Source CALIFORNIA, USA, February 26, 2016 (press release, by Kalyan Viswanathan): The UCI School of Humanities’ Ad hoc Committee and the Humanities Executive Committee have acted hastily to reject the gifts from Dharma Civilization Foundation without any consultation with the donors. In part they have cited procedural issues; in part they have openly questioned the legitimacy of the Foundation. Whatever…
Source AGRA, INDIA , February 26, 2016 (Times of India): The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has begun excavation work at the 2,000-year-old Kushan-era pond which was discovered by an NGO a few years back in Vrindavan. The water body known as Ram Taal is located in Vrindavan’s Sunrakh village. Earlier in January, ASI had written a letter to the…
Source PAKISTAN, February 25, 2016 (DNA, India): An ancient Hindu temple in this northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar is being demolished secretly in the name of repair with a commercial plaza set to come up on its land. They said the process started some 10 days ago and is going on without any hindrance. “There is no action from any…
Source The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him–that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.— Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Source KUMBAKONAM, INDIA, February 22, 2016 (NDTV): More than 1 million devotees will take a holy dip at the temple tank at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu as part of the grand finale of the Mahamaham festival celebrated once in twelve years. The auspicious time for the dip which is called Theerthavari will between 12 noon and 1 pm. The tank…
Source NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 19, 2016 (Hindustan Times): Premier engineering and scientific institutes run by the Centre, including the IITs, should have a Sanskrit cell to help students study ancient literature related to their fields, a panel set up by the education ministry has recommended. The panel also wants these institutes to let students opt for internship in Sanskrit…
Source BANGLADESH, February 22, 2016 (Daily Star): Criminals slit the throat of a Hindu priest at a temple in Debiganj of Panchagarh just after dawn yesterday and fled the scene firing shots and exploding homemade bombs, which injured two devotees. Deceased Jogeswar Dasadhikari, 50, is the latest victim of a recent string of attacks on clerics and prayer houses of…
Source IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, February 22, 2016 (Inside Higher Ed): The University of California at Irvine is walking away from two gifts to establish endowed chairs in Hindu and India studies after faculty members and students raised concerns about the ideology of the donors and the influence they sought to exert in the search process. The gifts in question came from…
Source Go beyond science, into the region of metaphysics. Real religion is beyond argument. It can only be lived, both inwardly and outwardly.— Swami Sivananda (1887-1963), founder of Divine Life Society
Source PAKISTAN, February 16, 2016 (BBC): A province in Pakistan has become the first in the largely Muslim country to give Hindus the right to register their marriage officially. The bill was passed on Monday by lawmakers in Sindh – home to many of Pakistan’s three million Hindus. Activists say that without such a law, Hindu women are targets for…