FirstUp: Pran Pratishta pre-consecrations in Ayodhya and more... Today's big stories

It’s Tuesday. And there’s a mega day of news ahead. In Ayodhya today, the pre-consecration sacraments of the ‘Pran Pratishta’ ceremony are set to begin. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray is set to hold a press conference at 4 pm. The executive committee meeting of the suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is set to meet. The 75th edition of Primetime Emmy Awards will begin at 6.30 am today. Let’s take a closer look at today’s big-ticket items: ‘Pran Pratishta’ pre-consecration begins The pre-consecration sacraments will be held during the ‘Abhijit Muhurat’ in the afternoon. The ceremonies, which will begin today, will continue till 21 January. The Dwadash Adhivas will be followed as per protocols which include Prayaschitta and Karmakuti Poojan on 16 January followed by Parisar Pravesh of the idol on the 17th; Teerth Poojan on the 18th, Jal Yatra, Jalaadhivas and Gandhaadhivaas on 19th morning and Aushadhaadhivaas, Kesaraadhivaas, Ghritaadhivaas followed by Dhaanyaadhivaas in the evening. On the morning of 20 January, Sharkaraadhivaas, Phalaadhivaas will be held, and Pushpaadhivaas in the evening. On the morning of 21 January Madhyaadhivaas will be held and Shayyaadhivaas in the evening. Then, on 22 January, the Pran Pratishta ceremony will be held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other dignitaries. Uddhav press conference Uddhav, who has moved the Supreme Court against Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision holding that the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is the real Shiv Sena, is set to address a press conference. The speaker had also rejected the Thackeray faction’s plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde. In his ruling on the disqualification petitions on 10 January, the speaker had not disqualified any MLA from the rival camps. The ruling has further cemented Shinde’s position as the chief minister 18 months after he led a rebellion against Thackeray. [caption id=“attachment_13600022” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Nagpur: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thakeray slammed the Maharashtra’s Speaker’s order. PTI[/caption] It also added to his political heft in the ruling coalition which also consists of the BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar group) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in summer and state Assembly elections due in the second half of 2024. Thackeray last week described Narwekar’s decision as a ‘murder of democracy’ and had vowed to challenge the decision. He added that the apex court had spelled out clear guidelines of how to act on disqualification petitions filed by the rival factions, but Narwekar ignored them. The original case was about disqualification under the anti-defection law, but not one lawmaker from either side was disqualified, Uddhav added. WFI executive committee meet The WFI has called a meeting of its executive committee meeting today in New Delhi to discuss the way ahead. The Centre has suspended the WFI on 24 December citing violation of the National Sports Code and the WFI constitution after the federation held its election. A defiant WFI has maintained that it neither accepts the suspension nor does it recognise the ad-hoc panel that has been constituted by the IOA to manage the day-to-day affairs of the sport. “We need a properly functioning Federation. We are taking the matter to the court next week. This suspension is not acceptable to us because we were elected democratically,” WFI chief Sanjay Singh said last week. Singh, a loyalist of former WFI honcho Brij Bhushan was part of WFI’s last executive council. He was also the national federation’s joint secretary since 2019. He defeated Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran – who was backed by the country’s top wrestlers who accused Bhushan of sexually exploiting women grapplers during his tenure. 75th Emmy Awards The 75th Emmy Awards will finally be held today after a four-month delay due to the writer’s strike. Actor and comedian Anthony Anderson, who is set to host the ceremony, will be hoping he fares better than poor Jo Koy who bombed at the Golden Globes. “I said yes to hosting the Emmys, maybe, 15 years ago; they’re just now getting around to asking me to host,” Anthony told The Hollywood Reporter. “You know what’s crazy? I think my team may have given them a resounding yes before they even brought the offer to me.” “They contacted my team, like, ‘Do you think Anthony would be interested in hosting –’ ‘Yes!’ ‘… the Emmys?’ ‘Yes!’ ‘Do you guys need to talk to him first?’ ‘No, he’s interested. He’s going to do it. We’ll call him later.’ I think that’s how that conversation went.” [caption id=“attachment_12984702” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The 75th Emmy Awards will be held after a four-month delay.[/caption] Will HBO’s Succession, The White Lotus, and Last of Us continue the brand’s decades-long domination of the award ceremony? Will Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin continue to snap up awards? Or will the academy favour Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey – both of whom would make history with Pascal being the first Latino to win best actor in a drama and Ramsey the youngest to win best actress? The ceremony will be broadcast worldwide from California’s Peacock Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. On this day…. On 16 January, 1991, the United States launched Operation Desert Storm. The operation, announced by then president George HW Bush, came months after Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussain invaded and annexed Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm was the first war in which TV news was broadcast LIVE from the front lines with many anchors embedded with US troops. It witnessed the largest tank battle in US history also saw the Patriot missile system deployed in combat for the first time. The operation ended on 18 February, 1991, with US and allied forces handily beating Iraq’s seasoned forces – the fourth largest army in the world — and liberating Kuwait. With inputs from agencies