There lived a saint in an ashram in the kingdom of Emperor Akbar.
He was believed to prophecy the future correctly.
Once he had a visitor who had come to treat their niece. The child's parents were killed in front of the girl's eyes. Once she saw the saint, she started to scream loudly saying that that saint was the culprit.
Angered by the girl's words, the saint demanded the couple to get away with their child.
The whole day the girl cried which made the couple to realize that the girl was not lying.
Therefore, they decided to seek the help of Birbal.
Birbal consoled them and asked them to wait at the Emperor's assembly. Birbal had invited the saint to Akbar's court too.
Then in front of all the ministers he drew a sword and neared the saint to kill him. The saint in bewilderment immediately drew another sword and began to fight. Thus by this act of the saint it was proved that he wasn’t blind.
Therefore, Akbar demanded to hang the culprit and rewarded the girl for her bravery for telling the truth even at the critical situation.
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Indian rupee gets a symbol, joins elite currency club
NEW DELHI: The Indian rupee will soon have a unique symbol - a blend of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R' - joining elite currencies like the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen in having a distinct identity.
The new symbol, designed by Bombay IIT post-graduate D Udaya Kumar, was approved by the cabinet today - reflecting that the Indian currency, backed by an over-trillion dollar economy, was finally making its presence felt on the international scene.
"It's a big statement on the Indian currency... The symbol would lend a distinctive character and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and global face of the Indian economy," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
Though the symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, it would be included in the 'Unicode Standard' and major scripts of the world to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media.
Among currencies with distinctive identities, only the pound sterling has its symbol printed on the notes.
Unicode is an international standard that allows text data to be interchanged globally without conflict. After incorporation in the global and Indian codes, the symbol would be used by all individuals and entities within and outside the country.
The symbol will be adopted in a span of six months in the country, and within 18 to 24 months globally, Soni said, adding that it will feature on computer keyboards and softwares for worldwide use.
Soni said that the symbol, which reflects the Indian ethos and culture, would help distinguish the currency from the rupee or rupiah of other countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Besides this, state governments would be asked to proactively promote the use of the new symbol, she added.
Kumar's entry was chosen from 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakh.
"It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters - capital 'R' and Devanagri 'Ra' which represents rupaiah, to appeal to international and Indian audiences... My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between," a visibly-happy Kumar said.
The jury, which had sent the five short-listed entries for the cabinet's approval, was headed by a Reserve Bank Deputy Governor.
No demat accounts for Hindu gods
MUMBAI: Let gods remain in temples and not enter the stock markets, said the Bombay High Court while dismissing a petition seeking orders to authorities to allow Hindu gods to open demat accounts.
A division Bench of Justice P B Majmudar and Justice Rajendra Sawant remarked that dealing in shares required some skill which could not be expected of a deity. The judges wondered that in the event of a fraud committed in the demat account, could the deity be hauled up. The court was hearing a petition filed by Sangli-based Ganpati Panchayatam Sansthan, whose presiding deities are Ganesh, Chintamaneshwardev, Chintamaneshwaridevi, Suryanarayandev and Laxminarayandev. According to the Sansthan's lawyers Anil Anturkar and Uday Warunjikar, the deities had PAN cards in their names, which makes them eligible for opening a demat account.
The court, however, observed that under the provisions of the law, it is not obligatory for the National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) to provide a demat account to everyone who has a PAN card.
The Sansthan's advocates pointed to the old Hindu law which treats deities as persons. There have been instances of rulers bestowing land on the deities. They said that even the SC has given the nod to giving Hindu deities the right to acquire property. The petitioners argued that property included movable assets like shares and debentures.
Senior advocate Janak Dwarakadas, counsel for the NSDL, said that as per rules only deities of registered public trusts were allowed to acquire property in their names. As the Sansthan is not registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, the deities cannot acquire property in their names. The Sansthan, managed by the erstwhile rulers of Sangli - the Patwardhan family, had in 2008 applied and got PAN cards in the names of the deities. However, when the Sansthan approached a private bank to open a demat account in the name of the deities, the NSDL refused.
Over 2.5 million Muslims threaten to leave Facebook: Report
LONDON: Angry over the removal of certain Islamic pages from Facebook, more than 2.5 million Muslim users are likely to quit the social networking website, according to a media report.
Following the removal of four extremely popular Islamic pages from the website, the Muslim community has expressed anger and a template letter that has been pasted into numerous Facebook pages accused the website's founder Mark Zuckerberg of "ignoring the feelings of more than 2.5 million Muslims", the Daily Mail reported.
The letter reads: "Although you have attended the world's best communication skills courses you have been most successful in growing great hatred and hostility between you and Muslims around the world, but seriously this time you have caused an almost unrepairable [sic] damage."
The letter demanded not only that the pages are reinstated but that new rules are introduced which make it a violation of Facebook's terms to post anti-Islamic comments.
Apart from reinstating the four deleted pages, the letter demanded the website to ban disrespecting Islamic religious symbols and disable any Facebook page which does so.
It warned that unless its demands are met Facebook's "2.5 million Muslim users" will join 'madina.com' - a social networking site for Muslims.
A spokeswoman for Facebook said that the Islamic pages, which included "I love Mohammed" and "Quran Lovers", were taken down because they were being used to 'spam' users, which is against the company's policy.
The letter also accused Facebook of "irresponsible behaviour" for allowing to host "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" pages which sparked controversy for encouraging users to draw portraits of the Prophet.
According to the report, there is no specific ban on images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed in the Quran but there is one line which is commonly taken to mean that it is impossible for human hands to recreate his likeness. To attempt to do so is an insult to Allah, it is believed.
Madina.com is a site set up specifically for the Muslim community. It pledges to abide by the Islamic principles and encourages unity among the community.
It also asks female users not to use their photographs in their profile.
Ingredients: 500 gms paneer
2 onions, sliced into thin rings
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 tsp garlic, finely crushed
½ tbsp coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp ajwain seeds
¾ cup gram flour
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp tandoori masala
½ tsp punjabi garam masala
½ tsp sugar
1 anardhana powder
2 tbsp oil
Method:
Cut paneer into cubes.
Make a thick mixture of flour, salt, ginger, garlic, turmeric, ajwain, garam & tandoori masalas.
Sprinkle 2 to 3 tbsp of water if necessary. Add ½ tbsp oil, mix well.
Use 2 tbsp. mixture to marinate onions, and rest to marinate paneer cubes.
Marinate paneer for 10 minutes.
Fry the pieces till it becomes crispy and brown.
Heat remaining oil, add onions, saute till light brown.
Add marinate paste, stir well and cook.
When dry add fried paneer, chilli, anardhana powder, sugar, salt.
Toss well and garnish with coriander.
Serve hot.
Contributed by Simran