Religion News Service
OHIO, USA: October 23, 2007: (HPI note: “Dowry” in this case was a payment from the husband to the wife.) A dowry arrangement made by a Muslim couple is a religious agreement and not a legal contract, and therefore not enforceable by the courts, an Ohio judge has ruled. When Raghad Alwattar and Mohammed Zawahiri agreed to be married in Franklin County, Ohio, about two years ago, the couple and their families agreed the bride would receive a $25,000 payment.
Called a “mahr,” dowries are typically part of a marriage contract between Muslim couples. Because some Muslim women do not work, the payment is considered security so they are not left destitute should their husband leave. The monetary amount depends on the bride’s social status and the groom’s financial prospects. Now they are divorcing and Alwattar is suing for the money. But Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dana Priesse ruled Oct. 10 that because the “obligation to pay $25,000 is rooted in a religious practice, the dowry is considered a religious act,” instead of a legal contract.
Alwattar’s attorney, Noure Alou, said the ruling — the first of its kind in Ohio — represents a departure from rulings in New York and New Jersey, which have upheld dowries as legally enforceable. Alwattar will appeal the Common Pleas court decision, Alou said. Zawahiri, the husband, argued in court that the mahr is not a prenuptial agreement and that he did not realize the implications of the agreement when he signed it, just a few minutes before the wedding ceremony. The judge said Zawahiri should have been allowed to consult an attorney before signing the mahr. Alwattar, 21, was born of Syrian parents and raised in the United States, where she is a student at Ohio State University. Zawahiri, 29, is Syrian.
Christian Priests
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2477689.cms
‘Sanyas’ lessons for Christian clergy
21 Oct 2007, 0025 hrs IST,Ananthakrishnan G,TNN
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While the Anglican Church may shun Yoga, in Kerala the Syro-Malabar church – regarded as the oldest in the country – has decided to embrace the Hindu tradition of sanyas. This and other cultural aspects like bhajans are becoming a part of new curriculum for training the Christian clergy in the church.
“Priests have to work in the Indian milieu. So it’s necessary that they learn about India’s strong spiritual foundations like the Gurukul system, Sanyas, and Varnashram” church spokesman Paul Thelekat told TOI. The curriculum, which is called the ‘Charter for priestly formation in the Syro-Malabar church’, has been reformed and promulgated and is going to be applied in every seminary, he said.
“We were taught the basics of Indian philosophical systems as part of theory,” says Thelekat, but now there’s focus on practical learning.
The clerical curriculum includes an introduction to Hinduism. Although the usual training is given by Indologists, of late seminaries are being advised to take direct assistance of sanyasis, to prepare students for ascetic life. “Undoubtedly, there are a lot of good ideas in the Indic way of life which we must incorporate and use. Priests must imbibe the rich Indian traditions and be open to new ideas,” said Thelekat.
But then why all this fuss about Yoga in the UK? “That’s absolute nonsense. Even we were taught Yoga during our training. It’s a method by which you can recollect yourself. I do it everyday. It’s good not only for the body but also for the mind,” said the priest.
Early this year, a church was opened at Pariman in Kollam district with Jesus seated in padmasana and was called ‘Jagat Jyoti Man-dir’. While the church calls this Indianisation, critics are wary of all the changes, suspecting it to be an attempt to confuse people.
(IANS)
Technology Saturday, October 13, 2007
Indians develop new iron using ancient technology
By K.S . Jayaraman. Karnataka, India, 11:02 AM IST
http://www.indiaenews.com/technology/20071013/75049.htm
Indian metallurgists have developed a type of corrosion-resistant iron that construction engineers would love. And vital clues for it came for Delhi’s famous Iron Pillar that has been standing tall for over 1,600 years.
Developed by Ramamurthy Balasubramaniam and his former student Gadadhar Sahoo of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur, the iron contains phosphorus and shows remarkable resistance to corrosion, especially in concrete.
‘This is a significant first step in the possible commercial (large-scale) use of these irons,’ Balasubramaniam, better known as Bala, told IANS.
Most steels today contain small amounts of carbon and manganese. Modern steel makers avoid phosphorus because its segregation to grain boundaries makes the steel brittle.
But the IIT team successfully produced ductile phosphoric irons by driving the phosphorus away from grain boundaries through clever alloy design and novel heat treatment.
