Study Shows Caste and Faith Factor in Employment in India

ibnlive.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 27, 2007: Liberalization and a free market economy have not changed traditional biases in companies. A study conducted by American and Indian scholars shows that there is a caste bias in the country’s private sector with companies preferring to recruit upper-caste candidates even if they are less qualified. Two Princeton University researchers, who are studying…

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Successful Hindu Outreach at UK Muslim College

Vivekananda Centre London LONDON, ENGLAND, October 15, 2007: (HPI received the following report from Jay Lakhani of the Vivekananda Centre, London.) 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…

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Is it Organic? Ask a Rat.

www.nytimes.com USA, October 11, 2007: 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…

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Delhi’s Iron Pillar Yields its Secrets

www.indiaenews.com KANPUR, INDIA, October 13, 2007: 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…

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Christian Priests to Take Training in Hindu Monastic Tradition

timesofindia.indiatimes.com THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, October 21, 2007: (HPI note: It is nothing new in India for Christian priests to don the apparel of the Hindu swami and try to incorporate some Hindu philosophy in their teaching, some of the first missionaries took the same misleading approach.) In Kerala the Syro-Malabar church – regarded as the oldest in the country – has…

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Anyone Going Through Thailand’s New Airport?

Hinduism Today KAUAI, HAWAII, October 24, 2007: HPI received a photo and report from a reader of a Hindu display at Thailand’s newly opened International Swarnbhumi Airport (Golden Land Airport). He writes: “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…

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October 23rd HPI Report: An Explanation

HPI KAUAI, HAWAII, September 24, 2007: Many readers queried us as to the contents of yesterday’s HPI. By mistake, in addition to the first three edited items, it contained a number of unedited reports and input from various sources, all of which will, in the course of time, appear as edited summaries.

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Astronaut Sunita Williams Talks About Life in Space

www.indiatoday.com DELHI, INDIA, October 15, 2007: “Up in space, the Gita and Ganesha were what kept me grounded. They put life in perspective,” says Sunita Williams in her India Today interview. In a country that believes that beauty trophies are a genetic right, they are calling her the true Miss Universe. But when she strides into the room with her…

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A Daily Round Of Rituals For Boys Becoming Priests

www.washingtonpost.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 18, 2007: Hidden in a tightly packed neighborhood of middle-class condominiums, Chinese restaurants and garment sweatshops is a thriving 3,500-year-old Hindu tradition. It is a residential school that teaches young boys the art of chanting Hindu verses in classical Sanskrit and trains them to become Hindu priests. For eight years, they study religious rituals without…

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US Court Sidesteps Dispute Over Muslims’ “Dowry”

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…

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