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INDIA, May 8, 2012 (pib.nic.in): The Minister for Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the Ministry of Culture has entered into an agreement with the University of Chicago, USA for establishing "The Indian Ministry of Culture Vivekananda Chair."

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today she said, the Chair will commemorate the legacy of the spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda, who helped to raise awareness about Indian culture in the USA. The professorship includes a teaching commitment as well as an annual public lecture, thereby enriching the University of Chicago's program for the study of the Indian subcontinent.

The Chair would honor the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda by promoting the fields of study most relevant to his teachings and philosophies such as human values, Indian philosophy and movement for social change to further the study of Indian culture in the United States, to advance the understanding of the history, culture and people of India, to create more knowledge about Indian Society and to instruct new generations of students.

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KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA, May 6, 2012 (The Borneo Post): Two Indian temples and three organisations received a shot-in-the-arm following the distribution of RM200,000 (US$65,000) allocation from the state government, yesterday.

Presented by the Sabah Malaysian Indian Congress chairman Datuk V. Jothi, the allocation, he added, is part of the party's continuous effort in championing the cause and interest of the Indian community in the state. The beneficiaries are the Tawau Sri Murugan Temple US$32,600, Sabah Hindu Sangam US$16,300, Sandakan Indian Association US$6,500, Sandakan Hindu/Sikh Crematorium US$4,900 and the Kota Kinabalu Hindu/Sikh Crematorium US$4,900.

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INDIA, April 28, 2012 (India Today): The Indian system is fair and best in the world when it comes to acknowledging the contribution of women, India's top diplomat to the U.S. has said.

This is amply demonstrated in the very fact she being a women rose to be the highest position in Indian diplomacy, Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Nirupama Rao told students of the University of Florida in her Commencement Address.

"In the years since when I came to be a diplomat, the impact that women have on public life in India has also grown from strength to strength. For example, I was privileged to head India's Foreign Service as the Foreign Secretary for two years from 2009 to 2011. It was a unique experience in every way," she said.

Diplomacy, the field to which she belongs, Rao said was for long the exclusive preserve of men and this was very evident when she became a Foreign Service officer in 1973. "Of course, the fact that we had a woman Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi at the time, was a revolutionary development not only for India, but for the world. It made our ascent as women much more acceptable to society, at large," Rao said.

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON, MAY 2012 (RNS): One of the biggest growth areas in political activism around religion is coming from an unlikely source: the nonreligious. The Secular Coalition for America, an umbrella organization that represents 11 nontheistic groups including American Atheists and the American Humanist Association, is looking to take its secular-based activism out of the nation's capital and into the states.

Beginning in June, the Washington-based SCA will install directors in 18 states including Hawaii, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Alabama. State directors will meet with local politicians and train and mobilize local nontheists to lobby on behalf of secular issues and causes.

Activists say the most important policies that affect nonbelievers don't come from Washington. "The majority of erosion to church-state separation is at the local level," said Serah Blain, the SCA's first state director, appointed in Arizona in January. "It's in city councils and school boards and statehouses. And that's where these things really affect people's lives, with laws on bullying and abortion and access to health care. And they are passing without much opposition because it isn't seen as glamorous to lobby locally."

The announcement is the latest indication that nontheists -- atheists, humanists, skeptics and others who hold no supernatural beliefs -- are working to become a political force in their own right. Amanda Knief, who recently joined American Atheists after working as the SCA's government relations manager, said nontheists must "show elected officials that we are a political movement that needs to be recognized. That kind of recognition has been lacking because it is not politically savvy. So we need to show them that we are there and that we count."

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If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.
-- French scholar Romain Rolland

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NRITYAGRAM, INDIA, March 3, 2012 (New York Times): Movement has long pervaded Indian thought. Dance here is a vivid element in religion, mythology, philosophy and art. Although I have spent over 35 years following dance in the West, a four-week visit to India in February made me feel that only now have I witnessed dance where it is truly central to culture.

