SourceUNITED STATES, October 17, 2004: (HPI note: We include this item for the frequent travelers among our readers.) In August and September, the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) tested the water on 158 domestic and international aircraft at United States airports, finding that 87 percent met the agency’s standards for the quality of drinking water. A surprising 13 percent did not.…
SourceJAMMU & KASHMIR; INDIA, Thursday, October 14, 2004: The Mata Vaishno Devi shrine board has come out with a series of new measures that will go down well with the devotees. The measures are timed for the Navratras, which start today. Now, pilgrims coming to Vaishno Devi can get yatra registration slips through the Internet. This will not only save…
SourcePENNSYLVANIA, USA, October 18, 2004: The Vedic Friends Association held its first North American conference from October 1-3, 2004, bringing together members and invited guests from other Hindu organizations, as well as several professors from universities across North America. Held at the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam at the invitation of Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, it was a “working conference” where problems were…
SourceVADODARA, GUJARAT, INDIA, October 12, 2004: Thousands of fish have died in the city’s Kankaria and Sursagar lakes in Vadodara city after the dissolved oxygen (DO) level fell to zero in the last two days, according to officials in the two municipal corporations. “The DO level, which must be at least two for the fish to survive, fell to zero…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, October 14, 2004: As festival season progresses in India this year with Ganesh Chaturthi, Navrata, Diwali, Dusshera and Durga Puja, India’s rivers and lakes are subjected to the immersion of divine icons. Environmentalists are concerned about the subsequent aftermath of these festivals. The article explains, “Barely a month after the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, when thousands of icons…
SourceDHAKA, BANGLADESH, October 18, 2004: Hindu community in Bangladesh has decided to scale down the festivity and limit the playing of musical instrument during the Durga Puja to maintain communal harmony in the country as Muslim’s Ramadan coincides this year with the Puja celebration. Leaders of Bangladesh Puja Celebration Council at a press conference on Monday, a day ahead of…
SourceKATHMANDU, NEPAL, October 18, 2004: Nepal Government today announced a temporary suspension of military action against Maoists in response to the rebels’ offer of a truce during Dusshera festival. “There will be no offensive from our side… If there is any sabotage against us and if anyone tries to disturb peace the government will be on high alert to maintain…
SourceNEW YORK, U.S.A., October 14, 2004: Twenty years ago, 74th street in Jackson Heights featured only a few Indian-owned shops. Today this same street has over 200 businesses that are Indian. For the sixth year in a row, the Hindu community has decorated the street with full fanfare to celebrate the Hindu festival of Deepavali. The merchants plan on leaving…
SourceHONOLULU, HAWAII, October 11, 2004: An exhibit of stone, marble, bronze, wood, clay and painted images from across India that depict the Goddess Durga will be on display at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. “Durga: The Great Goddess Revealed,” an exhibit of Durga images runs through December 5. The academy is also holding various music, film, lecture and festival events…
SourceKANPUR, INDIA, October 14, 2004: Jagat Guru Shankarachrya of Puri Math, Swami Nishchalanand, has alleged that various political parties were misusing the name of Shakaracharya by appointing people of their interest. Talking to reporters here Shakaracharya said that there were three recognized Shankaracharyas working in four peeths in the country —Gobardhan Peeth, Puri Peeth’s Nischalanand; in Karnataka south, Sringeri Math…