2578th Birth Anniversary of Gautama Buddha - Buddha Purnima 21 May 2016

PM greets the people on the occasion of Buddha Purnima

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima. 

“Buddha Purnima greetings to everyone. Gautama Buddha’s noble teachings have impacted millions of people over centuries. He is the epitome of knowledge, peace and compassion. May his teachings continue to inspire us to create a peaceful and just society,” the Prime Minister said. 

Greetings on Buddha Purnima.

India celebrates Buddha Poornima

As per Hindu calendar, Buddha Poornima (बुद्ध पूर्णिमा) falls on the full moon day of Baisakh / Vaishakh month.

Buddha Purnima during Vaishakha month is celebrated as birth anniversary of Gautama Buddha. Gautama Buddha whose birth name was Siddhartha Gautama was a spiritual teacher on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

Buddha Poornima (बुद्ध पूर्णिमा) is an international festival celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. The only difference is that it is known by different names. Buddha Purnima is also known as Buddha Jayanti, Vesak, Vaishaka and Buddha’s Birthday.
 

Buddha Poornima (बुद्ध पूर्णिमा), is usually observed in the month of April or May. However, Buddha Poornima (बुद्ध पूर्णिमा) in 2016 will be observed on Saturday, 21st May. Buddha Poornima (बुद्ध पूर्णिमा) marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautam Buddha. The day begins with lots of festivities that include, visiting temples, offering prayers and carrying out processions. Buddhists from all parts of the globe come and visit Bodh Gaya (in Bihar), Lumbini (in Nepal) and Kushinagar (in Uttar Pradesh). Bodh Gaya is the place where Gautam Buddha obtained Enlightenment, Lumbini is the place where Gautam Buddha was born and Kushinagar is the place where Gautam Buddha died .

The time of Gautama Buddha’s birth and death is uncertain. However, most historians date his lifetime between 563-483 B.C. Most people consider Lumbini, Nepal as birth place of Buddha. Buddha died at the age of 80 at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important pilgrimage site related to the life of Gautama Buddha. The other three important pilgrimage sites are Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. It is believed that Gautama Buddha obtained Enlightenment at Bodhagaya and he first taught the Dharma at Sarnath.

It is believed that Gautama Buddha obtained Enlightenment and passed away on the same day. In North India Buddha is considered as the 9th incarnation and Lord Krishna as the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

How India celebrates

People who have embraced Buddhism usually pay a visit to common Viharas to begin their celebration. There they observe a full-length Buddhist sutra which is very similar to a service.

Non-vegetarian food is renounced for the day, and followers choose to dress in white. Consumption and distribution of popular Indian dish 'Kheer' is undertaken, because according to legend, a woman named Sujata offered a bowl of milk to Gautama Buddha.

Buddha Purnima celebration is all about praying with the purest of feelings, and adopting what Buddhism stand for- peace, non-violence and harmony.

Buddha's birth country is considered as Nepal, and there this day is celebrated in accordance to the full moon day of the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist calendar.

Neighbouring Southeast Asian countries too, celebrate this day during the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist and Hindu calendar, which is usually the month of April or May according to the Western Gregorian calendar.

Celebrations worldwide

Countries all over the world celebrate the essence of Buddhism on this day, and it is not limited only to Southeast Asia. The day is a public holiday in many countries, including China, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and South Vietnam; Canada, Australia and United States (US), too, celebrate this festival by commemorating different ethnicities and cultures.

It is one of the widest celebrated festival in the world. The countries where you can see grand celebrations are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

The decision to agree to celebrate Vesākha as the Buddha’s birthday was formalized at the first conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists  held in Sri Lanka in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition. 

In 1999, the United Nations resolved to internationally observe the day of Vesak at its headquarters and offices

CBSE class XII results to be announced tomorrow

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will announce the result for class XII board examination tomorrow.

The Board will announce the results for all its regions at 12 noon. The second phase of telecounselling will also commence along with the announcement of the results and will continue till June 4, 2016.

The CBSE exams began on March 1 and concluded on April 22. This year, a total of 10,67,900 candidates registered for the Class 12 exam as against 10,40,368 in 2015.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani had earlier this week assured students during a Facebook chat that the result for CBSE Board exams for class X and XII will be declared "on time" before the end of this month and, as per a decision taken earlier, state boards are also expected to declare their results by May 31.

As per the officials, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will declare the results of the Class 12 tomorrow, i.e. May 21, at 12 noon.

