Durga Puja in Bokaro, Jharkhand

Temples turn big draw
SHASHANK SHEKHAR Bokaro, Oct. 6: Lakhs of people thronged pandals in the steel city today to catch a glimpse of the idols as goddess Durga symbolically returned to the earth after winning over demons on Mahasaptami.

From eight-year-olds to those touching 80 — people from all walks of life swamped the streets this evening to see the replicas of popular temples, including 130ft Sainath temple of London at Sector IX, Lotus temple of New Delhi at Sector II-C and a church in Goa at Sector XII-E.
Artisans for replicas of grand Laxminarayan temple of Andhra Pradesh at Sector XII-A, Kurushetra temple at the upscale Co-operative Colony and Royal temple of Rajasthan at Sector XI were appreciated by people.

Though Durga Puja over the years has undergone change here, the traditional style of worship at Brahma Kumari temple at Sector IV and Banga Bharati at Sector III-D is still the talk of the town, where old and young flock to spend hours to receive the blessings of the goddess.
The entire city was magnificently illuminated with innovative themes offering glimpses of grandeur at different sectors. source: telegraph india

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‘Eastern India becoming hotspot for women traffickers’ - NHRC

‘Eastern India becoming hotspot for women traffickers’

KOLKATA, June 22 – Eastern India, including the North Eastern states, are becoming a hotspot for women traffickers like never before, warned a study. The study, conducted by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), suggests that trafficking of women and children from the Northeastern States has assumed a serious dimension. In the North East, areas near Pangsau Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, Dimapur in Nagaland and Moreh in Manipur are the major transit and demand centres. “Women and children from Assam and Bangladesh are trafficked to Moreh in Manipur and sent to Myanmar and other South East Asian countries through the Golden Triangle,” the report said. Women and children from Jorhat in Assam, Mokokchung and Tuensang in Nagaland and Bangladesh are sent through Pangsau Pass to Myanmar and then to Bangkok, it added. The report attributed “insurgency, ethnic clashes and community conflicts” to be the main reason behind the vulnerability of women and children in North East. Apart from the northeastern region, the traffickers also target tribal girls from Orissa, Jharkhand and from the minority communities in Bihar and West Bengal. “Girls from poor families are lured away with false promise of jobs, but they mostly end up in brothels of Kolkata, Mumbai or as domestic help in Noida or Delhi,” Member of National Commission for Women Malini Bhattacharya said. “Apart from being forced to work in brothels, many are sold off as bonded labourers to farm owners in Punjab and Haryana,” she added. – PTI