Delhi Police to file 1,000 page chargesheet on gang rape

New Delhi, Jun 8: Places of worship on Monday across the country reopened after staying shut since March due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

Scores of temples, mosques and gurudwaras were seen opening up keeping in view the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by Union Home Ministry to prevent coronavirus spread.

As per Ministry of Health guidelines, touching of idols/holy books, choir/singing groups, etc are not allowed.

In Delhi, people gathered at Gauri Shankar Temple in Chandni Chowk to offer prayers. With national capital seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, the devotees were seen wearing masks and taking precautions. People were also seen offering prayers at Kalka Ji Temple.

Several people arrived at Sri Bangla Sahib Gurudwara to offer prayers. Devotees were made to pass through the disinfectant tunnel before entering the Gurdwara in order to prevent the virus.

In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at Gorakhnath Temple after state government allowed re-opening of places of worship from today.

Devotees were seen offering prayers at Eidgah Mosque in Lucknow.

Devotees also offered prayers at Shree Dodda Ganapathi Temple in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru.

Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya also reopened on Monday.

Prayers were offered at Durga Mata Mandir near Jagraon Bridge in Ludhiana, as the government has allowed reopening of places of worship.

Although religious places have opened in most of the states, however, there are some states which are yet to do so.

Preparations related to Yatra of Char Dhams including Badrinath have been completed, however, local representative of the areas from where the routes of this yatra pass have requested the government to not allow the commencement of the Yatra.

Based on the assessment of the situation, the Odisha Government ordered that all religious places/places of worship for the public will continue to remain closed till June 30.

Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8.

However, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states.

Panaji, Feb 9: Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, has urged the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act" and stop quashing the "right to dissent".

He also appealed to the government not to implement the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, a wing of the Goa Church, in a statement on Saturday said, "The Archbishop and the Catholic community of Goa would like to appeal to the government to listen to the voice of millions in India, to stop quashing the right to dissent and, above all, to immediately and unconditionally revoke the CAA and desist from implementing the NRC and the NPR."

The CAA, NRC and NPR are "divisive and discriminatory" and will certainly have a "negative and damaging effect" on a multi-cultural democracy like ours, the church said.

There is serious concern that NRC and NPR will result in "direct victimisation of the underprivileged classes, particularly Dalits, adivasis, migrant labourers, nomadic communities and the countless undocumented people who, after having been recognised as worthy citizens and voters for more than 70 years, will suddenly run the risk of becoming stateless and candidates for detention camps," it said.

There has been widespread discontent and open protests throughout the country and even abroad against the CAA, NRC and NPR, which are "forecasting a systematic erosion of values, principles and rights" that have been guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution, the release said.

Eminent citizens, including top intellectuals and legal luminaries, have taken a studied and unequivocal stand against the CAA, NRC and NPR, it noted.

Goa also witnessed several protests, which transcended the confines of religious and caste affiliation and brought people from all walks of life together on one united platform, said the statement.

It said Christians in India have always been a peace-loving community and deeply committed to the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, enshrined in the Constitution.

"We have always taken great pride that our beloved country is a secular, sovereign, socialist, pluralistic and democratic republic," the church said.

The very fact that CAA uses religion goes against the secular fabric of the country, it said. "It goes against the spirit and heritage of our land which, since times immemorial, has been a welcoming home to

all, founded on the belief that the whole world is one big family," the church said.

"We pray for our beloved country, that good sense, justice and peace prevail in the hearts and minds of all," it added.

Mumbai, Mar 6: Harried Yes Bank depositors rushed to ATMs to withdraw cash but faced multitude of problems including closed down machines and long queues, after the RBI placed the bank under a moratorium, capping maximum withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month.

Aggravating the problems of depositors were difficulties accessing the internet banking channel, which ensured that they can't transfer the funds online as well. At an ATM in south Mumbai's Horniman Circle, with the RBI headquarters overlooking it, the shutters were pulled down.

The guard on duty said the machine was non-operational before he reported to work late in the evening and he was ordered to shut it after 2200 hrs. In the residential area of suburban Chembur, one ATM was dispensing cash but had a long queue of anxious depositors.

One man said it was still possible to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 in multiple transactions from the machine.

However, another machine nearby had run dry within minutes of the RBI announcement, a woman said.

The regulatory actions, undertaken by the RBI and the government, came hours after finance ministry sources confirmed that SBI was directed to bail out the troubled lender.

For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.