Muslims mark Eid and final days of hajj in Saudi Arabia
Mina: Around 2.5 million pilgrims took part in a symbolic stoning of the devil on Saturday, marking the final days of the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world.
The five-day hajj pilgrimage is required of all Muslims once in their lifetime, if they are financially and physically able to make the journey.
Muslims around the world commemorate the end of hajj with Eid celebrations, including distributing meat to the poor.
"I came from Sudan to Mecca where I performed the pilgrimage," Mohammed Saleh said as he performed the final rites of hajj in Mina. "We hope all pilgrims will be successful in their hajj." Others too expressed a sense of gratitude to have performed the hajj.
Saudi Arabia said 1.85 million pilgrims from more than 160 different countries traveled to the kingdom for the hajj this year. Another 634,000 joined from within Saudi Arabia, nearly 70 per cent of them non-Saudi residents of the kingdom.
The hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings on earth and a massive logistical challenge for the Saudi government to oversee each year. The kingdom provides pilgrims with health care and buses for transportation, as well as meals, snacks and water along the routes of hajj.
Mina is a sprawling valley near Mecca where thousands of air-conditioned tents are erected to house pilgrims for the final leg of the hajj.
Because of the narrow roads between tents, it is also where the deadliest hajj disasters have occurred, including a 2015 stampede and crush that killed more than 2,400 people.
The Saudi government has since widened roads and monitors the flow of people and crowds with tens of thousands of soldiers, guards, policemen and cameras.
Saudi media reported King Salman visited Mina on Sunday to supervise the services provided during the hajj. He included among his guests for the hajj this year 200 survivors and relatives of victims of the mosque attacks in New Zealand, where a gunman opened fire and killed 51 people in March.
It is in Mina where Muslims believe Ibrahim's faith was tested when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son Ismail. Ibrahim was prepared to submit to the command, but then God stayed his hand, sparing his son.
In Mina, pilgrims walk long distances on pedestrian-only streets toward a multi-story complex housing large pillars. There, they cast seven pebbles each at three pillars in a ritual meant to symbolize the casting away of evil and sin.
Muslims believe the hajj offers the chance of atonement and an opportunity to erase past sins. The first two days of the hajj are spent in Makkah and other areas around it in deep prayer, contemplation and worship.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
13 lakh litres of 'Rail Neer' supplied to train passengers daily: Government
New Delhi (PTI): Approximately 13 lakh litres of packaged drinking water -- 'Rail Neer' -- are being supplied to train passengers across the railway network daily, the government informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.
Apprising the Lower House about the Indian Railways' endeavour to provide safe and potable drinking water facilities at all stations, the government also provided zone-wise details of the water vending machines (WVMs) installed there.
"To ensure the quality of drinking water being made available at the railway stations, instructions exist for periodical checking and required corrective action to be taken.
"Regular inspection and maintenance of drinking water facilities is carried out and complaints are attended to promptly," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while responding to a question raised by BJP MP Anup Sanjay Dhotre seeking to know the supply of drinking water at railway stations across the country
"Complaints regarding deficiency in services, including water supply, are received through various channels such as public complaints, web portals, social media, etc. These complaints are received at various levels, including the Railway Board, zonal railways, division office, etc.," Vaishnaw said.
"The complaints so received are forwarded to the concerned wings of Railways and necessary action is taken to check and address them. As receipt of such complaints and action taken thereon is a continuous and dynamic process, a centralised compendium of these is not maintained," he added.
Providing zone-wise details of water vending machines, the minister said 954 such machines have been installed across railway stations.
"The Indian Railways also provides safe and affordable packaged drinking water bottles -- Rail Neer -- approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in trains and at stations," Vaishnaw said.
"Approximately, 13 lakh litres of Rail Neer are being supplied per day to the travelling passengers in trains and at stations across the Indian Railways network," he added.
