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Mahatma Gandhi, father of Indian nation is a global hero respected all over the world. A unique Gandhi fest will be organized in Nevada in America on July 26 to boast fire spinning, yoga shows and organic food demonstration.

Gandhi always stressed on truth and peace and helped India to become free from English rule following the same ideas. There is becoming a renewed interest world over in Mahatma Gandhi and his ideas. Gandhi fest, first of its kind eco-friendly festival celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s life and message will be held on July 26.

Rajan Zed, acclaimed Indo-American leader, will be the keynote speaker of this fest which will continue till 2 am at River School Reno. Zed will talk about Gandhi’s life, philosophy, and experiments, and answer questions of the participants during this festival. Each festival participant will artistically contribute to a “Gandhi collage”, to be created on the occasion. A competition will be held to make Gandhi sketches.

According to Tom Stille and Doug Keeney, coordinators of this Gandhi Fest said that drummers, fire spinners, artists, healthy and organic food chefs, yoga teachers, DJs, and sustainable living advocates will join hands to celebrate peace, love, freedom, non-violence, self-power and conscious living as promoted by Gandhi.

The event will include folk dancing, musical performances, sustainable goods displays, nature tours, fire spinning, kite flying, yoga shows, organic food demonstrations, etc.

Gandhi Fest is expected to be an annual feature with this grand start.

Tags: America, Father of India, Gandhi, Gandhi Festival, Mahatma Gandhi

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has buzzed the poll buzzer on Saturday asking the party to prepare for general elections during a meeting convened by her of top party functionaries.

The announcement clearly indicates that the party is willing to risk elections amid soaring inflation rate and dilemma of N-deal.  Sonia Gandhi directed senior leaders to draw up time-bound programs and strategies to re-energize the party in all states to get prepare for the polls.

“This meeting was about poll preparations. The Lok Sabha elections were also discussed, the party has to get ready for polls and everybody has been asked to draw up programs and submit the same at the next meeting,” AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.

The Congress president has given party men a time-table for building the party at all levels, Veerappa Moily, chairman of the AICC Media Cell said.

Sonia during the meet also directed Congress leaders to tell people about party’s achievements like the Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2008 Union Budget.

However, much talked N-deal is not subjected to discussion during the meet. “The issue has already been discussed at two working committee meetings,” a senior leader said.

Though the UPA constituents strongly favor the nuclear deal, they hold almost equally strident views against holding of early elections.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on Thursday released its first list of candidates for the next Lok Sabha elections.  The list has names of five other candidates - Navjot Singh Sidhu (Amritsar), Vinod Khanna (Gurdaspur), Shripad Y Naik (Panaji), Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur) and TPS Rawat (Pauri).

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani will contest from Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat. Lok Sabha elections are due around April next year.

Tags: BJP, Congress, Elections India, Gandhi, Poll, Sonia Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of peace and violence, who is adored all over the world has given a little respect in the reputed museum Madame Tussauds in London where Gandhi’s statue was recently removed from the gallery of national leaders and placed next to an ice-cream stand, close to a dustbin in an isolated corner on the second floor.

The shocking incident, spotted by Ahmedabad resident V.K.Saxena on a business trip to London last month, has provoked a protest of a different kind this time around.

V.K. Saxena, the president of Ahmedabad NGO National Council of Civil Liberties (NCCL), shot off a letter regarding the issue to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown immediately after his return to India.

In his letter, Saxena wondered this intolerable and careless happening and requested to place the statue at its earlier position.

“Is this not a racial bias against India and its role models of historic reverence?” Saxena wrote.

“It is not acceptable that the Father of Indian Nation is treated in such a careless manner, by placing his statue at a location where food is served, consumed, wasted and spilled,” Saxena added.

Copies of this letter were sent to the India Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha Speaker, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and others.

Initially when contacted the management of the museum denied such happening but when a photograph that Saxena had clicked was sent to the museum as a proof, the story took a turn. The management apologized for this action saying that it was just temporary shifting of the statue.

PR manager Ben Lovett sent an email admitting, “Mahatma Gandhi’s figure was recently, and very briefly, moved to the popular Stardom area of our attraction, owing to essential maintenance work being carried out in our Political Leaders Zone, his usual home.

“Seeing your photo, we acknowledge we were not scrupulous enough in the positioning of the figure, for which we apologize.” Lovett added that “the figure has been back on display - pride of place - in our Political Leaders Zone for a number of weeks now.

Where Bollywood stars are placed in special attraction zones of the museum, the shifting of the wax statue of such a great leader to such a filthy place is really shameful and intolerable. Madame Tussuad’s management deserves to apologize for their action and needs a careful management in future.

