Connect with us
Friday,05-December-2025
Breaking News

General

Pongal 2024: Mumbai Celebrates Harvest Festival Reflecting Rich Tamil Culture

Published

on

Nearly 2000 people participated in Pongal festivities in and around Antop Hill on Monday. Mass Pongal celebration was carried out across various locations of the Sion Koliwada constituency and was facilitated by MLA Captain R Tamil Selvan who continues to organise these events embracing the harvest season and Tamil culture for more than a decade now.

In a beautiful display of cultural richness, locals dressed in traditional attires prepared Pongal reciting folk songs, raising the festival mood. The event saw them setting up their Pongal pots in the midst of sugarcane, flowers, and rangolis. The celebration was notably marked at the Antop Hill Cement Ground with about a thousand people lifting the festival spirit on the auspicious day. Other areas that observed Pongal on a grand scale included New 90 Feet Road, Kamaraj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, and the Malai Mariamman temple in Naik Nagar among a few others.

Captain Selvan was seen visiting the spots and joining the public in the celebration. “Pongal is associated with agriculture. Tamilians of various religious beliefs celebrate this festival together without any discrimination. This is the significance of Pongal,” he said while extending Pongal greetings.

The event was not confined to only the Tamil-speaking people celebrating the occasion as it saw women from diverse cultural backgrounds mark the festival. While Tamilians gathered there to celebrate Pongal, others enjoyed the Makar Sankranti festivities in the region with similar rituals involving boiling water and preparing food in their pots.

Pongalo Pongal” chants were heard during the celebration as women prayed to seek prosperity for their families while boiling and expecting their pots to overflow with the Pongal preparation.

Throwing more light on the harvest festival, the MLA acknowledged that the first dam built in the world was built by Karikala, a Tamilian. “Tamilians introduced the concept of building dams to stop running (river) water and distribute it for agricultural usage. Karikala from the Chola Dynasty constructed the Kallanai Dam over the Kaveri River running in Trichy.”

Several people admire the Tamil language and its treasurable culture, including PM Narendra Modi who recently inaugurated the Kashi Tamil Sangamam at Namo Ghat in Varanasi and mentioned about Pongal and remembered prominent Tamil personalities like Subramania Bharathiyar, Bharathidasan, and Thiruvalluvar.

Maharashtra

Maharashtra Waqf Board approached the Tribunal regarding extension of date, don’t worry, 100% registration is assured: Chairman Sameer Qazi

Published

on

Aurangabad: (F.A.) The last date for registration on the UMID portal for all registered waqf organisations in Maharashtra, including mosques, dargahs and graveyards, was today, December 5, 2025, which has now expired. Although most of the waqf organisations in Maharashtra have been registered on the portal, some organisations are still missing out due to unavailability of records or other paper errors. In view of this situation, Maharashtra State Waqf Board President Sameer Qazi has appealed to the concerned trustees, trustees and the Muslim community not to panic or believe in any rumours. He has confidently said that: The Waqf Board will complete the registration of every institution. Although the Supreme Court has refused to extend the date, it has allowed the Waqf Tribunal (Waqf Court). The State Waqf Board has approached the tribunal and we are confident that justice will be done there and the deadline for registration on the UMID portal will definitely be extended. Chairman Qazi expressed his firm resolve and further said that the board will not sit in a hurry without the registration of every Waqf institution in the state being completed.

Maharashtra ranks second in the country: 80 percent registration completed.

The registration of all organizations related to the Waqf Board has been completed at a fast pace on the UMID portal. The state of Maharashtra ranks second in the country in terms of registration of Waqf institutions. There are a total of 36 thousand registered Waqf properties in Maharashtra, out of which about 30 thousand (80 percent) properties of organizations have been successfully registered on the UMID portal. All the officers and staff of the Waqf Board have made additional arrangements and completed the registration process. Not only this, but 300 young technicians were hired at the Hajj House in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar to expedite registration on the Omid portal, which is a commendable effort by the board.

Waqf Tribunal issues urgent notice to the central government, seeks response by December 10
Immediately after the Supreme Court’s direction, the Maharashtra Waqf Board approached the Waqf Tribunal. The tribunal has issued a notice to the central government while hearing the matter urgently. The notice asks the centre: “Why should the deadline not be extended?” and has directed it to file its reply by December 10. Due to this urgent action and notice by the tribunal, there is a strong possibility of an extension in the deadline, which has brought a big relief to the waqf institutions.

Don’t pay attention to rumors, time has not been extended.

A statement by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was circulating on TV and social media throughout the day today, in which he said that although the trustees have not received any relief, there is hope of getting an extension in time from the tribunal. He also said that no penalty will be imposed on the institutions that approach the tribunal. President Sameer Qazi, while explaining this statement, said: The Minister has not extended the time for uploading on the portal, but has only set a time of three months for checker and approval for those institutions that have already been registered. He explained that false news about the extension in time is being spread on social media, so do not be fooled by any kind of hesitation and until the official extension is done, the institutions must complete the uploading process.

Continue Reading

Mumbai Press Exclusive News

Nigerian arrested with cocaine in Mumbai

Published

on

Mumbai: Police has claimed to have arrested a Nigerian with cocaine in the limits of Maloney police station and 180 grams of cocaine have been seized from his possession. Police searched Manuchi Agwa alias Oliver Agwa, 27, during a patrol and recovered cocaine from his possession. Along with the cocaine, a total of Rs 72 lakhs has been seized from the possession of the Nigerian. The police have registered a case under the NDPS Act and started investigation.

Continue Reading

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Crime Branch raids travel agency… Fraud in the name of sending abroad illegally, police action, case registered

Published

on

Mumbai: Several travel agencies in Mumbai’s Nagpara area are defrauding people under the guise of sending them abroad. Such a complaint was received by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. These agencies do not have any permission from the Ministry of External Affairs and they charge huge amounts of money from people in the name of sending them abroad for jobs. Under the influence of the Ministry of External Affairs, the Protector of Emigrants, Bandra, in collaboration with the Mumbai Crime Branch unit, conducted a joint operation. A raid was conducted on 9 offices in KD Building, Nagpara, which were working to send them abroad without any permission. A complaint was also received regarding them. 238 passports, several documents, offer letters, visiting cards, letters used for foreign use and other documents were also recovered from their offices. The police have registered a case against them under the Passport Act, including the Immigration Act, in Nagpara. The police are investigating the matter further. This operation was carried out by DCP Raj Tilak Roshan on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending