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Hello 2022! Hopes ride high! As we stepped into 2021 with the hope of vaccination, we step into 2022 with a hope to restore the economy, normalisation of life and overall harmony. The city immersed in celebratory fervour in small gatherings and treats in New Year themed restaurants on Friday. As you flip through the first news edition of Free Press in 2022, we wish you hope, cheer and bring you a preview of dreams for this year. With three 2’s and a zero symbolising eternity, it’s time to act together and get ahead in a way that benefits one and all. If you have a fancy for fun palindromes then watch out, as February will feature palindrome dates this year. February 2, 2022 (2-2-22) and February 20, 2022 (2-20-2022) will mark a special number on your diary. Speaking to different groups of experts and representatives, we bring out what the youngsters, women, educationists and businesses are planning for 2022! Sustainability & Nature way of life is our goal: Women The pink powers hav...

Covid- 19 vaccination of 15 to 18 year old students studying in all government and non-government schools of the district will start from January 03, 2022. School Education Department instructed all the cluster principals to prepare an action plan for vaccination in all the government and non-government schools. The principals were entrusted with the responsibility to coordination with the medical officers. According to the work plan, the principals must ensure 100% attendance of the students studying in the school on the scheduled dates. Further, they must ensure that covid-19 protocols are strictly followed. “Schools must prepare students and parents, ensure the presence of students on the day of vaccination by having a proper meal,” the instruction from district education officer (DEO) Manglesh Vyas said. DEO holding a meeting noted that the principal and class teacher of the school will be responsible for 100% attendance. “In the vaccination task, a computer operator will be arrang...

Catholic community prayed in the churches, bidding farewell to 2021 on Friday and welcomed the new year 2022. Taking precautions of the current situation of coronavirus and as per the instructions of the state government, special worship was done in the Catholic Churches of Indore city from seven in the evening. Holy Mass was offered before 10 pm. In the special worship, the community prayed that 2022 does not see a covid-19 wave like second wave that affected the city and country in 2021. The Holy Mass was offered at Indore Red Church under the leadership of Bishop Chacko and the participation of Father Thomas Mathew, Father Suresh Sonwani, Father Anthony Sami, Father Simon Raj and other priests. Bishop Chacko in his sermon said, "We thank God and all our associates, as expressing gratitude is essential." He added that 2022 is dedicated to prayers to save us from this pandemic. God made us worthy to help others in times of crisis. "Even today we have many such well wish...

Gunjan bags Mrs Beautiful Hair & Mrs MP title Gunjan Shukla from Indore bagged a the title of Mrs Beautiful Hair (National Category) and Mrs Madhya Pradesh (MP-State Category) in a TISKA Beauty pageant titled ‘Mrs India One in the Million-2021’. The finale of the beauty competition was held at Taj Vivanta New Delhi. She was adjudged with this two titles by a panel of Jurist including former Mrs World Dr Aditi Govitrikar, and Mr India Sachin Khurana. Other celebrity fashion designers, fashion photographer, stylists and diet experts had also casted their vote for the judgement. Gunjan is an associate professor and head of a department at a private university in Indore. She said, “Women can empower themselves by making best use of time and opportunities with the spirit of ‘Never Give-Up’.” Gunjan had earlier won Miss Indore Second Runner-up. She is also a Marathoner and a cyclist. What gave her an extra edge in the competition was her training as a classical dancer, poetry and social ...

A grand procession was taken out from Rajwada on Thursday morning by Jain community A grand procession was taken out from Rajwada on Thursday morning under Parsvnath Jain Kalyan and Diksha Mahotsav. Various Jain women's organizations of the city took part in the yatra with the earthen pot. At the same time, many tableaux were also involved in the Rath Yatra. During the Rath Yatra (Chariot Festival), social workers distributed masks. More than 22 groups of of Shwetambar and Digambar Jain Samaj of the city participated in the Virat Rath Yatra of the side devotional festival. Women from different groups and regions took part in the Rath Yatra carrying Kalash and religious ensigns. Tableaux gave social messages along with religious in the Rath Yatra. The Rath Yatra started from Rajwada, went towards Mahavirbagh via Jawahar Marg. There will be a Vatsalya Bhoj after the discourses of Jain saints. Acharya Dr Pranamsagar, Anuyogacharya Veerratna Vijay Maharaj, Rajesh Muni, Acharya Divyana...