The candidates can access the results from the official website, the link for which is cbse.nic.in.

How to get the results?

In order to get the results, the candidates are required to follow the steps listed below:

Go to the official website
Click on the link, 'CBSE Class 12 Results 2016'
Enter the roll number.

On submitting the same, the results will appear on the screen. The candidates must take a printout for future use.

This year, a total of 10,67,900 candidates have applied, out of which 44,66,41 are girls and 6,21,259 are boys.

The results will be emailed to the candidates. The post-result counselling will begin from May 21 and continue till June 4, the timings of the same will be from 8 am to 10 pm.

Modi to visit US from June 7; will address American Congress

PM Modi, who is leaving for Iran on Sunday, will also pay a two-day visit to Qatar from June 4. PTI  Photo

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-day visit to the US from June 7 during which he will address a Joint Meeting of the US Congress and hold talks with President Barack Obama to review the progress made in key areas of defence, security and energy. Modi, who is leaving for Iran on Sunday, will also pay a two-day visit to Qatar from June 4. At the invitation of the US President Barack Obama, the Prime Minister will visit Washington DC on June 7-8, 2016, the External Affairs Ministry announced today.

Chinese delegation from Shenzhen calls on MoS (Home) Shri Kiren Rijiju

Eager to enhance trade and cultural ties, welcome FDI in Infrastructure & Manufacturing: Shri Rijiju

A delegation led by the Vice Chairman, Shenzen Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Mr. Wang Pu meeting the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, in New Delhi on May 20, 2016.

A 14-member Chinese delegation led by Mr. Wang Pu, Vice Chairman, Shenzen Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, called on the Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju here today. The delegation arrived in India to participate in the China (Shenzhen)-India Economic and Trade Cooperation seminar.

Welcoming the delegation, Shri Rijiju said that India is eager to enhance trade and cultural ties with China. Noting that India attracted the maximum amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) last year, Shri Rijiju invited the Chinese entrepreneurs to take benefit out of the huge potential that India offers in various sectors. Besides ancient links between two civilizations, Shri Rijiju said that India is looking forward to increased interaction between the youths of both the countries for more cultural contacts and exchanges in other fields.

Noting that the Chinese delegation comprised leaders from the business, political and cultural spectrum, Shri Rijiju appreciated the rapid transformation of Shenzhen into a “dream city” and hoped that India will benefit out of their tremendous success as we recently unveiled the Smart City project. Shri Rijiju said that the Government encourages close coordination between Indian and Chinese Industry.

Mr. Wang mentioned that India and China represent one-third of the world’s population and also share a “natural bond” due to Buddhism and together we can impact a lot of change. The Chinese delegation evinced keen interest in India’s pharmaceuticals and biotech sector and invited investments by Indian pharmaceuticals companies in China. The Chinese delegation inquired about the sectors of the economy which are attracting foreign investment. The delegation members also inquired about the incentives for the investors in India and requested the Minister for favourable policies for the Chinese investors. They also raised the issue of facilitating the visas for the businessmen and for tourism even as more and more Chinese tourists and businessmen are visiting India every year.

Shri Rijiju said India encourages people-to-people contact and in order to facilitate this, the Government recently extended the electronic Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme to China and under the dynamic leadership of Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the "Visit India Year" was launched in China last year following which the "Visit China Year" has kicked off in India this year. Regarding the investment, MoUs on establishing two Chinese Industrial Parks in Maharashtra and Gujarat were signed during President Xi’s visit and the Chinese companies can explore the possibilities of investment in the same. He hoped that more Indians can visit and do business in China especially in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The Chinese delegation also invited Shri Rijiju to visit Shenzhen.

Senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of External Affairs attended the meeting. 

Mary Kom, Sarita sail into Rd 2 of World C'ship

Astana (Kazakhstan), May 19 (PTI) Five-time champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) and former Asian gold-medallist L Sarita Devi (60kg) began their campaign on a resounding note by notching up comfortable victories in their opening bouts of the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships here today.

While Mary Kom outpunched Sweden's Juliana Soderstrom 3-0, Sarita also got the better of Belarus' Ala Yarshevich by a similar scoreline after dishing out thoroughly dominating performances.

Mary Kom set up a clash on Saturday with Germany's Azize Nimani, who stunned Asian Games bronze-medallist Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam of Mongolia.

Sarita, on the other hand, will square off against Mexico's Victoria Torres, who got a first-round bye.

Both the veterans are eyeing not just medals but also Olympic berths in this event. The duo will have to make at least the semifinal to be assured of a ticket to Rio.

