Puri’s Jagannatha temple to reopen from August 16
The Hindu
Fully vaccinated certificate or 96-hours-old RT-PCR negative report has been made mandatory for entry
Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA), on Wednesday announced that the 12th century shrine will reopen in a phased manner from August 16 for Puri locals, and later for devotees from the rest of the country. “For the first five days from August 16 to August 20, only the residents of Puri town will be allowed to go inside the temple for darshan of the Lords,” said SJTA Chief Adminstrator Krishan Kumar. Devotees from outside Puri and the state will be allowed entry from August 23, since the temple will remain closed for on Saturdays and Sundays due to the weekend shutdown in Puri, Mr. Kumar added.The Shakti Scheme in Karnataka has completed its first year, yet the smart cards intended for the beneficiaries remain undistributed. According to Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, while the smart cards have been prepared, their issuance has been stalled due to the absence of electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) in all buses, making them impractical.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok were engaged in war of words over the Lok Sabha election results on Tuesday, with the former calling the latter “ignorant and entertaining people”. In response, Mr. Ashok said the Chief Minister “sometimes wakes up from deep slumber to exhibit his arrogance and anger”.
Makineni Jishnu Sai from Guntur secured the first position in the engineering stream while Yellu Srishant Reddy from Nizampet in Telangana bagged the first place in the Agriculture and Pharmacy (Bi.P.C. stream) in the Andhra Pradesh Engineering, Agriculture and Pharmacy Common Entrance Test (EAPCET)-2024.