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India, Shirdi, May 15, 2013 (Press Trust of India): Saibaba Sansthan trust has recorded Rs 1,441 crore (US$262 million) income in the last five years, with 22 per cent higher donations received every year, Sansthan's executive officer Kishor More said on Wednesday. Five years back, about 20,000 devotees used to visit the Saibaba's shrine daily, but presently figures show that around 60,000 people come to visit the temple everyday and the number goes up to about one hundred thousand on weekends. During special festivals at least two to three hundred thousand devotees visit the famous shrine, More said, adding that the daily income now was around $82,000, as compared to $36,000 per day five years back.

The trust has contributed funds on building super-speciality hospital, Shirdi's roads, water arrangements, various developmental works including Chief Minister's Relief fund and Shirdi's airport, he said. The audited report of the Sansthan will be tabled in the state Assembly during the winter session for grant, he said. When asked about "hidden donations" in boxes like gold ornaments, cash and foreign currency, More said the trust doesn't has a separate machinery to check such things because when devotees come to seek blessings of Saibaba they donate money, but from where they get it is difficult to know.

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WASHINGTON, U.S., May 18, 2013 (India Times): The number of Hindus migrating to the U.S. every year has more than doubled in the last decade, with an overwhelming majority of them coming from India, a new study released today said.

An average of about 30,000 Hindus were admitted each year in the 1990s, by contrast, the US admitted an estimated 70,000 Hindu immigrants in 2012, the prestigious Pew Research Center said in its latest report on religious affiliation of immigrants released today.

According to the report, the great majority of Hindu immigrants come from India and neighboring countries with significant Hindu populations, such as Nepal and Bhutan. The share coming from the Caribbean (or "West Indies") has decreased significantly, dropping from an estimated 16 per cent of all Hindu immigrants to the US in 1992 to five per cent in 2012, it said.

Over the same period, the estimated share of green card recipients who belong to religious minorities rose from approximately one-in-five (19 per cent) to one-in-four (25 per cent). "This includes growing shares of Muslims (five per cent in 1992, 10 per cent in 2012) and Hindus (three per cent in 1992, seven per cent in 2012).

Notably, the U.S. government does not keep track of the religion of new permanent residents.

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NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 13, 2013 (Times Of India): Among other intriguing properties, the sacred lotus has the ability to generate heat and regulate its temperature like birds and mammals. This has been revealed by a team of researchers from the University of Adelaide, who have unlocked the genetic secrets of one of the world's most unique and culturally significant plants, the lotus.

The work focused on its incredible ability to generate heat so that it can keep a constant temperature of around 32-34 degrees over a 2-3 day period, while the environmental temperature varies by up to 30 degrees - behaving like a warm-blooded animal.

An international team has sequenced and described the sacred lotus genome, now published online in Genome Biology. The paper sheds new light on the evolutionary position of the lotus, one of the world's oldest flowering plants, and facilitates further research into its unusual characteristics.

The paper stated that the lotus has been cultivated as a food crop for more than 7,000 years in Asia and is prominent in both Buddhism and Hinduism. The lotus is also noted for its long-lived seeds - viable for over 1,000 years - and for its water repellency and self-cleaning leaf surfaces.

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Remember, your own soul knows the reasons why you were born in this life. It knows what you need to accomplish in this birth. As a soul, you know what obstacles and challenges you need to face and overcome to grow stronger and conquer past karmic patterns through fulfilling your chosen dharma.
-- Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today

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BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN, May 17, 2013 (Daily Times by Muhammad A. Notezai): Historically, it is not clear in documents to assert how and when Hindus originally settled in Balochistan. But after having sat with Balochistan-based Baloch and Hindu historians and writers, all of them agree that Hindus have been living in Balochistan since time immemorial along with Buddhists. It is also said that in some parts of Balochistan paganism has been the religion of the scattered tribal people. However, Hindus ruled Balochistan before the invasion of the Arabs in 712 A.D.

(HPI note: Some people in Balochistan speak Brahui, a Dravidian language related to the languages of South India. Its presence here, against the Afghan border nearly a thousand miles from the nearest region speaking a Dravidian language, is the source of the conjecture that the Indus Civilization in the area in ancient times may have spoken a Dravidian language. Linguists, however, believe it is of relatively recent introduction perhaps around 1000 ce. For more, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahui_language)

In Balochistan, Hindus have two historical and famous sacred places that belong to ancient times. These two sacred places are the Hinglaj Shrine, which is located in Balochistan's Lasbela District in a hilly track, and the other one is in Kalat town called Kali Devi, who is the consort of the God Shiva.

At the time of partition, religious riots were rampant in the subcontinent, but Hindus were living harmoniously and peacefully in the princely state of Balochistan, which was under the rule of the chief ruler of the Kalat state, Yar Muhammad Khan. He respected the indigenousness of the Hindu community. He had also given to Hindus economic and religious freedom in Balochistan. That is why the Hindu community did not leave Balochistan at the time of the partition because all their rights were safeguarded.

Hindus had also been living amicably with the Baloch and Pashtuns since the pre-partition days in Balochistan. But after the partition, due to religious uproar and turmoil, Hindus had to leave Balochistan's Pashtun belt to settle in Baloch populated areas or migrate to India. In 1941, the Hindus' population was 54,000 in Balochistan's Pashtun belt, but soon it dwindled by 93 percent after 1947.

Hindus (those that are left) have been richly contributing in Balochistan's economic prosperity and development since pre-partition days. They have built schools, libraries and hospitals in various parts of Balochistan. In Balochistan, many of the Hindus are educated. They have been offering services in health, education and other sectors. But it is profoundly shocking that Hindus are now living dangerously in Balochistan. They cannot even perform their religious practices freely due to the nightmarish situation where they interminably fear for their lives, faith, honour and property. Hindus, in spite of being Balochistan's peaceful and largest minority, are running from their old 'motherland' to escape persecution, because their lives are in a precarious and worsened condition these days.

More at source.