In a clinical performance, Mary Kom outsmarted an opponent, who had the height and reach advantage.

The 32-year-old Indian had worked hard on her reflexes ahead of the tournament and the efforts were there to be seen as she easily out-witted Soderstrom's attempts at attacking her.

The Asian Games gold-medallist used her left hooks to telling effect against Soderstrom, who failed miserably in capitalising on her reach.

In fact, the Swede looked clueless whenever Mary Kom mounted an attack.

While Mary Kom was all precision in her punches, especially the right jabs, Soderstrom's swings were mostly off-target.

Every attempt that the Swede made at attacking was blocked brilliantly by the swift-moving Manipuri.

Even though Soderstrom did manage to make an impression in the fourth round, she had already lost the larger battle to her more experienced Indian rival.

In the end, it was hardly a surprise that the judges unanimously picked Mary Kom as the winner.

Sarita was as aggressive, if not more, in her contest against Yarshevich. The Asian Games bronze-medallist took hardly a few seconds to get a measure of her rival and then went about decimating her with consummate ease.

Like Mary Kom, Sarita also relied on the left-hook-right-jab combination to unsettle her opponent, who was on the backfoot all through.

The Indian, in fact, did not have to defend much against a rather timid Yarshevich.

The prestigious event -- the final qualifying event for women boxers in the three Olympic categories of 51kg, 60kg, and 75kg -- has 12 Rio tickets on offer.

Sensex sinks 305 pts on tighter P-Note norms, hawkish Fed

Mumbai, May 19 (PTI) Falling for a second straight day, the benchmark BSE Sensex today plummeted by 305 points to hit over two-week low of 25,399.72 on fears that regulator Sebi will tighten P-Notes rules and speculations that the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rate in June.

Moreover, the broader NSE Nifty broke below the crucial 7,800-level. Among other factors, the rupee depreciated by 37 paise to 67.34 against the dollar during the day.

The 30-share Sensex after remaining in the positive zone briefly at the outset, slipped into the red and touched a low of 25,351.99 before winding up 304.89 points or 1.19 per cent, to close at 25,399.72, its weakest closing since May 6.

The 50-issue NSE cracked below the 7,800-mark by falling 86.75 points or 1.10 per cent to 7,783.40. Intra-day, it shuttled between 7,766.80 and 7,876.20.

In election result, BJP was set to create history in Assam by ousting Congress, which also lost Kerala to the Left front while incumbents AIADMK and Trinamool Congress retained power in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Meanwhile, Sebi chief U K Sinha said the regulator is in discussions with the industry on tightening Know Your Client (KYC) mechanism for participatory notes (P-Notes) and will take a final decision on it soon.

Among Sensex shares, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone emerged as the session's biggest loser by plunging 6.14 per cent to Rs 171.85 after Moody's said it has revised the outlook on company to 'negative' from 'stable'.

Other major losers were SBI, L&T, HDFC, GAIL, ITC, Cipla, Axis Bank, ONGC, RIL, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Hindustan Unilever, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Asian Paint and NTPC.

Bucking the trend, shares of Lupin rose 1.43 per cent to Rs 655.80 after the company posted 47.5 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 807.1 crore.

Sectorwise, the BSE capital goods index suffered the most by losing 2.38 per cent followed by infra (2.01 pc), FMCG (1.74 pc), metal (1.61 pc), PSU (1.55 pc), oil&gas (1.22 pc), banking (1.20 pc), consumer durables (1.04 pc) and power (1.03 pc).

Selling pressure also dragged down the BSE mid-cap index by 1.12 per cent and small-cap by 1.01 per cent.

World stocks edged lower after minutes from the Federal Reserve's April policy meeting signalled the central bank could raise rates as soon as next month if data supported the case that the American economy is getting stronger.

Asian markets finished lower while European indexes were also down in their early trade.

BJP scripts history in Assam; Left wins Kerala; Jaya, Mamata retain power

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) Scripting history, the BJP today stormed to power in Assam bagging a government in the north east for the first time dethroning Congress which also lost Kerala while Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee retained power in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal with spectacular victories.

The Congress could take solace only in Puducherry where it managed to get a simple majority along with DMK to wrest power from AINRC headed by N Rangaswami, a former Congressman.

The results of the assembly elections saw the end of Congress rule in Assam where it had scored a hat-trick in the last elections under Tarun Gogoi.

With Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal as its Chief Ministerial face, the BJP and its allies AGP and Bodo People's Front scored a landslide victory.

