India’s History Through a Distorted Lens

voice.indiasite.com USA, November 7, 2007: (HPI Note: The following excerpt from the website of a Rajasthan-based travel agent occurs in a page — URL above — called “Medieval Indian History.” It is an example of the misleading information easily encountered when googling for Indian history.) “The conquest of Delhi by Muhammad Ghuri would change the future of Indian history radically.…

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Indian Richest Man in the World — For Now

www.stockmarketsview.com USA, October 29, 2007: India’s Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, a company built from scratch by his late father Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani, has becomed the world’s richest man. Mukesh Ambani has surpassed Bill Gates, Carlos Slim and Warren Buffett, to become the world’s richest man. The strong bull rally witnessed in the Indian stock markets has boosted…

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Mystic India Teacher’s Guide Available

www.mysticindia.com INDIA, November 5, 2007: An excellent teacher’s guide (URL above) for grades three to eight has been made available by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, producers of “Mystic India,” the story of their founder, Lord Swaminarayan. The guide is used to teach not only the life of Lord Swaminarayan, but also various aspects of India and its history, including geography,…

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Tamil Nadu Government Expands Fund To Insure One Puja a Day at 40,000 Temples

www.hindu.com CHENNAI, INDIA, October 25, 2007: The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department has expanded its orukaala puja (one puja a day) plan to ensure that at least one puja is performed every day in nearly 40,000 temples under its purview. While thousands of smaller temples, which do not have any significant income, remain closed, even in temples kept open,…

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Excellent Hindu Festival Book Released

www.livemint.com MUMBAI, INDIA, November 3, 2007: (HPI note: The following review is by Sanjukta Sharma of Livemint.com.) This two-volume compendium on celebrating Hindu festivals in South India, “Follow the Hindu Moon,” is a great pre-festival buy. The author, Soumya Aravind Sitaraman, is a Silicon Valley housewife who embarked on a long research project about South Indian festivals out of personal…

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A Home For Ganesha: Construction Starts On Berlin’s First Hindu Temple

www.spiegel.de BERLIN, GERMANY, November 2, 2007: Among the many diverse religious groups in the German capital Berlin are around 6,000 HIndus. However, unlike the city’s many Christians Muslims and Buddhists, Berlin’s Hindus have had no central place of worship–until now. Construction works starts Sunday on Berlin’s first Hindu temple with a religious ritual and ceremonial ground-breaking. The temple is being…

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Pluralism for a pluralist society

The Guardian LONDON, UK, November 3, 2007: (HPI Note: The following editorial by Jay Lakhani of the Hindu Academy was published in The Guardian newspaper of London.) Interfaith dialogue in this country commenced with an attitude of tolerating other religions. This was clearly a derogatory attitude as it suggested “Giving other religions permission to exist.” The dialogue has moved forward…

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Ramakrishna Mission President Passes Away

www.hindu.com KOLKATA, INDIA, November 4, 2007: Swami Gahanananda, 14th president of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, passed away today after a prolonged illness. He was 91. Swami Gahanananda, who was admitted to the Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan hospital here on September 4 with old age problems, breathed his last at 5.35 p.m., hospital sources said. His body would be…

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Malaysia Hindu Sangam Protests Handling of Temple Demolition

Malaysia Hindu Sangam KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, November 3, 2007: (HPI note: The Malaysia Hindu Sangam president, Dato Vaithilingam, issued this press release.) The Malaysia Hindu Sangam is shocked to understand that the developer of the land in Taman Karuppiah had never taken court action to evacuate the homes and buildings in the area. We understand that it was the former…

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Malaysia Indian Leader Calls for Halt to Temple Demolition

www.nst.com.my KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, November 3, 2007: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has called upon all state governments and local authorities that wanted to demolish Hindu temples in their areas, to cease immediately, as their actions could be construed as being disrespectful to Hinduism. “The demolition of a temple in Kg Karuppiah, Padang Jawa, on Tuesday night hurt…

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