TTD PERFORMS BHUMI PUJA FOR TN TEMPLE
The ceremonious bhoomi puja for the construction of TTD’s fifth temple in Tamil Nadu was performed by priests at Ulundurpet in Kallakur-ichi district on Monday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Mini-ster Edappadi K. Palani-swamy took part in the celestial programme along with TTD chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy in the presence of devotees.
The bhoomi puja was performed amid chanting of Vedic hymns by pandits who placed four bricks and performed special puja.
Local MLA Kumara-guru, who donated land for Srivari temple, made elaborate arrangements for the ceremony. The MLA donated 3.98 acres of land and `3.16 crore towards the construction of the Srivari temple and subshrines for Padmavathi Ammavaru and Andal Godai.
Later, addressing a public meeting, Palani Swami appreciated the efforts of TTD in promoting Hindu Sanatana Dharma and the glory of Lord Venkateshwara by building temples in many states.
Subba Reddy said that they aspired to establish at least one Lord Venkateshwara temple in every state and union territory in the country. He also said TTD plans to build around 1,000 small temples in remote areas across AP and Telangana by spending `100 crore.
Novak Djokovic, one of the three knights of modern tennis, turned on his best game on the hard court at the Rod Laver arena he can call his own backyard for having won nine times and never having been beaten in an Australian Open final. His opponent Daniil Medvedev was so much in awe of the champion that he calls him a “cyborg of tennis” alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who between them have won 58 Grand Slams and 15 of the last 16. And is there a more accurate yardstick than Grand Slam titles to measure who among the three is going to be judged as the greatest tennis player of the professional era?
The Serbian’s spotless returns of serve on a cool Melbourne night could be rated as his greatest weapon in the dismantling of a young challenger even as he played every ground stroke as if he were indeed armed with superhuman qualities. If tennis is all about eliminating errors, then Djokovic is just that champion. Not a crowd favourite because of the stand he has taken on various issues and because he called for leniency from the hard quarantine imposed on all visiting players before the Australian Open, Djokovic also had to battle many who were not chanting “Ole, ole, ole” in his support.
Naomi Osaka is the emerging great of the women’s game who won her fourth Grand Slam in a manner reminiscent of the dominating tennis of Serena Williams, who she beat in the semis before demolishing Jennifer Brady in the final. The youngster may have victories that favour the hard courts of the Australian and US Opens but, on the evidence of her Melbourne showing, she may need only an attitudinal change to win on grass and clay. Having once said that to become a tennis legend was her life goal, the 23-yearold is well on her way now with a polished game and a record of Grand Slams to lend greater weight to the voice to speak up on sensitive social subjects that she has never been afraid of.
Lucknow Feb. 22: The under construction airport in Ayodhya will be named Maryada Purushottam Sriram Airport, Ayodhya after Lord Ram and a provision of `101 crore has been made for it in the budget presented in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Monday.
Besides the provision for the Ayodhya airport which will subsequently be made an international airport, the budget also provides for `2,000 crore for increasing the number of airstrips at Jewar Airport from 2 to 6.
Cities like Aligarh, Moradabad, Meerut will also be linked through air service soon, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters after the presentation of the budget by finance minister Suresh Khanna.
Under the Special Area Programme, a budget of `300 crore is proposed for special schemes of Purvanchal and a budget of `210 crore has been proposed for special schemes of Bundelkhand region.
Stressing on industrial and infrastructure development, a budgetary provision of `1,107 crore has been made for the Purvanchal Expressway Project, `1,492 crore for Bundelkhand Expressway Project and `860 crore for Gorakhpur Link Expressway Project.
India remains committed to its nuclear doctrine of “maintaining credible minimum deterrence with the posture of nofirst use and non-use against non-nuclear weapon states”, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday while addressing the “High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament”.
The foreign secretary also said that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi by delivering on his promise at the UN General Assembly to make Indian manufactured vaccines affordable and accessible to all of humanity, has once again shown that India is a force for global good”.
The FS said, “India, as a responsible nuclear weapon State, is committed as per its nuclear doctrine, to maintain credible minimum deterrence with the posture of no-first use and non-use against nonnuclear weapon States . ... India is committed to the goal of universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament. Our call for complete elimination of nuclear weapons through a step-bystep process... India has supported the immediate commencement of negotiations in the CD on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.”
The FS added, “PM Modi, by delivering on his promise at the UNGA to make Indian manufactured vaccines accessible to all of humanity, has once again shown that India is a force for global good.”