Eid-ul-Azha celebrated with great joy across Udupi; religious leaders stress on need for harmony
Udupi: Devotees celebrated the festival of Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) with enthusiasm, offering prayers in various mosques across Udupi district on Saturday.
Muslims dressed in new clothes gathered at mosques and eidgahs in Udupi, Kapu, Brahmavar, Kundapur, Byndoor, Hebri and Karkala taluks, where special prayers were held for the festival. The devotees wished each other after namaz.
In some mosques women were also given special facilities to participate in the prayers on Saturday.
The Eid namaz was led by Moulana Abdurrashid Nadwi at the Jamia Masjid, and Mounala Inayatulla Rizvi at the Anjuman Masjid in Udupi. At the Brahmagiri Hashimi Masjid, it was led by Maulana Ubaidur Rahman Nadwi, while the namaz was led by Khateeb Hafiz Muhammad Ashraf Sakhafi at the Mooluru Juma Masjid, the central mosque of the Udupi District Samyukta Jamaat.
At the Jumma Masjid in Kundapur, the Eid namaz was held on Saturday morning, led by Moulana Karar Hussain.
The religious leaders, who addressed the devotees, laid stress on the need to maintain peace and harmony in society.
Imam Maulana Ubaidur Rahman Nadwi of Brahmagiri Hashimi Masjid asked the people not to post derogatory matter about persons belonging to other communities and religions on social media.
Speaking about drug addiction, he expressed pain about many youngsters spoiling their lives by consuming narcotics. He also asked parents to advise their children against attraction and addiction to drugs.
Tight police security was provided across Udupi district to ensure there were no untoward incidents during the festival.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