For the first time after covid-19 outbreak, schools opened their doors for offline classes from July 26, 2021. MP government issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for reopening schools for Classes 11 and 12 with 50 percent attendance started from July 26, after the Covid-19 cases in the state were at an all-time low. Following late night orders from district collector, only a few private schools in Indore had opened. This was the first time, after the outbreak of second wave and lockdown enforced, schools finally reopened in the state. High Schools reopening, CBSE schools were extra cautious Government schools and schools affiliated to Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Eudcation (MPBSE) had opened their doors in July. However, schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) decided to keep their doors shut for longer. CBSE schools were planning to reopen the schools for conducting offline classes from Aug 5. However, they didn’t open up as have decided to put th...

Post covid-19 outbreak, while #AnimalCrossingNewHorizon has been trending, some surprising and scary incidences presented cases of human-animal conflicts. On the sad note, Madhya Pradesh recorded one of the highest ever death rate of tigers. The toll inched to 44 in the state by Thursday. This could be much higher, as these are recorded deaths of most adult tigers that were killed. While the survival rate of tigers from the cub population is already low. It is generally accounted to 50 percent on average. In the latest death reported this week, a tiger was found dead in Chhindwara. This took this year’s toll to a shocking 44. Earlier this week, a tigress was killed in Dindori, apparently after someone poisoned its kill, a bison. This is one of the highest annual tiger death tolls in MP in decades. Some major incidents that put a big question mark on forest department and management of wildlife were reported in leopard cases all over the state. One of the biggest fails reported in Indor...

Various women including renowned authors and experts of literary field on the dais of two-day Akhil Bharatiya Mahila Sahitya Samagam The two-day Akhil Bharatiya Mahila Sahitya Samagam organized under the joint aegis of Vama Sahitya Manch concluded on Thursday. The conference was organized in the third year in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi, Madhya Pradesh Culture Department. Book authors and short story writers from all over the country attended the program. Five books were released in the session, Sheela Srivastava's novel Vishwas, Sushma Chaudhary's English novel "Fate is without rules" Mishti Swalani's novel "Sindhu: Abhilashit Trishul" Dr. Chitra Jain "Koi Nikhre Koi Bhekere", Vinita Motlani's "Ehsaason" K Alfaaz” was released. The central theme of the session was harmony with the changing times and the guests expressed their views on women. Hindi Sahitya Akademi director Dr Vikas Dave advised women to stick to their cultu...

Bharatnatyam /Kathak dancer Ashish Pillai was awarded with Jannayak Birsa Munda Award for outstanding contribution in the field of classical dance. The award was given by Sanskar Bharti Natya Kendra during 3 day Drama and Dance Festival held at Soor sadan Auditorium Agra. Pillai performed Kathak dance along with his disciple Purva Pande on the inaugural ceremony of 2nd day of the festival. On the 3rd day Pillai and his disciple performed Individually in Bharatnatyam Style. Purva Pande received National Meera Samman given to emerging dancer. The performances were greeted with thunderous applaud by dignitaries and audiences alike.

NEP 2020 inclusive: Covid boosts digitalisation of schools: AR & VR coming soon Curriculum on Digital Safety, online well-being, already up Post covid-19 era, everything has seen a transformation post covid-19 era and digitalisation of education system has been rapid. Now, with the need of technology to evolve and provide international level of learning to Indian education, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) will be used now. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in collaboration with the tech giant, Meta, aims to train 10 lakh teachers and more than 1 crore students in the VR and AR in the next three years. As part of this partnership, Meta has already provided a curriculum on Digital Safety, online well-being, VR and AR. What is AR and VR? Augmented Reality or AR is an interactive experience that involves overlaying computer-generated visuals in the real-time physical world. It superimposes digital content in the real-world environment captured through the...

