3.5 lakh people sing national anthem in Rajkot district, set new world record

3.5 lakh people sing national anthem in Rajkot district, set new world record

Rajkot: Over 3.5 lakh people on Saturday, 21^st January 2017 set a new world record by singing the national anthem at an event at Kagavad in Rajkot district of Gujarat.

The occasion was installation of idol of goddess Khodiyar at a newly-built Khodal Dham temple in the town.

"Over 3.5 lakh people sang the anthem together at the idol installation ritual in the presence of observers from Guinness World Records," said Hansraj Gajera, a member of Khodal Dham temple trust.

Earlier, 2,54,537 people had sung the national anthem in Bangladesh in 2014 and set a record. That record was today broken, according to Gajera.

"We received certificate of record from Guinness World Records officials," he added.

The trust also set two new records for Limca Book of Records, by organising the longest (40 km) `shobha-yatra' (procession) and a 1008-kund `mahayagna', he said.

Goddess Khodiyar is particularly revered by the Leuva Patel community.

Trust officials claimed that over 50 lakh devotees were estimated to have visited the temple during the five-day installation ceremony which began on January 17.

The temple was built at the cost of Rs 60 crore. The trust was planning to set up an agricultural university adjacent to the temple premises, Gajera said.

Supreme Court orders compulsory play of National Anthem in theaters

Supreme Court orders compulsory play of  National Anthem in theaters

New Delhi: Supreme Court Wednesday, 30^th November 2016 ordered to play National Anthem in all theatres befire featyring any film asked all to stand up and give respect the National Anthem when it was played on the screen.

‘All cinema halls in India shall play the national anthem before the feature film starts and all present in the hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the national anthem” as a part of their “sacred obligation”, Court ruled.

Discarding notions of “any different notion or the perception of individual rights”, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy added that the movie screen shall have the image of the national flag when the anthem is being played and that doors of the halls will remain shut during the anthem so that no disturbance is caused.

“The directions are issued, for love and respect for the motherland is reflected when one shows respect to the National Anthem as well as to the National Flag. That apart, it would instil the feeling within one, a sense committed patriotism and nationalism,” said the bench, giving 10 days for compliance with its direction.

According to the top court, “a time has come, the citizens of the country must realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to National Anthem, which is the symbol of the constitutional patriotism and inherent national quality.”

The court order, however, does not entail any penalty or punishment for not standing when the national anthem is played and hence, it remains to be seen how public authorities and those managing private cinema halls would ensure the direction is followed “in letter and spirit.”

Issuing a string of interim orders on a PIL filed by a retired engineer from Bhopal, Shyam Narayan Chouksey, the apex court further prohibited “commercial exploitation” of the anthem for incurring commercial benefits or using an abridged version of it, while adding the anthem cannot be dramatized and used in variety TV shows.