Source: www.abendblatt.de

HAMBURG, GERMANY, February 7, 2010: Hamburg’s Museum fur Volkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology) has been home to an authentic Balinese temple since November 2009. Carved out of volcanic stone, the temple was shipped from Bali to Germany and assembled according to tradition by the Balinese architect Artana and two assistants.

Construction was funded by Juli Biesterfeld, a Balinese woman who lives in Hamburg. The temple, which stands in front of the Museum, will be both an exhibit and an authentic place of worship. The official consecration of the temple will be done by Balinese priests on the day of the Kuningan festival, May 22, 2010.

Source: www.scribd.com

KAPAA, HI, USA, February 8, 2010: Kindle, Nook, Apple iPad — it seems that digital editions of books and magazines are destined to seize the spotlight from venerable paper, which has been the choice of readers for centuries. Or maybe not: how can you reproduce the ease and comfort of having a printed edition in your hands, one you can fold, skim, drop, lend and archive?

Either way the magazine world goes, Hinduism Today will be there. Today’s innovation is that you can buy and read the latest edition of Hinduism Today (January/February/March, 2010) on Scribd, a website that tries to match the experience of reading on paper. The price? One dollar. The magazine is identical to the printed edition. You can zoom in, flip pages, enjoy two-page spreads and the photos and design that are Hinduism Today’s marks of excellence.

You can see the future here.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA, February 4, 2010: The last speaker of an ancient language in India’s Andaman Islands has died at the age of about 85, a leading linguist has told the BBC. Professor Anvita Abbi said that the death of Boa Sr was highly significant because one of the world’s oldest languages - Bo - had come to an end. She said that India had lost an irreplaceable part of its heritage. Languages in the Andamans are thought to originate from Africa. Some may be 70,000 years old. The islands are often called an “anthropologist’s dream” and are one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world.

Professor Abbi said that Boa Sr’s death was a loss for intellectuals wanting to study more about the origins of ancient languages, because they had lost “a vital piece of the jigsaw”. “It is generally believed that all Andamanese languages might be the last representatives of those languages which go back to pre-Neolithic times,” Professor Abbi said. “The Andamanese are believed to be among our earliest ancestors.”

Source: www.poten.com

INDIA, February 2010: The revelation that the Ganga could disappear in the Gangotri valley if a series of hydropower projects are completed should prompt a rethink on what is clearly a case of mindless development, according to this article. Twelve hydro power projects, some functioning and others proposed, are located in a fragile ecological zone.

Environmentalists have warned that there will be no free-flowing Ganga all the way to Haridwar once the dams on the river start functioning. Not only is the river sacred to hundreds of millions of Indians, but also a major source of livelihood for people living on its banks. Rivers are also the core of very sophisticated and sensitive ecosystems.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

ORISSA, INDIA, February, 7, 2010: A delegation of the European Union is due to visit a region which was hit by religious riots in the eastern Indian state of Orissa last year.

Kandhamal district witnessed weeks of anti-Christian violence after a Hindu leader was shot dead. The clashes erupted after hard line Hindu groups blamed Christians for the killing. The government set up two fast-track courts to deal speedily with cases relating to the riots.

Hindus have protested against the visit saying it was a violation of the sovereignty of the country. The violence in Kandhamal district left at least 40 people dead and more than 25,000 homeless. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the 11 member-delegation was going to Kandhamal to see the “development activities there”.

Christian leaders have denied that the visit would lead to religious tensions.