Edmonton Hindus Celebrate Vivekananda’s 148th Birthday
EDMONTON, CANADA, January 22, 2011: Edmonton’s Hindu community is celebrating the life of spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda. This weekend coincided with the 148th birthday of the swami. On Sunday, a new pictorial gallery of his life was opened. Swami Kripamayananda Ji, president of the Vedanta Society of Toronto, blessed the gallery at the Hindu Society Temple. Source
Surya Namaskars In New York
MOUNT KISCO, NEW YORK, January 22, 2011: For Lower Hudson Valley residents, a free public workshop Sunday will teach the 10 yogic poses and breathing techniques that make up a sun salutation or surya namaskar. Since 2007, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, a nonprofit socio-cultural organization, has sought to popularize surya namaskar by organizing a two-week yogathon across the country.…
ISRO To Provide Satellite Images of Sabarimala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, January 17, 2011: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will provide satellite pictures of Sabarimala area using remote sensing technology for taking measures to prevent disasters like the stampede that claimed 102 lives last week. ISRO Chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan said such three dimensional images would help the government and temple board to improve infrastructure in Sabarimala area…
Hindu Priestess Sees Change in Tradition
SUVA, FIJI, January 15, 2011: Premila Devi Prasad, 50, has been practicing her role as a priestess for nearly 20 years now. But it was only recently that she has found satisfaction in her work because of acceptance by the community. Prasad was registered as a priestess in 1992 by the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Vanua Levu and has solemnized…
Conversion Has No Justification, Says India’s Supreme Court
NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 22, 2011: The Supreme Court on Friday held that conversion from one religion to another had no justification in ‘secular’ India as it amounted to interference in religious belief. ‘We hope Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of religion playing a positive role in bringing religions and communities together into an integrated prosperous nation will be realized. There is…
Christian Council Reacts to Verdict
NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 22, 2011: Dr. John Dayal, Secretary General of the All of India Christian Council, said, ‘Although we are yet to analyse the full judgment of the Supreme Court, we are disturbed by the parts carried by the media, mentioning terms like fraud and forcible and conversion. But more than anything, we fear such remarks may negatively…
God As Guard: Bank Opens Lockless Branch
MUMBAI, INDIA, January 17, 2011: The United Commercial (UCO) Bank has opened the country’s first lockless branch at Shani Shinganapur in Maharashtra. Shani Shinganapur is a small village in Ahmednagar district whose presiding Deity is Lord Shani. More than 5,000 devotees visit the temple every day, while on weekends the number crosses the 100,000 mark. Local NCP legislator Shankar Gadakh…
Volcanic Mud Threatens Prambanan Temple
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, January 17, 2011: Powerful flows of volcanic mud carried by rivers from Mount Merapi that have destroyed bridges, houses, farmlands and other structures along river banks also pose a threat to the Prambanan Temple. The famous Hindu temple complex, located in Prambanan on the border of Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces, sits 100 meters from the banks of…
India Losing Its Edge In Math?
NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 14, 2011: Primary school students have slipped over the past year in math, a subject for which Indian brains are tapped globally in research and technology firms, one of the country’s most credible non-government surveys of the nation’s rural schooling system has found. The decline in mathematics and in the ability to perform routine calculations expected…