SourceTRINIDAD, October 23, 2004: Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Secretary General Satnarayan Maharaj has accused the Ministry of Education of attempting to convert non-Christian pupils through a national school singing competition. The preliminaries of the Caroni Education Division singing competition began yesterday at several venues in Central Trinidad. It is being sponsored by the Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. Bank…
SourcePORT BLAIR, ANDAMANS, October 27, 2004: Under the British raj, the islands of Andaman and Nicobar began as a colony for convicts. Many of today’s islanders are descendants of those very convicts. But interestingly the old penal colony has left behind a very homogenous society, where caste, creed and communal tension find absolutely no space. The serene island was once…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, October 27, 2004: In an indirect move to curb forced marriages within the Asian community in Britain, the country’s Foreign and Home Offices have decided to raise the minimum age for such marriages from 16 to 18. This tough approach is not aimed at arranged marriages per se, but more against such relationships being promoted and encouraged within…
SourceTIRUPATI, INDIA, October 28, 2004: A majority of the speakers at a meeting here supported the demolition of the 1000-pillar mantap and said that the structure had no connection with the temple and had no Agama Shastra (religious texts dealing with temple construction) importance. However, one of the speakers at Wednesday’s meeting, a former deputy executive officer of the TTD,…
NewsdayNEW YORK, NEW YORK, October 27, 2004: (HPI note: This Newsday article updates the situation with the Flushing temple.) For the thousands of faithful who worship in Flushing at the country’s oldest Hindu temple, it is considered a sanctuary. But in recent months, the Ganesha Temple, named after the Hindu elephant-headed Deity, has become the focus of an increasingly heated…
SourceDELHI, INDIA, October 28, 2004: The article at “source” from India quotes several astrologers who predict that John Kerry will win the US presidential elections. “Kerry is likely to beat Bush in the final verdict,” predicts renowned astrologer Ajai Bhambi, also author of the bestseller “Be Your Own Astrologer.” “Bush’s horoscope shows Saturn, Venus and Mercury. They are all placed…
SourceWITHINGTON, ENGLAND, October 16, 2004: A Hindu temple in Withington will be closed for five months after fire swept through the building. The blaze broke out at Gandhi Hall, Brunswick Road, in the early hours of Friday, October 15. It caused damage to 20 percent of the building. Part of the roof and an area devoted to the three Goddesses,…
SourceSUVA, FIJI, October 29, 2004: The hours allowed for the use of firecrackers on Deepavali will cause discomfort to devotees, the Fiji Retailers Association says. The Mineral Resources Department has designated firecrackers to be shot between 5pm and 10pm on Deepavali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. But the association said some Hindus lit firecrackers before they started their prayers and…
SourceSUVA, FIJI, October 30, 2004: Whipping, beating, belting, slapping or hitting used to be popular means of disciplining students. Such cruel punishment subjects a person to physical violence and constitutes corporal punishment. Corporal punishment appears to have been in the school system for a long time. In earlier days it was acceptable for teachers to beat children as parents beat…
Religion News ServiceVATICAN CITY, October 28, 2004: When European Union leaders gather in Rome to sign their new constitution Friday, October 29, they will rebuff Pope John Paul II and his effort to acknowledge Christianity in the historic document. The Roman Catholic pontiff has often voiced concern about Europe’s increasingly secular society. In the signing of a constitution that does…