INDIA, July 14, 2020 (Pew Research): Our survey finds that about four-in-ten Indian adults say they are vegetarian. And many others restrict meat in their diet in some way, either by abstaining from eating certain meats, by abstaining from eating meat on certain days, or both. Altogether, about eight-in-ten Indian adults limit their meat consumption in some manner, including majorities…
BALTAL, INDIA, July 10, 2022 (dawn.com): Sixteen people were killed in held Kashmir, with rescuers searching for dozens more missing, after flash floods swept away hundreds of tents near a popular Hindu pilgrimage site, officials said on Saturday. Around 10,000 people were camped near the remote Amarnath temple, nestled in a Himalayan mountain cave, when a sudden cloudburst triggered a…
SRINAGAR, INDIA, July 9, 2022 (KL News Network): With at least 15 pilgrims dead and 30-40 still missing in the flash flood triggered by a cloudburst, the Amarnath pilgrimage has been suspended till further orders. The evening cloud burst has washed away a tented colony and a number of community kitchens that offer free food to the pilgrims who trek…
SRINAGAR, INDIA, July 7, 2022 (VOA News): Amid fear and tight security, a 43-day annual Amarnath Yatra — a Hindu pilgrimage to a cave located 12,750 feet above sea level — is underway in India-administered Kashmir after a gap of three years. Over half a million pilgrims are expected to take part in this year’s Yatra, which began on June…
SRINAGAR, INDIA, July 1, 2022 (The Hindu): Enthusiastic about the reopening of the Amarnath cave shrine for the pilgrimage after a gap of three years, hundreds of pilgrims made their way up to the cave from the twin routes of Sonamarg and Pahalgam on Day 1 of the yatra on Thursday. At the first light, hundreds of pilgrims, including sadhus…
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, June 30, 2022 (hua.edu press release): The Hindu University of America family is proud to announce that the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Government of India awarded HUA Professor Vishwa Adluri the “Distinguished Indologist Award” (2019) at a ceremony held at India House, the Consulate General of India, New York, on June 28, 2022. The…
PURI, ODISHA, June 30, 2022 (outlookindia.com): The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath will be celebrated across India on Friday, July 01, 2022. Hundreds of thousands of people are likely to participate in the festival as it will be held after a gap of two years without Covid-19 restrictions. This slide show covers the various activities as the town readies for…
ASSAM, INDIA, June 26, 2022 (Indian Express): People in India’s northeastern states of Assam began celebrations for a spring festival meant to bring in an auspicious season filled with abundant crops and good health. Every year the community celebrates the festival to please a Deity of wealth and ask for good rains and a good harvest. Colorful slide show at…
AFGHANISTAN, June 26, 2022 (Mundigak): There is very little material on Afghan Sikh history or its origin in the public domain. Roger Ballard (2011) stated that Afghan Sikhs are “likely to be made up of those members of the indigenous population who resisted the process of conversion from Buddhism to Islam which took place in this area between the ninth…
AUSTRALIA, June 22, 2022 (The London Economic): The Parliament of Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, passed laws late on Tuesday that set penalties of US$15,150 and 12 months in prison for displaying the Nazi swastika, or Hakenkreuz (“hooked cross”). Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, which fights antisemitism, said on Wednesday he expects Australia’s most populous state, New South…