www.hindu.com TIRUPATI, INDIA, December 31, 2006: As the time ticked in for the arrival of New Year, the flow of pilgrims into the temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala peaked up, even as VVIPs also continued to throng the temple. Some of the top dignitaries who reached Tirumala on Sunday were Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and two…
www.samachar.com DELHI, INDIA, December 31, 2006: Their ancestors crossed the seas to work in alien lands more than a couple of centuries ago. Now, their descendants have a chance to locate the place of origin of their forefathers and even meet their relatives in India. When people belonging to the Indian Diaspora come to participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas…
news.bbc.co.uk SPAIN, December 29, 2006: The Roman Catholic bishop of Cordoba in southern Spain has rejected an appeal from Muslims for the right to pray in the city’s cathedral, a former mosque. The Cordoba mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral in the 13th Century after the city was conquered by King Ferdinand III in the war to drive the…
www.hindu.com LONDON, ENGLAND, December 27, 2006: In a break with tradition, Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas broadcast has featured footage of Europe’s largest Hindu Temple and Muslims praying in a mosque. In a broadcast that reflected the changing face of modern Britain, there were scenes of the opening of the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tividale in the West Midlands and also…
HPI LONDON, ENGLAND, December 30, 2006: In yesterday’s HPI, we reported that Chris McGovern, director of Englands History Curriculum Association, disputed a quote attributed to Winston Churchill calling Gandhi a “half-naked fakir.” While that definitely wasn’t a direct quote, it doesn’t seem to misrepresent the actual statement. Churchill said, “It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a…
HPI DELHI, INDIA, December 29, 2006: Several HPI readers have requested information on how to acquire the Om Namoh Shivay CD mentioned in the December 24 HPI. They can e-mail Shri Gurmeet Singh, gurmeet@intoday.com for marketing information or write Satish Babbar at satishbabbar@rediffmail.com.
HPI USA, December 29, 2006: HPI received a copy of something called the “Ten First Place Winners in the International Pun Contest.” With some research, it is our opinion that there was no such contest, but this clever set of puns should give you a laugh. For the wordplay challenged, we’ve include a list at the end of the punned…
www.hindu.com PUDUCHERRY, INDIA, December 27, 2006: The Ecole Francaise de Extreme–Orient (EFEO), French School of Asian Studies in Puducherry (formerly, Pondicherry), will be organizing an international workshop on “Early Saivism: The Testimony of the Nisvasatattvasamhita” from January 2 to 13. According to Dominic Goodall, head of the center in Puducherry, the workshop will mainly focus on the Nisvasatattvasamhita, one of…
www.telegraph.co.uk LONDON, ENGLAND, December 27, 2006: New lessons in Indian history announced today are anti-British according to a curriculum association. It accuses the Government’s curriculum advisers of a “politically correct” interpretation of Britain’s imperial past based on false claims about Winston Churchill. Chris McGovern, the director of the History Curriculum Association, says “The general tone of the unit is anti-British,…
HPI KAUAI, HAWAII, December 29, 2006: It’s that time of year again when news media publish calendars of religious events for the coming year. Hindu festivals usually get short shrift in these, which is our own fault for not making the information available in a timely fashion. For example, a quick search of temple websites on the East Coast turned…