Source: www.expressindia.com ALLAHABAD, INDIA, June 24, 2010: Six years ago, Badami Devi thought performing the last rites of the dead was unthinkable. It was considered a taboo for women. But her husband — who pursued this ancestral profession of Mahapatra brahmins in Maniaya village — was seriously ill. Today, there are eight women, some of them unmarried girls, performing this…
Source: www.chron.com WASHINGTON, DC, June 23, 2010: WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that a federal law barring individuals or groups from giving advice to known terrorist organizations does not violate the constitutional right to freedom of speech. In a 6-3 ruling, the high court also said a ban on providing three other types of “material…
Source: www.theaucklander.co.nz NEW ZEALAND, June 17, 2010: Hindus and Maori find much to share at Matariki. Bowls of rice, plates of naan bread and dishes of vegetarian cuisine fill the table. Taking turns to help themselves are a group of Hindu elders, who are discussing plans to celebrate Matariki, the “Maori New Year”. Also joining them at their table are…
Source: Religion News Service BERLIN, GERMANY, 2010: In the months since news of child sexual abuse scandals roiled German society, barely a week goes by without news of yet another Catholic parish reporting declining membership. While it may be premature to estimate the long-term impact of the scandal — especially since many of the cases were decades old — the…
Source: HPI KAPAA, HI, USA: Some readers of HPI have expressed their opinions about the editorial comment on “Proposing Tamil as Court Language”, published on yesterday’s HPI. We think it merits a clarification: The information we were trying to share is that there is a politically driven movement to replace all other languages in use in Tamil Nadu with Tamil…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Following the path of knowledge without love and devotion is like eating stones. Mata Amritanandamayi
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com KATHMANDU, June 21, 2010: A 108-feet tall Shiva statue, built by Indian businessman Kamal Jain, has been unveiled in Nepal. The statue was inaugurated by Swami Shankaracharya Madhav Sharanji Maharaj of Badrinath, India, at Sanga, a village situated in the east of Kathmandu. Located 20-km east of Kathmandu, the statue is part of a complex spread over 400,000…
Source: www.thejakartapost.com DENPASAR, INDIA, April 30, 2010: A Bali Hindu Center will be built on a plot near the Ganges River to allow visitors to learn more about the island’s culture and religion. Indra Udayana from Ashram Gandhi Puri said the center would serve as a cultural and religious bridge connecting Balinese and Indian people. “Every year, millions of people…
Source: www.thehindu.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 18, 2010: [HPI note: There are some religious sides to the movement to promote Tamil in South India. While some efforts are strictly secular, like this one, others meddle with religious affairs and the power of Hindu rituals when, for example, the sacred Saskrit is substituded by Tamil during pujas. ] A Tamil Nadu…
Source: www.jsonline.com MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, June 21, 2010: The leader of a Hindu group in Milwaukee has been charged with illegally bringing people into the U.S. purportedly as religious workers and then extracting money from them in exchange for his help, according to federal court documents. Sagarsen Haldar, 30, leader of the Gaudiya Vaisnava Society, is being held by federal authorities.…