Basant Panchami 2018: All You Need To Know

Basant Panchami is celebrated by Hindus in India, Nepal and other countries with much enthusiasm and vigour. Basant Panchami, or as some say Vasant Panchami, marks the beginning of the spring season - Basant means spring and Panchami means "the fifth day". On this day, Hindus visit temples and pray to Goddess Saraswati, who is the goddess of knowledge, and celebrate the day as Saraswati Puja.

Basant Panchami is the first of the two spring festivals of Hindus - the other being Holi. The festival is celebrated every year on the fifth day of "Phalgun" (the eleventh month of the Hindu calendar).

In India, the festival is celebrated across the country in different ways.

In West Bengal, people worship goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, education, music and art. The festival signifies that knowledge is supreme, and prevails over ignorance. Girls and women drape themselves in yellow traditional attires while men and boys wear clothes mostly in yellow.

Although there is no special time to perform Saraswati Puja, texts suggest that the goddess should be worshipped when Panchami Tithi is prevailing. According to experts, Saraswati Puja should be performed during Purvahna Kala - the time between the sunrise and the midday.

This festival is also celebrated in educational institutes - schools and colleges - where students and teachers, wearing new clothes, pray to the goddess of knowledge and organize various programmes of song and dance.

In Punjab, devotees celebrate by flying kites on their rooftops while in Rajasthan, people wear jasmine garlands on the day of the festival.

This day also marks the occasion when Parvati approached Kama to awaken Shiva who is in yogic meditation since Maha Shivratri. With all other gods and goddesses supporting Parvati, Kama agrees to bring Shiva back to do his worldly duties. He shoots arrows made of flowers and bees at Shiva to arouse him and draw his attention to Parvati.

In Kutch, this day is kindred with the emotions of love and emotional anticipation. Devotees prepare bouquet and garlands of flowers set with mango leaves as gifts. People dress in saffron, pink or yellow and visit each other. Songs are sung in praise of the Hindu deity Kamadeva and his wife Rati.

In Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, people worship Shiva and Parvati and offer mango flowers and wheat.

In Bihar's Aurangabad district, the Deo-Sun shrine was established on Basant Panchami by the King Aila of Allahabad. This event is celebrated on this day as the birthday of the Sun-Deo God. The statues are washed and their old clothes are replaced with new ones on Basant Panchami. In ancient times, the festival was celebrated in the royal palace of Kamadeva.

Basant Panchami 2018 will be celebrated on 22nd January.

Daily revision of petrol and diesel prices! What exactly is happening?

Monday blues had taken on a whole new meaning on yesterday , when news broke that petrol and diesel prices had breached the Rs 70 and Rs 60 marks respectively. This morning brings more bad news-oil prices have now set a new record since August 2014, reflecting the sharp increase in international crude oil rates.

Mumbai is India's most expensive city for motorists with non-branded petrol selling at Rs 79.15 per litre while diesel is priced at Rs 65.90 per litre. In Chennai, petrol is going for close to Rs 74 per litre and diesel at Rs 65.23 per litre. The corresponding figures for Bengaluru are Rs 72.39/62.92 for a litre of petrol and diesel respectively, while Kolkata posted Rs 74/Rs 64.5 respectively. Delhiites are having an easier time comparatively with petrol priced at Rs 71.27 and diesel at Rs 61.88 a litre. That's a hike of 9 paise per litre of petrol in just one day in the metros, while diesel is up by 14-16 paise per litre.

You can blame the price of Brent crude, which serves as the Asian benchmark, for this state of affairs. Last week, it shot past the $70 per barrel mark, the highest since December 2014, which is alarming since India imports most of its crude oil. Prices may have eased some in the past couple of days but they reportedly remain on track to post a fourth straight week of gains. This explains the renewed calls to the government to cut excise duty and cushion the burden on the common man.

The BJP-led government has cut excise duty only once during its tenure-but raised it nine times between November 2014 and January 2016. In October 2017, when petrol price had reached Rs 70.88 per litre in Delhi and diesel was priced at Rs 59.14, the government had lowered excise duty by Rs 2 per litre. But the central levy on fuels, according to a Bloomberg report, was still twice of what was charged three years ago. In any case, the party did not last long-a cursory look at the price data shared on Indian Oil's website shows how fuel prices have been going up by a few paise every single day.

The daily price hike would have been far more marked had oil marketing companies not chosen to lower margins instead of increasing prices. After all, while Brent crude posted a 45% price hike in the past six months, petrol and diesel prices rose just 9-11% during the period.

But if you are waiting for the government to step in and make your wallet happier, don't hold your breath. Last week, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded to media queries on whether the Centre would cut excise duty on the two fuels by asking states to first cut VAT. He added that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already written to the states seeking reduction in VAT.

How do you know you have a crush on him?

If you have a crush on a him,you do the following:


You will meet your friends in Pajama and hoodie, but when it's him, you ake sure to take shower in winters just to meet him.
You will be a chatterbox, but in front of him, you will practice 5 times in mind before saying a simple Hi.
Your heart will skip a beat everytime you see him.

You will think of him before sleeping and after sleeping.
You will be very moody and short tempered, but in front of him, you will be all calm and composed.
You will smile like an idiot whenever  you happen to see him.
You will check his status and dp every now & then.

My friend, if you do the same then CONGRATULATIONS, Your emotions will be screwed up just like the above said.

