Special trains, RTC buses for Sai Baba festival

Anantapur, October 31: Large-scale arrangements are being made by the government for the 85th birthday celebrations of spiritual guru Sri Satya Saibaba at Puttaparthi in Anantapur district.

Devotees from India and abroad in large numbers are expected to attend the event which will be held from November 15 to 23.

President Pratibha Singh Patil will take part in Women’s Day programme on November 19.

Satya Sai Seva Organisation’s world convention will be held on November 20 and the 29th convocation of Satya Sai Deemed University on November 22. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would attend the convocation. On November 23, Chief Minister K Rosaiah, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Governor Sivaraj Patil and other dignitaries will attend the 85th birthday celebration of Saibaba at the Puttaparthi Hill View Stadium on November 23.

Tourism minister J Geeta Reddy today held a meeting at the Puttaparthi tourism hotel to review the arrangements.

Talking to newsmen later, Raghuveera Reddy said that Geeta Reddy and he had laid the foundation stone earlier in the day for a Rs 1.6-crore mini Shilparamam on a 6.83-acre site and inaugurated AP Tourism’s Puttaparthi Package Tour between Bangalore and Lepakshi.

–Agencies