Now masks for Hindu gods in Varanasi temples to save them from air pollution

Agencies
November 6, 2019

Varanasi, Nov 6: Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency, is no exception to the extreme air pollution that has held the North India captive, especially post Diwali. PM 2.5 in Varanasi's air touched 500 this week.

With air quality worsening by the day, devotees in the holy city are helping gods avoid toxic air by covering the faces with anti-pollution masks.

At the famous Shiv-Parvati temple in downtown Sigra, the faces of Lord Shiva, Goddess Durga, Goddess Kali and Sai Baba have been covered with masks.

"Varanasi is a place of belief. We treat our idols as living deities and take pains to make them happy and comfortable. In summer, the idols are slathered with sandalwood paste to keep them cool and in winter, we cover them in woolens. Likewise, to save them from pollution, we have put masks on their faces," Harish Mishra, a priest at the temple told IANS.

But covering the face of Goddess Kali proved to be tedious. "She is an angry goddess and it is believed that her popped out tongue should not be covered. So we decided not to cover her face," said the priest.

"Looking at the covered faces of their deities, many devotees visiting the temple have also started wearing anti-pollution masks," Mishra added.

According to Mishra, every individual in the city is in his own way contributing to the increasing pollution. "Bad air did not deter the people from bursting crackers on Diwali. Now there is smog everywhere. But instead of doing something about it, municipal workers are only adding to the crisis by burning waste in the open. So despite the hue and cry, everyone is just contributing to the emergency. Until people come together to change their habits, the situation will never change," he said.

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News Network
April 26,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 26: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday urged media houses not to resort to layoffs and pay cuts while the whole community is facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chief Minister said the state government will also take necessary steps to test the media personnel in the state to ensure they have not contracted the deadly virus.

He also pointed out that the pandemic has severely impacted the media sector with many newspapers even reducing the number of pages.

"Journalists are among those who have been affected the most. Journalists on the field are also in danger. We have come to know about the reporters affected with coronavirus in other states. The government will take necessary precautions including testing to ensure that journalists don't contract the disease," Vijayan said.

He said the newspapers were not receiving advertisements these days because there are no social or public events resulting in less commercial activities in the society.

"I would like to urge the media houses not to engage in layoffs or salary cuts during this pandemic. Journalists are working shoulder to shoulder with health workers. During this pandemic, scribes are out in the field collecting news, despite the threat of disease and it was admirable," Vijayan said.

The chief minister said the government has asked the PRD to release the dues to various media houses.

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Agencies
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: Telecom companies lost 82.3 lakh subscribers during the COVID-19 lockdown period of April, data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday showed.

As per the reports received from 342 operators in April, TRAI said the number of broadband subscribers decreased from 68.7 crore at the end of March to 67.6 crore at the end of April with a monthly decline rate of 1.64 per cent.

Top five service providers constituted 98.98 per cent market share of total broadband subscribers with Reliance Jio Infocomm (38.9 crore), Bharti Airtel (14.4 crore), Vodafone Idea (11.1 crore), BSNL (2.1 crore) and Atria Convergence (16 lakh).

The number of overall telephone subscribers decreased from 117.7 crore at the end of March to 116.9 crore at the end of April, showing a monthly decline rate of 0.72 per cent.

The TRAI said total wireless subscribers (2G, 3G and 4G) decreased from 115.7 crore at the end of March to 115 crore at the end of April, thereby registering a monthly decline rate of 0.71 per cent.

Wireless subscription in urban areas decreased from 63.8 crore to 62.9 crore but increased in rural areas from 51.9 crore to 52 crore. Monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were minus 1.42 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively.

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News Network
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: The government-imposed upper and lower limits on airfares may be extended beyond August 24 depending upon how the situation turns out, Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said on Saturday.

The government resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after nearly two months of suspension to combat the coronavirus outbreak, but placed lower and upper limits on airfares depending upon the flight duration.

It had said on May 21 that these limits would be in place for a period of three months.

"Depending on how the situation turns out, the fare band may have to adjusted beyond that (August 24) also. But right now, it is only for three months," Kharola said at a press conference here.

International passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country.

However, the government started Vande Bharat Mission on May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations through special flights.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said at the conference that during phase 3 and phase 4 of the mission, private domestic airlines have been approved to operate 750 international flights to repatriate people stranded amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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