Tap To Unblock, Reply Privately In Groups Soon: WhatsApp

WhatsApp is testing new features for its over one billion users that include tap to unblock and private replies in groups, among others.

In the latest WhatsApp Android Beta version, spotted by the popular fan website WABetaInfo, “when you want to select a contact from the Contact List, you can easily chat to blocked contacts simply unblocking them using the new action: tap and hold the cell to unblock and send a message”.The Private Replies feature will let users reply privately to a person within a group. With this feature, you need not leave the group to reply someone.In Group Info, WhatsApp has added a new shortcut called Invite via link, very similar to the option you can find in the iOS app.

“In future, you will also be able to shake your device while you are in a chat to report something wrong to WhatsApp!,” the website has added.

This action will open the Contact Us section, where your logs can be sent to WhatsApp to help them to investigate.

In an iOS update, WhatsApp is also working on an option that will allow users to make a group call.

“You will be able, in future, to find a new section called Admin Settings, where there will be two options: Send messages and Edit group info,” the website said.

Another “Picture-in-Picture” feature will soon let users have a video chat with their friends and simultaneously message someone else.

As businesses widely use WhatsApp to communicate with their customers, particularly in Asia, the Facebook-owned service also appears set to launch a brand new app for them.

In a new FAQ published on its site, WhatsApp revealed more details about the upcoming Business accounts like how to identify verified Business accounts from non-verified ones.

“While chatting with businesses, you can check your contact`s profile to see which type of account they`re using. A verified account has a green checkmark badge in its profile,” WhatsApp wrote in the FAQ.

The much-talked-about WhatsApp for business app is currently being tested by a private group of testers and the company will introduce it as a WhatsApp Business` a standalone app.

What are some of the most secretive places that one can never visit in India?

1.Wheeler Island Odisha

 is an island off the coast of Odisha approximately 150 kilometres from Bhubaneswar. India maintains a missile testing facility on the island.Access to the test facility is by ship, as there is no bridge or airport connecting the island to the mainland. There is a small helipad, but missile airframes and all supplies, construction materials and heavy equipment arrive by ship.

  2.   North Sentinel Island, Andaman & Nicobar Island.

        A group of indigenous people, the Sentinel, live on North Sentinel Island. Their population is estimated to range from 50 to 400 individuals. The Sentinelese reject any contact with other people, and are last people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization. The population faces the potential threats of infectious diseases to which they have no immunity, as well as violence from intruders. The Indian government has thus declared the entire Island, which is approximately the size of Manhattan, and its surrounding waters extending three miles from the island, to be an exclusion zone.

  3. Kongka La Pass

    According to the few local people on the Indian and Chinese sides, this is where theUFOs are seen coming out of the ground. This theory is given credence by the fact that in June of 2006, satellite imagery on Google Earth revealed a 1:500 scale detailed terrain model of the area in question on the Chinese side of the border.

  4. Challakere

  The facility, being built in Challakere (200 km from Bengaluru) in Chitradurga district, upon completion, will "expand the government's nuclear research, to produce fuel for India's nuclear reactors, and to help power the country's fleet of new submarines" the report said.The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) are two agencies involved in the construction of the military complex in Challakere.

5. Rambilli military base

The naval base called “Ram Beery military base” is located only 50 kilometers away from the famous port city Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh of India. The Indian eastern naval command, controlling one of the al fleet of the two main forces in India, is in Visakhapatnam. There will be piers and maintenance facilities for nuclear submarines. The reports claimed that the naval base, armed with high-tech equipment,will become India’s new nuclear submarine homeport. The port is strategically positioned at Andaman Islands in the South China Sea from where the Chinese naval activities in the Indian Ocean can be observed.

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Milk masala powder: Stay healthy with this nutritious drink mix

What is milk masala?

Milk masala powder is a mix of roasted and ground nuts and dried fruits, which may be added to milk to make milk tastier, easier to digest and also full of flavour and health benefits. The masala can be prepared at home or bought in ready to mix packs available commercially. 

Recipe

masala powder for dhoodh(milk) is ready for this winter. 
Ingredients... 
Pepper 50gram..
Poppy seeds 100gram..
Elachi 50gram..
Clove 25gram..
Saunf 10gram..
Nutmeg 1
Cinnamon 1long stick... 
Haldi 200gram... (used organic haldi powder).. 
Palm sugar 300gram..

Dry roast well all the above ingredients separately in a kadai.
 Cool it and grind it in a mixer grinder all together 
Add a spoon of this powder with 300ml of hot milk and serve
Do not add sugar since palm sugar is added as a sweetening agent for this.

CTRL ALT DELETE your fat!

“You are so fat, WTF. How disgusting," "You cannot be confident with being that unhealthy” - unfortunately, these are some extremely mean things people who are on the heavier side hear at least once in their lifetime.

Fat-shaming is a sad reality. It's a struggle for those who are getting by this insult on a daily basis.

It is never too late! All that first you have to decide to do is run to drain away all the negativity surrounding you. A few months later, you are sure to end up on the road to transformation.

"The results that you see along with weight loss, how friends and family are so appreciative and supportive of the change, keeps you going. Moreover, It is one’s own burning desire that to fit into smaller size clothes, and that's what will keep us motivated.

Every morning, take a pledge to start with a minimum of 2-km run and evenings with indoor stretches and weight training.

"Never give up on things. Whatever you decide to achieve, just go for it because 'where there's a will there's a way!'