Coronavirus tinted the goodbye to 2021 and the start of 2022 as Indore will not witness any parties, gatherings or celebrations in hotels and resorts this year. With Covid-19 cases back on the rise, even though govt has not imposed a restriction on parties, no hotel or restaurant is planning a party this year. “We are not organising any New Year party this year,” president of hotel association Sumit Suri said. He added that New Year bash could pose a threat of covid-19 spread. “All the hotels, cafes and restaurants have unanimously agreed not to allow any crowding and ensure compliance of covid-19 protocol,” Suri said. He added that food will be served till 11 pm in most places. “It’s no profit for us or people to organise a party this year, as safety and prevention from covid-19 is of prime importance now,” Suri said. He added that no such demand for parties is also seen anywhere in city. “The usual party lovers are also smart enough to understand the importance of controlling the spr...

First in the country, a chair dedicated to the country's first chief of Defence staff General Bipin Rawat was launched on Tuesday. The chair has been launched at Dr BR Ambedkar University of Social Science, Mhow in an event organised in association with Free Press. Vice chancellor of university Asha Shukla said, “The entire country and all of us are grieving the loss of Rawat, who was not only our first chief of Defence but an inspirational role model.” Hence, we must not only grief but find a way to remember and learn from his life. She added that this chair is being launched to inspire every Indian to become a focused leader whose only aim is the benefit of the nation. As announced, many activities with army officials will be organised under the chair. Furthermore, Army War College and activities of the research centre will go hand in hand, added Shukla. “It will be helpful to army personnel coming here and students as well,” she said. She added that the university will make it a...

India’s first chief of Defence Bipin Rawat departed from the world in a tragic crash but his skills and leadership ideologies will be imparted to our future generations, as declared a tribute ceremony organised by Free Press in association with Dr BR Ambedkar University of Social Science, Mhow, on Tuesday. Both Free Press and University paid tribute to country's first chief of Defense staff General Bipin Rawat in Buddh Vihar, BRAUSS, Mhow, on Tuesday. During the event, inspiring officers and diplomats addressed the gathering sharing their experience with Rawat. Life of Rawat who led from the front... As shared by Lieutenant General VS Sreenivas, Commandant, Army War College said... “He was the one who lead from the front. Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR) on 16 December 1978, the same unit as his father. During the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley, then Captain Rawat's battalion was deployed against the Chinese Pe...

The colours of Gujarat’s tribes came to Indore in the grand celebration of Malwa Utsav on Monday. The famous shield sword dance of Gujarat was presented by tribal artists. A blend of Gond, Baiga, Korku tribal folk dances was also seen during the fest. Small children wearing masks and driving in a remote-operated car, young men and women enjoyed a ride on a camel. The delicious taste of Malwai cuisine was loved by all. Dances from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha will also be presented in the coming days. Further, northern and eastern heritage of the country will be represented by dancers from Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Shankar Lalwani said that in this festival dedicated to tribal dance and folk art. The dance performances ranging from Holi to Ghodi Pathai will be seen during the fest. Artist Ankita Aggarwal with her team of 15 members presented Shiva vandana on Monday. The vandana was named as...

Citing covid-19 spread in the state, Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) extended the deadline for corrections in examination forms. The board has given one more chance to the 10th-12th student to make changes in the examination form. Students will now be able to make corrections in the examination form till January 15. The changes must be made online directly using login details or with help from MP online Kiosks. Previously, the last date for making corrections was set at December 15. “A lot of students were facing a problem and needed to make corrections as per requests sent to divisional and state offices of the board,” divisional officer Deven Sonwani said. The board examination for academic session 2021-22 for class 10th and class 12th will start in mid-February. This is perhaps first time in more than a decade that MPBSE board examinations will be conducted in February. To attempt these examinations, students have filled the exam form. To rectify the mistakes in ...

