Animal lovers celebrated the “Kukur Tihar” or Kukur Puja festival at a street dog rescue centre in Siliguri on Saturday afternoon to honour the man’s best friends, dogs. Kukur Tihar or Kukur Puja literally means the worship of dogs. This festival is celebrated during Diwali, the festival of lights.

During Kukur Tihar, people offer prayers and honour dogs, not just pets but also strays. The canines are garlanded, tikkas applied on their foreheads and plentiful food is offered to them.

The festival is dedicated to dogs who are regarded as the guardian and messenger of ‘Yama’, who is the lord of death.

Animal helpline, a renowned animal lovers organisation of Siliguri celebrated the day with great enthusiasm. In the morning the members of the voluntary organisation bathed around a hundred street-rescued dogs and worshipped them. They also cooked special food for them following the festival of Kukur Tihar.

Priya Rudra, founder of animal helpline, Siliguri said, “It’s a very special day for us like Durga Puja and Kali Puja. During the day, we tried to give special attention to them. We worship them and serve special dishes. It’s a very important day for us because there are so many festivals for human beings, but nothing for animals. A day like Kukur Tihar tells us that animals are also an important part of our society. People should love and respect them. During the Diwali festival people like to burst crackers which are very disturbing for the animals. So they should be concerned if animal-like dogs are very much near to them during the time of bursting crackers.”

Priya Roy, a member of animal helpline, Siliguri said, “We celebrated Kukur Tihar at our shelter today with great enthusiasm. Like God, we also worshipped street dogs today. It’s my appeal to the people that they respect street dogs and serve food to them as per your limits.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who addressed a rally here on Saturday had to interrupt his speech for a moment after he noticed a young woman climbing a structure on which lights were fixed in the Parade Grounds.

PM Modi was in the city to address a meeting organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), a community organisation of Madigas, one of the biggest constituents of Scheduled Castes in Telugu states.

The prime minister repeatedly requested the young woman to come down and saying the condition of electric wires appeared to be not good.

When she was trying to convey something to PM Modi, he said in Hindi, “Beta, I will listen to you. Please come down and sit. It may short-circuit. This is not correct. I came for you people. There is no use doing such things.” Rajya Sabha member K Laxman who was translating the PM’s speech requested her in Telugu.

#WATCH | Secunderabad, Telangana: During PM Modi’s speech at public rally, a woman climbs a light tower to speak to him, and he requests her to come down. pic.twitter.com/IlsTOBvSqA

— ANI (@ANI) November 11, 2023

When contacted a senior police official about the incident, said they are verifying it.

At the beginning of his speech, PM Modi consoled MRPS founder Krishna Madiga, who broke down into tears and hugged him.

Hezbollah’s chief said Saturday that the group was using new weapons in attacks against Israel, as exchanges of fire on Lebanon’s southern border intensify while Israel battles Hamas militants in Gaza.

Over the past week, the Iran-backed group has “bolstered” its action “on the Lebanese front in terms of the number of operations, targets and the type of weapons”, Hassan Nasrallah said in his second televised address since the Hamas-Israel war began.

The Shiite Muslim movement has used “Burkan missiles”, for the first time, he said, adding that they could carry “a payload of 300-500 kilogrammes” (660-1,100 pounds).

The group has been using attack drones “for the first time in the history of the resistance” in Lebanon, he said, and has been flying “reconnaissance drones” deep into Israel daily, “some reaching Haifa, Acre and Safed” in the country’s north.

Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s southern border has seen intensifying tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

Israeli fire has killed at least 68 Hezbollah fighters since last month, according to an AFP tally, as well as at least 11 civilians in Lebanon and 12 other combatants.

Six soldiers and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel.

Hezbollah fighters “are putting themselves on the front line to launch rockets” at Israeli targets, Nasrallah said, adding that Israeli drones were constantly flying over southern Lebanon.

Noting attacks on Israel and on US troops in the Middle East by other Iran-backed groups including from Iraq and Yemen, Nasrallah told Washington: “If you Americans want to stop these operations… you must stop the war on Gaza.”

He said “several” Hezbollah members were killed in Syria on Friday, where the group has long been deployed on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in his country’s civil war.

Hezbollah said Friday that Israeli fire killed seven of its fighters, without specifying where or when they died.

Israel’s military said it struck an organisation in Syria that was behind a drone crash into a school in southern Israel a day earlier.

Israeli officials say Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 240 hostages in the October 7 attacks that triggered the war.

Israel’s subsequent aerial and ground offensive has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.