SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, April 23, 2022 (Sydney Morning Herald): Surinder Jain, national vice president of the Hindu Council of Australia, has a dream: to normalize the swastika in Australia. Not the hate symbol that featured on the Nazi flag and is still waved by far-right racists today. Jain is referring to the ancient icon that plays a central role in the…
INDIA, April 10, 2022 (YouTube): This video from India’s Got Talent features an entertaining gymnastics performance with amazing choreography honoring Hanuman. The troupe of some two dozen dancers depict various scenes from Hanuman’s life including battles, building the Ram Setu bridge, flying the mountain Sanjeevani to Sri Lanka and much more. Really an extraordinary show. Watch the lively performance at:…
LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS, May 1, 2022 (PHYS. org): National Meat Free Week (7–13 March) is an initiative to reduce meat consumption. Assistant professor Paul Behrens of Leiden University is studying what impact a change in our food consumption would have on the world. What, according to him, are the main reasons to switch to a (mainly) plant-based diet? “If you look…
TAMIL NADU, INDIA, April 24, 2022 (Verve Times): Thirteen-year-old Rajan (name changed), a student of Class 8 in a school in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli, recalls how he was told during an extra class that if he needs good marks and wishes to perform academically better than his peers, he must pray to no other God but Jesus. Not doing so…
NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 27, 2022 (CT Insider): Eleven people were electrocuted when their truck, decorated as a temple chariot, touched an overhead power line during a Hindu festival procession in southern India on Wednesday, police said. The New Delhi Television channel said the electrical spark also set fire to the truck, which was crowded with devotees. The 11 people…
INDIA, January 29, 2020 (Indica Soft Power): The recent Pongal festival saw the lanes of Mylapore in Chennai adorned with kolams of different kinds. The gray asphalt glowed with the white powder, as the transient kolam was protected and celebrated. The very next day the lanes were reclaimed by vendors, residents, motorists, animals; canine and bovine. The annual kolam competition…
HYDERABAD, INDIA, April 21, 2020 (Deccan Chronicle): The Telangana High Court on Wednesday said it would not relax the conditions imposed on use of plaster of Paris (PoP) in manufacturing statues of Lord Ganesh, Goddess Durga and other Deities. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Abhinand Kumar Shavili said when strict guidelines were issued by the…
TAMIL NADU, INDIA, April 22, 2022 (The Hindu): The Uma Maheshwarar temple in Konerirajapuram claims to house the tallest Nataraja bronze statue in India. The temple was constructed by Sembiyan Madevi, the grandmother of Raja Raja Chola in the name of her husband, Gandaraditya Devar. The bronze Nataraja statue here, estimated at 8 to 9 feet tall, is much bigger…
UNITED STATES, April 25, 2022 (Green Queen): California’s Perfect Day company has been confirmed as the winning bidder in an auction for Mumbai-based Sterling Biotech. The reported final figure was approximately US$83 million. Sterling entered into the liquidation process following insolvency and a failure to provide any resolution plan. Perfect Day, by acquiring Sterling, gains two manufacturing plants in Gujarat…
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, April 22, 2022 ( IOL): Clean-up operations have begun at a Hindu temple near the Umhlatuzana river in Chatsworth, which was completely destroyed by floods during the recent storm that hit KwaZulu-Natal. The 70-year-old structure suffered extensive damages during the flood, while two employees and their dog were trapped on Monday night, April 11, when water levels…