Grand procession ‘Prabhat Pheri’ of lord Ranjit Hanuman taken out early morning on Monday An early morning procession known as ‘Prabhat Pheri’ of Ranjit Hanuman was taken out Monday. The procession marked the main event of four-day Ranjit Ashtami festival. This is the 134th year of Prabhat Pheri. After 8 years due to outspread of coronavirus and required social distancing protocol, the route of Prabhat Pheri was changed and this procession was taken out from wide roads only. Further, the route of the procession was also shortened. The procession did not pause for devotees this year to avoid any gathering. The aarti of the Lord was performed in the Ranjit Hanuman temple at 5.10 in the morning. After grand decoration of lord Hanuman, the idol was placed in a decorated chariot. The chariot was decorated with different varieties of flowers and lights. The morning procession started from the temple at 5.30 am. Thousands of devotees participated in this Prabhat Pheri. Lord Ranjit Hanuman...

D El Ed exam from Jan 12, 4k to attempt Along with this, the supplementary exams of D El Ed (Diploma in Elementary Education) first and second year are scheduled to start from January 12, 2022. MP Board's D El Ed first and second year exam will start from January 12, 2022. They are scheduled to conclude by January 22, 2022. The examination will be held from 9 am to 12 noon. Around 4,000 students will be attempting the exam. A total of 11 examination centers have been set up at the divisional level in the state. Complete information is available on MP Board's website www.mpbse.nic.in. //D El Ed will be valid, court judgment Further, the board issued a notice on the judgment on validity of the certificate. The board reiterated the validity and approval on the diploma. “This is for information to all concemed that as per verdict of the Honourable High Court of Tripura, dated: 12.03.2020 and 13.03.2020, Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) from National Institute of Open Scho...

Sikhi lessons being imparted in LIG gurudwara Gurudwaras especially LIG gurudwara thronged with devotees as Sikh community observed Shaheedi Diwas of Chaar Sahibzaade from midnight. Under the celebrations, parents were trained on how to learn from Guru Gobind Singh and help their children become mindful and confident. The community is observing the martyrdom of Ajit Singh, Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh, and Fateh Singh, the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh, who sacrificed their lives in an important battle against the Mughals. An elderly woman of the community Jasvinder Kaur said, “We need to develop thr necessary qualities from Chaar Sahibzaade starting from mindfulness.” She suggested to focus on daily activities e.g centring the mind whilst doing something thus not letting it wander elsewhere. “Concentrate on breathing during the day and focus on Guru Gobind Singh through Simran,” Jasvinder added. On developing confidence in kids, Amaira Kaur said, “Allow your child to be who they are ...

Thalapolli Shobha Yatra was taken out in Mahalaxmi Nagar by Kerelam Samjham on Sunday. The Shobh Yatra commemorates 41st day of 60 days Mandal Puja. Further, devotees came together to Shri Ayyappa temple and participated in Napatton Puja. The main attraction of the evening was Thalappoli, a procession (shobha yatra) which was taken out from Mahalaxmi temple, with the traditional Kavadiyattam, Pettathullal, and accompanied by 'Chendamelam (drum beating) for which artists from the community had prepared. Thalpolli Shobha Yatra covered the road lead to Ayyappa temple at 6 pm. The puja began after the Shobha Yatra reaches the temple. “The 41st day of Mandala Puja in Scorpio month is of prime importance in the 60-day-long puja as it comes one phase,” Sajan Panicker, president of temple society said. Deeparadhana was held at 7.30 pm. The community members further came together for a ‘bhajan sandhya’ and sang hymns. At 9.30 pm, the doors were closed after distribution of Prasad. At the s...