Ironically, Bala’s material is not new. It was being made by Indian ironsmiths centuries ago.
Bala says he got the clue for developing this material from the six-tonne seven-metre tall Delhi Iron Pillar – a major tourist attraction in the Qutb Minar complex — that has been standing for centuries in the harsh weather of the capital without any corrosion.
‘As a metallurgist, I was intrigued,’ Bala told IANS. And his passionate quest to unravel the mystery that began in 1990s has now culminated in phosphoric irons.
The test samples developed by the IIT team remained fresh after three months of being immersed in solution, simulating the corrosive concrete environment, whereas the best commercially available steels got rusted. In another experiment, they embedded the samples in concrete to simulate actual conditions and obtained similar results.
‘The work is especially important in regard to the widespread use of steels in civil structures,’ said Gerhard E. Welsch, professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio).
‘The recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis has added new urgency,’ Welsch said in a congratulatory message to Bala. Seven people died when the bridge across the Mississippi river collapsed Aug 2, 2007.
Current philosophies to tackle corrosion in concrete include the addition of inhibitors to the cement mix, use of rebars that are galvanised, epoxy coated, or micro-alloyed by the addition of small amounts of chromium, copper and nickel — elements that are known to induce passivity in iron.
Their high cost is a disadvantage, says Bala. ‘Besides, we have experimentally shown our phosphoric irons perform better.’
Bala’s real break came when he found that the iron used in the Delhi pillar contained elevated amounts of phosphorus — as much as 0.25 percent against less than 0.05 percent in today’s iron. He found this was a result of the ancient process where iron ore is reduced in a single step by mixing it with charcoal, without any limestone addition.
Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone yielding molten slag and pig iron (high in carbon) that is later converted into steel. Most phosphorus is carried away by the basic slag.
Further studies and analysing rust from the pillar showed that phosphorus catalysed the formation of a protective passive film on the surface of the pillar that acted as a barrier between the metal and rust.
Tanjore Anantharaman, author of the book ‘Delhi Iron Pillar – the Rustless Wonder’ and Bala’s former teacher at the Benaras Hindu University, says phosphorus was long suspected to be behind the pillar’s corrosion resistance. ‘It was Bala who proved it.’
That was in 2000. Actual material development and corrosion tests were initiated in 2003 when Sahoo joined Bala for his PhD that he completed in 2006.
‘Our papers based on the thesis are coming out now,’ Bala said. All the work, he said, was done with institute funds without any external support.
‘Certainly, we are not claiming that this is the end of our studies,’ admits Bala. ‘We have shown the usefulness of phosphoric irons for concrete reinforcement applications. Now it has to be taken up by more researchers for greater understanding.’
Bala thanks his forefathers for the success. ‘I am of the firm belief that ancient Indian metallurgists had the empirical knowledge that high phosphorus content ores resulted in corrosion-resistant iron. They did not create this material by accident.’
Last
week I visited Thailand and landed at their newly opened International
airport named "Swarnbhumi Airport" (Golden Land Airport). I
think it
is
one of the finest and best airports in the world. When I was returning
and after going through the immigration, entered the departure area
near Gates D, I was just mesmerized with the huge multi-color mural of
the famous Hindu mythological depiction of Samudra Manthan
(The celestial churning of ocean). Most first time visitors of the
airport spend sometime to understand the significance of the scenery
and take photos. Please see the attached photographs. I was pleasantly
surprised that many people were also offering money/water etc. to the
Lord there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/dining/03curi.html?ref=dining
On Oct 11, 2007, at 7:24 AM, Sadhaka Adinatha wrote:
IN any controversy it can be helpful to consider the views of disinterested parties. So, on the subject of agricultural policy and practice, it’s worth noting that an unimpeachably neutral group has joined the ranks of those who prefer organic foods over foods produced with the help of synthetic chemicals. That group is 40 Swiss rats.
A team of Swiss and Austrian scientists recently concluded a 21-year study of organic wheat production. As an “integrative method” for assessing quality, they gave lab animals a choice of biscuits made from organic or conventional wheat. The rats ate significantly more of the former. The authors call this result remarkable, because they found the two wheats to be very similar in chemical composition and baking performance.
