Source: news.bbc.co.uk [HPI note: According to the Indian police, Maoists were the perpetrators of the murder of Swami Laxshmananda in late 2008, causing months of civil unrest.] DELHI, INDIA, June 23, 2009: The Indian government has banned the Maoist Communist Party of India as a terrorist group, giving security forces enhanced powers of arrest. Earlier, five states across east and…
Source: www.hindu.com MADURAI, INDIA, June 15, 2009: A recent study by Evidence, a Madurai-based non-governmental organization, found varied examples of discrimination against Dalits still occurring in many of the temples of South India. Discriminatory issues involved such matters as entry into the temple or into the public worship area, the serving of annadhanam, avoidance of Dalit areas by the temple…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com Lord Siva, the bestower of happiness, gave the art of yoga. As Nataraja, King of dancers, He gave dance. BKS Iyengar
Source: www.ft.com LUCKNOW, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA, May 23, 2009: On the banks of the Gomti River outside Lucknow, an elaborate memorial is being constructed in honor of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the erudite hero of India’s “untouchables,” the Dalits. Large statues of Dr. Ambedkar and other Dalit heroes look down on giant sandstone elephants that line the walkway to a…
Source: www.ft.com LUCKNOW, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA, May 23, 2009: On the banks of the Gomti River outside Lucknow, an elaborate memorial is being constructed in honor of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the erudite hero of India’s “untouchables,” the Dalits. Large statues of Dr. Ambedkar and other Dalit heroes look down on giant sandstone elephants that line the walkway to a…
Source: www.hindustantimes.com SRINAGAR, INDIA, June 19, 2009: The Amarnath yatra resumed on Friday after remaining suspended for three days due to heavy snowfall and rain. “The fourth batch of over 6000 pilgrims left the Baltal base camp, 62 miles from here, for the holy cave this morning,” a spokesman of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) told PTI. 1,860 pilgrims…
Source: www.hindustantimes.com UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA, June 17, 2009: The economic meltdown has forced thousands of Brahmins, Thakurs, Banias, Kayasths, Lodhs, Yadavs and Muslims to take jobs as sweepers and sanitation workers, jobs that were traditionally done by Dalits. Software engineers and other well educated, highly skilled workers, suddenly unemployed, are sweeping streets and cleaning drains for a living, regardless of…
Source: www.livemint.com BANGALORE/MUMBAI/HYDERABAD, INDIA, June 18, 2009: In a country proud to be secular, there is increasing debate about government subsidization of religious pilgrimages. Karnataka’s Bharatiya Janata Party government proposes to set aside US$210,000 to subsidize pilgrimages for Hindus. In Andhra Pradesh, the Congress party-led government is subsidizing the cost of travel for Christians visiting Jerusalem. Last year the Union…
Source: www.chinmayamission.org/krishnalaya PIERCY, CA, USA, June 20, 2009: For anyone sincerely interested in life transformation and willing to commit to the idea for a year, full time, without weekends or breaks, Chinmaya Mission West of California is offering a one-year study-and-meditate intensive at its Krishnalaya Ashram, set among mountains, redwood forests and rivers in Piercy, Northern California. The retreat, “Vedanta…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com As is your devotion, so is your liberation. Good work brings good wages, a little work brings only a little wage. Swami Nityananda, guru of Baba Muktananda