Deepotsav was celebrated on Sunday at Ranjit Hanuman temple under the four-day Ranjit Ashtami festival. About a thousand earthen lamps were lit at 6 pm in the temple premises. There will be a grand decoration and special adornments for lord Hanuman. On December 26, at 11 am, the deity idol will be consecrated and worshipped in the temple. Prayers will be offered seeking protection from coronavirus. After this the main event will be held on December 27. Lord Ranjit Hanuman's Prabhat Pheri will be taken out from the temple premises at 5 in the morning. Every year the devotees eagerly wait for the Prabhat pheri coming out of the temple. This year also, this Prabhat Pheri will be taken out with pomp and full enthusiasm amidst the cold waves. But this time some changes have been made in the route of Prabhat pheri. Due to covid-19 outspread, this procession will only pass through wide roads. This is the 134th year of the procession. This tradition of taking out Prabhat Pheri has not stop...

Madhya Pradesh Consumer forum has ordered Central Government, Railway Department, to pay compensation of Rs 15,000 plus interest for failing to provide promised to a customer, who had reserved a berth for Rs 1,500. Madhya Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission slashed even second appeal in the case and ordered the Railway Department to pay the compensation as per The Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Commission Chairman Justice Shantanu S Kemkar and member SS Basal have noted in the order that according to the evidence on record, it is proved that the gates of coach B-1 of the train in question were not open. Therefore, it will be considered as a shortcoming in railway service. Case file Plaintiff Seema Jain wife of Ashok Kumar Jain had booked a berth in AC / Jhelum Express train number 11078 on 22-12-2012. Berth numbers 41, 42 and 44 were reserved in three tier B-1 coaches. The plaintiffs came and stood at the designated place of B-1 coach of the platform. When the train ar...

School students take up charge of making Indore cleaner and greener by contributing to it with eco bricks. With the theme of making a difference, students are collecting plastic waste and working on reduction of the same. “Each one of us can make a difference. Together we can bring a change,” leading the drive Anil Rai, Savita Rai and Timsi Rai said. Schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are supporting initiative of IMC (Indore Municipal Corporation) for Green Indore Mission and Swachhta Abhiyan. With the aim to make Indore plastic free, the activity is being organised in regular school days. Students were asked to collect single use waste plastic bottle(s), fill the bottle(s) to full capacity with single use plastic waste like wrappers, milk pouch, oil pouch etc. With patronage of our valued parents and participation of active students, we were able to collect. Some schools are also encouraging students to plant saplings and promoted use of cloth bags inste...

Malwa Utsav celebrating the culture of the state was inaugurated at Lal Bagh Palace on Saturday with tribal dances and fun-filled art workshops. The festival is dedicated to celebrations of tribes of MP and organised under the Amrit Mahotsav of India’s Independence. In this festival is being organised for 6-days from December 25 to December 31 by Indore Municipal Corporation and Sanskriti Sanchanalaya Madhya Pradesh. Shankar Lalwani, the convener of Lok Sanskriti Manch, said, “On the first day of the festival, Lambardi was performed by talented performers.” Lambardi is a famous dance of Telangana, which is performed by Banjara tribe in joy after harvesting. The stage was built as a replica of Ram temple of Orchha. Girls performed the dance dressed in traditional colours opted by the tribe including blue, green and yellow dresses. Further, heavy tribal jewellery was worn by performers. To give it the local music flavour, the instrumental artists played dappu instruments. The tribal grou...

To celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Christian community gathered for Holy Mass and worship in churches on Saturday early morning hours. Community members celebrated the birthday by cutting a cake in a few catholic churches of the city. Most churches saw a small gathering in the church, where holy mass was offered to Christ. After this, the gates of churches were closed again for the day so that the crowd did not gather. Only limited devotees were able to worship in the church at a time. Churches will now open for visitors on December 26, 27 and 28. Keeping in mind the social distancing, stickers are placed on the benches in the St Francis Assisi Cathedral (Red Church). Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal SVD in his address said, “Just as the whole world is currently waiting for the vaccine or drugs to beat covid-19, similarly mankind was saved from the epidemic of sin years ago by Jesus Christ.” Technically, Christmas celebrations commenced on December 16 with novena to the nativity of Je...

