Monday 28 December 2020 - 03 January 2021 Mumbai TheThe HULAHULHULAHUL TTimesimes Year : 2nd Editor - in - Chief Issue No. : 42 Mr. Ravi Singh Initiative by HULAHUL Foundation THE CHRISTMAS STORY: CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST hristmas is celebrated on the 25th of December commemorating the birth of feasts are organized. Children get the most excited as they receive many gifts from their Jesus Christ, who Christians believe to be the Son of God. It is generally parents and relatives. The mythical figure of Santa Claus is what excites children the most. Cbelieved that the Jesus Christ came back to life after his death only for us. The Churches and many other places organize special events on this day. Shopping malls, streets only service that was allowed during that period was the 'Christ-Mass'. This Christ-Mass and other public places of visit are decorated with Christmas trees. Concerts and takes place generally after sunset and before the next day's sunrise, which means it happens performances are staged in many public places. Songs and a lot of plays, with Christmas as a in the midnight. Hence, the name Christmas comes from Christ-Mass. Christmas is theme are also staged. celebrated across the world, irrespective of the religion people belong to. Christmas celebration in India Why 25th December? Though Christmas is celebrated by everyone, it is generally regarded as a Christian There exists a lot of confusion owing to the exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ. This festival, and India only has around 2.3% of Christians. Hence, Christmas is a small festival uncertainty in the birth date has led to a lot of issues as Puritans in the later period raised compared to other festivals in our Country. The city of Mumbai, has one of the largest questions on the legitimacy of the celebration. 25th December is a date chosen by Pope Julius Christian communities. These Christians in Mumbai are majorly Roman Catholics. Another I. This date was chosen in an effort to absorb and adopt the pagan Saturnalia festival's state that has a large number of Christian communities is Goa. It has about 26% of Christians. traditions. This event was first called the Feast of the Nativity. The custom then was spread to It is believed that many Christians in Mumbai have their roots from Goa. A few other states Egypt by 432 and then by the end of the sixth century to England. Christmas is celebrated that have high populations of Christians are Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. around the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals. The shortest day and the longest For the Christians in India, especially the Catholics, the most important service is the night of the year is called the winter solstice. Romans held a lot of celebration during this Midnight mass. The entire family walks to the mass which is followed by a huge feast of time. Saturnalia is such a celebration that happened throughout the week in honor of the god various delicacies. Gifts are given and received. For Christmas Eve's Midnight Mass service of agriculture, Saturn. Similarly, Yule and Inti Raymi were celebrated from the winter Churches are decorated largely using Poinsettia flowers and candles. Indians decorate a solstice. Christian leaders believed that celebrating Christmas during winter solstice would banana or a mango tree instead of a traditional Christmas tree. People also prefer using increase the chances of it being embraced. Christmas is believed to be that time of the year mango leaves for decoration. Christians from the southern part of India light small clay when the people, belonging to the upper class, repay the less fortunate citizens an imaginary lamps as a way of telling others that , light of the world is Jesus Christ. debt. Christmas during COVID-19 Why was Christmas called off? The entire world is going through the pandemic of the corona virus from the past 10 Many of us don't know the exact history of the prominent festivals. One important factor months. Keeping with the situation, several countries including ours went for a complete we all didn't know is that Christmas was cancelled because of a group of Christians, centuries lockdown in the initial stages to bring the situation under control. Though the lockdown has ago. A set of religious reforms took place in the 17th century in Europe. Oliver Cromwell, in been lifted, the world is still fighting with the pandemic. Hence, it is advised to always stay 1645, took over England along with his Puritan forces. They cancelled Christmas as they safe and try not to gather a huge crowd. This holds good for celebrations as well. Festivals vowed to get England rid of decadence. When Charles II was restored to power, the popular are generally celebrated with friends and family, but this year it would definitely be holiday again came to effect. Around 1620, the English separatists who came to America a little different. Countries like England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were even more orthodox, as a result of which Christmas was not considered a holiday. have come up with a lot of restrictions for Christmas celebrations this year. People Christmas celebration in Boston was outlawed, and anyone exhibiting the spirit of Christmas was fined. Until 26 June 1870, Christmas was not declared as a federal holiday in many are not allowed to travel places to visit their friends as a new strain of the corona places. virus has come to picture. In India, it is advised to gather very few people and celebrate this festival of joy with utmost safety from the concerned individual. How is Christmas celebrated? Though it happens to be a tough year, let this beautiful festival bring good vibes to everyone across the world. Christmas is often regarded as a festival of merriment and happiness. People start decorating their homes, Christmas trees and their gardens with lights, days or weeks before **** Christmas. People meet friends and family and exchange gifts with them. Special meals and www.hulahulfoundation.org www.twitter.com/hulahulgrp www.facebook.com/hulahulgrp www.youtube.com/hulahulfoundation www.instagram.com/hulahul_foundation https://www.linkedin.com/in/hulahul-foundation-89964b161/ The HULAHUL Times 2 Monday 28 December 2020 - 03 January 2021 Mumbai GOOD GOVERNANCE DAY: CELEBRATING GREAT SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP ndia celebrates Good Governance Day on the 25th of December every year, Significance commemorating the birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister of India. Good Governance Day got established in the year 2014 for The purpose behind celebrating this day is, to build a strong, responsible and transparent I administration, to ensure the wellbeing of “Aam Admi” which is “Common Man', to devise honouring Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for instilling awareness about accountability in government, among effective policies for good governance the Indian citizens. In accordance a n d t o g i v e t o t h e p e o p l e a n with the principle, the Government of administration that is corruption free. India has declared the Good This day serves as a reminder to the Governance Day as a working day for government of India to do its best for the the government. country. We can see the efforts of the Indian government towards good Life of Atal Bihari Vajpayee governance in its linking of government policies with digital platforms and the Aadhar card. It is expected that Atal Bihari Vajpayee, born on 25 corruption will soon meet its end. The December 1924, served as the Prime government has also taken some other Minister of India for three terms. The steps to meet the concerns of the first one was in the year 1996 for a common man, launching programmes period of 13 days, second from 1998 such as Ujjwala, Indradhanush, Sabko to 1999 for 13 months and the third Ghar, Deendayal Vidyutikaran Yojana was a full term from 1999 to 2004. He and many such programmes. Atal Bihari was the first non-congress member to Vajpayee introduced schemes such as serve a full term in the office. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Antyodaya Anna scheme during his He served as a member of the tenure as the Prime Minister. The Indian Parliament for around five schemes he introduced provided decades. He was elected ten times to connectivity to people residing in the the lower house which is the Lok remote areas. His policies abided by his Sabha and twice to the upper house philosophy of life. which is the Rajya Sabha. He was one among the founding members of the party named Bharatiya Jana Sangh Celebration of Good Governance (BJS) of which he served as a Day president from 1968 to 1972. The BJS merged with several parties and Good Governance Day is celebrated formed the Janata Party, which won b y e a c h s t a t e d i ff e r e n t l y. T h e the general election of 1977. He government of Madhya Pradesh became the Minister of External distributed pulses at minimum rates in Affairs in the year 1977. The Janata tribal areas. The government of Uttar alliance collapsed in the year 1979. Pradesh freed around 93 prisoners on this The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was occasion. Several states distribute gas formed in the year 1980 by the former connections owing to the Ujjwala members of the Bharatiya Janata Yojana. In several other places, Sangh, with Vajpayee as its first programmes are conducted to create president. awareness regarding digital governance. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, unveiled a plaque to lay the foundation stone of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University, situated at India conducted the Pokhran-II nuclear tests, during his tenure in the year 1998.