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Thursday,18-September-2025
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Pongal 2024: Mumbai Celebrates Harvest Festival Reflecting Rich Tamil Culture

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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

Protection of religious places in Bhiwandi road expansion project, MLA Raees Sheikh assures protection of religious places after meeting with Municipal Commissioner

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Mumbai: Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Raees Sheikh has demanded protection of religious places like mosque, temple, gurudwara, and Samaj Mandir in the Bhiwandi road expansion project. He has also demanded rehabilitation and compensation for the victims of the Bhiwandi and Kalyan road expansion project. Raees Sheikh was being accused of supporting the DP plan to benefit the builder lobby, after which Raees Sheikh met the Municipal Commissioner Bhiwandi Nizampur today and made it clear that the road and DP plan and policy are not prepared by the MLA. He said that the road expansion and DP plan should be changed and the protection of religious places should be ensured, on which the Municipal Commissioner Bhiwandi Nizampur assured Raees Sheikh that the protection of religious places will be maintained. If it is an obstacle in the survey, then necessary changes should be made in the project along with ensuring their protection. He said that religious places of any nature will be protected.

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Maharashtra

Khan can also become the mayor of Mumbai, just be a citizen of Mumbai… Criticism on BJP leader amiyat satum, Rais Sheikh Brahm for trying to give religious color to everything

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Mumbai: If you are a citizen of Mumbai and love Mumbaikars, then any person from Mumbai, D’Souza, Khan, Khanolkar, can become the Mayor. The BJP in Mumbai views everything through a religious lens, and this is completely wrong, said Mumbai Samajwadi Party MLA Raees Shaikh on Wednesday, reacting to a statement by BJP Mumbai president MLA Amit Satam. On Tuesday, BJP’s victory in Worli was challenged by MLA Amit Satam at the Sankalp rally, ‘If Shiv Sena (UBT) comes to power in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, then ‘Khan’ will become the mayor of Mumbai. But the BJP will not let this happen. Any attempt to change the colour of Mumbai will be thwarted. Taking notice of this, MLA Raees Sheikh said, “Anyone can become the mayor of Mumbai, be it a Bohri, Parsi, Christian, Marathi, Muslim, Mumbai city is not a personal fiefdom of BJP, if Mumbaikars express their faith, then a Mumbaikar of any caste or religion can become the mayor of this city. MLA Sheikh further said that the double engine government in the state has ended. BJP has no problem left for Mumbai’s development. Therefore, BJP leaders create such problems and problems which increase religious division during the election period. BJP does not consider Mumbai’s development important. Therefore, this city is being made unsafe. The blood of our ancestors is also in the soil of this country. What do you see in the religion of political leaders? Look at the leader’s contribution and work in development, Raees Sheikh strongly criticized the BJP president and made these targeted criticisms. Made.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Goregaon illegal call center exposed, 15 accused arrested

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Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has claimed to have busted an illegal call centre in the Goregaon area of ​​Mumbai. The call centre was used to defraud American citizens. In the name of updating antivirus software on a toll-free number, it used to fool American citizens and lure them into investing in crypto currency and dollars by luring them to buy gifts worth $250 to $500. On September 15, the Crime Branch Unit 12 received a tip-off and arrested 15 accused during the raid and recovered 10 laptops, 20 mobile phones, two call centre operators, a manager and 10 tolly group agents from the possession of the accused. The Crime Branch has registered a case under the Cheating and IT Act in this case. The operation was carried out on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti, Joint Police Commissioner Lakshmi Gautam and DCP Vishal Thakur.

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