In fact, the rats were better at telling the difference between organic and conventional foods than many humans have been. In the handful of carefully designed taste-offs reported in the last few years, people were often unable to identify the organic foods, and often didn’t prefer them.
This is puzzling, since organic produce generally does pack more antioxidants and other potentially healthful — and potentially flavorful — phytochemicals than conventional produce. Just last July, Professor Alyson Mitchell and colleagues at the University of California, Davis summarized 10 years of data from tomatoes grown in carefully controlled organic and conventional systems. The antioxidant contents varied from year to year, but were consistently higher in the organic tomatoes.
—–Original Message—–
From: Vivekananda [mailto:vivekananda@btinternet.com]
Sent: 15 October 2007 22:46
To: Vedanta
Subject: Encounters at Muslim College
Subject: Encounters at Muslim College
Every year we present Hindu teachings to the postgraduate students at the Muslim college in London. These encounters are very interesting because they reflect the mood of Muslim youngsters and the way they view Hinduism. Over the past many years these sessions have produced very warm response from the Muslim students. Today, while we were presenting Hindu teachings at one of these sessions; every now and then, two young Muslim men, continued to raise objections and in the guise of ‘trying to understand Hinduism’ interject some demeaning comments about Hinduism. These encounters took a surprising turn because two young Muslim women students, responded sharply by criticizing these youngsters for their inability to view things from a different perspective.
The idea of worshipping God through images was seen as a serious issue. We had to explain that just as you cannot do mathematics without the infinity symbol (which is very finite); as long as we operate in the field of the finite we need finite tools to relate to the infinite God. The Hindus are not apologetic about the use of finite images to relate to the infinite God. Surprisingly the Hindu concept of ‘accepting that there can be many ways for making spiritual progress’ seemed to have gone down well till we came to the end of the session, when one of the youth made a proclamation that it was his duty to warn us to embrace Islam else we will pay a heavy price on the day of judgement. Our response was, ‘We are thankful for his concern about our welfare, but we will take that risk’.
To our amazement one of the young Muslim ladies who had been defending Hindu presentation throughout the sessions, came forward and said with all sincerity, ‘Do not end your cycle of rebirth by merging with God; continue to reincarnate for everyone’s benefit.’ Our response was, ‘We have no desire to merge with God, we love chocolate cakes and wish to eat them again and again.’ : )
jay
Hindu Academy
Vivekananda Centre London
From: rajivhtc@gmail.com
Subject: fyi- In Capital, Marx, Lenin at Durga’s doorstep
Date: October 17, 2007 3:23:25 AM HST
To: ar@hindu.org
http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/17bs1.htm
In Capital, Marx, Lenin at Durga’s doorstep
Saubhadra Chatterji in New Delhi
October 17, 2007 03:28 IST
For the last few months, this part of the globe could not have ignored
the CPI(M)’s vehement opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal even if
it tried.
But if you want to go beyond that, to learn more about the shrinking
world of communism, its history, who’s who and why the comrades
welcome American microchips, but hate their potato chips then Durga
Puja is the best time. For the Left, it’s the season to be jolly.
Das Kapital is coming to Kolkata at a Puja-stall near you. Amid the
scores of kiosks selling a variety of goods from Made-in-China torches
to water purifiers, jostled by hoardings announcing “heavy discounts”,
peeping out insistently from the glittering spectrum of colours, you
will notice a ‘red corner’ the CPI(M)’s bookstore at the Puja
pandals.
The first of the stores in Delhi will be opened by Brinda Karat, the
only Bengali politburo member of the party who is in Delhi during
Puja, at Chittaranjan Park on October 17. Last year, the CPI(M) had
set up a similar stall but on a much smaller scale.
This year, the party has planned four book kiosks around Delhi,
targeting the best places where they can get maximum attention. The
biggest Puja ‘pandal’ in Delhi –Chittaranjan Park’s Mela Ground –is
definitely on the red radar along with Chittaranjan Park’s B Block,
Karol Bag and New Delhi Kali Bari.
The kiosks, as usual, will be painted only in red and will be stocked
with books on various aspects of CPI(M) ideology, important movements
in India, biographies of CPI(M) leaders and their views on various
issues around the world.
Material on the nuclear deal will also be for sale. The books are
generally low-priced to attract customers and will be available in
English, Hindi and Bengali.
