Deeksha culminates on Easter day

Saturday, 22 Mar 2008 18:22
U. Sudhakar Reddy
Hyderabad: Like Alpha and Omega which symbolise the beginning and the end inscribed on the Paschal candle, incensed in the Churches in the Easter night, vigil has lot to do with the Deeksha taken up by the Christians in the State during Lent that culminates on the day of ‘Resurrection of Christ’.
After the 40-day Deeksha, the faithful start a new lease of life and put an end to the old habits. After the rise of Pentecostal movement in the church, it is time for Bhakti culture in the Church to rise. Tappassu Kala Deeksha or Lent Deeksha taken up by Christians, particularly the Catholics in the State, has a lot of similarity with Ayyapa Deeksha and Bhavani Deeksha of Hindus and Nazirite Oath in the Old Testament.
Those who take up the Deeksha have to follow a set of rules that include not consuming alcohol, giving up smoking, keep ing away from eating non-vegetarian food, walk barefoot, always wearing a cross, taking just one meal in a day, not shaving or getting hair cuts, abstaining from sexual pleasures and so on. Hyderabad Archdiocese Vicar, General Fr. Thumma Solomon, says , "In Lent, most of the faithful fast but a few take up Deeksha. Gradually, many believers are inclining towards this, including a lot of young people.
Deeksha is more popular in semi-urban and rural parishes. On Easter, a new fire is lit that symbolises a new beginning from darkness to light and from death to life resembling the philosophy of the Deeksha."
The ceremonial lighting of paschal candle in churches is an imitation of a Jewish custom. On Easter night, people are asked to repeat their baptismal promise by rejecting Satan and his empty promises and accepting Jesus as their Lord and revesting with the ‘new man’ after removing the vestments of the ‘old man’.
Kalvaragiri Shrine near Jeedimetla has 45 devotees who have taken up Deeksha this time. Kalvaragiri Shrine priest in the city Fr. Y Thomas says, "Deeksha has roots in the Old Testament in the Book of Numbers Chapter 6 where the Nazirite Oath is taken. Those who take up Deeksha also keep away themselves from social vices and many come out of them permanently." Those who take up Deeksha follow a dress code like wearing maroon, white and blue shirts. Interestingly Women of all ages take up Deeksha.
After the fast, Easter brings them joy and hope.
Incensing Paschal Candle and cracking Easter egg is a symbol of new life in the same way that hatching of an egg is. The Easter egg is traditionally red to symbolise the blood of Christ.
The city’s heritage churches like St Mary’s Church in Secunderabad (since 1854), St Francis Xavier Church in Yapral (since 1876), St John Maria Vienna Church in Bhoiguda (since 1939) and Sacred Hearth Church (since 1929) still follow the old traditions of egg-cracking and distributing hot cross buns.
Sacred Heart Church at Lalaguda comprising mostly Anglo Indians follow the traditions of the Holy Week and distribute Hot Cross Buns on Maundy Thursday to large number of people.

City cancer Institute gets radiation bunker

By U Sudhakar Reddy
Hyderabad, May 2: The MNJ Cancer Hospital is constructing a specially-designed concrete bunker to house its high energy radiation equipment so that accidental leakage don’t affect surrounding localities. The MNJ Institute of Oncology and Research Centre is located in a highly-populated area of Red Hills.
On the instructions of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, the hospital has created a bunker which has two gigantic floors and walls more than two-and-a-half metres thick. It is meant to safekeep four high energy linear accelerators used for radiotherapy of cancer patients.
“The linear accelerator is high radiation-emitting unit and has to be kept in a specially designed place,” said MNJ director, Dr T. Mandapal. “It has been named Rajiv Gandhi Linear Accelerator block and the work is in progress.” The hospital is hoping to complete the work on the bunker in two-and-a-half months.
“It is being constructed by Andhra Pradesh Health, Medical Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation on 1,000 square yards at an estimated cost of Rs 4.8 crore,” said Dr Mandapal. Each floor of the bunker is almost ‘two stories’ high since the roof has to be high above the machines.
A linear accelerator with high dual energy mode system costs around Rs 6 crore. There are radiation safety officers in the hospital to take care of the systems. It was in 2000 that BARC permitted MNJ to resume radiation treatment for cancer patients which was suspended after it lost a hazardous radioisotope needle. Hospital authorities had said that it had only minimum radiation.

