www.thestar.co.za NEW ZEALAND, July 18, 2005: A girl who took her school to court for refusing to allow her to wear a nose stud has won. She claims her cultural identity was discriminated against. On Friday, the mother of 15-year-old Sunali Pillay, a Grade 11 pupil at Durban Girls’ High, secured an interim order staying a school disciplinary inquiry planned…
www.newkerala.com AGRA, INDIA, July 19, 2005: Firozabad town, located about 50 km from Agra, is known throughout the world for its glass industry, whose production quality comes next only to the Belgian glass. In all, there are 257 registered glass units in this town, manufacturing everything from glass bangles to precious lead-crystal chandeliers, being exported to European countries, where the…
www.newkerala.com MADURAI, INDIA, July 18, 2005: The first-ever public hearing on the plight of the struggle of Dalit Christians for equal rights today concluded that the community should be extended the same opportunities, facilities and benefits provided for its Hindu counterparts. (HPI adds: Dalit Christians are those of the Dalit or “Untouchable” caste of Hinduism who converted to Christianity, but…
www.newindpress.com SRINAGAR, INDIA, July 19, 2005: A major tragedy was averted during the Amarnath pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday with the timely detection of three explosive devices planted along the highway for the pilgrims, police said. The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were planted in and around Ganderbal town, 22 km from this summer capital of Kashmir, on the…
Religion News Service USA, July 17, 2005: Can three guys kicking around the country with a mail-order video camera open doors on the wisdom of the universe? It’s beginning to look like a possibility to viewers of a low-budget film produced in Michigan by Chad M. Powers, an attorney, and friends Chad Munce and Scott Carter. They pooled funds for…
sify.com LUCKNOW, INDIA, July 12, 2005: The BJP political party has taken strong exception to the contents on Ayodhya in the updated class IX NCERT (India’s national commission which issues school texts) book on ancient history. BJP state unit president Keshari Nath Tripathi, who says he has read the contents, said he had raised the issue with the party high…
www.fijitv.com.fj NAUSORI, FIJI, June 29, 2005: The Waila Prem Mandali in Nausori was broken into by a group of men who ransacked and destroyed religious items, with damage estimated at US$2,900. This Waila mandali has been here for about 50 years with no history of a break in until now. The mandir is used once a week, the descration was…
sify.com RAMESWARAM, INDIA, July 15, 205: Priests and some officials of the Lord Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram have apologized to the Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi for denying him entry into the sanctum sanctorum on Thursday, but told him it would not be possible to grant permission even on Friday. The group, which called on the Seer at the Mutt premises…
www.murugantemple.org MARYLAND, USA, July 17, 2005:The Annual Festival of Nallur Murugan Temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, begins on the sixth day after the July’s new moon. It is a huge affair in Jaffna with hundreds of thousands of Hindus attending the main events. The hoisting of the holy flag of the temple (Kodiyetram) indicates the first day, and the festival…
www.hinducounciluk.org LONDON, ENGLAND, July 15, 2005: Yesterday’s vigil at Trafalgar Square in London, marked by a two-minute silence at noon in honour of those who died in the terrorist bomb attacks last week, continued in the evening with a vigil of poems, messages and prayers from celebrity, political and faith leaders. His Grace, Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, congratulated…