Those of a certain age will recall the People’s Publishing House
(PPH), a standard feature on many campuses, where you could get
Marxist literature written not just by ideologues, but heroes of the
October Revolution like Lenin.
These pamphlets, which taught you why never to be a Decemberist, how
important it was to avoid the perils of economic determinism, and why
Trotsky must be condemned (because he opposed Stalin’s theory of
Socialism in One Country), went through lingering sickness before
dying altogether following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Clearly, it is this space in the Left market that the CPI(M) seeks to
fill by setting up such kiosks.
According to sources, the bosses at AK Gopalan Bhawan, the capital’s
Kremlin, are not spending much on this publicity programme. Instead,
they are banking on ‘well-wishers’ to sponsor stalls where the rates
for stalls are sky high. A select team of cadres has already been
formed to manage the kiosks for the next four days.
Most Indian Marxists are atheists and they view Durga Puja as a social
celebration rather than a religious one. The kiosks are inevitably
housed outside the Puja pandal.
Like corporate houses reaching out to customers through special
efforts during the festival season, the CPI(M) tries to boost the sale
of its literature during festivals.
The party may not have a strong foothold beyond three states, but its
efforts to spread the wisdom of Marxism to every corner of the country
seems to be unrelenting.
That would be great if you can. The address for reply should be office@hafsite.org . I remember HT did a piece on suicide once, and its included in ‘Dancing with Siva’ – I was presuming you may have some good leads.
Thanks!
On 10/19/07, Sannyasin Arumugaswami
Namaste,
We don’t know anyone off hand who would qualify for this. It is something I could advertise in HPI.
Arumugaswami
On Oct 18, 2007, at 9:49 AM, Ishani Chowdhury wrote:
Hi,
I just spoke with this woman from Fed. Mental Health Services about the following request. Let me know if you are interested, and I will put you in contact.
Thanks.
——-
“We are currently working with the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center to develop an Interfaith Suicide Prevention Initiative.
Our first task is to convene a relatively small meeting of leaders from different faith communities who have experience developing comparable interfaith initiatives. They do not necessarily need to have experience in suicide prevention per se, but they do need to be able to inform us about their faith’s general beliefs about suicide and its prevention. I know that, within each faith community, various “denominations” hold different beliefs, and we expect that, over time, we may hold other meetings that look at these issues in more depth and with more specificity. What we need now are people who can serve as something of a steering committee to get us started in a good direction and help us plan the overall initiative.
We will be extremely grateful for any help you can give us in identifying one or more people from the Hindu community who you think would be interested in helping us with this project. We will, of course, cover all travel costs, so the person does not need to be from the metropolitan DC area. “
Pope To Meet–But Not To Pray–With Interfaith Leaders
Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY, October 18, 2007: Twenty-one years ago this month, Pope John Paul II met in Assisi, Italy, with more than 150 leaders of different religions to pray for peace. Images of the pontiff worshipping in the Basilica of St. Francis alongside colorfully garbed Tibetan Buddhists, Japanese Shintoists and representatives of traditional African and American faiths captivated millions around the world. Not everyone was pleased, including the man who would one day succeed John Paul. “This cannot be the model,” said Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI). Ratzinger later wrote that it was “indisputable that the Assisi meetings, especially in 1986, were misinterpreted by many people.” Ratzinger feared that such displays, however well-intentioned, could promote the relativistic idea that all religions are equally true, or that all faiths could be combined in a single syncretic blend.
This Sunday (Oct. 21), Benedict will attend the opening day of the International Meeting for Peace in Naples, Italy. It is the latest in an annual series of events intended to sustain the “spirt of Assisi.” The pope will offer an ecumenical Mass in Naples’ main piazza, then have lunch with some 200 religious leaders, including the chief rabbi of Israel and the Muslim rector of Al-Azhar University in Egypt. The organizers of the gathering stress that there is not–and never has been-anything in the spirit of Assisi that promotes relativism or syncretism. Ever since the 1986 gathering, Mario Marazziti, co-founder of the Catholic lay group, Sant’Egidio, notes, organizers have arranged for representatives of different faiths to pray in separate locations–a specification that is prominently noted in this year’s program. Last September, to mark the 20th anniversary of the first Assisi event, the meeting was again held in Assisi. Benedict sent a letter of support, but warned against any seeming endorsement of relativism.
