MONTH THAT WAS

Get married @ 12.00 midnight

London: Just married at 3 am! With the lifting of the 176-year-old ban on marrying at night, now Las Vegas-style weddings can take place in Britain.

The government is reforming the marriage law, which dates from 1836, so that people can marry outside the hours of 8am-6pm. Civil partnerships can also be held at any time of day with the removal of the traditional time restrictions. Blackpool Tower will be one of the first venues to take advantage of the new rules, offering weddings at sunrise, midnight and even at 3am at the top of the tower, the media reported.

The change, to be brought in by the Home Office after public consultation, is designed to give people more choice.

It is also hoped that it will unblock long waits to get to the altar. Mark Harper, the Home Office minister with responsibility for the General Register Office, said: “Removing these restrictions will give people greater freedom of choice when planning their big day.”

Churches and other religious venues will still have a right to stick to the traditional wedding times. But other civil wedding venues are expected to conduct all-night weddings. Kate Shane, general manager of the Blackpool Tower Eye, which is 380ft above ground, said: “We are really excited about this change in the law, as it now means we can offer sunrise, sunset and even midnight weddings at the top of the iconic Blackpool Tower.”

In Las Vegas night-time weddings have been popular for decades, though not all of them stand the test of time. Singer Britney Spears married her childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at 5am (local time) at the Little White Wedding chapel. She wore jeans and a baseball cap. The marriage lasted 55 hours before it was annulled.

Kelly Chandler, director of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners, was optimistic about the relaxation of wedding hours. “This is a positive move which allows those planning their big day greater flexibility,” she said.

TN Gets Dalit Speaker

Chennai:  Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa sowed the seeds for creating history by nominating her party man P Dhanapal, a Dalit, for the post of the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Dhanapal was unanimously elected to the post much to the joy of Dalits in the State. In fact, he is only the second Dalit to occupy the top post in the Assembly. Officials said this was the first time a Dalit was elected unanimously to the post. Over 60 years ago, a Dalit J Sivashanmugam Pillai had occupied the post but he had to contest an election. Dhanapal and a host of Dalit leaders thanked the Chief Minister for her gesture. 

SC youths to be imparted skill development training 

Bhopal: A programme has been chalked out to impart skill development training to 10,000 SC youths this year. The Schedule Castes Welfare Department has set aside a budget of `10 crore for the programme during the current fiscal. Under the programme started since October 2, as many as 3,920 candidates are being imparted training in retail trader, computer accounting and BPO trade. 

cockroach-eating contest turns fatal

Washington: A 32-year-old man who had won a cockroach-eating competition in Florida died shortly after swallowing dozens of the live cockroaches and worms.

Edward Archbold was among 20 to 30 contestants participating in "Midnight Madness" event at Ben Siegel Reptiles in Deerfield Beach, authorities said.

The participants' goal was to consume as many insects and worms for a prize of USD 850 python, the 'CNN.com' reported.

Soon after the contest was over, Archbold fell ill and began to vomit, the Broward County Sheriff's Office said.

Companionship Sr Citizen style

Mumbai: Jeevan Sandhya Sathi Parichay Sammelan has organised a ‘Senior Citizen’s Marriage Sammelan’ for single elderly citizens on November 25 at Sahitya Mandir Auditorium in Vashi and is free of cost.

This initiative was taken up by a senior citizen couple, Mansukhlal Shah and his wife, Taruna Shah, who had previously organised similar sammelans for handicapped people in Mumbai.

The eligibility to participate is that males should have adequate financial security in order to support the spouse.

Religion or caste of the senior citizens signing up for this won’t be taken into consideration.

This sammelan was inspired by Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate episode on senior citizens and the event will be graced by Jayant Joshi (80), former chairman of LIC and his wife Leina Joshi who got married in 2005.

To participate in the sammelan, contact Mansukhlal Shah at 8108839998 or email him at mansukhlals@yahoo.com. Letters can be posted at: A 903, Mermaid-1, Sector 11, CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai.

Gandhi & Jail inmates

Mumbai : About 120 under trials at Arthur Road jail took a Gandhian pledge, sourced from M K Gandhi’s book ‘India of my dreams’, at creating a country of their dreams. The programme was held in association with Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Research Foundation.

It started with sarvadharma prarthana (a prayer for all religions) followed by Gandhi bhajans, sung by Dhvani Pandya. A C Rane, the Superintendent of Arthur Road jail, appealed to the inmates to bring about a change in themselves.

“Plenty can be achieved in life by adopting the teachings of truth and non-violence,” said Rane, addressing the inmates. “Realize the responsibility of your families and you will be able to change yourselves.”

An oath was administered by Prof Heena Shah, MMP Shah College, Matunga to the jail inmates at the end of the programme.

“A lot of criminals sometimes don’t know where they went wrong. The pledge was taken so that the inmates finally come to terms with their crimes and work towards self-reformation,” said Rajesh Shinde, administrator of Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal.

The Mandal is planning to show the inmates a series of films including Gandhi, Lage Raho Munnabhai based on Gandhian principles.

Where there is will…..! Swiss Bank a/c frozen

Mumbai: In the first instance of an Indian agency getting access to Swiss bank accounts in its black money probe, the Enforcement Directorate has frozen about Rs 6 crore of stashed funds of a Mumbai-based businessman in an alleged money laundering case, media reports.

The agency, which approached Swiss authorities some time back in connection with the probe, received a shot in the arm when the banking and enforcement authorities there agreed that the money stashed in the accounts was prima facie “proceeds of crime” and it was important for India to get access and control of these accounts. The case pertains to an alleged contravention of money laundering laws by Sayed Mohammed Masood, Chairman of ‘City Limousine’, whom the agency is probing for floating illegal ponzi (fraud investment plans) schemes by promising extraordinary returns which were not honoured. “Two Swiss accounts in the name of Masood and his business firms, holding USD 1.25 million, have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,” case investigators said.