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Millions in India are celebrating Holi. Here’s what the Hindu festival of colors is all about.
New Delhi — Millions of Indians in parts of the country’s north and central regions celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi on Monday.
The festival of colors, as it’s known as, marks the end of winter and the arrival of spring and is celebrated on the last full moon day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Falgun.
The celebrations primarily involve families and friends smearing powdered colors on each others’ faces and drenching each other in colored water, singing and dancing to drum beats at private parties and in public. In fact, it’s not rare for strangers to attack you on the streets with colored water.
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The origin of the festival is traced in Hindu mythology legends, one of which tells the story of a female demon, Holika, and her brother, King Hiranyakashipu.
The King Hiranyakashipu claimed to be a god but his son, Prahlada, refused to worship him. The king and his sister Holika — after which Holi is named — plotted to kill Prahlada and lured him onto a pyre to burn him to death. But miraculously, Prahlada survived and Holika was burned to death instead.
For this reason, the festival is also celebrated as the victory of good over evil. On the eve of Holi, some Hindus light up bonfires to signify the burning of Holika.
In a village in the western state of Gujarat, a huge bonfire of 200 tons of wood was lit on Sunday night.
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Holi is a public holiday in India and one of the country’s most celebrated Hindu festivals, besides the festival of lights, Diwali. Huge celebrations were held in several parts of the country on Monday. The festival is also celebrated in Nepal, which has a significant Hindu population.
The celebrations even extend to cities around the world, including New York.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.