Forest department is instituting departmental enquiry team and further, analysing various pending cases to file another charge-sheet against a forest ranger. One of the essential charges that is rattling the department occurred in Undwa forest area. The area falling in Manpur range suffered immensely as more than 15 thousand saplings could be planted. There the range officer had noted 25 thousand saplings on paper. Before the payment was made, the plantation site was investigated and it was found that only 10 thousand saplings were planted. Under the camp scheme, saplings were to be planted in room number 31 of Undwa forest area falling in Manpur range. The project was completed in 2018-19. It was possible to plant saplings in some part of the hilly area of 40 hectares, but Ranger BS Devda, bypassing these things, sent a project to plant 25 thousand saplings. The project was approved in November-December 2020 and an amount of more than 50 lakhs was allocated to Indore Forest Division....

The Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan rewarded Indore Municipal Corporation for coming number-1 for the 5th time in cleanliness with Rs 5 crore on Saturday afternoon at Amber Garden. Chouhan said that Madhya Pradesh should be made the number one state of the country in the field of cleanliness. “This is possible only when every city plays an active part in the field of cleanliness and make their cities the most beautiful and clean cities,” Chouhan said. He made a resolution to make the state the number one state of the country. “Every city should be proud of its heritage, and to carry forward this legacy, ensure public participation in development, all cities should celebrate their foundation day,” Chouhan said. Chouhan was in Indore on Saturday for various programs. He attended the state level honour ceremony here under the Swachh Survekshan 2021 as the chief guest. He released Sewer & Safety Tank magazine. Chouhan appreciated the eco friendly bag 'Main Hoon Jhola Dhari Ind...

After two years of break, school children learned about environment, forests and wildlife in two-day fun-filled forest camp concluding on Friday. The Forest Department organised Anubhuti camp for the children of government schools. Children were taken for a walk in the jungle. A master trainer told them about various facts and guided them about understanding pugmarks of animals. Anubhuti camp was not kept for two years due to infection. After taking the permission of the government, the department has made preparations for it. Children of different schools were taken for a walk in the forest in separate shifts. A similar program is being organised to take govt school students on forest tours. In the two-day long program, children from different schools will be taken for a walk in the forest. Details about rare flora, plants and wildlife were explained. Three to four master trainers are notified in each forest division to continue the program in long term. Forest is including some NGOs ...

Celebrations of Christmas began with carol singing and holy mass on Friday Christmas Eve The celebrations of Christmas eve were advanced due to night curfew enforced across the state citing the rising number of covid-19 cases on Friday. The celebrations began from late evening between 7 pm and 8 pm in all the catholic churches of the city. Carols were sung to begin the celebrations. At St Joseph Church, Nanda Nagar, various carols were sung in Hindi including ‘ham charwa hai nachi jumke’ and ‘naman naman baal kesu’. The celebrations in Red Church were headed by Bishop Chacko of Indore Diocese, Father Suresh, Father Anthony Sami, Father Mukesh and Father CB Joseph. Non-Christians welcomed to Church from Dec 26 to Dec 30 While the pass system will continue on Christmas day, the church has invited non-Christians to come to churches and be a part of the festive spirit from December 26 to December 30. The churches reiterated that the restriction on church day is just a precautionary protoco...

