politics

BJP Govt to renovate Hindu temples in Karnataka

sjain — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:09:19 -0400

By Team Mangalorean, Bangalore

BANGALORE, July 16, 2008: The Government has decided to renovate 20,000 temples, which are in dilapidated condition. The Muzrai Department would renovate temples with the financial support of Non-Resident Indians and philanthropists, Minister for Muzrai and Housing S.N. Krishnaiah Setty told presspersons on Wednesday.

There were no archaks in a majority of the temples and daily poojas were being conducted in about 20,000 temples belonged to the Muzrai Department in the State. A few temples have been generating an annual income of Rs. 100 crore, the minister said.

With the involvement of film stars, sportspersons and NRIs, a campaign would be launched soon in Bangalore to raise funds for renovation works of temples. The local citizens and leaders have been asked to submit detail estimate plans containing information about temple history, location, funds required for renovation, to Deputy Commissioners and tahsildars in all districts. Out of 34,000 temples, only 185 temples have sufficient funds for maintenance.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa would lead a delegation to participate in the U.S.-based Association of Kannada Kootas of Americas Kannada conference in Chicago, US. The meet will commence from August 29. The delegation would appeal to the NRIs from Karnataka to donate funds for taking up renovation works of temples, the Minister said.

Hundis (donation boxes)

The department has decided to electronic "hundis" in all temples. The first electronic "hundi" will be established at the Banashankari temple in the City soon. Tenders would be invited to set up such "hundis". The cost of each "hundi" would be around Rs. 1.5 lakh, he said.

On encroachment of lands belonged to temples, the minister said a squad would be constituted to recover such lands.

Rs. 80 crore Master Plan to renovate Kukke temple

BANGALORE: The State Government has prepared a Rs. 80 crore Master Plan for renovation of the Kukke Subramanya temple located in rural village called Subramanya in the Western Ghats of the State, about 105 km from the coastal town Mangalore.

The temple is one of the famous pilgrimage sites in the state. A sum of Rs. 80 crore of the temple funds would be utilized for renovation work of the temple, construction of guesthouse, commercial complex, booking counter, bus-stand and other facilities. The work would be launched soon and would be completed in a year, Minister for Muzrai S. N. Krishnaiah Setty told presspersons on Wednesday.

Kukke Subramanya is on the bank of river Kumaradhara. There are quite a few guest houses at Kukke. The funds would be utilized for construction of more guest houses for providing accommodation for visiting pilgrims from the other parts of the country and abroad, he said.

Kukke Subramanya was in the news last year when cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Utthappa and film celebrities such as Shilpa Shetty and the Kapoor family visited the temple.

Tirupathi Temple

A decision has also been taken to construct a 1,000 room guesthouse on 7.5 acres, land adjoining the Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala in Tirupathi, for providing accommodation for pilgrims visiting the temple from Karnataka.

Mr Setty said that the land dispute between the State Government and the Andhra Pradesh Government has been resolved. An agreement would be signed soon between two states for construction of the guesthouse. Thousands of devotees have come forward to donate funds for the construction of the guesthouse which would be built in a span of two years, the Minister said.
The land dispute had come to the surface over the past decade after the Karnataka Government stated that the land belonged to it and the Andhra Pradesh Government claimed that the land was taken over by that Government in 1958.

The 7.5-acre land was donated by the then Maharaja of Mysore and after the formation of the State the land became a Government property. Over the last few years, the State Government has given a narrow piece of this land to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to widen the road adjoining the Lord Venkateshwara Temple.

Original Source: http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=85090#

Note: Kartanaka Government manages all the Hindu Temples in Karnataka and therefore they are also responsible for upkeep of temples. For this work, no Tax money is being used, all the fund for this project will be generated from Temples itself. This will help boost tourism economy of the state.

