Indian villagers pray by an idol of prime minister Narendra Modi at a temple erected in his honour in Kotharia village, some 225 kilometres from Ahmedabad, on February 12, 2015. STR/AFP Photo
Indian villagers pray by an idol of prime minister Narendra Modi at a temple erected in his honour in Kotharia village, some 225 kilometres from Ahmedabad, on February 12, 2015. STR/AFP Photo
Indian villagers pray by an idol of prime minister Narendra Modi at a temple erected in his honour in Kotharia village, some 225 kilometres from Ahmedabad, on February 12, 2015. STR/AFP Photo
Indian villagers pray by an idol of prime minister Narendra Modi at a temple erected in his honour in Kotharia village, some 225 kilometres from Ahmedabad, on February 12, 2015. STR/AFP Photo

India’s Modi ‘appalled’ by temple in his honour


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Ahmedabad, India // Fans of Narendra Modi on Thursday scrapped plans to open a temple in his honour after the Indian premier said he was “appalled” by the idea.

Modi supporters had invested thousands of dollars in the temple in his home state of Gujarat, which houses a large statue of the charismatic leader — a famously natty dresser — and was due to open on Sunday.

But they decided to rededicate the temple to “Mother India” after the prime minister strongly criticised the plan, saying it went against the country’s traditions.

“We had built the temple to express our love and faith in Modiji,” project organiser Ramesh Udhad said, using an Indian honorific to describe the prime minister.

“But if he is unhappy or hurt by our gesture, we will remove his statue.”

Mr Udhad said Sunday’s opening ceremony had been cancelled and the statue of Mr Modi, who appears dressed in his trademark collarless jacket and a saffron sash, covered with a tarpaulin.

“Building such temples is not what our culture teaches us,” Mr Modi tweeted earlier Thursday.

“I was appalled. This is shocking and against India’s great traditions,” he said, urging supporters instead to focus their energies on his flagship campaign to clean up India.

Temples dedicated to living people are unusual in Indian culture, but not unprecedented — last year, supporters opened a temple to opposition leader Sonia Gandhi in the south of the country.

News of the dedication came at an embarrassing time for Mr Modi, whose Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this week suffered a drubbing in Delhi state polls.

The charismatic 64-year-old had enjoyed an extended honeymoon with voters since his landslide general election victory last year, and remains popular. But some analysts say voters are growing tired of waiting for his promised reforms.

Mr Modi has also suffered opposition charges of arrogance — notably last month when he wore a suit with his own name woven into the pinstripe to meet the visiting US president Barack Obama.

Although Mr Modi, a Hindu nationalist, has been careful to stress inclusivity since taking office, his failure to prevent fellow BJP leaders from making remarks seen as derogatory towards India’s religious minorities has caused concern in some quarters.

The temple was constructed over years with donations from some 350 Modi devotees from Kotharia village in Gujarat at a cost of around $8,000.

A long time chief minister of Gujarat, Mr Modi stormed to power nationally last May, riding a “Modi-wave” of popularity that saw thousands pack rallies to hear the powerful and charismatic orator.

* Agence France-Presse

Persuasion
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The results of the first round are as follows:

Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent

Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent

Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent

Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent

Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent

Family reunited

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.

She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.

She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.

The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.

She was held in her native country a year later.

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Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
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Rating: 2.5 stars

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Company%20profile
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While you're here
The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

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Australia

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Saudi Arabia

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South Korea

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
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The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

ELIO

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Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5