sify.com KARACHI, PAKISTAN, August 21, 2007: Hindu women in Pakistan are preparing for the festival of Raksha Bandhan, shopping for colorful rakhis, sweets and gifts. On Raksha Bandhan, which falls on the full moon day in the Hindu month of Shravan, sisters tie decorative threads on their brother’s wrist as a mark of respect and love. The festival falls on…
www.rediff.com BENGALURU, INDIA, August 22, 2007: It is official. The silicon city Bangalore will no longer be called Bangalore. Instead, it will be called Bengaluru. So what impact does this name change have on the city and the cosmopolitan crowd that it houses? The native of Karnataka is happy and says that the name was always Bengaluru, but the British…
www.ddinews.gov.in KERALA, INDIA, August 24, 2007: Onam, the annual harvest festival celebrated mainly in the South Indian state of Kerala and is a moment of joy and celebration begins on Friday. It is the foremost festival among the cultural repertoire of Malayalees, and falls during the month of Chingam (August-September as per the Gregorian calendar, the first month of the…
www.nytimes.com UNITED STATES, August 23, 2007: (HPI note: What the researchers did not appear to investigate in this fascinating experiment is whether, during the induced out-of-body experience, it was possible for the person to see or hear something that he should not have been able to. The most compelling testimony in out-of-body experiences is the person in his astral body…
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, August 23, 2007: (HPI note: Hinduism Today ran a related report, here, on the declining standard of elephant care in Kerala.) It is also reported that the standard of care of elephants India’s famed elephant parades must stop because they are cruel to the animals, says a Hindu group which has scrapped the practice for the coming…
www.hafsite.org WASHINGTON, D.C., August 23, 2007: On August 3, 2007, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced Senate Resolution 299, “recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali”. The resolution affirms the importance of the festival in the lives of millions of Hindus, Jains and Sikhs in the United States. The resolution also lauds…
www.pib.nic.in NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 13, 2007: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed to the State Governments to take effective steps to check incidents of corporal punishment in school. Expressing concern over recent incidents of violence in schools, the Chairman of the Commission, Smt. Shantha Sinha, in a letter to the chief Secretary of State Government/UT has…
www.thejakartapost.com JAKARTA, BALI, August 16, 2007: Mario Koch broaches the subject of Balinese identity in this short concise editorial and casts light on the topic. Koch was motivated by attendance at the Kuningan-Galungan, a grand celebration honoring ancestors last June in Bali. Koch writes, “Avenues of lamak (woven palm leaves) and penjor (decorated bamboo poles) stand witness to never-ending processions;…
www.hindu.com BANGALORE, INDIA, August 16, 2007: All through its 60 independent years, free India had one national icon to encapsulate all that which stood for freedom: Mahatma Gandhi. But the Bangalore University Center for Gandhian Studies could not attract a single student for its postgraduate diploma and certificate courses on Gandhi. There are just no takers for an infrastructure worth…
www.sewausa.org USA, August 18, 2007: (HPI note: Following is a press release provided by Gautam Desai.) Sewa International USA released US$20,000 for relief and rehabilitation of flood victims in India. Many states in India are reeling from the aftermaths of a devastating flood. The floods have wrecked so much havoc and destruction that United Nations has called it the worst…