Malaysia’s Selangor State Issues New Guideline for Aid to Hindu Temples

Source SELANGOR, MALAYSIA, November 26, 2013 (The Star): The Selangor government has decided to only award financial assistance to Hindu temples registered with the Malaysian Hindu Sangam. In announcing the decision, Selangor executive councillor for poverty and estate affairs V. Ganabatirau said the Negri Sembilan, Perak and Malacca state governments had already implemented this. “Hindu Sangam is the umbrella body…

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Hindu Houses, Shops Looted in Bangladesh

Source LALMONIRHAT, BANGLADESH, November 29, 2013 (The Daily Star): Hindus came under attack allegedly by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir at Patgram upazila in Lalmonirhat for the second time in a month yesterday. The attackers beat up at least 12 women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses at Ghoshpara village of…

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Daily Inspiration

Source Hinduism is the most skeptical and the most believing of all religions. The most skeptical because it has questioned and experimented the most and the deepest, rejecting nothing but insisting on testing and experiencing everything. From this comes our scriptures and our beliefs: the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Gita, the Upanishads… But the most authoritative scripture is in the…

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Diwali at the White House: a Personal Report

Source WASHINGTON, DC, November 28, 2013 (Hindu Students Association, report by Ramya Ravi, co-founder and the National President for the Hindu Students Association): Since its inception, the Hindu Students Association has strived to have an active voice on the national platform on behalf of first and second generation Hindu young adults. This year, we were committed to take that voice…

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Call for Applicants to Hindu American Congressional Internship Program

Source WASHINGTON, DC, November 28, 2013 (HAF Press Release): Are you passionate about public policy? Are you interested in being a Hindu American advocate? Want to build an active Hindu American voice in government? If so, look no further than the Hindu American Congressional Internship! The Hindu American Congressional Internship is a unique opportunity for selected undergraduate students to spend…

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Three Canadian Men Charged in 2001 post-9/11 Arson of Hindu Temple

Source HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, November 27, 2013 (The Globe and Mail): Hamilton Police have laid charges in a 12-year-old hate crime that garnered international attention and scarred the city’s reputation in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks. At a morning press conference in the $2-million Hindu temple that rose from the ashes of a smaller temple destroyed in an early-morning…

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Shankaracharya of Kanchi and Others Cleared in Murder Case

Source CHENNAI, INDIA, Novermber 27, 2013 (BBC): An influential Hindu religious figure has been found not guilty of the murder of a temple manager in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, head of a 1,000-year-old Brahmin monastic order, was arrested in 2004 in connection with the murder of Sankararaman, manager of a temple in Kanchipuram. A…

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US Federal Judge: Clergy Tax-Free Housing Allowance is Unconstitutional

Source WISCONSIN, USA, November 24, 2013 (RNS): HPI Note: This ruling, if it stands, could impact any Hindu priests who receive a cash housing allowance as part of their compensation and which they have been claiming as tax-exempt. It specifically does not change the tax situation for priests who live in temple-provided housing, however we advise consultation with the temple’s…

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Daily Inspiration

Source There was once a wise man who lived simply. His spartan food habits reflected this. He had a friend who, being a sycophant of the king, lived in great luxury. One day this friend called on the wiseman while he was eating. Looking at the food, the friend said, “My friend, if you can please the king like me,…

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