mangalorean.com KAUAL LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, July 11, 2007: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said religious authorities should give a patient hearing to those who wanted to leave Islam. His comments came days after an ethnic Indian woman accused Islamic religious police of mental torture during six-month detention for renouncing Islam in favor of Hinduism. M. Revathi, an ethnic Indian, was…
www.swaminarayan.org GUJARAT, INDIA, July 11, 2007: In the holy town of Gadhada sanctified by Bhagwan Swaminarayan, the beginning of this year’s monsoon was marked by widespread destruction wrought by a devastating flood of the holy Ghela River. The drizzling rains of the early morning hours of July 1 became a torrential downpour by 7:00 am. As the waters of Gadhada’s…
www.deccan.com THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA, July 5, 2007: Kerala devaswom minister G. Sudhakaran said in the Assembly on Thursday that the government was planning legislation to allow all those who believe in Hindu religion to enter temples and not just those who are born in it. Replying to a submission by Congress MLA T.N. Prathapan, the CPI(M) minister said that broad-based…
www.deccan.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, July 9, 2007: To prevent the possibility of religious conversions at the village level, the endowments department has decided to revive pujas and rituals in all old temples. As a first step, the department would extend financial support to 4,000 temples out of 32,000 in the State. It will give US$24.40 for pujas and $36.58 as honorarium…
ar@hindu.org KAUAI, HAWAII, July 10, 2007: Yesterday, HPI pointed out that even after the big class action lawsuit against McDonalds in America, their French Fries continued to use beef flavoring–contrary to the assumption of most vegetarians. Now reader Suresh Venkat asks if the French Fries served by McDonalds in India are vegetarian? We found this one reference, here, stating, “The…
www.hinduismtoday.com KAUAI, HAWAII, July 6, 2007: HPI reader Ranji Singh points out that, following the US$10 million judgment against McDonalds in 2005, Hinduism Today warned that: “Hindu vegetarians around the world may wish to take note of the little-publicized fact that McDonald’s made no changes in their fries, which are still beef-flavoring saturated. Sure, the oil is vegetable. But make…
www.csmonitor.com CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSSETS, July 9, 2007: Deep inside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a Wednesday evening recently, a class of about a dozen students were speaking an arcane ancient tongue. “It is time for exams, and I play every day,” says one. “Perhaps, you should study, too,” counters another at the conversation table. The others laugh. No, this isn’t…
varadananda@sbcglobal.net CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA, JULY 1, 2007: (HPI note: Swami Varadananda sent the following press release.) Over 250 people attended the consecration ceremony to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple on July 1. Perfect weather helped to make the event an outstanding success. Under the guidance of Chandrasekar Gurukul, a priest well-versed in Vedic…
abc.net.au JAMMU, INDIA, July 6, 2007: Hindu pilgrims who hugged the ice Siva Lingam in Kashmir may have caused it to melt, experts say. “Hugging and touching the stalagmite definitely generates heat and can lead to its melting,” said Mohammed Ismail, the head of the geology department at the University of Kashmir. Hundreds of thousands of devotees make the gruelling…
www.hindu.com KASHMIR, July 1, 2007: Cutting across religious lines, thousands of Muslims joined Kashmiri Pandits to celebrate the Mela Khanbaran festival of Tripursunderi shrine here, which was reopened after 17 years. Rebuilt by the army and local Muslims in 2002 after the shrine was set afire by militants, the temple was reopened for the festival from June 20 to 24.…