Tags: Gandhi, India, London, Mahatma Gandhi

Indian nation pays homage to the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 44th death anniversary today on 27th May. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi along with Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday led the nation in paying homage to the former leader of the country.

Ansari and Gandhi paid floral tributes at Shanti Van, the memorial of Nehru. Besides them, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken were also present on the occasion as priests recited hymns from sacred texts.

Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Caste Buta Singh and senior Congress leaders Motilal Vohra and J P Aggarwal were also present to pay their homage to the leader.

An all religion prayer meeting was organised in the premises of the memorial followed by a speech given by the late Nehru played at the end of prayer meet.

Nehru, born on November 14, 1889, breathed his last in the early hours of May 27, 1964. He provided his immense contributions in the making of a strong, secular and modern India.

Tags: Congress, Gandhi, India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Nehru, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, UPA

Congress president Sonia Gandhi who was allegedly outraging religious feelings of Hindus for her depiction as Goddess Durga in a poster at the party’s Muradabad office in Uttar Pradesh is issued a notice by Muzaffarpur court on Wednesday to appear in the court on June 26. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna and Muradabad District Congress Committee president Ajay Taleshwar Soni are also summoned along with Sonia.

A fast-track court judge Vijay Kumar Mandal ordered issue of summons to her after hearing the complainant, an advocate Sudhir Ojha. District Judge H K Srivastava had on March 25 admitted the complaint filed by Ojha against Gandhi and the others.

Mandal directed that Sonia Gandhi, Bahuguna and Soni should appear in person or their counsels on the next date of hearing on June 26. If failed to do so, the court would be compelled to take an unilateral decision.

Earlier, the court had on April 14 issued notices to them asking them to explain their position on Wednesday.

The charges were made under three sections of IPC: Sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295 (a) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy).

Tags: Congress, Court, Durga, Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Summons, Uttar Pradesh

Today, on the 17th death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, India’s top political leaders gathered to pay homage to the late Prime Minister amid uninterrupted drizzle in the capital city, Delhi. President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi pays their tribute to Rajiv Gandhi.

The departed leader’s widow and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, along with her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Vadra, reached his memorial ‘Vir Bhumi’ to pay their tributes.

A prayer meeting was organized in the premises of the memorial ended with the play of a speech, given in 1985 by the late Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated on May 21, 1991, during a public meeting at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Seventeen other people were also killed in that explosion and 44 injured.

The day is also being observed as anti-terrorism day with seminars and discussions organised. A pledge would be later administered to people to fight against the scourge of terrorism and for maintaining peace.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defence Minister A K Antony and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also paid floral tributes to the former prime minister.

Youth Congress workers present on the occasion raised slogans in memory of the former Prime Minister.

Minster for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal and senior Congress leader Motilal Vora were among others who paid tributes to their beloved leader.

Tags: Delhi, Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Pratibha Patil, Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

Congress senior leader Akhilesh Das blamed the “coterie” around Rahul Gandhi making a dramatic move in the house on Tuesday and quit from the party as well as the Rajya Sabha handing over his resignation letter to the chairman Hamid Ansari.

Das, who was recently dropped from the Union Council of Ministers, represented Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha and was the minister of state for steel before last month’s Cabinet reshuffle.

“I have no faith in the Congress party,” he said in the House, taking everybody by surprise. Later, he told reporters outside Parliament that he had also sent his resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi and was feeling “relaxed and relieved now.”

Das alleged that “all the decisions in the party are being taken by the coterie and it is the coterie that is deciding the fate of Congress party and nation.”

Attacking Rahul Gandhi, he said, “There was a coterie surrounding the yuvraj (prince) and if the coterie was not happy with somebody, then that person had to suffer.”

Clarifying his action, Das said, “I believe there is a caucus which is doing all this. There is a power coterie. It has surrounded Rahulji and it is unfortunate that only the coterie has access to him.”

“There is a power coterie within and there is an unconstitutional power coterie. They don’t have any knowledge and they are not Congressmen and they are all surrounding the yuvraj (Rahul Gandhi) of the Congress party,” added Das.

Pointing to Rahul, he said, “He is in charge of the country… He is only the general secretary of the Youth Congress and National Students Union of India, but he is controlling the entire Congress party and he is controlling the entire nation. If he is not happy with you and his coterie is not happy with you, you cannot be in the party; you cannot be welcomed in the party.”

“They don’t have courage, but I can say that…. I am a democratic man, I am not a member of a coterie.” said Das.

