At least six people were crushed to death and more than 30 injured when large crowds gathered to get tickets for a festival in India’s Tirupati temple, one of the richest in the world.
The incident occurred late on Wednesday when hundreds of devotees jostled for tickets for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam, starting from January 10 at the Venkateshwara Temple, commonly known as the Tirupati temple, in southern Andhra Pradesh state.
The temple authorities said they set up 94 counters at three pilgrim lodges to distribute 120,000 tickets for the festival. The counters were scheduled to open on Thursday morning, but an unexpected crowd thronged the centres overnight, causing chaos.
The temple in Tirupati district is dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Vishnu and attracts millions of pilgrims every year. About 80,000 people queue each day to enter the innermost shrine, where a gold-clad deity sits under a gold-roofed dome. The temple has estimated assets worth $29 billion.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the temple body, confirmed six deaths and said those seriously injured were being treated at hospitals. They said overcrowding was the cause of the crush.
“The reason is overcrowding … it is an unfortunate incident. A total of six people have died. As of now, one body has been identified and five are yet to be identified,” said the temple body's chairman, Bollineni Rajagopal Naidu.
Witnesses told local media that the crush happened when people rushed to ticket counters. “As soon as the police officials opened the gate, the pilgrims rushed to get the tokens. A stampede occurred due to the heavy rush,” a pilgrim told the NDTV news channel, adding that out of “twenty members of my family, six were injured”.
Tirupati Municipal commissioner N Moruya said a preliminary investigation found that about 4,000 people gathered at the ticket centre and a woman in the queue fell sick. The gates were reportedly opened to allow her to leave, but others rushed to the counter. State Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu expressed his “shock over the tragic incident”. He is expected to meet the injured and relatives of those killed on Thursday. An investigation into the incident is under way.
India has a grim record of crowd management and such accidents are common across the country, including at religious events. At least 116 people died in a crush at a religious gathering in northern India in July last year. About 224 pilgrims were killed in 2008 in a crush at a hilltop temple in western Rajasthan, marking one of the deadliest accidents in the country's history.
How to get there
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
Result
UAE (S. Tagliabue 90 1') 1-2 Uzbekistan (Shokhruz Norkhonov 48', 86')
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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SPECS
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
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Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
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Losses: 4
The view from The National
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