People often associate bulky muscles with just good strength or looks, but strength training combined with aerobic exercises can save lives. Stating this, nutritionist and dietician Dr Preeti Shukla cited a published study of 13,000 people in Medicine Science and Sports Exercise (MSSE) journal. The study stated that performing resistance training for less than an hour per week was associated with roughly 40 to 70 percent decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality —without aerobic exercise. Dr Shukla was discussing the topic of better health in a seminar organised by Create Stories Social Welfare Society. The seminar was coordinated by Deepak Sharma, a philanthropist. “Strength training can boost our health and fitness, but to balance it out, we must work on relaxation and cardio as well,” Dr Shukla said. She said, “Only weight training increases the stress hormone i.e. cortisol, and due to excessive increase of stress hormone, blood pressure, diabetes, heart probl...

St Joseph Church, Nanda Nagar announced that they will not be providing any passes for entry into Church for Christmas celebrations. “We have not made any arrangements for passes on Christmas, but we appeal to non-Christians not to come to church to attend the celebrations,” Sharman Francis from the church said. He added that Christians will not need passes for entry.

Malwa Utsav: 6 days of celebrations of heritage & crafts from Dec 25 The uniqueness of Indore's culture and Malwa's rich craftsmanship will be seen again this year in the six-day cultural fest 'Malwa Utsav'. The Utsav is set to begin from Saturday. Not only would craftsmen and artists from different parts of the country showcase their talents at the festival, but it would also witness special art and craft workshops and an array of delicious and aromatic delicacies in the food zone. The first day would witness performances showcasing Malwa culture including dances from Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. While dancers from Kerala, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha would present southern heritage, dancers from Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand would represent the northern parts of the country. "This time, the theme for the stage design is tribal dances. Taken from different traditional dances and cultures of our country...

Say goodbye to communal harmony that was often talked about during festivals in Indore, as Church has closed its doors for non-Christians on Christmas. Red church announced that it will remain inaccessible to all the non-Christians on Christmas this year. Under the garb of coronavirus, now the community is using it as an excuse to create divisions and distort the idea of communal harmony. “We will not allow any non-Christian to attend Christmas celebrations this year,” Bishop Chacko told Free Press. He added that this will soon be official announced to Indoreans as well to ensure that no one tries to come to church. “We will be confining the celebrations and festivities for Christians only, as Christmas is birth of Jesus Christ, meant for Christians to celebrate,” Chacko said. He added that to process and to enforce the ideology, a pass system is being introduced. “We will allot passes for entry to the church on Christmas day and these passes will only be allotted to Christians,” Chack...

The owner of turtles confiscated was given 15 days time to register the pets and provide necessary details on Tuesday. Forest department team had rescued turtles from a Tantrik’s house in Akhand Nagar on Monday. Following the information received from some sources, the rescue team reached and raided the house of Tantrik Baba Ajay Mishra. The Tantrik lives on number four street of Akhand Nagar. The area comes under Aerodrum police station area. “Tantrik Ajay Mishra used to make people to worship turtles to bring ‘Lakshmi’, symbol of luxuries and wealth to the house,” said AK Shrivastava, sub-divisional officer. The team found two turtle from tantrik's house. “The turtles are 8 inches in length, so they are fairly surviving,” Shrivastava said. The turtles were confiscated under suspicion. On Tuesday, the turtles were identified as Red-eared slider. “The turtles are usually found in America and are very sensitive by environment,” Shrivasatava said. Since 1975, selling baby turtles tha...

‘Christmas is here! Let’s celebrate with cheer…I will coz I’m happy and I’ll get the gifts that make me merry’ echoes in the city as we gear up for the X-mas day. In the last couple of years, especially after covid-19 outbreak and lockdowns, families are up for celebrating every festivity fearing it might be last one for many. Christmas though traditionally celebrated by Christian community members, in Indore are celebrated communally by other religious groups especially Hindus as well. While some families will also participate in traditional church celebrations starting midnight from December 24, most families have installed Christmas trees at home. Celebrating the festival, present giving is an important tradition restored this year in start-ups, offices, homes and among friends. So, as we are hunting for the best budget-friendly and cute Secret Santa Surprises, we bring the new trend seen this year for our readers from some influencers in different age-groups: Heart-warming cards wi...