Nowhere more so than in the disciplined utopia of Nrityagram, a village far from the madding crowd that is completely given over to the pursuit of dance. The village's company, the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, is a lustrous exemplar of Odissi, one of India's classical dance forms. Ever since Nrityagram's first New York season in 1996 at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, no Indian dancers have been better known in America. I stayed in this village for four days, observing round-the-clock rehearsals and classes as the company prepared for its latest tour, which on Tuesday brings it to the Joyce Theater for six days.

The road to Nrityagram is an hour's drive west from Bangalore in the state of Karnataka. In this temperate hill country the dancers and musicians (there is also a writers' colony) are used to working in studios open to the air without doors or windows; their buildings are surrounded by thrilling birdsong and flowering vegetation.

Nrityagram was founded in 1990 as a gurukul, or residential village of learning, by the actress Protima Bedi. Though she died in 1998, her name is constantly invoked here. Her vivid personality and love affairs were one part of her legend, but another was her commitment to Indian classical dance, and in particular Odissi, of which she became by all accounts a compelling exponent. In essence Nrityagram remains as she had hoped: an idyllic place where it is not unusual for people to dance -- usually with live musicians -- morning, noon, and night.

Read more at the source, linked above.

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WISCONSIN, U.S., May 4, 2012 (Post Crescent): Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, yet before November, Wisconsin only had two Hindu temples. But there's a new worship space that has joined the mix in Kaukauna.

The Hindu Temple of Northeast Wisconsin purchased a 7,000-square-foot building in November for $505,000. Although the building, which sits on four acres of land, is in prime condition, some remodeling is needed to make it more usable as a worship space, including adding a commercial kitchen and a play area for children.

The Hindu Temple of Northeast Wisconsin joins the Hindu Temple of Wisconsin in Pewaukee and the Hindu Temple of Madison, according to Dr. Ram Turlapati, chairman of the temple's board of directors.

More than 600 people currently attend the temple, coming from as far away as Rhinelander, Marinette, Fond du Lac and Wausau. The community also attracts another 400 or so people who come to the Fox Valley from India to consult at area firms, staying six months to a year.

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INDIA, April 30, 2012 (First Post): "Hindus are like a fish out of water in Pakistan. They all want to come to India, hoping to put an end to their misery - but it is a different story here altogether," says Krishan Lal, who is one of a group of 145 Hindus who fled Pakistan on a pilgrimage visa. He now lives in a refugee camp in North Delhi, praying that the Indian government will offer him permanent refuge.

The Hindu minority, under siege in Pakistan, especially from abductions, rapes, and forcible conversion of their women, is increasingly desperate to get out. The usual trickle of refugees has grown rapidly in the last year. Until mid-2011, 8-10 families crossed the border; that number has now increased to 400.

Even this number, however, is artificially low, kept down by stringent Indian visa regulations, especially after the 2009 Mumbai attack. Only one in five visa applications are approved.

Those lucky enough to cross the border are shoved into refugee camps, where they languish without rights or attention in a "no man's land." The Indian government treats them as an inconvenience that is best ignored. Take, for instance, Pujari Lal who fled in 1999 after his teenage sister was kidnapped and raped. He now lives in Khanna, Punjab, in a settlement with 1,200 other Hindu and Sikh refugees.

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HYDERABAD, INDIA, MAY 2, 2012 (India Today): SR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's religious slant once again sparked a big controversy on Wednesday when he entered the famous Hindu temple of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala without signing the mandatory declaration about his faith in the Deity.

Jagan, a Christian, along with his 60 followers, including former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board chairman Bhumana Karunakara Reddy, entered the temple through the Vaikuntham queue complex to have a VIP break darshan of Lord Venkateshwara.

TTD executive officer L. V. Subrahmanyam, who ordered an inquiry into the incident following complaints by several devotees, said as per the rules, it was mandatory on the part of non-Hindus to sign a formal declaration for the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara saying they had complete faith in the Lord. Jagan, being a born Catholic Christian, should have signed the declaration form.