In the 126-member Assam Assembly, BJP won 24 seats and was leading in 38 (total 62), AGP won 6 and was leading in 8 (total 14) and BPF won 7 and was leading in 4 seats (total 11). The BJP last time had just 5 seats while the AGP had 10 and BPF had 12.

The Congress, which had secured 78 seats in the last elections, was today victorious in 10 seats and was leading in 14 (total 24). The AIUDF, led by Badrudin Ajmal, won 3 seats and was ahead in 10 (total 13).

In neighbouring West Bengal, Trinamool Congress headed by Mamata Banerjee was set to secure a two-thirds majority, fighting it alone against the Left-Congress combine.

Bettering its performance over the 2011 elections, Trinamool Congress, which had then contested in alliance with Congress and won 184 seats in the 294-member Assembly, has now won 98 seats and leading in 113 (total 211).

The Congress, which had last time got 42, improved a bit by securing three more seats this time. It was already declared winner in 14 seats and was leading in 31.

Its ally CPI(M) registered a big slide as it got only 26 seats against 40 it had last time. The party was declared winner in 9 seats and was leading in 17. CPI(M) allies CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP were ahead in 5 seats. Forward Bloc has already won one seat. .

India and Slovenia have signed Protocol amending the India-Slovenia Double Taxation Avoidance Convention.

India and Slovenia have signed a Protocol amending the existing Convention and Protocol between the two countries for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income on 17th May, 2016 in Ljubljana. The Protocol was signed by Mr. Sarvajit Chakravarti, Ambassador of India to Slovenia on behalf of India and Mr. Dusan Mramor, the Slovenian Minister of Finance on behalf of Slovenia.

The Protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance between the two countries and will also enable mutual assistance in collection of taxes.

Chinese jets intercept U.S. military plane over South China Sea: Pentagon

WASHINGTON/BEIJING | BY IDREES ALI AND MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN

Two Chinese fighter jets carried out an "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, drawing a rebuke from Beijing, which demanded that Washington end surveillance near China.

The incident, likely to increase tension in and around the contested waterway, took place in international airspace on Tuesday as the U.S. maritime patrol aircraft carried out "a routine U.S. patrol," a Pentagon statement said.

The encounter comes a week after China scrambled fighter jets as a U.S. Navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

Another Chinese intercept took place in 2014 when a Chinese fighter pilot flew acrobatic maneuvers around a U.S. spy plane.

The intercept occurred days before President Barack Obama travels to parts of Asia from May 21-28, including a Group of Seven summit in Japan and his first trip to Vietnam.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

Washington has accused Beijing of militarizing the South China Sea after creating artificial islands, while Beijing, in turn, has criticized increased U.S. naval patrols and exercises in Asia.

The Pentagon statement said the Department of Defense was addressing the issue through military and diplomatic channels.

Clinical Mary Kom sails into Rd 2 of World Championships

Astana (Kazakhstan), May 19 (PTI) Five-time champion M C Mary Kom began her campaign in style by outpunching Sweden's Juliana Soderstrom in her opening bout of the AIBA World Women's Boxing Championships here today.
Mary Kom (51kg) defeated Soderstrom 3-0 in a thoroughly lopsided contest to set up a clash on Saturday with Germany's Azize Nimani, who stunned Asian Games bronze-medallist Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam of Mongolia.

In a clinical performance, Mary Kom outsmarted an opponent, who had the height and reach advantage.

The 32-year-old Indian had worked hard on her reflexes ahead of the tournament and the efforts were there to be seen as she easily out-witted Soderstrom's attempts at attacking her.

The Asian Games gold-medallist, who is eyeing not just a medal but also an Olympic berth in this event, used her left hooks to telling effect against Soderstrom, who failed miserably in capitalising on her reach.

In fact, the Swede looked clueless whenever Mary Kom mounted an attack.

While Mary Kom was all precision in her punches, especially the right jabs, Soderstrom's swings were mostly off-target.

Every attempt that the Swede made at attacking was blocked brilliantly by the swift-moving Manipuri.

Even though Soderstrom did manage to make an impression in the fourth round, she had already lost the larger battle to her more experienced Indian rival.

In the end, it was hardly a surprise that the judges unanimously picked Mary Kom as the winner.

The prestigious event -- the final qualifying tournament for women boxers in the three Olympic categories of 51kg, 60kg, and 75kg -- has 12 Rio tickets on offer which means pugilists will have to at least make the semifinals of the three chosen divisions to book their berth.