Events since then have underscored the importance of inter-religious relations for the Vatican. Two weeks after he sent the letter to Assisi, Benedict angered Muslims with a speech in Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor describing the teachings of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman” and “spread by the sword.” Benedict later responded by expressing his “regrets” and held a special meeting with representatives of Muslim nations. Then, on a visit to Turkey in December, the pope surprised many by praying alongside Istanbul’s chief Imam in the city’s Blue Mosque. Last week 138 Muslim scholars and clerics published an open letter seeking better relations with the Christian world. Two of the document’s authors complained that the Catholic Church has resisted the theological dialogue with Muslims, limiting inter-religious relations to the diplomatic sphere.
The roundtable discussions being held in Naples on Sunday will offer an opportunity for such dialogue, though Benedict himself, who will leave before the official beginning of the meeting, will not take part in them. Nor will Benedict share in the prayers for peace, which will not take place until Wednesday (Oct. 24). As for the Mass that he will offer on Sunday, the only religious leaders who have been formally invited are other Christians. So if the pope offers any prayers in the presence of non-Christian representatives this weekend, it will be just before their meal together and presumably in silence.
For higher pay, learn to say you’re sorry
http://biz.yahoo.com/hftn/071017/101607_apologize_fortune.html?.v=1&.pf=career-work
Wednesday October 17, 7:15 am ET
By Anne Fisher, FORTUNE senior writer
Market research can be full of surprises. Sometimes, in seeking to find out one thing, researchers turn up a whole different set of unexpected conclusions. Consider: A few months ago, online pearl merchants The Pearl Outlet (www.thepearloutlet.com) noticed that a growing number of customers, when asked the reason for their pearl purchases, replied that the baubles were given as an apology, usually to a wife or girlfriend. Intrigued, The Pearl Outlet hired pollsters Zogby International (www.zogby.com) to find out more.
When Zogby’s researchers queried 7,590 Americans, both male and female, they discovered that people who are more willing to say “I’m sorry” make more money than people who rarely or never apologize.
People earning over $100,000 a year are almost twice as likely to apologize after an argument or mistake as those earning $25,000 or less, the survey found. Respondents were asked to identify themselves as belonging to one of a set of income ranges. They were also asked whether they would apologize in three situations: when they felt they were entirely to blame for a problem; when they thought they were only partly at fault; and when they believed they were blameless.
In all three cases, “a person’s willingness to apologize was an almost perfect predictor of their place on the income ladder,” the study says.
More than nine out of ten (92%) of $100,000+ earners apologize when they believe they’re to blame, compared to 89% of people earning between $75,000 and $100,000, 84% of those who make $50,000 to $75,000, 72% of those earning between $35,000 and $50,000, and 76% of people earning between $25,000 and $35,000. Among survey respondents who make $25,000 or less, just 52% say they usually apologize when they know they’re at fault.
And think about this: Even when they believe themselves to be completely blameless, 22% of the highest earners say “I’m sorry,” compared to just 13% of those in the lowest income group.
Any statistician will tell you that so direct and consistent a correlation between behavior and income is extremely rare, but what does it mean? Should you practice groveling if you want to make more money? Well, no.
But saying “Oops, I’m sorry” now and then is an indicator of strong people skills, essential for moving up in almost any organization. The link between income and willingness to apologize “shows that successful people are willing to learn from their mistakes and are keen on mending troubled relationships,” says British business coach Peter Shaw.
Terry Shepherd, president of The Pearl Outlet, has his own theory: “Maybe high earners apologize more because, as someone once said, it’s easier to apologize afterward than to ask permission beforehand – and high earners tend to ask permission less.”
Still another possible explanation, according to Marty Nemko, Ph.D., author of Cool Careers for Dummies (For Dummies, $19.99): “High earners tend to be more secure” and less likely to go on the defensive when challenged or criticized. “They realize when they’re wrong and know it won’t hurt their career much to apologize.”
Indeed, taking the high road – acknowledging one’s share of blame, or even accepting some blame when it isn’t justified – is a trait shared by many great leaders, because it tends to build solidarity with the troops.
Readers, what do you think? Has a well-timed apology at work (or the lack of one) ever had an impact on your career – or changed your opinion of a boss? Post your thoughts on the Ask Annie blog.
http://www.mysticindia.com/forteachers/index.htm