Source INDIA, August 12, 2011 (BBC): Based on fears of law-and-order problems, a new movie addressing the controversial issue of education quotas for low-caste people has been banned–at least temporarily–in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra, despite being passed by India’s Censor Board. Critics say the film Aarakshan (Reservation) uses objectionable terms to describe low-caste Hindus. In addition, some Dalit groups…
Source INDIA, July 27, 2011 (by T.R. Ramesh): Tamil Nadu’s government claims to be secular, but it treats Hindu temples and institutions differently from those of any other religion. The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowment Department administers 36,425 temples, 56 mutts, 47 temples belonging to mutts, 1721 specific endowments and 189 trusts. It claims to be supervising the “secular aspects”…
Source Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.— Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), American author
Source THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, August 5, 2011 (The New Indian Express): Mosquitoes are vicious in Kerala. The Kochi Corporation and Tripunithura municipality routinely fog for mosquitoes, and one must use a mosquito repellant in order to sleep. Neither measure provides control; and the toxicity of the fog and repellants is a constant worry. But a nontoxic, fully ayurvedic repellent has now…
Source AFGHANISTAN, August 26, 2011 (by Riazat Butt): “This is the Goddess Durga,” says Lance Corporal Prithvi, gesturing towards the shrine containing a statue of the Hindu deity. “She represents power. At this moment we pray to her because she gives us power to defeat evil forces.” Above the shrine is a hanging featuring the God Hanuman, to its right…
Source KOCHI, INDIA, July 18, 2011 (The Hindu): A recent clinical study on rheumatoid arthritis has been called a blueprint for research in Ayurveda. While the study was specific to rheumatoid arthritis, it also looked into whether complex Ayurvedic interventions could be studied in a clinical trial. The double-dummy, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study–a procedural model considered the “gold standard”…
Source I have never met a person who has given me so much trouble as myself. Yet, I am happy to have learnt from my mistakes.
Religion News Service BEND, OR, USA, June, 2011 (Religion News Service): When congregants of West Side Church and the Christian Life Center awoke in June to news that their churches had been vandalized, their frustration quickly turned to confusion. In addition to the anti-Christian slogans scrawled on the walls of the two buildings, the words “Praise the FSM” were painted…
Source MANILA, PHILIPPINES, August 20, 2011 (by Marga Ortigas): Millions of the poorest people in the Philippines live without electricity. Many are informal settlers who illegally connect themselves to power sources, often leading to fires breaking out in their homes. Now, a new and cheap solar-light idea using empty soda bottles is providing an answer for a growing number of…
Source NEW ORLEANS, USA (artdaily.org): From August 5 through October 23, 2011, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) is presenting an exhibition called The Elegant Image: Hindu, Buddhist and Jain Bronzes from the Indian Subcontinent in the Siddharth K. Bhansali Collection. The exhibition, curated by eminent Indian art historian Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, showcases 100 bronze sculptures of Hindu, Buddhist,…