IT Professionals joining Sangh Parivar in hordes throughout India

sjain — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:41:48 -0400

Originial Source: Rich techies on weekend ‘guilt’ trips to Sangh

Bangalore, May 7: IT executive Shrichand Kaushik, 25, doesn’t waste his Saturdays and Sundays at parties or spas. He heads to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office for a bout of soul-searching.

Neither does Guru Prasad, a young Infosys employee, spend the weekend watching the IPL boys and girls or lazing about the house. He, too, makes it to the Sangh state headquarters, where he can meet Lokesh B.H. and M.P. Kumar, the CEOs of Ratna Rai Infotech and Global Edge Solutions.

They are all regulars at the IT milan, held on the lines of the Sangh parivar’s Diwali and Holi milans.

Every fortnight for the past one year, scores of young Bangalore techies have been gathering at these meetings, feeling sheepish about skipping their share of the daily shakhas and hoping to exorcise the guilt through the milans.

The meetings end with the members singing the Sangh anthem, “Namaste sadaa, vatsale mathrubhoomi (salutations, ever-loving motherland)”, their right hand placed over the chest. Some of the wealthy yuppies even turn out in the Sangh’s khaki knickers.

Most are aged between 25 and 35, and include junior, middle-level and senior executives, some of them already millionaires. Word of mouth has increased the attendance from around 25 at the beginning to about 100.

They discuss the issues of the day and not business or office politics, and wonder if it’s worth their while stashing up the bucks if they cannot “share a part of it with society”.

The guilt trips that the gatherings are have sometimes yielded tangible results, like a corpus for scholarships for poor but “bright and meritorious” students.

Some of the techies’ attraction is born out of faith in the Sangh’s ideology of a “strong nation”. For others, the “sanitised” lifestyle of the swayamsevak (Sangh volunteer) is an ideal to aspire to.

Few of them would admit they see the Sangh as a springboard to a political career in the BJP. But the enthusiasm with which they have virtually taken over the party’s central election office makes one wonder if the impulse is merely “social service”.

The milans may be a fortnightly business, but with the Karnataka polls drawing near, the BJP’s Malleshwaram office in the heart of Bangalore is overrun with the IT boys at any time of the day.

They have created a portal that is a political analyst’s dream. The databases are so well updated that a click will tell you which leader is campaigning where and when, apart from other sundry details.

In their oversized bush shirts and jeans, the clean-shaven techies with their crew cuts stand out from the tilak-wearing Sangh-BJP worker in kurta-pyjamas.

Oozing attitude and flitting from room to room, the boys refer to the senior leaders by their first names. Arun Jaitley is “Arunji” for party officials but to the IT lads, he’s just Arun, a “pioneer and practitioner of IT in politics”.

The Kaushiks and Prasads speak with as much authority on the state elections, and how poorly the Congress and H.D. Deve Gowda’s party are placed, as on ancient Indian history — or their versions of it. They claim to know as much about the future of the Sangh as about that of the IT industry.

“Anything modern need not be western,” says Kumar, arguing globalisation and the Sangh are “perfectly compatible”.

Asked how many techies are in the Sangh, the answer ranges from 2,000 to 1 lakh, including those from Mysore and Mangalore, the state’s other IT hubs.

But, Lokesh explains, the IT milans are confined to small, “manageable” groups so that the discussions and debates don’t wander off-course. The Sangh doesn’t maintain membership records, claiming “voluntary participation” lies at the core of its credo.

So why are they here? Kaushik, a senior executive with Torry Harris Business Solutions, cites “Indianisation” as his inspiration.

“It’s erroneously called Hindutva, but I want to quote a Hindi adage that says the world will awaken only when the Hindu awakens and when the world awakens, only then will humanity gather faith in itself.”

Kaushik claims there is no contradiction between his version of “Indianisation” and globalisation, which spawned the industry that has turned him into a millionaire at 25.

“To understand a country you must understand its history, and globalisation has clouded this understanding,” he says.

For Prasad, the Sangh is like a personality-development kit. “I have understood the traditional values of India, the family and social values, through the Sangh.”
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