed to give online training to students.

With the help of state television channel Doordarshan, it has been decided to teach students about the syllabus and other activities till the reopening of school.

The KSRTC has lost hundreds of crore due to the reduction in bus services due to COVID-19. So, they were instructed to use buses to transport goods to generate revenue.

The government also decided that salary for the doctors, who are working on a contract basis against COVID-19, will be increased significantly.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 4: CM BS Yediyurappa may reconsider plans to hike taxes and curtail populist schemes in his budget on Thursday as the Centre released part of GST compensation it owes the state. Officials said the Centre released the first instalment of the bimonthly compensation for October-November amounting to Rs 2,013 crore.

"This is welcome relief as the government has been scrambling to mobilise funds," said BT Manohar, member of GST consultative committee, government of Karnataka. The second instalment of Rs 1,523 crore is also expected to be released soon.

The CM, in his seventh budget, is expected keep the focus firmly on farmers and give top priority to irrigation, agriculture and welfare schemes.

The irrigation sector is expected to land the lion's share with an allocation of at least Rs 25,000 crore, followed by agriculture. Former CM Kumaraswamy had allocated over Rs 17,000 crore for water resources.

The bulk of funds is likely to go to the Upper Krishna (UKP) and Upper Bhadra projects, as it will help backward Kalyana Karnataka and central Karnataka regions. The two are also significant political blocs. The government will also seek assistance from the Centre for the UKP project in the erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which enjoys special status under the Constitution owing to its backwardness. P4

Yediyurappa is also expected to spell out populist schemes for the poor.

Former CM HD Kumaraswamy had allocated Rs 17,212 crore in the previous budget for water resources and Yediyurappa is likely to go well beyond that figure. "Priority will be given to irrigation and farmers," Yediyurappa had said recently. "I am making efforts to present a budget within the financial constraints."

he amounts are released once every two months, but the Centre had fallen behind on payments. PX

"There are indications that another payment will be made."

The state's optimism stems from the fact that the Centre's GST collection crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for four successive months till February.

However, the CM could still hike tax rates marginally. At a pre-budget meet on resource mobilisation where Yediyurappa is learnt to have expressed willingness to borrow funds, officials from the finance department advocated raising tax rates instead.

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