www.mercurynewsphoto.com INDIA, December 23, 2006: This interesting site offers an audio slide show based on several recent articles about India published in the Mercury News. It’s not religious in content, but the presentation is slick and the information useful. The “elephant” is India itself. The subjects are Venture capitalists–Investing in India’s Future, Infosys–tens of thousands of employees work at the…
Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai CHENNAI, INDIA, December 22, 2006: A full third of Chennai’s police force, 5,000 out of a total force of 15,000, have taken a vow to participate in the Sabarimala pilgrimage, which includes several weeks of fasting and disciplines in advance. Such devotees are called Ayyappa Swamis. Police Ayyappa Swamis say that they are happily observing the…
www.rediff.com DELHI, INDIA, December 22, 2006: Justice K G Balakrishnan, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, will be the new Chief Justice of India, the first-ever Dalit to occupy the coveted post. Law Ministry sources said President A P J Abdul approved the new appointment on Friday. He replaces Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal who is retiring on January…
HPI KAUAI, HAWAII, December 22, 2006: Hinduism Today is planning extensive coverage of the Thai Pusam festival in Malaysia at both Batu Caves and Penang on February 1, 2007. We are looking for devotees who will be participating in carrying kavadi at the event, including those from overseas, and are willing to be included in the story. As well, we…
www.hindu.com BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA, December 18, 2006: Backed by a High Court order, which said all Hindus, irrespective of their caste, could enter any Hindu temple, the administration on Sunday succeeded in getting those opposed to the Court’s ruling to give up their position on not allowing Dalits to worship in the Jagannath temple. The rituals in the temple were…
www.shastras.org TROY, MICHIGAN, December 20, 2006: (HPI note: The following appeared as a press release written by Navya Shastra and sent out through Religion News Service.) Navya Shastra, the international Hindu reform organization, has issued an apology to the Dalit communities of India. The organization issued the apology after consulting with Hindu activists and its own Dalit members. It reads:…
www.ft.com BERLIN, GERMANY, December 6, 2006: Violence in video games has escalated and countries around the world are taking steps to censure the violence as they feel it may be directly related to real-life incidents of violence among youth who are avid gamers. One such country leading the crackdown is Germany. The news release explains, “Virtual hit men in Europe’s…
www.samachar.com BANGLADESH, INDIA, December 12, 2006: The Hindu minority community in Bangladesh has asked the Election Commission to reschedule the January 23rd election as it coincides with Saraswati Puja celebrations. Election Commission secretariat Abdur Rashid Sarkar adds, “We rescheduled the polls on Jan 23 from Jan 21 after consultation with political parties. Now we are considering it once again as…
www.ndtv.com PARIS, FRANCE, December 11, 2006: The city of Lille in northern France will be focusing on Indian contemporary and traditional culture for the next three months. A French organizer of the festival says, ” We have been working with hundreds of Indian artists from Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Madras who have been coming and going. At the end of…
Hinduism Today KAUAI, HAWAII, December 17, 2006: (HPI note: In the late 1980s, Hinduism Today’s founder, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, created the festival of “Pancha Ganapati” in response to requests from his devotees living in the West for an alternative celebration to Christmas. It was especially meant for children. Following is his explanation of the festival.) Pancha Ganapati is a modern…