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The end of ego is the mystic death of the meditator.
-- Swami Chinmayananda (1916-1993), founder of the Chinmaya Mission

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ACHNERA, UTTAR PRADESH, April 28, 2012 (Newstrack India): A Hindu temple in this small, bustling town on the outskirts of Agra is making a record of sorts with the continuous recital of the Indian epic Ramayana for the past 18 years.

The Ram Hanuman temple opposite the Achnera railway station, about 15 miles from Agra, has become a major centre of attraction for locals and those visiting the town. The recital of the holy book since 1994 is a feat every resident of this town is proud of.

The 'akhand paath' or continuous recital started October 21, 1994, and since then the Ramayana has been recited more than 3,440 times, the temple priest claims. The temple is located on the Uttar Pradesh-Rajasthan border. He says there has never been a shortage of 'pathaks' or readers. 'They consider it a privilege to volunteer their services...there is some invisible force that sustains the enthusiasm of people.'

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SRINAGAR, INDIA, May 8, 2012 (Greater Kashmir): Chief Executive Officer of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, Navin K. Choudhary has said that on the first day of commencement of registration as many as 16,553 persons utilized the internet based e-registration facility and 174 bank branches for registering the dates and routes on which they wish to perform this year's Amarnath Yatra scheduled to commence on June 24, 2012.

He said the registration through internet based e-registration facility through JK Bank's website and 174 Bank Branches commenced on May 7, 2012 while registration through 100 Post Offices will begin on May 15, 2012. Of the 16,553 Yatris who have registered so far, 7,972 have opted for the traditional Pahalgam route and 8,581 have secured registration for the Baltal route.

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CHANDIGARH, INDIA, May 9, 2012 (Times of India): It has only been two days since registration forms for the Amarnath Yatra 2012 started being sold in the city at the Chandigarh branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Sector 17 and 1,240 out of a total 1,540 forms have already been sold in the first two days in nearly four hours. On the second day, Tuesday, many customers had to return empty-handed as the bank ran short of forms and the customers had to rush to the Panchkula and Mohali branches of the bank.

The Panchkula and Mohali branches have also received 2,310 forms each on Tuesday, which will be available till August 1. Both the routes - via Baltal and Chandanwari to Amarnath -- will open from June 25. The devotees are allowed to select the date on first come first served basis. The Chandigarh branch of the bank has been authorized to give not more than 40 forms (20 each for both the routes) for a particular date whereas, Mohali and Panchkula branches can give 30 forms each (for each route) for one particular date.

Riyaz Ahmad Wani, branch head at Sector 17 said that there was a huge rush of devotees wanting to go for the Amarnath Yatra on day one. "It became difficult to handle the rush and we had to call the police," he added.

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ALLEN, TEXAS, April 26, 2012 (Pegasus News): Women converged on the Baitul Ikraam Mosque in Allen on Sunday for an interfaith symposium. The objective of the event was to bring women of all faiths together to engage in meaningful dialogues and create a mutual understanding of one another's beliefs, said Saima Sheikh, media secretary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Women's Association, Dallas chapter, which coordinated the event.

"We believe that interfaith dialogue is the best way for us to focus on the similarities between different faiths instead of focusing on the differences," " Sheikh said. Representatives from the Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Muslim faiths spoke at the women-only event.

The local Sri Ganesha Temple (in Plano, TX) was built in 2006 to serve the growing Hindu population. According to a March 12, 2006 story in Hinduism Today, the Hindu population in Collin County at that time was close to 10,000.

"The need was there. There was a common goal, preserve and promote the values, ideals, culture and philosophy of Hinduism," stated Giridhara Gopal, a member of the working committee for the temple, in the article.

Nikita Hattangady of McKinney represented local Hinduism at the symposium and said she wished more people would take the time to learn about Hindu beliefs before making assumptions. With four Hindu temples in Plano today and many other temples in surrounding areas, Hattangady said the population continues to grow, as she estimated there are probably around 80,000 Hindus living in the DFW area.

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Nothing is impossible for pure love.
-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)