Mangaluru, Aug.25: The ordination and anointing of new bishop will be held on September 15. A meeting was held to discuss the preparation of the programme at Rosario cultural hall on Saturday, headed by district incharge minister U.T Khader.

Speaking on the occasion Khader said that the programme is not only limited to Christian community. It is a celebration for the entire region.

He instructed the officials to repair the roads and the street lights leading to the Rosario church. He also instructed them to fix the water problems by September 10.

Khader also told the police department to maintain discipline, make arrangements for smooth traffic and parking. He also ordered fire brigade and health department to be prepared for the event.

He gave the responsibility of maintaining the coordination between City corporation and police department to ordination organising committee coordinator Sushil Noronha.

Bishop of Mangaluru Aloysius Paul D'Souza who had presided over the program praised Khader for showing interest in coordinating the program. Former MLA J.R Lobo sought district administrations' cooperation for the program.

Speaking on the occasion coordinator of the program M.P Noronha said that Dakshina Kannada has a 15% Christian population. Bishop is the president of 50% of education institutions, health service, shelter homes etc. run by catholics. He has the executive and judicial powers and all the institutions fall under his administration. For the last 22 years Dr. Aloysius Paul D'Souza had served as Bishop. Now the ordination of new bishop is of very importance and everyone should participate in this rarest event.

Mayor Bhaskar K., Dep. Mayor Muhammad, Shashidhar Hegde, Lancy Lot Pinto were present on the dias.

Convenor and co-convenor of various committees, Vincent Monteiro, Vijay Victor Lobo, Roopesh Madta, Richard D'Souza, Sushil Noronha, Roy Castolin, Lewi Pinto, Marshel Monteiro, Pius Monteiro, Baptist D'Souza and officers of various departments were present.

Chief Coordinator J.B Crasta proposed the vote of thanks.

 

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Patna, Oct 31: Former Union minister RCP Singh, who had to quit his cabinet berth after falling out of favour with JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, on Thursday floated a new party "Aap Saabki Aawaz".

Talking to reporters here on the occasion, Singh said he chose the day for the launch as besides Dipawali, it was also the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.

Incidentally, Patel is seen as a cultural icon by the powerful OBC community Kurmi, to which both Kumar and Singh belong, and the latter profusely thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for celebrating the birth anniversary on a grand scale.

Singh, the bureaucrat-turned-politician, who did not take any question, did not speak on his relations with the JD(U), which he had once headed but left in disgrace, and the BJP, which he joined a year ago, only to remain sidelined.

He, however, made it clear that his party was looking forward to contesting the Bihar assembly polls due next year and already had prospective candidates for "140 out of 243 seats".

Singh indirectly targeted Kumar by attacking the much-touted prohibition law in the state and highlighting the deterioration in government education institutions, "a far cry from our student days when we could crack the civil services, without reservation facility and with no coaching".

Hailing from the same Nalanda district as the Bihar chief minister, Singh was an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, and on central deputation, he first came in contact with Kumar, then the railway minister.

After assuming power in Bihar in 2005, Kumar, who was visibly impressed with the administrative acumen of Singh, persuaded the latter to come to Bihar as his principal secretary.

In 2010, Singh took voluntary retirement and joined JD(U) which helped him enjoy two consecutive terms in the Rajya Sabha.

However, in 2021, his induction into the Narendra Modi cabinet did not go down well with Kumar, who had by then grown suspicious that his protégé was planning a sabotage.

Singh was made to step down as national president of JD(U) within months of becoming the party president, and denial of another Rajya Sabha term a year later caused him to give up the ministerial berth.

By that time JD(U) rank and file was agog with rumours that Singh was plotting a split at the BJP's instance and served with a show cause notice over allegations of financial misappropriations that caused him to quit the party.

A year later, he joined the BJP which had by that time been dumped by Kumar who chose to realign a year later.

Later, Kumar's JD(U) emerged as a crucial ally of the BJP which is now short of a majority in Lok Sabha.