Foreign tours get restricted

The state government on Wednesday issued orders restricting foreign jaunts by ministers, cadres and non-cadre officers following a report on the frequent foreign tours of ministers and babus in Deccan Chronicle. The chief secretary (in-charge), Mr P. Ramakanth Reddy, in an order said, leaving "exceptional circumstances" the tours by ministers and officials should be restricted to only two every financial year.
The order said in certain cases of extreme necessity, the proposal should be submitted to the screening committee justifying reasons. The committee will also take approval from the Chief Minister for such visits, the order said.

Babus in Andhra on foreign jaunts

U Sudhakar Reddy

Two ministers and 20 top officials of the state are on foreign jaunts this summer.
The home minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, is on an official visit to the United States along with officials and the minister for revenue, Mr Dharmana Prasada Rao, is on a private trip to London.
Top officials of the industries department, police, APSRTC and GHMC are also spending the summer abroad.
The principal secretary (Industries and Commerce), Mr Busi Sam Bob, AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd CMD, Mr B.P. Acharya and additional secretary to Chief Minister, Mr M. Pratap, are visiting China from April 20 to April 29 on an official trip.
The principal secretary (Home), Mr P.V. Naidu, Fire and Emergency Services department director general, Ms Aruna Bahuguna and additional DG (Law and Order), Mr A.K. Khan, are on a visit to the US from April 9 to April 20 along with the home minister. This is also an official tour which will cost the government Rs 35 lakh.
Other officials include the GHMC additional commissioner, Mr Dhanunjeya Reddy, chief veterinary officer, Mr Venkateswara Reddy and additional commissioner (Health), Mr Ram Mohan Rao. IAS official, Mr Jayesh Ranjan, and the Tourism Department director, Mr K.V. Reddy, visited Colombo on April 5 and 6.
The principal secretary, Mr G. Sudhir, visited Berlin while Panchayat Raj and Rural Development secretary, Mr Ajay Mishra visited Bangkok.
Several other officials are also going on private and official visits.
A senior official of the general administration department said the government had decided to restict foreign tours as many officials were undertaking them without any need

Unsafe Theatres Have Their Way!

U. Sudhakar Reddy
Hyderabad, April 16: The government is presently in a spree to grant permission to expand theatre halls even if they flout rules. Recently, the state granted permission to a movie hall at Sri Raghavendra Theatre Complex at Malkajgiri, the third of its kind, though it has already been found that there is not enough open space in the complex.
After Prasads Imax, this is the latest theatre to get such permission. In another case, authorities accorded permission to two theatres in the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) land at Kushaiguda, which is meant for setting up electronics industry. The managing partner of Sri Raghavendra Theatres Complex, Mr N. Mallesh Yadav, had filed a review petition with the government to grant a no objection certificate for the construction of a third mini-theatre on the ground floor.
Earlier, the government had rejected their appeal. Following this, the management filed a review petition stating they have complied with the fire safety rules. The management recalled the interim orders passed by the High Court in March 2007, which states that the government should not insist on structural changes in existing theatre buildings in respect of mandatory open space.
Following the review petition, the government asked the Cyberabad commissioner of police, the fire services DG and the GHMC chief city planner to inspect the premises and submit reports. Their reports said there are certain lapses and suggested that it is not desirable to construct an additional theatre. Mr Mallesh countered the report arguing that an additional parking space of 2,000 sq ft has already been provided. He was later awarded permission. Similarly, the state granted permission for the construction of Baby Sandhya Theatre in Tirupati.