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Sabarimala turns police fortress as Ayyappa temple is set to reopen

Agencies
November 5, 2018

Sabarimala, Nov 5: Hundreds of police personnel, armed commandos, surveillance cameras and mobile jammers have turned Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Ayyappa in the southern Indian state of Kerala, into a virtual fortress, hours before it opens Monday evening for a special puja

The unprecedented security arrangements have been made in the backdrop of protests by devotees and Hindu outfits from October 17-22 opposing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's decision to implement the landmark Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all age groups to offer prayers at the hill shrine

However, the security arrangements have not gone down well with the devotees and right wing activists who protested at several places against the restrictions at Sabarimala, considered the sacred grove of Lord Ayyappa, a celibate

The temple would open on Monday for the "Sree Chitira Atta Thirunal" puja slated for Tuesday, marking the birthday of the last king of the Indian princely state of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, and close after that

The government and police machinery is on high alert to avoid any untoward incidents in and around the shrine, where ban orders are in force till Tuesday night

Pathnamthitta Superintendent of Police T Narayanan had Sunday told PTI that all arrangements have been made for devotees to ensure smooth 'darshan'

Around 2,300 personnel, including a 20-member commando team and 100 women, have been deployed for the security of the devotees

At least 15 women police personnel, who are over 50 years of age, have been deployed at the 'Sannidhanam' (temple complex), police said

TV footage showed devotees locked in a war of words with police at several places along the route from Nilackal to Pamba, the key base camps on way to the shrine

Besides being unsettled by the intense checking by the police, the pilgrims also complained about the lack of amenities at the base camps, which had witnessed widespread damage during the August deluge

A group of devotees, who arrived at Erumeli since Sunday evening, protested this morning when they were not allowed to leave for Pamba. They blocked road traffic chanting 'Ayyappa Saranam' mantra. 

Another batch of devotees complained that women police personnel asked their names and identity cards while travelling to Pamba in a state-run bus

"They stopped the bus and asked our names and demanded that we show the identity cards. I said my name is Ayyappa... everyone in our group said the same (as the Ayyappa devotees are called)

"In Sabarimala, everyone is Ayyappa... devotees call each other as swamy," a devotee, carrying the sacred 'irumudikettu' (offerings to Lord Ayyappa) on his head, told a TV channel

Another young devotee said he was not allowed to chant 'Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa' by the security officials

Several devotees could be seen walking to Pamba after waiting for the Kerala State Transport buses at Nilackal

Around 500 devotees, who reached Pamba after walking for several hours, blocked road traffic en-route in protest

Media personnel were also not allowed to leave Nilackal for Pamba, the last entry point, and 'Sannidhanam' in the morning but the restriction was lifted later

Some women journalists proceeded to Pamba with police escort

Hindu outfits, agitating against entry of women of menstrual age into Sabariamala, Sunday had urged media houses not to depute women journalists under 50 to cover the issue

A series of surveillance cameras have been installed at several points in an around the temple complex

Local TV channels reported that mobile jammers have been installed in front of the room of 'tantri' (head priest), Kadararu Rajeevaru at the temple complex and some other places

They also said police have restrained the priest from speaking to media

Police have already prepared a registry of right wing activists who are likely to reach the shrine to take part in the agitation against the entry of young women

The Bharatiya Janata Party and various Hindu outfits are on a warpath against the Left-front government over its decision not to seek a review of the top court verdict lifting the ban on entry of women in 10-50 age group

So far, 3,731 people have been arrested and 545 cases registered in connection with last month's protests and violence

Around a dozen women in the age group of 10-50 were prevented from reaching the temple and police and the agitators fought a pitched battle last month over the LDF government's decision to implement the court order.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

New Delhi, Mar 6: After Yes Bank was placed under moratorium, digital payments were impacted as PhonePe, which depends on the cash-strapped lender for its transactions, could not operate.

It can be noted that the bank's own net banking facilities have not been operational since last evening. Other fintech operators who rely on Yes Bank to settle their transactions are also down.  “We sincerely regret the long outage. Our partner bank (Yes Bank) was placed under moratorium by RBI. Entire team's been working all night to get services back up asap (as soon as possible),” the app's chief executive Sameer Nigam tweeted early in the morning.

PhonePe, one of the country's largest digital payment platforms, is dependent on Yes Bank to process its transactions.

He added that the app hopes to be live in a “few hours”.

Yes Bank placed under a moratorium Thursday evening, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.

Yes Bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment.

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

He added that the app - one of the most popular interfaces for UPI transactions - hopes to be live in a “few hours”.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Mumbai, Aug 6: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that overly focusing on what sovereign rating agencies think can take one's eyes off what needs to be done for the economy.

"It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that," Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

India was placed under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in late March for more than two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but cases have continued to rise steadily since the government eased restrictions in June, stymieing hopes of an economic recovery.

The government has announced several initiatives to help the poor and small- and medium-size businesses, but actual cash outgo from the government's measures has been estimated at just about 1% of GDP.

Several attribute the fiscal prudence to fear of a downgrade after Moody's cut India's rating and outlook in early June followed closely by a change in outlook from Fitch.

The central bank on its part too has reduced the key lending rate by 115 basis points on top of the 135 bps last year and is widely expected to cut rates by another 25 bps later on Thursday.

"The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government's court to do more," Rajan said.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

"And I think that's where it has to focus its attentions, because resources, as you well know, are limited in India today."

Recently analysts, however, have cited the growing possibility the RBI may prefer to pause and cut rates only at its October meeting.

Government officials too have suggested the possibility of any more fiscal stimulus being announced, would only come in the second half of the fiscal year, once a recovery has taken root and coronavirus cases have peaked.

"What India should focus on at this point is protecting its economic capabilities, so that when it has dealt with the virus it can go resume activity in a reasonable way. That should be the focus," Rajan said.

"And if it does that, there is no reason why the rating agencies will not see that as an appropriate policy".

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News Network
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the religious and constitutional rights of minorities are absolutely safe in India and it does not need any certificate from anyone as communal harmony and tolerance are in the DNA of the country and its majority community.

Comments of Rijiju, a Buddhist, came after a top Trump administration official has said that the US is very concerned about what is happening in India in terms of religious freedom.

"India doesn't need certificate on communal harmony and tolerance which is in the DNA of India and the majority community in India," Rijiju, who holds the charge of the Union minister of state for minority affairs besides being the union sports minister, said in a statement.

Rijiju said the social, religious and constitutional rights of minorities are absolutely safe in the country.

"A few politically intolerant people are trying to create an atmosphere of fear and intolerance. As a member of the minority community, I feel India is the best country in the world for the minorities," he said.

Samuel Brownback, the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, said on Wednesday that India has been a country area that spawned four major religions itself.

"We do remain very concerned about what's taking place in India. It's historically just been a very tolerant, respectful country of religions, of all religions," he said.

The trendlines have been troubling in India because it is such a religious subcontinent and seeing a lot more communal violence, Brownback said.

His comments came after the release of the '2019 International Religious Freedom Report'.

Mandated by the US Congress, the report documenting major instances of the violation of religious freedom across the world was released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department.

India has previously rejected the US religious freedom report, saying it sees no locus standi for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of its citizens' constitutionally protected rights.

"India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion", the government had said earlier.

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