On his future course of action, he said he would decide it after consulting his supporters in Lucknow.

Das said Uttar Pradesh has always been at the centre of Congress politics, but now the state too is being viewed through the “vision of this coterie”. Das also questioned the appointment of Rita Bahuguna Joshi as the president of the party’s state unit, describing her as a “daughter” of Uttaranchal.

Inflation issue was also raised by Das attacking the government for its “inability” to control rising prices.

Tags: Congress, Gandhi, India, Politics, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday commented Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to stop his “political drama”. Attacking Rahul Gandhi and the Government at the Centre she once again threatened of withdrawing her support to the UPA coalition.

Commenting Rahul’s dharna on the street along with farmers of Jhansi in Bundelkhand region, Maya told him that instead of enacting a “political drama” to hide the Congress defeat in the recent bye elections, which he has been doing for the last two days, he should, as an MP from the state, persuade the Centre to implement the special development package for Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati said that Rahul don’t understand politics, the power which he got inherited. Mayawati claimed that he has forgotten the biggest problem of inflation faced by the people and that the Central Government could fall anytime on the issue.

After sweeping all the five bye elections this week, the BSP supremo has reiterated her threat of withdrawing her support to the government at the Centre if it failed to provide special economic package of Rs 80,000 crores for development of eastern parts and the Bundelkhand region and check inflation within three months time.

“This is the last warning,” Mayawati said adding she would be sending the letter of withdrawal of support without any warning to the President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi if the Centre failed on these two fronts.

Tags: Gandhi, Mayawati, Rahul, Rahul Gandhi, up

Congress General Secretery Rahul Gandhi was stopped by the police to meet the Divisional Commissioner in Uttar Pradesh leading the young congress leader to sit on the road on a dharna as the head of more then 200 farmers.

Rahul who landed in Jhansi on Friday afternoon was on his way to meet the DC P V Jaganmohan to solve the problems of the farmers as a part of his renewed campaign against irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Farmers’ suicides have also been reported in the past from this region of Uttar Pradesh.

After landing in Jhansi, Rahul met the draught hit farmers in Ghisauli village. Farmers told him that they were denied of the employment assured under the centrally funded NREGS which guarantees 100 days engagement against a daily wage of Rs 100 during a year’s span.

Farmers telling about their problems stated, “There is some commotion when someone like you or Chief Minister Mayawati comes here; but no sooner than you all leave, officials turn apathetic once again.”

After going through their problems and other issues Rahul rushed to the DC residence along with the farmers in one of the five locally arranged buses.

Out of panic or what, Rahul was interrupted some 500 m away and stopped him there saying, “The divisional commissioner sent word that he was willing to meet Rahul alone, but would not allow him to bring the 200 — odd farmers accompanying him.”

But Rahul denied the order and sat on the roads along with the farmers.

Apparently, on getting a green signal from state capital Lucknow, the commissioner agreed to let Rahul in along with the band of farmers.

After meeting with commissioner P V Jagmohan and his team of officials, Rahul told the media, “I came here to convey the plight of these villagers to the commissioner; they are very poor people and they wanted that I must accompany them so that their grievance against serious discrepancies and irregularities in NREGS could be redressed.”

“The commissioner has promised to ensure proper implementation of NREGS in this village so that these poor farmers were duly employed and paid the prescribed wages under the provisions of the scheme.” He added.

Tags: Gandhi, Jhansi, Mayawati, Rahul, Rahul Gandhi, up

After an emotional meeting with Priyanka Gandhi, Nalini Sriharan the only survival of the assassins of Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said that she feels that all her sins have been washed away after meeting Priyanka.

Nalini is the only survival of the squad who killed Rajiv Gandhi. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Nalini in Vellore jail on March 19 to ask why her father was killed.

Nalini said that she felt very happy to meet Priyanka and the meeting has increased the respect for the Gandhi family.

Fascinated by Priyanka’s gesture Nalini made these comments to her brother PS Bhagyanathan, a few days after Priyanka met her on March 19.

P S Bhagyanathan was also convicted for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi but was declared innocent by the court later. He used to visit Vellore jail often to meet Nalini. Bhagyanathan on his part has confirmed the emotional turmoil his sister is going through. He said that Nalini was touched by Priyanka’s gesture.

Bhagyanathan however revealed that it was a surprise visit and they had no idea about it till the time it actually happened. As it is totally private and confidential nothing much was revealed but he disclosed that Nalini remained sad and depressed before meeting Priyanka but now she is happy and glad.

Tags: Gandhi, Nalini, Priyanka, Priyanka Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi