According to Hindu reckoning, the date of Diwali falls on 15th day of the dark fortnight in the auspicious Hindu month of Kartik or the month of October/November in English calendar. This Diwali day falls on the amavasya or the no moon day. Diwali date comes 20 days after the popular festival of Dussehra or Vijaya Dashmi. Diwali 2010 date is on 5 November, Friday.

Diwali is an occasion wherein every member of a family is involved in the preparations weeks in advance. Right from getting the house cleaned and spruced up and painted, making elaborate rangolis, planning the special dishes, visits to the temples, friends, relatives and exchange diwali gifts. With the passage of time, Diwali has evolved into a community festival. People gather as a community for the celebrations. Even Diwali shopping is in its full swing days before the Deepavali day.

The Extended Divali Extravaganza
Diwali festival celebrations are a five day affair. On the first day of Dhanteras, people buy new utensils ; on the second day of Chaturdashi or Choti Diwali, devotees take bath before sunrise as it is considered auspicious; on third day of Diwali, Lakshmi puja is performed to propitiate the goddess of wealth to fulfill one's wishes for prosperity; fourth day is for Govardhan puja, on this day cows are worshipped; and, on the fifth comes Bhai Dooj when brothers visit their sisters.

Welcoming Prosperity on Deepavali
Diwali, or Deepawali, literally means rows of diyas (clay lamps). This festival is significant for its association with the uplifting of spiritual darkness in the souls of people. It also marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year and on this day Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god, is worshiped. It is considered the right time for shopping, starting new ventures, business deals and house warming. On this day, doorways are lit and decorated with Rangoli or traditional patterns to welcome the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.

Diwali - Meaning for Other Faiths
Diwali Day is equally important for Sikh and Jains. During the festival time in 1620 the 6th Guru, Hargobind Singh Ji was successful in releasing 52 Hindu princes who had been falsely imprisoned in Gwallior Fort by the rulers of the area, the Mughals. The Golden Temple was lit with many lights to welcome Guru Hargobind Singh Ji and Sikhs have continued the celebration to this day. The Jainis also celebrate this occasion, in remembrance of the establishment of the Jain dharma by Lord Mahavira.

5. Reinforce the idea of Diwali as a time of personal enlightenment by teaching children how to participate in prayer services. Teach them how to perform various puja, like Dhanteras Pooja, Lakshmi Pooja which is a ritual involving meditation. 

The festival of Bhai Dooj is popularly known as Bhai Bij, Bhaubeej amongst the Marathi and Konkani speaking communities in the states of Maharashtra,Goa and Karnataka. It is also known as Bhai-phota among Bengalis. Just as Bhaidooj celebrations in rest of India, Bhaubeej falls on the last day of five-day-long Diwali festival, on the second day of Diwali. This is the second day of the bright fortnight or Shukla Paksha of Hindu month of Kartika. On Bhaubeej, sisters pray for their brothers to have long and happy lives by performing the Teeka ceremony. Brothers give their sisters Bhav-Bij gifts. An important part of Bhai Bij in Maharashtra is a special sweet called Basundi Poori or Shrikhand Poori.

Bhav Bij is the time for family reunion as all brothers and sisters in the family get together. Close relatives and friends are also invited to celebrate the Bhav Bij in several families. Delectable Basundi Poori and Shrikhand Poori is relished along with several other festival special dishes. 

Of 12.6 million children in hazardous occupations, India has the highest number of labourers in the world under 14 years of age. Although the Constitution of India guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the age of 6 to 14 and prohibits employment of children younger than 14 in any hazardous environment, child labour is present in almost all sectors of the Indian economy Companies including Gap, Primark, Monsanto etc have been criticised for using child labour in either their operations in India or by their suppliers in India.

Beedi manufacture

A survey conducted between 1994 and 1995 revealed that child workers comprise of more than 30% of total hired workers in the beedimanufacture sector. The United States Customs Service subsequently banned the import of Beedis made in Ganesh Beedi Works ofMangalore 

Diamond industry

International Labour Organization published a report titled Child Labour in the Diamond Industry. claiming that child labour is highly prevalent in the Indian diamond industry, as child labourers constitute nearly 3% of the total workforce and the percentage of child labourers is as high as 25% in the diamond industry of Surat. The ICFTU further claimed that child labour was prospering in the diamond industry in Western India, where the majority of the world's diamonds are cut and polished while workers are often paid only a fraction of 1% of the value of the stones they cut.

Fireworks manufacture

Fireworks manufacturers had long been criticised for their use of child labour. Although the manufacturers declare that child labour is no longer used, estimates suggest that at least 3,000 children still work at every stage of the manufacturing process. Child labourers at Sivakashi earn wages as low as Rs 20 per day. There had been protests by the manufacturers against the anti child labour campaign by various N.G.O.s , terming them as false allegations and conspiracies.Thousands of children die each year in the fireworks business.

Silk manufacture

Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 350,000 bonded children are employed by the silk industry in India. As per Human Rights Watch, children as young as five years old are employed and work for up to 12 hours a day and six to seven days a week. Children are forced to dip their hands in scalding water to palpate the cocoons and are often paid less than Rs 10 per day.

Domestic labour

Official estimates for child labor working as domestic labor and in restaurants is more than 2,500,000 while NGOs estimate the figure to be around 20 million. The Government of India expanded the coverage of The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act and banned the employment of children as domestic workers and as workers in restaurants, dhabas, hotels, spas and resorts effective from October 10, 2006.

Construction

The use of child labor can be found in the construction industry too. Children are found in construction of both home and office buildings. In 1982, for the construction of the Asian Games Village, the contractors had employed child labor, for they had to be paid less, making it a giant issue.

Brick kilns

Each year, thousands of children are rescued from brick kilns, working in awful conditions. Some of the children are actually sold to the brick kiln owners, and are not paid.

In 1979, the Indian government formed the Gurupadswamy Committee to find about child labour and means to tackle it. The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act was enacted based on the recommendations of the committee in 1986. A National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating children working in hazardous occupations.  The ministry of Labour and Employment had implemented around 100 industry-specific National Child Labour Projects to rehabilitate the child workers since 1988.

Legislation

The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986) bans employment of children in occupations related to

§  Transport of passengers

§  Manufacture and selling of crackers and fireworks

§  Abattoirs

§  Carpet weaving

§  Manufacture of Beedi,cement, matches, explosives, soap, slate pencils, agate products, agarbatti etc

§  Building and construction industry

§  Hazardous processes under the factory act

§  Brick kilns etc

The violation of the act can result in punishments ranging from imprisonment for one month to two years.

The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1982 Games. Since the 1982 they have been organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), after the break up of the Asian Games Federation. The Games are recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.

Thailand has hosted four Asian Games, more than any other nation, after twice having secured the Games from crisis. In its history, only nine nations have hosted the Asian Games. 46 nations have participated in the Games, including Israel, which was excluded from the Games after their last participation in 1974.

Prior formation

Before the Asian Games were held, there was a gathering known as the Far Eastern Games which was first mooted in 1912 between Empire of Japan, the Philippine Islandsand China. The first Games were then held in Manila in 1913 and ten further gatherings were held until 1934. However, against the backdrop of the second Sino-Japanese War in 1934, in the face of Japan's insistence on including Manchu Empire as competitor nation in the Games, China announced its withdrawal from participation. The Games scheduled for 1938 were cancelled and the organisation was discontinued thereafter.

Formation

After World War II, a number of Asian countries became independent. Many of the newly independent Asian countries wanted to see a new type of competition where Asian dominance would not be shown by violence but would be strengthened by mutual understanding. During the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, a conversation between sportsmen from China and the Philippines raised the idea of restoring the Far Eastern Games. However, the Indian International Olympic Committee representative Guru Dutt Sondhi thought that the restoration of the Games would not be sufficient to show the spirit of unity and level of achievement in Asian sports, so proposed to sports leaders the idea of having discussions about holding a wholly new competition — the Asian Games. This gave rise to the agreement to form the Asian Athletic Federation. A preparatory committee was set up to draft the charter for this new body. On 13 February 1949, the Asian Athletic Federation was formally inaugurated in New Delhi, alongside the name Asian Games Federation, with New Delhi announced as the first host city of the Asian Games which were scheduled to be held in 1950. In the event, the planned first Asian Games were delayed until 1951 due to preparation problems. However, they were successfully organised from 4-11 March 1951 with 489 athletes from 11 countries taking part. The Games grew from one meeting to the next. In1958, the motto "Ever Onward" was officially announced as the official slogan of the Games.

Crisis, reorganisation, expansion

Starting in 1962, the Games were hit by several crises. First, the host country Indonesia, refused to permit the participation of Israel and the Republic of China due to political and religious issues. As a result, the IOC removed its sponsorship of the Games and terminated Indonesia as one of the IOC members. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), also removed their recognition of the Games.

 In 1970, South Korea dropped its plan to host the Games declined due to national security crisis, however the main reason was due tofinancial crisis, forcing the previous host Thailand to administer the Games again in Bangkok using funds transferred from South Korea. Prior to the Games, Japan was asked to host the Games, but declined due to Expo '70 in Osaka. This edition also marked the first time the Games have a television broadcasting throughout the world. In 1974, the Games formally recognized the participation of China, North Korea and Mongolia. Israel was allowed to participate despite the opposition from Arab World, while Taiwan was permitted to take part despite its status was abolished in general meeting on November 16, 1973 by Games Federation.

The last is 1978, Pakistan dropped its plan to host the Games in 1975 due to financial crisis and political issues. Thailand offered to help and the Games were once again held in Bangkok. However once again, like in 1962, Taiwan and Israel were refused the participation by Games Federation, amid political issues and security fears. Several governing bodies protest the ban, like IAAF, threaten to barred the participated players from 1980 Summer Olympics, this cause several teams withdrew prior to the Games.

Following this series of crises, the National Olympic Committee in Asia decided to revise the constitution of the Asian Games Federation. A new association, named the Olympic Council of Asia, was created in November 1981 with the exclusion of Israel. India was already scheduled to host the 1982 Games and the OCA decided not to drop the old AGF timetable. The OCA formally supervised the Games starting with the 1986 Asian Games in South Korea. In the succeeding Games, Taiwan (Republic of China) was re-admitted, but compete with the name Chinese Taipei.

In 1994, the Games were first time included the nations of former Republics of the Soviet Union of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan,Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Also to note it is the first time that the Games were held outside the capital city of host country. However, Iraq was suspended from the Games due to Gulf War in 1990, while North Korea boycotted the Games due to relation problems. It is also marred by the death of Nepalese delegation Nareshkumar Adhikari during the Games's opening ceremony.

The 1998 Games marked the fourth time held in Bangkok, Thailand in history. Differ to December 6 as opening ceremony date to previous three occasions on December 9, the Games were closing on same day all time, December 20, while all opened by Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Future changes

The number of competition events is scheduled to shrink down to just 35 sports at the 2014 Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea. 2014 will also see the Games hosted in even-numbered year, as the Olympic Council of Asia pushed the subsequent Games to just one year ahead of the Olympic Games. This means the 18th Asian Games which were originally planned for 2018 will be pushed to 2019.

All 45 members affiliated to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) are eligible to take part in the Games. In history, 46 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have sent competitors to the Games. Israel has been excluded from the Games since 1976, the reason cited as being due to security reasons. Israel requested to participate in the 1982 Games, but the request was rejected by the organisers due to incident in 1972 Summer Olympics. Israel is now a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC).

Due to its continuing ambiguous political status, Taiwan has participated in the Games under the flag of Chinese Taipei since 1990.Macau is allowed to compete as one of the NOCs in Asian Games, despite not being recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for participation in the Olympic Games.

In 2007, the President of OCA, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, rejected the proposal to allow Australia to participate in the Games. He stated that while Australia would add good value to the Asian Games, it would be unfair to the other NOCs inOceania.^[26]

Only seven countries, namely India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Thailand have competed in all editions of the games.