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‘Agni Kheli’ festival: Devotees throw fire at each other at Kateel Durga temple

Agencies
April 22, 2019

Mangaluru, Apr 22: As a part of a centuries-old tradition, hundreds of devotees here performed a spectacular fire ritual, to pay reverence to the Goddess Durga at a temple situated in the Kateel town, around 30 kilometers from here.

Bare-chested, dhoti-clad men threw fire torches at each other in the compound of the Kateel Durga Parameshwari temple here in the unique age-old fire fighting ritual aimed at appeasing the Goddess.

The ritual 'Agni Kheli' 'Thoothedhara' takes place during the festival of the Kateel Durga Parameshwari temple that is held in the month of April each year for about eight consecutive days.

Two villages near the temple-- Athoor and Kodathoor participated in the ritual.

Speaking to ANI, priest of the Kateel Durga Parameshwari Temple, Hari Narayana Dasa Asranna said: “The two groups face one another from a distance of about 15metres to 20 meters and throw burning palm fronds at each other.”

According to the rules of the festival, the men are divided into two groups and are permitted five throws to hit as many people in the other group.

“The people who suffer burns are sprayed with water of Kumkum (red powder made from saffron and turmeric),” devotee KV Shetty said.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Ballari, Mar 6: Ballari Deputy Commissioner S S Nakul on Friday said that two persons who had shown symptoms of COVID-19 had been admitted to the district government hospital here.

Informing this to the presspersons here, Mr Nakul said that the cases were reported from Jindal village of K R Hospital taluk and another one from Hospet town in Ballari taluk.

He said a suspect returned from Dubai to Hospet last week and showed symptoms of COVID-19. Both suspected patients were admitted to special isolated ward in Ballari government hospital and their throat swab tests taken on Thursday had been sent to lab in Bangalore to check for COVID-19.

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News Network
January 2,2020

Mysuru, Jan 2: Mysuru-based Karnataka State Open University is gearing up to offer courses online from this year onwards and a proposal in this connection will be placed before the University Grants Commission (UGC) this month, after approval from the board of management.

As of now, the university offers 31 courses, including undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma programmes.

Vice-chancellor Vidyashankar S Said that the university will submit its proposal to the UGC soon.

“This is being done to make learning convenient and help students study their courses of choices from the comfort of their homes.”

After launching online admissions for courses, this is another step to go paperless and towards an e-campus, the V-C explained.

The university has also proposed to launch 12 new courses for 2020-21.

A proposal in this regard will be placed before the board for approval on Thursday and the same will be submitted to the UGC for its nod.

Prof. Vidyashankar said the these courses will be in addition to the 31 already available.

The new courses include LLM, MA in Education, BBA, BSc, BCA, diploma in Information Technology, postgraduate diploma in Information Technology, BSc in Information Technology, MSc in Information Technology, MSc in Botany, PG diploma in Banking and Insurance, MSc in Zoology, MA in Telugu, Executive MBA, and MSc in Food Sciences and Nutrition.

The new courses had been proposed based on students’ feedback and the trend.

The V-C said the admissions for the January cycle have begun and over 380 students had so far taken admissions online.

“We are hoping for good admissions this cycle and are expecting around 12,000 admissions,” he replied.

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Agencies
March 24,2020

New Delhi, Mar 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced total lockdown in the country from 120'clock tonight in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"From 120'clock tonight there will be a complete lockdown across the country,"said Prime Minister Modi said during his second address to the nation within days.

He also hailed the people for the success of 'Janata Curfew' saying that they showed how Indians can come together and fight against any trouble which comes before the country.

"The one-day Janta Curfew showed how we Indians come together and fight against any trouble which comes before the country and the mankind,"he added. (ANI)

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